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 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.

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..."

The last time i heard "To Have and To Hold" was when it was in the chart. Never heard it since, and i've never seen it appear on youtube...i bit

like late 70s afternoon serial The Cedar Tree. Bit of a holy grail that one.

 

"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.

As much as I loved Top of the Pops, I don't think the time is right at present for it to return at the moment. The charts are too skewed towards RnB/pop, mainly from the US, that appeals to a younger audience (which is how the show became in the awful Andi Peters-produced era), which will alienate fans (and possible bands) of other genres who won't bother tuning in, and I always feel TOTP works better when it reflects all aspects of the pop music scene.

 

During TOTP's last year when it was on Sunday evenings on BBC TWO I thought the formula was right; a mix of pop and indie, and the brand new chart revealed on TV for the first time instead of a 5-day old chart. And of course, TOTP could give other music genres the boost it needs by a high-profile slot in the mainstream media. You need to look at how being on last year's Christmas TOTP gave Florence and the Machine's "You Got the Love" the second wind to push it into the Top 10.

 

Having a government that is freezing the BBC's main source of revenue in the licence fee and a regulation who are insisting the BBC offer a distinctive service to other channels doesn't help either.

 

btw, Another forum I regularly post on has a "Fantasy TOTP" thread where a possible line-up is posted each Sunday evening, here's this week's as an example:

 

Katy Perry - "Firework" (4)

Tinchy Stryder feat Taio Cruz - "Second Chance" (22)

Nadine Coyle - "Insatiable" (26)

B.O.B - "Magic" (16)

Alexis Jordan - "Happiness" (3)

The Saturdays feat Flo Rida - "Higher" (10)

Rihanna - "Only Girl (In The World)" (1)

Will I Am feat Nicki Minaj - "Check It Out" (11) (video/credits)

 

Not sure if I can link to the forum as I'm a noob and don't know if it counts as spamming...

Spot the joint chart positions in the singles chart - two #71s and two #76s.

 

And four TV related songs in the Top 40 ("Something Outta Nothing" from EastEnders, "To Have and To Hold" from the forgotten ITV drama series of the same name, "The Wizard" from TOTP and "Always There" from Howard's Way).

 

"Ask" is my favourite record in the entire chart.

Another list; from the BPI website, a list of gold/platinum selling Number 4 hits in the UK:

 

Platinum:

Robbie Williams "Angels"

Savage Garden "Truly Madly Deeply"

Janet Jackson "Together Again"

 

Gold:

Sylvia "Y Viva España"

Bonnie Tyler "It's a Heartache"

Earth Wind and Fire with the Emotions "Boogie Wonderland"

The Tourists "I Only Wanna Be With You"

Madness "Embarrassment" (certainly hasn't sold over c. 340,000)

Madness "It Must Be Love"

Haircut 100 "Love Plus One"

Thompson Twins "Hold Me Now"

The Cars "Drive"

============================

Kaoma "Lambada"

Jimmy Nail "Crocodile Shoes"

Ini Kamoze "Here Comes The Hotstepper"

DJ Quicksilver "Belissima"

Ultra Naté "Free"

Mavericks "Dance the Night Away"

Aerosmith "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" (most likely eligible for platinum)

Vengaboys "Up and Down"

Alice Deejay "Back in My Life"

Bloodhound Gang "The Bad Touch"

Gorillaz "Clint Eastwood"

Nickelback "How You Remind Me"

Katy Perry "Hot and Cold"

Beyoncé "Halo"

Lady Gaga "Paparazzi"

 

And add to the above:

Ke$ha "Tik Tok" (576k+)

Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind Part II" (549k+)

Tony Rich Project "Nobody Knows" (410k+)

Maybe not what's being asked for, but here goes; a list of the best-selling Number 4s by year from 1980 to 2010 (with position in best selling singles chart of the year, and where possible, estimated sales for that year)

 

Biggest selling number 4s by year

 

1980: UB40 "King/Food for Thought" (40th; c. 340,000 sales)

 

1981: Electric Light Orchestra "Hold on Tight" (30th)

 

1982: Haircut 100 "Love Plus One" (14th)

 

1983: Mike Oldfield "Moonlight Shadow" (29th)

 

1984: Prince "When Doves Cry" (28th)

 

1985: Kool and the Gang "Cherish" (23rd)

 

1986: Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer" (28th)

 

1987: Sinitta "Toy Boy" (27th; c. 335,000 sales)

 

1988: Bill Withers "Lovely Day (Sunshine Mix)" (38th)

 

1989: London Boys "Requiem" (27th)

 

1990: Blue Pearl "Naked in the Rain" (31st)

 

1991: Zoe "Sunshine on a Rainy Day" (18th)

 

1992: Pasadenas "I'm Doing Fine" (28th)

 

1993: Bee Gees "For Whom The Bell Tolls" (33rd)

 

1994: China Black "Searching" (25th; c. 347,400 sales)

 

1995: Ini Kamoze "Here Comes The Hotstepper" (24th; c. 407,000 sales)

 

1996: Tony Rich Project "Nobody Knows" (29th; c. 410,000 sales)

 

1997: Ultra Naté "Free" (20th; c. 480,000 sales)

* Robbie Williams "Angels" (peaked at Number 5) (38th; c. 340,000 sales)

** Janet Jackson "Together Again" (34th; c. 360,000 sales)

 

1998: Savage Garden "Truly Madly Deeply" (10th; c. 646,000 sales)

* Aerosmith "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" (18th; c. 559,000 sales)

** Robbie Williams "Angels" (26th, c. 467,000 sales)

*** Mavericks "Dance the Night Away" (27th; c. 432,000 sales)

**** Janet Jackson "Together Again" (33rd; c. 381,000 sales)

 

1999: Various Artists "Thank Abba For The Music" (52nd(!); c. 334,600 sales)

 

2000: The Bloodhound Gang "The Bad Touch" (20th; c. 377,000 sales)

 

2001: Gorillaz "Clint Eastwood" (12th; c. 450,000 sales)

 

2002: Nickelback "How You Remind Me" (12th; c. 430,000 sales)

 

2003: Big Brovaz "Baby Boy" (40th; c. 150,000 sales)

 

2004: ???

 

2005: Will Smith "Switch" (15th; c. 199,275 sales)

 

2006: The Automatic "Monster" (21st; c. 182,500 sales)

 

2007: The Fray "How to Save a Life" (11th; c. 300,392 sales)

 

2008: Katy Perry "Hot 'n' Cold" (23rd; c. 298,780 sales)

 

2009: Lady Gaga "Paparazzi" (21st; 447,000 sales)

 

2010: Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind Part II) (9th to date; c. 549,600 sales)

 

Data gleaned from Wikipedia* and Buzzjack

 

* - Any margins of error etc. are not my fault ;)

 

From the looks of it, sales of the big selling Number 4s have picked up from a mid 2000s slump to late 1990s levels, when what must be the highest selling singles to peak at Number 4 in the UK chart charted over a 12 month period: "Angels", "Together Again", "Truly Madly Deeply" and "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing".

This could be sticking my neck out on here, but I'd like to mention how surprisingly good Cliff Richard and Hank Marvin's "Throw Down a Line" is, give it a listen and see what you think.

 

(Would have linked for you, but I need more posts... dang.)

 

Of course, the BBC were happy to play the instrumental version of "Je T'Aime" with its Anglicised title, but of course, Serge and Jane were banned.

Feargal Sharkey's "Listen to your Father" was the first single released on Madness's Zarjazz label, and the TOTP performance featured most of the Nutty Boys:

 

(Sorry, there was a version without Wrighty's inane ramblings on YouTube until recently but it seems to have been removed :angry:)

 

A song that never features on any CD compilations either; our Feargal did other solo songs than "A Good Heart" you know.

With "Barbra Streisand" climbing 27-2, and the likelihood of Cole and Rihanna battling for Number 1 on Friday, nice to see the Irish chart taking a more 1980s appearance than its UK equivalent!

There was that instance in April 1983 of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" charting at the same time as "I'm Never Giving Up" by Sweet Dreams, the UK's 1983 Eurovision hopefuls.