^ Don't forget it had an X Factor performance on its release week, probably wouldn't have sold 83k the week prior.

Both of those Ed songs are superior to 'You Don't Know Me'.

 

I actually like the Alien Ant Farm version of 'Smooth Criminal' more than the original (and I do love the original too!), one of my favourite cover versions. And 'Move' will probably always remain my favourite Little Mix songs. Both would have been great #s.

Might be biased because I knew/liked Alien Ant Farm's version before MJ's and was too young to know it was a cover, but what a memorable #1 that would've been!

move is my fav LM song

'Move' was definitely my favourite LM song before 'Happiness' came along.

So...Tomorrow we start the main rundown- a reminder of the inclusion rules

 

a) The track must have peaked no higher than No 3

b) The weekly sale for the track must have been high enough to enable the song to be No 1 for at least 11 weeks in the year the track made that weekly sale.

c) Some weeks are excluded from the survey- these are normally the Christmas week (or the week in which the main bulk of pre Christmas sales were), the week after Christmas in 2011 and 2012 (known to some as the "Gift card" effect) and the week in 1982 when the charts reverted back to a Monday- Saturday cycle causing two Saturdays sales to go into one sales week. This is because sales were artificially high in those weeks. However if a song sold enough in a week outside of those excluded weeks to be No 1 in any of those weeks then it is included in their overall "weeks it would have been No 1" tally.

 

 

Sorry, am I being thick here? How would BEP qualify for b)? 17,360 copies wouldn't have qualified them for being number one 11 other times in the year...as this was the lowest on record.

 

1- NO TOMORROW- Orson (17.694)

2- IT’S CHICO TIME- Chico (17,365)

3- PUMP IT- Black Eyed Peas (17,360)

BEP was the smallest sales gap between the #1 and a non top 2 hit in a single week. So in one sense it was the unluckiest because only a handful more sales would have got it a higher peak or #1 status that week.

 

The second rundown uses a different criteria i.e. would would have been a sure fire #1 if it hadn't been released that particular week against strong competition.

Move's peak was certainly the record label's bad for not pushing the release a week forward, it would've likely been #1 if it did.

 

9/11/13

1. Eminem ft Rihanna [74,674]

2. Lorde [59,903]

3. Fatboy Slim & Riva Starr [55,743]

 

16/11/13

1. Storm Queen [105,559]

2. Eminem ft Rihanna [96,095]

3. Little Mix [83,070]

 

Martin Garrix was #1 the following week with 105,767 - what an intense chart battle it would've been had he gone head to head with Storm Queen. :o

 

And indeed Ed Sheeran cockblocking Jax Jones was a huge shame. -_-

 

What was behind the big increase in sales for 'The Monster' between those two weeks, was it the release of its parent album (MMLP2)?

The Monster was a midweek release too IIRC

32.THONG SONG- Sisquo (88,000) #3

 

 

No 1 in 20 weeks in 2000

 

Former Dru Hill frontman Sisquo does the Beatles? Well in part true, the violin sections come from an interpretation of “Eleanor Rigby” by Wes Montgomery not that you might know that anyway. Creating a bit of a stir upon release and facing claims in some parts of the press of a rather sexist portrayal of women, it spent a fortnight locked behind Fragma and Craig David.

 

31. SHOW ME THE MEANING OF BEING LONELY- Backstreet Boys (89,000) #3

 

 

No 1 in 20 weeks in 2000

 

Back to the height of the boyband era and this little tune which was the first release from the boys in the new millennium. Another Cheiron/ Max Martin production. It may not have had the big budget promo of their previous hit “Larger Than Life” but it opened with a far healthier tally!

 

30. IT MUST BE LOVE- Madness (107,000) #4

 

 

No 1 in 20 weeks in 1981

 

Another Madness track here, and a cover of a No 14 hit from 1971 by its writer Labi Siffre. They were particularly unlucky being only 3,000 away from reaching No 2 in the week before Christmas 1981.

 

All three great songs and all so different

Love Thong Song.

'Move' is easily up there with Little Mix's best for me! Shame that it missed out on the top.

Crazy that each of #2 to #5 sold between 107k and 110k in the same week in 1981. (It Must Be Love went on to peak at #4 btw)

Love all three of those. I've always had the biggest soft spot for 'Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely' :wub: 'It Must Be Love' is my favourite song by Madness, I had no idea it was a cover though, I always assumed it had been written by them!

29. ANT RAP- Adam & The Ants (107,000) #3

 

 

No 1 in 20 weeks in 1981

 

Undoubtedly 1981’s biggest act, Adam Ant was a forerunner of the new romantic movement (though not directly linked to it) and with an eye for a striking image and an unusual pop sound he and the ants produced a string of top 10 singles in the year. Roping Lulu in for the video helped with sales and though it only made No 3 it sold as much weekly as both his chart toppers of the year.

 

28. SET ADRIFT ON MEMORY BLISS- PM Dawn (60,000) #3

 

 

No 1 in 21 weeks in 1991

 

Stuck behind 1991 mega sellers Right Said Fred and Bryan Adams there was little chance of this Spandau Ballet sampling track progressing into the top 2 but it certainly shifted enough on a weekly basis to top the charts. It went all the way to No 1 in the US and features a cameo from Tony Hadley in the video.

 

27. IT’S OKAY- Atomic Kitten (82,000) #3

 

 

No 1 in 21 weeks in 2001

 

Written and produced by Stargate it certainly had the credentials to follow up their two chart toppers in 2001 which this was following the group’s decision to scrap “You Are” as a single (that would have been their Christmas release). Hamilton was 5 months pregnant during the filming of the video, it opened with sales better than 4 of the girl’s weeks at No 1 in their discography but megahits from Eminem and Liberty X kept them at bay this time around.