Col

Before Gorky's took the mantle, the band who had the most Top 75 hits without making the Top 40 were That Petrol Emotion - four of whom came from my hometown of Derry and two of whom (the O'Neill brothers) were former Undertones. TPE's highest charting single was "Big Decision" in 1987, peaking at 43 - they had two other Top 50 hits: "Hey Venus" and "Tingle"'; both of which my brother bought on CD single at the time.

Maybe I am mixing up AEF with The 4 Of Us - I'm sure I remember them being introduced on either radio or TV in the early 1990s as coming from Newry... What number did that solo single from Eoghan Quiff reach in the end? I know it missed the Top 75. Also remembered another NI Top 40 artist - Peter Corry, who was credited on the George Best Tribute EP alongside the previously-mentioned Brian Kennedy. And another Top 40 artist that I've remember and who I'm surprised no one's mentioned yet - the lovely Sinead Quinn from Irvinestown (or the first Fame Academy, but I prefer the former myself). If you're counting albums, fellow Fame Academy contestant Malachi Cush from Donaghmore might also count - he had a #17 album off the back of the series.

The only one not mentioned so far is the many aliases of Paul Masterson (Hi-Gate, Yomanda, etc.). I'm sure the main male instrumentalist behind The Flying Lizards is originally from Coleraine. Oh, and there's also Briana Corrigan, the first Beautiful South vocalist, from the lovely Portstewart (hello Pete). Honourable mentions for fellow Derrymen, four fifths of That Petrol Emotion (who held the record for most Top 40 misses until Gorky's Zygotic Mynci wreslted the honour from them over a decade later), Newry's An Emotional Fish and Belfast's Energy Orchard who never made the Top 40. Also, a 'bout ya to La Faro - who were sound lads when I caught up with them at a gig a few months ago - as well as And So I Watch You From Afar. Also, do any X Factor contestants who appear on those ensemble charity records count? Which would mean Dungiven's Eoghan Quigg and Gortin's Janet Devlin may be added to the list. And I remember a friend of my sister went out with a member of Joyrider before they hit the Top 40 with "Rush Hour"... my nearest connection to a Top 40 artist.

I'm quite certain the high re-entry of "Read All About It" may be motivated by Pro Green's appearance on the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops - and if the remaining re-entry is what I think it is, that track should also be boosted by TOTP as well. And who says a pop music show doesn't have an effect on the charts?

From the BPI website: WHAM! - LAST CHRISTMAS Platinum Certification (Single) 01 January 1985 CBS (EPIC) Released 03 December 1984 Certification History: Silver Certification 01 December 1984 Gold Certification 01 December 1984

Lest we forget, Gary Barlow also wrote this... ZplUPSiYpQA&ob Sort of makes the idea he's writing the song by The X Factor winner this year more of a parody IMO - unless it actually is a cover of 'The Winner's Song'...

Must say, the Top 40 re-entries by Noel Gallagher and Florence are a positive progression to recent charts; makes a nice change to see non-RnB/dance songs make reinvigorated impacts.

Unlike Take That...

Two that spring to mind are Alizée's "Moi Lolita" in 2002 and Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" in 2005.

I'm sure "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" was eventually deleted; not sure exactly when, but with its chart run, I imagine it happened towards the end of its spell at Number 1. I dread to think how the charts of 20 years ago would look if the same chart landscape as today applied - mind you, it's about this time 20 years ago when you really started to see the effects of pre-release marketing come into play on the chart.

"Snot Rap" by Cuddly Kenny Everett?

In the post-2007 chart era, the first chart to feature no new entries in the Top 20 (outside of Christmas and New Year) was announced on 4th February 2007; Kasabian had the highest new entry with "Me Plus One" at 22. Other weeks with no new entries in the Top 20 since then, apart from those mentioned, include (the date I mention is the day the chart was announced): 17th February 2007: the highest new entry was "Desecration Smile" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers at 27; although the highest Top 40 entry was "Ice Box" by Omarion which had climbed 51-19 24th February 2007: the highest new entry was "This Is A Song" by the Magic Numbers at 36; the highest Top 40 entry was "Listen" by Beyoncé which had climbed 51-16 1st April 2007: the highest new entry was "I Want Candy" by Melanie C at 24; the highest Top 40 entry was "On Call" by Kings of Leon which had climbed 50-18 29th April 2007: the highest new entry was "Your Love Is Not Alone" by the Manic Street Preachers and Nina Persson at 26; the highest Top 40 entry was "Baby Baby" by Sunblock which had climbed 55-16 8th July 2007: the highest new entry was "The Heinrich Maneuver" by Interpol at 31; the highest Top 40 entry was "Soulmate" by Natasha Bedingfield which had climbed 49-7 20th April 2008: the highest new entry was "Happiness" by Goldfrapp at 25 4th May 2008: the highest new entry was "Daylight" by Kelly Rowland and Travie McCoy at 36; the highest Top 40 entry was "Maybe" by Jay Sean which had climbed 42-19 25th May 2008: the highest new entry was "10,000 Nights" by Alphabeat at 23 8th June 2008: the highest new entry was "All You Need Is Me" by Morrissey at 24 15th June 2008: the highest new entry was "We Are The People" by Feeder at 25; the highest Top 40 entry was "No Air" by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown which had climbed 74-22 13th July 2008: the highest new entry was "Standing Next To Me" by the Last Shadow Puppets at 30; the highest Top 40 entry was "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock which had climed 46-6 23rd November 2008: the highest new entry was a re-entry for "Run" by Snow Patrol at 29 11th January 2009 (so *just* outside the Christmas/New Year period): the highest new entry was a re-entry for "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio and LV; the highest Top 40 entry was a re-entry for "Circus" by Britney Spears at 24 Before 2007, the last time the highest new entry came in below the Top 20 was 19th June 1994, when the highest new entry was "Move Your Body" by Anticappella featuring MC Fixx - as Ben's already stated, at 21.

To their credit, "2 Become One" was the best of the Spice Girls' Christmas Number Ones, still stands a decent pop song and at least offered a respectable showcase for Mel C, Mel B and Emma's vocal capabilities. At least the single version removed the verse with the atrocious vocals by Victoria as found on the "Spice" album version. For me, the following also still sound good (and have aged well) today: 04. Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart 05. Robert Miles Featuring Maria Nayler - One And One 07. The Prodigy - Breathe 22. Chicane - Offshore 24. Babybird - You're Gorgeous 39. Faithless - Insomnia My guilty pleasure of the chart: 23. Lighthouse Family - Loving Every Minute Much, much better than their dull Top 10 hits. Also worth a mention for their remarkable chart runs: 15. Whitney Houston - Step By Step Admittedly, one of her better pop songs of her career, and 11 weeks in the Top 40 (7 in the Top 20) without making the Top Ten. 17-15-15-{13}-18-17-16-22-26-25-37 (Chart run info from Polyhex.com) 29. Spacehog - In The Meantime Was a big hit at the time on the college radio network in the States, and achieved six weeks in the Top 40 without getting any higher than 29 - astonshing fo the time, really benefit from the Christmas/New Year lull. {29}-(33)-29-32-32-37 (Chart run info from Polyhex.com)

Re: "Being Boring", not sure if it's been confirmed by Neil and Chris whether it's about people who have died from AIDS, but the last verse is, in hindsight, suggestive: "All the people I was kissing, some are here and some are missing in the 1990s..." Other upbeat-ish pop songs with lyrics referring to AIDS include "Hit That Perfect Beat" by Bronski Beat (you could argue most of the Bronski's songs are also examples of sugar sweet pop; listening to the lyrics they are anything but) and "Digging Your Scene" by the Blow Monkeys (satirising the ignorant hysteria of the time). A surprising example of a pop song with a dark undertone, and confirmed as such by the songwriter... "The Land of Make Believe" by Bucks Fizz is about Thatcher! "Something nasty in your garden's waiting patiently 'til it can have your heart, try to go but it won't let you, don't you know it's out to get you, running... keep on running, they're running after you..."

"To Have and To Hold" was performed on TOTP at the time, but as you say, it's not been added to any online video sites. Only the cover versions by Deftones and Depeche Mode.