Phil 20

Yes it falls into that ambiguous category of whether the written version is classed as the "original", even when it was never actually performed by the writer, as is the case here. Chesneys version is the original sung version although it was written by someone else. Nik Kershaw made a fortune from it anyway....... :D

The thing with cover versions is that there are several types really:- a) the obvious blatant cover, where the original song is well-known and everyone knows its a cover because the original is so famous b) a cover version of a fairly obscure song or album track, such as Chesney Hawkes covering Nik Kershaw's "I am the one and only" c) where someone has written a song specifically for another artist (is this classed as a "cover version" though)? But anyway, here's a few..... Most of Paul Youngs early hits were cover versions, such as "Everytime you go away", "Love of the common people", "Come back and stay", "Wherever I lay my hat" & "I'm gonna tear your playhouse down". Some of the most famous hits of the 50's and early 60's were covers of Carole King songs. These include "I'm into something good" by Hermans Hermits, "Will you still love me tomorrow" by The Shirelles and "Take good care of my baby" by Bobby Vee. Bruce Springsteen wrote some famous songs such as "Blinded by the light" by Manfred Manns earth band, "Pink Cadillac" by Natalie Cole and "Fire" by the Pointer Sisters.

I was actually thinking the other day that "someone like you" is really tedious and over-rated, but even worse are the succession of mindless club bangers which have reached no.1 this year. I would go as far as to say that 2011 is the worst year ever for no.1 singles; there is not one that I would buy or even choose to listen to - a dreadful selection. Looking at the current 20 best sellers of the year, I'd say "Moves like Jagger" and "Rolling in the deep" are head and shoulders above the rest, in fact they are pretty decent pop songs in any era.

Without You - Harry Nilsson. Written by Badfinger (more or less) Mandy - Barry Manilow. Written by Scott English. Ex-Mud member Rob Davis wrote 3 famous chart-toppers - "Can't get you out of my head" for Kylie, "Toca's miracle" for Fragma and "If this ain't love" for Spiller. And anything by Blue is probably a cover version............

I think Gerry Polci sang lead on "December '63" by the four seasons, instead of the more famous singer Frankie Valli. Having said that, Polci sang vocals on several of their hits around that time.

Surprised nobody has mentioned "Vienna" and "Shaddup you face" in the same breath yet...............well apart from me obviously.

1 – Queen – Greatest Hits (1981) – 5.7 million 2 – The Beatles – Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) – 5.1 3 – Abba – Gold: Greatest Hits (1992) – 4.6 4 – Oasis – (What's the Story) Morning Glory (1995) – 4.5 5 – Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms (1985) – 4.1 6 – Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon (1973) – 3.9 7 – Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982) – 3.9 8 – Michael Jackson – Bad (1987) – 3.9 9 – Queen – Greatest Hits II (1991) – 3.8 10 – Madonna – The Immaculate Collection (1990) – 3.6 11 – Simply Red – Stars (1991) – 3.5 12 – Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (2006) – 3.4 13 – Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977) – 3.4 14 – Shania Twain – Come on Over (1997) – 3.4 15 – Adele – 21 (2011) – 3.2 16 – The Verve – Urban Hymns (1997) – 3.1 17 – Dido – No Angel (1999) – 3.1 18 – James Blunt – Back to Bedlam (2004) – 3.1 19 – Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970) – 3.1 20 – Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend (1984) – 3.1 21 – The Corrs – Talk on Corners (1997) – 3.0 22 – Spice Girls – Spice (1996) – 3.0 23 – The Beatles – 1 (2000) – 3.0 24 – David Gray – White Ladder (1998) – 3.0 25 – Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977) – 2.9 26 – Dido – Life for Rent (2003) – 2.9 27 – Phil Collins – ...But Seriously (1989) – 2.9 28 – Take That – Beautiful World (2006) – 2.9 29 – Travis – The Man Who (1999) – 2.9 30 – Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) – 2.8 31 – U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987) – 2.8 32 – Abba – Greatest Hits (1975) – 2.7 33 – Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill (1995) – 2.7 34 – Lady Gaga – The Fame (2008) – 2.7 35 – Michael Bublé – Crazy Love (2008) – 2.7 36 – Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters (2004) – 2.7 37 – Keane – Hopes and Fears (2004) – 2.7 38 – Robbie Williams – I've Been Expecting You (1998) – 2.6 39 – Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells (1973) – 2.6 40 – Coldplay – Parachutes (2000) – 2.6 Bolded the ones I've got

The best christmas songs not to have reached #1 are:- I wish it could be christmas every day - Wizzard Fairytale of New York - Pogues and KM Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses I'd be happy to see (hear) any of them at the top on Dec 25th

Much like "The first time" by Robin Beck.......

Albatross has a grand total of 5 weeks at no.2, behind 4 different songs at no.1 (and Albatross also reached the top). These weeks weren't all in the same chart run. But its an interesting stat anyway.

Correct, I think its the only song ever in the UK to sell 1 million copies in two completely separate chart runs. To date it has sold around 2.35 million I believe.

Showing my age here, but "You spin me round" by Dead or Alive spent around 4 months in the T100 before reaching number 1.

Alexandra Burke is mentioned at the top of this thread, yet many of her hits (and number ones) are actually "featuring someone else", so are they really solo hits? In any case (and here's a whole new thread really) there are hardly any "solo" songs around really. Most hits are written by someone else with someone else creating the backing music and someone else tweaking the vocals using various computers and sound machines anyway.

I think David Bowie has 5 1975 Space Oddity 1980 Ashes to ashes 1981 Under Pressure 1983 Lets Dance 1985 Dancing in the streets Off the top of my head.....

The good, the bad and the ugly reached #1, not 2.