Gezza

On the question of MOK, BPI only awarded certifications up to 1 million so it never got a double platinum certification therefore that won't help to clarify the issue either.

03. MULL OF KINTYRE/ GIRL’S SCHOOL- Wings (1,216,700) 1977 17 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 So officially (on the BMRB chart) this was the best seller of the 70s and the first track to sell two million in the UK but not on the basis of panel sales (admittedly some will have been lost in the traditional-non-tracked- period of the Christmas week). Written as an homage to where McCartney was living at the time the song spent 9 long weeks at the top over December 77/ January 78, not bad for a song that McCartney was not convinced would be a hit so made it a double A-Side.

04. SUMMER NIGHTS- Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta (1,194,300) 1978 19 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 If anything rivalled “Saturday Night Fever” in terms of films making a cultural impact in the late 70s then it could only be “Grease”. Based on the 1971 musical of the same name, “Summer Nights” was not in the original score for the Chicago run of “Grease” but was written for its transfer to Broadway the following year, it earned Newton-John and Travolta a second straight million seller – the last act to pull off that feat for 6 years and the only (to that point) male/ female duo to grab two No 1’s.

Don't. I haven't seen the very end since I was about 15. Sobbed for an hour

05. SAILING- Rod Stewart (1,082,600) 1975 30 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Rod’s biggest 70s hit if only by virtue of the fact that it was a major hit twice! The song was penned by The Sutherland Brothers and was about (in the words of the writer): “"The amusing thing about 'Sailing' is that most people take the song to be about a young guy telling his girl that he's crossing the Atlantic to be with her. In fact, the song's got nothing to do with romance or ships; it's an account of mankind's spiritual odyssey through life on his way to freedom and fulfillment with the Supreme Being." There you go! Anyway the single failed to chart in 1972 upon release but it was brought to he attention of Rod Stewart via his then girlfriend and wanted to record it for his album “Atlantic Crossing” as it complemented the nautical theme of the album. For all that, Stewart argued with the label over releasing it as a single insisting that it shouldn’t be, however he was overruled as the single sailed to No 1 for a month! It was re-issued a year later after being used as the theme to the BBC 1 series “Sailor” and made the top 3 all over again, and finally No 41 in 1987 in the wake of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster.

06.BRIGHT EYES- Art Garfunkel (1,040,100) 1979 19 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 A song which faced opposition from radio who deemed it “too slow” it needed a promo of clips from the animated film “Watership Down” in which It appeared to get TV interested in it. The composer Mike Batt was asked to write a song about death and was asked who he would want to sing it- he picked Art Garfunkel not thinking for a minute that he would get him. Ironically the director of the movie died shortly after the song was completed from complications from surgery. It was the best selling single of 1979 officially crossing the million mark.

973k in the 90s

sadly i'm not too young to recall it😁- It had been around on radio for a few months before the release and I was desperate to buy it. It went off in the clubs when it got played pre-release so it was no shock at all when it went to the top!

facts of life should have been much bigger!

22ND APRIL Craig David’s “Fill Me In” continues to impress at retail with a further 93,000 takers pushing its total to 257,000 in 14 days enough for No 8 on the YTD but it can’t keep the top spot as it slides 1-2. Instead Britain’s new No 1 is Fragma and “Toca’s Miracle” which is essentially a mash up of two singles Fragma’s own “Toca Me” (#11, 1999) and Coco’s “I Need A Miracle (#39, 1997) and started to form in the summer of 1999 when Fragma’s single “Toca Me” was doing business on the dancefloors of Ibiza. DJ Vimto heard the song and thought it would go perfectly with the Coco track and created a bootleg late last year which was given to DJ’s and eventually came into the hands of the German trance group Fragma. They liked it so much they got permission from Coco and “Toca’s Miracle” was born, “I Need A Miracle” is incidentally written by former Mud member Rob Davis earning him a No 1 songwriting credit, his first as both of Mud’s chart toppers were written by Chinn/ Chapman. The package sold a mighty 187,859 copies last week evidencing the pent up desire for the track which has been delayed on two occasions for unknown reasons, that’s the second highest opening of the year so far! Proving he can make it on his own former Dru Hill lead vocalist Sisqo’s second solo release “Thong Song” makes a splash at No 3 (88,000) thanks no doubt in part to its mildly controversial video featuring a plethora of woman in just that. The promo comes with cameo appearances from his former Dru Hill bandmates, plus LL Cool J, and Ja Rule and if you’re wondering where that string sample come from it is from Wes Montgomery’s version of “Eleanor Rigby” and features an interpolation of “Livin La Vida Loca”. It’s a vast improvement on the No 14 peak of his first release “Got To Get It” and has just entered the US top 5. A US #3 hit late last year Jessica Simpson is the latest US teen sensation to transport herself over here and onto the chart, her debut single “I Wanna Love You Forever” making its presence felt at No 7 (35,000). The song was co-written by Sam Watters who was a member of Color Me Badd, and marketing wise she’s been portrayed as an anti-spears/Aguilera meaning a less sexualised image and of course interviews in which she stresses her virginal status. Last time Sash! had a single out it peaked at No 2 (“Adelante”) and the last time they teamed up with Tina Cousins they also made No 2 (“Mysterious Times”) so it must be a disappointment that in tandem again they can only score a No 8 hit with “Just Around The Hill”. The single is a second release from Sash!’s third album appropriately called “Trilenium” which is out this week but the single can only sell 33,000 copies last week. Sweet Female Attitude wilt 2-4 (56,000) but getting stuck in the groove are Bloodhound Gang at #5 (51,000) and Lock N Load at #6 (38,000) though both ease at retail. Melanie C Featuring Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes relax 7-9 (32,000) and Steps complete the recap 4-10 (31,000). 1- TOCA’S MIRACLE- Fragma (187,859) 2- FILL ME IN- Craig David (93,000) 3- THONG SONG- Sisqo (88,000) 4- FLOWERS- Sweet Female Attitude (56,000) 5- THE BAD TOUCH- Bloodhound Gang (51,000) 6- BLOW YA MIND- Lock N Load (38,000) 7- I WANNA LOVE YOU FOREVER- Jessica Simpson (35,000) 8- JUST AROUND THE HILL- Sash! (33,000) 9- NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN- Mel C Ft Lisa Left Eye Lopes (32,000) 10- DEEPER SHADE OF BLUE- Steps (31,000)

15TH APRIL For the first time in chart history (ignoring the first chart of all in 1952 obviously) the entire top six are all new entries, that tally swells to seven when looking at the top 10 in its entirety. Survivors from last week are thin on the ground but the top 3 cling on, Melanie C & Lisa Lopes do best of all falling 2-7 (46,000) but Westlife hurtle 1-8 (42,000) illustrating what a fanbase buy “Fool Again” was, and Destiny’s Child relax 3-9 (38,000). The influx sees the total number of entries into the top 10 in 2000 rise to 60, trailing only 1999 (64) and 1997 (73) to date. The new chart topper comes from Craig David who some may remember as the vocalist on Artful Dodger’s “Re-Rewind” when it made No 2 before Christmas. His debut solo affair “Fill Me In” is co-written by Mark Hill of the Artful Dodger so he hasn’t strayed far but it gives Britain another garage No 1 single at least convincing 165,526 to part with their money last week to easy outstrip all competition. At just 18 he’s the youngest solo male artist to make No 1 since Glenn Medeiros in 1988 but he’s the youngest British male soloist ever! David is working hard on his first album due in the summer. Birmingham female duo Sweet Female Duo are also giving a garage feel to the charts with their single “Flowers” which started out as a ballad before being remixed by Sunship last year and causing a stir on white label. It led to the girls getting picked up by a major label and “Flowers” now gets a full release making its presence felt at No 2 (80,000). Since the Verve split up last Spring speculation has been rife about Richard Ashcroft’s first solo single and this week it finally arrived. Many in the know tipped this as the No 1 but it started relatively brightly just behind Craig David but scaled back in the course of the week ended up at No 3 after selling 70,144. The song started out life as a demo for the Verve’s “Urban Hymns” LP but didn’t make the grade but Ashcroft obviously kept faith with it and it because it gives him a great Launchpad for his solo career. Those who forecast the slow slide into breakup of Steps seem to have been premature, whilst they no longer command a top 3 entry with every release their new single “Deeper Shade Of Blue” has no trouble debuting at No 4 (67,000). Originally designed as a Tina Cousins track for which she recorded the demo version, it now becomes Steps’ 9th top 10 single and naturally comes with its own dance moves and mixes which have gone down well in the clubs. Building a fanbase in Europe and the US over the past few years The Bloodhound Gang finally breakthrough in the UK with the tongue in cheek track “The Bad Touch” new at No 5 (59,000). The innuendo laced lyrics have raised some eyebrows but in the main the track is seen as a light hearted ode to sex, their only previous hit single was back in 1997 when “Why’s Everyone Always Pickin On Me?” which struggled to No 56. Frank van Rooijen and Niels Pijpers are a dutch duo who record under the name Lock N Load and created the track “Blow Ya Mind” a few years ago using it in their DJ sets to promote the song which samples Soundscape’s underground dance hit “Take Me Up”. It arrives at No 6 (48,000) to add some European flair to the top tier. And talking of Dutch dance, or rather trance, are duo Rank 1 and their single “Airwave” who are also new at No 10 (35,000), The only thing of mild interest is that the drum loop is sampled from the Red Bone remix of Crystal Waters “Gypsy Woman” from 1991. 1- FILL ME IN- Craig David (165,526) 2- FLOWERS- Sweet Female Attitude (80,000) 3- A SONG FOR THE LOVERS- Richard Ashcroft (70,144) 4- DEEPER SHADE OF BLUE- Steps (67,000) 5- THE BAD TOUCH- Bloodhound Gang (59,000) 6- BLOW YA MIND- Lock N Load (48,000) 7- NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN- Mel C Ft Lisa Left Eye Lopes (46,000) 8- FOOL AGAIN- Westlife (42,000) 9- SAY MY NAME- Destiny’s Child (38,000) 10- AIRWAVE- Rank 1 (35,000)

07. I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING- New Seekers (1,031,400) 1971 21 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Formed from the ashes of the successful 60s group The Seekers, Seekers member Keith Potger formed the New Seekers as a new group for the 70s, Scottish TV gave the group their own TV series on prime time. The show wasn’t huge hit and a line up change plus some flops were soon forgotten when the hits started in 1971 and later that year they recorded a version of a song called “True Love & Apple Pie” which got re-written lyrics for the purpose of use in a US Coca-Cola advert entitled “Buy The World a Coke”. It proved popular spawning two versions of the track by the Hillsiders (who performed the track on the advert) and the New Seekers which both omitted the brand references, The Hillsiders made US#13 but missed here where we took the New Seekers version sending it to No 1.

08. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY- Queen (1,014,500)* 1975 17 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Welded together from three different tracks and credited with advancing the medium of music promo. Mercury refused over the years to say what the song was about, other than about relationships, its length (just under 6 minutes) caused concern at the label over whether the song would get any airplay or promotion. They got round it by offering DJ Kenny Everett an exclusive if he promised to play it- Everett teased the audience with parts of the track and in the end playing it 14 times in just 2 days. It of course ended up spending 9 weeks at the top over Christmas 1975 (the longest stint at the top in 20 years) and again at Christmas 1991 in the wake of Mercury’s death.

All we have left are the million sellers!

09. TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OAK TREE- Dawn (966,000) 1973 40 weeks in the chart Peak position: 1 The best seller of 1973 told the tie of an ex-convict returning to his home to see if his partner still wanted him, that would be displayed by tying the aforementioned round the tree outside their house. The song had it’s route in a story dating back to the US Civil war where woman would wear a yellow ribbon in their hair to denote devotion to their partner who was away fighting, yellow being the branch colour of the cavalry. In any eventuality the sentimental tale proved just the ticket for their second chart topper.

10. MY SWEET LORD- George Harrison (952,500) 1971 17 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Harrison’s first single after the break up of the Beatles was a plea for religious freedom, peace and praise of the Hindu god Krishna. He originally handed the track to Billy Preston to record and indeed the song first surfaced on Preston’s 1970 album “Encouraging Words”, Harrison himself was reluctant to record the track himself given its overtly religious theme. He needn’t have worried as the song soared to the top and became the biggest seller of 1971, it was also the first solo Beatle chart topper and made No 1 again in 2002 shortly after Harrison’s death. Famously the song was involved in a massive court case over plagiarism later in the 70’s when it was claimed the track sailed too close to The Chiffons “She’s So Fine”- that ended up with an award of £587,000 in damages being awarded against Harrison with the finer points of the case not resolved until 1993! It set new case law on the laws of copyright.

So only the top10 left and all sold over 900,000

11. EYE LEVEL- Simon Park Orchestra (896,800) 1972 24 Weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Originally intended as mere library music, the tune is based on a German Nursery Rhyme which is in turn partly based on Mozart’s “Le Nozze Di Figaro”, and in the early 70s it was selected as the tune to crime series “Van Der Valk” on ITV which gave it prime time exposure. By the time the second series ended the track was at No 1 as the show got a larger audience after making No 41 the previous year after season 1 aired. It became the first track to be No 1 off the use as a theme of a TV show but the final truly instrumental track (to feature no vocals at all) ever, odd given their prevalence in the 50s and 60s.

12. AMAZING GRACE- The Pipes And Drums Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (880,200) 1972 27 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Dating back to 1779 this was obviously a Christian hymn, this version seemed to connect with the UK public who sent it to No 1 for 5 weeks in 1972 becoming the best seller of the year! Combining pipes with a military band caused some minor rancor with the pipe major being summoned to Edinburgh castle to be chastised for demeaning the pipes! In truth the song had seen a significant revival thanks to the Vietnam War in the late 60s and inspired a cappella version by Judy Collins which had been a long running hit here In 1971 spending 67 weeks in the top 50 somewhat softening the pubic for this new version. By the way the full name of the band meant that (at that time) they were the longest act to ever reach No 1.

13. YMCA- Village People (848,600)* 1978 16 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Extolling the virtues of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), well kind of…..it was also clearly a nod to the men only environment in such hostels and the things that may happen there. The history of the group being based on gay stereotypes seen in the local gay neighbourhoods of New York is well known, only two members of the group were actually gay (confirmed at any rate as the Cowboy and the native Indian). This has gone on to be a staple of 70s nights and parties with the accompanying dance.

14. MOULDY OLD DOUGH- Lieutenant Pigeon (837,000) 1972 19 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Might have to chalk this one up to “it was the 70s”. Instrumental that contained only two lines, the title and “Dirty Old Man”, it was composed by the duo Lieutenant Pigeon with one of the member’s mother on piano, a fact which still makes it a record holder as the only UK number one single to feature a mother and her son. The song flopped originally but was a hit in some European markets which prompted a re-issue where it was championed by DJ Noel Edmunds which helped push it to No 1 for a month.

15. SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME- Brotherhood Of Man (833,400) 1976 16 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 By far the biggest Eurovision track of the 70s this was of course the UK entry for 1976 and marched home to victory though it only won the qualifying competition (“Song For Europe”) by just 2 points from Co-Co who themselves represented the UK at Eurovision in 1978 and contained Bucks Fizz’s Cheryl Baker. It went on to top the charts all over Europe and ensured the band would be successful for the remainder of the 70s.

16. MARYS BOY CHILD- OH MY LORD- Boney M (832,500)* 1978 8 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Rounding off a fantastic year for the group in 1978 they scored the festive chart topper with this track, itself a cover of the Harry Belafonte’s 1957 Christmas No 1. It was put together with a new track “Oh My Lord” which helped give the songwriters a share in the profits, and was a second No 1 in just 8 months though they never made it there again and the fifth song to top the charts for different acts.

17. PUPPY LOVE- Donny Osmond (824,400) 1972 23 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Written by 19 year old Paul Anka and a hit for him in 1960 (UK#33) it got a revival by an even younger 14 year old Donny Osmond in 1972. The Osmonds were the teen sensation of the early 70s having been regulars on “The Andy Williams Show” and becoming stars on the US charts in 1971, so Donny’s first solo single here was always going to be an event and true enough it took just 4 weeks to hit the top where it stayed for 5 weeks that summer becoming his biggest solo hit.

18. THREE TIMES A LADY- The Commodores (819,500) 1978 14 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Inspired by a toast that his father made to his mother on their wedding anniversary ("She's a great lady, she's a great mother, and she's a great friend”) Richie wrote this track originally as a waltz. Feeling that it wouldn’t suit the music the Commodores were making he twiddled around it imagining it being sung by Frank Sinatra and we got the final version which was their only UK chart topper and replaced Diana Ross’ “I’m Still Waiting” as Motown’s biggest seller in the UK.