I guess that one is okay for what it is, but I would have it quite low down as well. Out of all the metal tracks to have been released, it feels unjust that this was the one to top the charts. I agree with your feelings around the genre, I’ve always found it a difficult sound to love.

My grandparents bought my brother and I that Jason Donovan song. They would often do that with things that seemed popular and also suited their tastes; so we had the odd song like Any Dream Will Do or Saviour’s Day amongst our singles collection. I don’t like it that much to be honest, even lyrically I find it quite basic for a west end song.

1991 was a great year for music though I'm not fussed about any of the featured number 1's so far.

Once you get past the title of the Color Me Badd record it's a non-entity of a song. Hale & Pace and The Simpsons are supposed to be rubbish. Not a fan of musicals so don't like the Jason Donovan record. Iron Maiden isn't bad but they've done much better. My general rule for determining how good an Iron Maiden song is the faster the song the better and this ones quite slow by their standards.

I've got no time for this song at all, probably second last for me in front of The Stonk only.

But agreed they had some good tracks in the 80s. And that chart run is something to marvel at for sure.

Amazed that no song has had two weeks at No.1 and then departed the top ten as it feels like that could reasonably happen even now, with maybe an instant fanbase hit or viral wave getting something to the top (50-60k), tailing off but still enough to be in front on week two (35k), and then then dropping to say 20k in the third week and departing the top ten. I wonder how close Emma Bunton came to it sales wise in 2001. Not sure what the sales were like for No.8 where she dropped to and No.11 that week.

Didn't like this at the time and still don't. I have always struggled with Iron Maiden and their cartoon manic OTT metal, never straying far from the template established with their best track Run To The Hills. At least Bruce Dickinson's solo stuff was a bit more varied, notably his cover of All The Young Dudes, not to mention his pilot career and swordfighting! Now that impressed me! This is better than The Stonk though.

Not that I'm against the genre, but if I am going for that era manic metal I go OTT with Motorhead's best tracks, or earlier Deep Purple on Fireball, Sabbath Paranoid.

11 hours ago, jimwatts said:

13 Iron Maiden - Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter

2 weeks in December 1990 - January 1991: {1}-1-9-32-68->5

Kept off #1: None

Not in top 100 of any EOY

Weekly sales at #1: 41k (in 1990), 32k

Now for the lowest selling #1 of 1991, and in fact it had the lowest maximum weekly sale of any #1 in the 80s or 90s with that first week,

Not sure what you mean by this sentence?- there were lower weekly sales for No 1's

I interpreted it as meaning if you were to only include the highest sales week for each of the #1s of the 80s and 90s then Iron Maiden would rank last

(No idea if that’s a true stat but I think that’s what Jim meant)

22 minutes ago, dandy* said:

I interpreted it as meaning if you were to only include the highest sales week for each of the #1s of the 80s and 90s then Iron Maiden would rank last

(No idea if that’s a true stat but I think that’s what Jim meant)

Not sure- but if you're right then it still wouldn't work- Tasmin Archer for example did 37k in her best week at No 1......

Oh no we can’t have lovely Tasmin in that position. Rewrite the sales stats so it is Iron Maiden!

😆not that it matters, but was just curious...

Like many others I’d say Bring Your Daughter… is not my favourite Iron Maiden single, but it was great to see them at number one! Regarding low sales, there was a period when that spell just after Christmas became easy pickings for a number one for some unusual acts wasn’t there? I think the Manics did something similar didn’t they? Anyway I love a bit of metal doing well in the charts for a change. However my quoting the lyrics wasn’t exactly popular in our house… with my 3 daughters!😆

I haven't looked at the list of number 1s for this year but I think I might well have the same bottom four, there's not much to like about any of them. The Iron Maiden song isn't much better but I liked the fact a heavy metal song could get to number 1 in 1991. Run To Hills is my favourite from them.

4 hours ago, Gezza said:

Not sure what you mean by this sentence?- there were lower weekly sales for No 1's

I did mean exactly as Dandy described, however I had a feeling I might have missed one or two, and it looks like 'Sleeping Satellite' was the only one! Still it appears Iron Maiden had the lowest "maximum sale" for a #1 from the start of the 80s up to that point...

12 Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy

2 weeks in November 1991: 6-2-{1}-1-2-2-8-14-22-22-26-57->12

Kept off #1: 2 Unlimited - Get Ready For This

#8 in EOY 1991

Weekly sales at #1: 64k; 57k

Six songs in, and we're still getting through the of-its-time novelty stuff. British comedian Vic Reeves, who now goes by his real name Jim Moir, had established himself on the A-list with his TV show Vic Reeves' Big Night Out where he would also establish a double act with Bob Mortimer, and they would front future shows as Reeves and Mortimer. In an aside to this, Reeves had delved into music, and his rendition of 'Born Free' made #6 earlier in 1991. For the follow up to trail his album I Will Cure You, he teamed up with Midlands alternative rock band The Wonder Stuff, who had broken through in the late 80s but also had their biggest previous hit earlier in 1991 which made #5. The song they covered together had already been a UK #1, for Tommy Roe in 1969, and they improved its one week at the top with a fortnight of their own.

I wasn't aware of the original until much later, and while Reeves' vocals are not great at best, it's quite a fun, if disposable take on a 60s hit that wasn't already overfamiliar. The crunching guitars and somewhat funky drumming save it from being mere comic trash, then we also get Reeves' exaggerated elongation of "ti-i-i-ime" before the second chorus, and the sing-off of the title between him and Wonder Stuff frontman Miles Hunt at the end. The video showcases a stacked wall of washing machines because of the spinning, like a Whirpool... (in their TOTP performance, Reeves' attempted unsuccessfully to locate which of the machines behind him had a camera to sing into). However as a single, it's not really one for the ages - I certainly prefer the aforementioned #5 'The Size Of A Cow' from The Wonder Stuff, and perhaps even Reeves & Mortimer's 1995 take on 'I'm A Believer' with EMF, albeit I remember that one better from the time.

In its second week at the top, 2 Unlimited were held to #2 for a second time, having previously been there behind the #1 before last which is still to come. This eurodance smash would have made for a much better #1, with its instantly recognisable intro and Ray Slijngaard's "Y'all ready for this?" Pete Waterman of their PWL label did his best to minimise his appearances on the mixes for their UK releases and give Anita Doth most of the vocals after this, however they would have their chart-topping glory a couple of years later.

Dizzy is a good song with all the key changes.

Get Ready For This is very good too, dance was becoming very big in the charts by late 1991.

Edited September 6Sep 6 by TheSnake

I have a soft spot for Dizzy, but then I’m a big fan of the Wonderstuff, and I do love the original (that’s another one I need to add to my burgeoning 60s playlist) which this was basically a sped up ‘knock about’ version of. It just sounds like great fun and full of energy, though I agree Vic’s vocals aren’t the greatest!

That’s the first of the 1991 number ones I’ve liked so far.

Edited September 6Sep 6 by Jaz13music

Iron Maiden: Not a great song, but what a great marketing strategy from them to pull it out straight after christmas in different formats. This was the most difficult Single-CD to get out of all 90's UK #1's as the majority was released as vinyl formats.

Dizzy: Another not so-great #1 - none of the so far songs was really great and I would place this behind the Bartman and Color Me Badd.

4 minutes ago, DaTilt said:

Iron Maiden: Not a great song, but what a great marketing strategy from them to pull it out straight after christmas in different formats. This was the most difficult Single-CD to get out of all 90's UK #1's as the majority was released as vinyl formats.

I’ve noticed you mentioning getting CD singles of number ones in the past and forgot to ask about it. Have you collected all the 90s ones? That’s a fantastic achievement!

First one I really like in this countdown!

Also love the 2 Unlimited track.

1 hour ago, Jaz13music said:

I’ve noticed you mentioning getting CD singles of number ones in the past and forgot to ask about it. Have you collected all the 90s ones? That’s a fantastic achievement!

I don't have all the 90s ones but I do have all the 00s ones! (sorry I know you weren't asking me! 😁)

I'm always amazed at the effort you all put into your write ups. I feel like I have nothing new to say about anything so I don't bother very much. Even with songs that I love.

1991 had some great number 1s (not many though) but it also had plenty of rubbish too,