Gezza

32. HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK- Ian Dury & The Blockheads (730,500)* 1978 15 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 A quirky number which seemed to capture the spirit of Winter of discontent, the group were one of the leading lights of the new wave movement of the late 70s building up a good following through touring and the hits started rolling. This track was their only chart topper and was marketing towards the end of its run with a promotion that the dealer that ordered the millionth copy would get a mystery prize- it never got there so we’ll never know.

33. I WILL SURVIVE- Gloria Gaynor (730,200) 1979 15 Weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Whilst adapted at various times as an anthem for both Woman’s rights and gay rights, the song was actually written with an entirely different genesis. Dino Fekaris (principle songwriter) had been dropped by Motown as a writer after several years and conceived of the idea for the song as a response to them. It went unrecorded for a few years until he was co-producing a track called “Substitute” for Gloria Gaynor and presented this track as a possible B-side, she loved it and tried to get the label to flip the slides without success. “Substitute” only made No 78 but the B-side started getting club play and the label were convinced to promote it as the a-side and rest is history.

34. ARE “FRIENDS” ELECTRIC- Tubeway Army (727,100) 1979 16 Weeks on chart Peak position: 1 The sound of the future- well in 1979 it seemed that way at least, but what exactly the song about? Well Numan explained it in 2014 "All my early songs were about being alone or misunderstood. As a teenager, I'd been sent to a child psychiatrist and put on medication. I had Asperger's and saw the world differently. I immersed myself in sci-fi writers: Philip K Dick, JG Ballard. The lyrics came from short stories I'd written about what London would be like in 30 years. These machines – "friends" – come to the door. They supply services of various kinds, but your neighbours never know what they really are since they look human. The one in the song is a prostitute, hence the inverted commas. It was released in May 1979 and sold a million copies. I had a No 1 single with a song about a robot prostitute and no one knew.” Consider yourself updated, and though it didn’t sell a million in 79 it did provide the inspiration for the Sugababes “Freak Like Me” so bonus points there.

35. LONG HAIRED LOVER FROM LIVERPOOL- Little Jimmy Osmond (722,300) 1972 27 Weeks on chart Peak position: 1 In the record books as the youngest act to ever reach the top spot in the UK, Little Jimmy Osmond was only 9 years old when this stormed to the top at the height of Osmond mania in the country. Needless to say it’s a cover, this time the original was recorded by the composer Christopher Dowden in 1969 which flopped but was released on the same label in the US as the Osmonds were on which is how the track to the attention of the Osmond camp. The song became the festive Number one of the year and on the day it made No 1 The Osmonds own “Crazy Horses” stood at No 5 while brother Donny was at No 9 with “Why”- never before had 1 family so dominated the top 10!

Quite right. Altered. Thanks

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

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

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......

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

36. IN THE SUMMERTIME- Mungo Jerry (721,400) 1970 20 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Here’s the best seller of 1970, a track written by lead singer Ray Dorset who of course went on to write a chart topper for Kelly Marie in the 80s. This track was written in just 10 minutes whilst Dorset was working and it spent a mighty 7 weeks at No 1 in 1970. It was unusual at the time as the single played at 33 1/3 rpm rather than the usual 45rpm and came as a picture sleeve (again relatively unusual at the time), it’s slower playing speed allowed the 7” to contain three songs on instead of the usual 2 and was therefore considered as good value for money which may have also helped with sales. The motorbike sound on the track was actually one of Dorset’s friends driving past the studio which was captured for the single. The group went on to have another number one but this is the only one to make the list, and they took their name from a poem by T.S.Elliot

37. DANCE AWAY- Roxy Music (701,500) 1979 14 Weeks on chart Peak position: 2 Another major 70s act that only had one chart topper- but that never came until the 80s so it was that this was their biggest hit of the decade. It was written by Bryan Ferry in 1977 and planned for his fourth solo album but got cut in the end, it was then planned for his fifth solo album a year later- and then got cut again! It was finally finished and included on the Roxy Music album “Manifesto” and became a single. Although weekly panel sales are not available it must have come exceptionally close to being No 1 spending three weeks behind Blondie’s “Sunday Girl” but as you can see outselling it ultimately.

38. ONE DAY AT A TIME-Lena Martell (691,800) 1979 15 Weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Country and Western Christian music was a chart-topping thing in the 70s it seems. This Kris Kristofferson co-penned track was first recorded by Marilyn Sellars and made into a US Top 40 hit in 1974, it was then a major hit in 1977 and 1978 in Ireland for singer Gloria which in turn brought it to the attention of Martell whose original release flopped. Nevermind she had another bash in 79 and bingo a huge hit as she joined the long list of one hit wonders!

39. BLOCKBUSTER!- The Sweet (690,000) 1973 15 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Another Chinn/Chapman creation and the only chart topper from these Glam Rocksters. Minor controversy was caused when the bass player appeared on TOTP wearing a swastika and a Hitler moustache- it was a different time! Famously frontman Brian Connelly was fostered (though never formerly adopted) by the parents of actor Mark McManus (lead in “Taggart”) and the group scored an impressive 13 top 20 hits in the decade.

40. MY DING-A-LING- Chuck Berry (684,000)* 1972 17 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Another to chalk up as “a 70s thing”- and yes his Ding-a-ling is exactly what you think it is! Starting life innocently enough as a 19th century folk song “little brown jug” it went through many interpretations and lyrical re-writes with this particular version first seeing light of day as single in 1952 by Dave Bartholomew with Berry himself first performing it under a version called “My Tambourine” in 1968. For his live tour he reverted back to the Bartholomew version with this track recorded live in Coventry in Early 1972, incredibly it made No 1 not only here but in the US (his sole No 1 in either country) despite little airplay radio and TV and an active campaign by Mary Whitehouse to have the track banned on the grounds of decency. What would she have made of “W.A.P”……..

41. UNDER THE MOON OF LOVE- Showaddywaddy (681,500)* 1976 15 Weeks on chart Peak position; 1 If it’s true that music styles repeat every 20 years then Showaddywaddy are surely proof that 50s throwback rock n roll was back in fashion in the 70s- an impressive 10 top 10 hits between 74 and 78 yet this was their only No 1. The original was from 1961 was by Curtis Lee and was a minor US hit but this one was almost the festive chart topper for 1976 before getting bounced off the top spot by Johnny Mathis in the Christmas week. The group were formed of two local Leicester groups who decided to merge, they too found fame courtesy of TV talent shows, this time “New Faces”, their formula of remaking rock N roll classics was a trick that eventually Shakin Stevens would take to new heights in the 80s effectively ending Showaddywaddy’s chart career

He's on the pic I posted but he wasn't in that TOTP performance, he is in the one I posted.

8TH APRIL Well it turned into one hell of a tussle in the end, for the second time in the year the difference between the top two records was under 1,500 with Mel C putting up a brave defence of her crown against Westlife’s new single “Fool Again”. Westlife took an early lead but Mel C managed to claw the lead back to be 3,000 ahead by the end of Thursday cue a mad rush of promotion by the boys over the weekend including an unscheduled drop in at CD:UK and record signings with the end result that they manage a fifth chart topper from 5 releases! In debuting at No 1 it means the boys go into the record books- no act has previously debuted at the top with their first five singles- let alone that they take them all from the same studio album and they do it in under a year- another record. Only The Spice Girls have had a better start to a career when they placed their first 6 hits at the top though of course one of those (“Wannabe”) didn’t debut there. Sales wise “Fool Again” is Westlife’s worst opening tally, perhaps understandably, with just 82,776 copies to Mel C’s “Never Be The Same Again” total of 81,353, the latter track has sold 226,000 in a fortnight placing it in the top 10 YTD which looks like this with Q1 now at the end: 1- PURE SHORES- All Saints 619,000 2- RISE- Gabrielle 423,000 3- AMERICAN PIE- Madonna 315,000 4- BORN TO MAKE YOU HAPPY- Britney Spears 295,000 5- MOVIN TOO FAST- Artful Dodger Featuring Romina Johnson 280,000 6- GO LET IT OUT- Oasis 262,000 7- NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN- Melanie C Featuring Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes 226,000 8- U KNOW WHAT’S UP- Donell Jones 220,000 9- DON’T GIVE UP- Chicane Featuring Bryan Adams 201,000 10- BAG IT UP- Geri Halliwell 185,000 Chicane & Bryan Adams also sneak in as they fall 5-7 (29,000) meanwhile Geri Halliwell who herself sinks 4-8 (28,000) at least makes the YTD top 10 for now. Scoring their biggest hit to date Destiny’s Child score a 4th top 10 this week with “Say My Name”. Between releases you’ll probably be aware that the group has had a big line-up change to rival the Honeyz, with LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson leaving and Farah Franklin and Michelle Williams joining, the singing talents of Luckett and Roberson are still present on the song though the girls have been replaced on the promo. The song shifted 48,000 copies to finish a distant third, but has just finished a run of three weeks atop the US charts so won’t be disappointed. It’s the week for girl groups it seems with Destiny’s Child and now Atomic Kitten getting their biggest hits. The Kitten’s first release “Right Now” nipped in at No 10 before Christmas and now second release “See Ya” gives us more infectious pop pushing even higher at No 6 (39,000) suggesting the future is bright, spare a thought for the other girl group B”Witched who can only enter at No 16 suggesting their smallest hit ever! Elsewhere Moloko fade 2-4 (47,000), Santana remain atop the album charts but “Smooth” ebbs 3-5 (43,000), Blink 182 drop 6-9 (26,000) and Dr Dre dips 7-10 (23,000). 1- FOOL AGAIN- Westlife (82,776) 2- NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN- Mel C Ft Lisa Left Eye Lopes (81,353) 3- SAY MY NAME- Destiny’s Child (48,000) 4- THE TIME IS NOW- Moloko (47,000) 5- SMOOTH- Santana Ft Rob Thomas (43,000) 6- SEE YA- Atomic Kitten (39,000) 7- DON’T GIVE UP- Chicane Ft Bryan Adams (29,000) 8- BAG IT UP- Geri Halliwell (28,000) 9- ALL THE SMALL THINGS- Blink 182 (26,000) 10- STILL D.R.E- Dr Dre Ft Snoop Dogg (23,000)

1ST APRIL For the first time in chart history two former members of a group replace each other at the top with solo efforts, those in question are Geri Halliwell and Melanie Chisholm both of the Spice Girls. It should be noted that there is a similar situation in chart history, way back in early 1963, when former Shadows members Jet Harris and Tony Meehan knocked the aforementioned Shadows off the top, but this is the first instance where both tracks have been solo efforts from band members, Mel C also debuted with Bryan Adams further linking her to the last two chart toppers. Naturally it also means that The Spice Girls join the Beatles in so much as three members of the band then went on to have solo chart toppers, Mel C following both Halliwell and Mel G to the top in this case. She did it in some style too, “Never Be The Same Again” sold 144,936 last week more than any Halliwell single sold in any week and not bad for a third single from an album, it receives help from TLC member Lisa “Left-eye” Lopes and makes her album climb 12-10 to equal its best position ever.. Moloko stormed into the top 20 for the first time last September with the No 4 hit “Sing It Back”, they prove that that was no fluke by getting an even bigger hit with the follow up “The Time Is Now”. Lead single from their third album “Things To Make And Do”, the song sold 71,000 copies last week to land at No 2. Next up is a song that must count as one of the biggest comebacks in music history. Santana rose to fame in 1969 on the back of an appearance at Woodstock and spent most of the 70s as a high selling albums act certainly in the US if not here before declining in the 80s and the 90s, the highest peaking single during that time here was a cover of the Zombies “She’s Not There” (#11, 1977). That wilderness was ended last summer with the popularity of Latin music which put them back in fashion and their first studio album in six years “Supernatural” exploded stateside going to No 1 and lead single “Smooth” topped the US chart for 12 weeks over the new year. The UK by and large ignored it all with the song peaking at No 75 in October and the album making No 33 before bowing out after 3 weeks, but once everything went into overdrive in the US we started to take notice with the album re-appearing and improving every week this year sales wise crowning its success with moving to No 1 this week. Meanwhile “Smooth” gets a re-issue and becomes their biggest hit to date at No 3 (57,000), it features vocal from Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas. Geri Halliwell drops 1-4 (51,000), we also have other former chart toppers dropping, namely Chicane Featuring Bryan Adams 2-5 (47,000), Madonna 5-8 (31,000) and All Saints 7-9 (27,000). Also registering another week in the top flight are Blink 182 2-6 (34,000), Dr Dre Featuring Snoop Dogg 6-7 (32,000) and ATB 4-10 (26,000). 1- NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN- Mel C Ft Lisa Left Eye Lopes (144,936) 2- THE TIME IS NOW- Moloko (71,000) 3- SMOOTH- Santana Ft Rob Thomas (57,000) 4- BAG IT UP- Geri Halliwell (51,000) 5- DON’T GIVE UP- Chicane Ft Bryan Adams (47,000) 6- ALL THE SMALL THINGS- Blink 182 (34,000) 7- STILL D.R.E- Dr Dre Ft Snoop Dogg (32,000) 8- AMERICAN PIE- Madonna (31,000) 9- PURE SHORES- All Saints (27,000) 10- KILLER- ATB (26,000)

Yes all releases are combined

IHAD has panel sales of 462k but that doesn't include the Christmas week so yes that's undoubtedly over 500k in reality though we don't know by how much!

42. MAGGIE MAY- Rod Stewart (678,800) 1971 25 Weeks on chart Peak position: 1 \ The song that launched Rod Stewart as an international rock star and one of the stars of the decade. It started out as a b-side to “Reason To Believe” which climbed to No 19 before it was flipped to the more popular “Maggie May” which was by that time getting all the radio play and attention. Written from Stewart’s own personal experience of being 16 and being involved with an older woman it proved a massive hit hitting the top on both sides of the Atlantic.

43. RAT TRAP- Boomtown Rats (676,900) 1978 15 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Arguably the first new wave group to hit No 1 in the UK, Geldof’s tale of being trapped in a small town knocked John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John from No1 , something the group referenced on their TOTP performance by ripping up pictures of Travolta during their performance. The musician’s union refused to let Geldof mime playing the saxophone (due to the fact that he didn’t play it on the record) at the start of the same performance, Geldof’s revenge was to use the candelabra prop as a sax instead. It may also be the only No 1 track to mention “Top Of The Pops” in its lyrics, and was an early example of the production magic of Mutt Lange. For the single release it had lyrics changed with “And pus and grime ooze from its scab crusted sores” changed to “"And blood and sweat pours down the drain and the sewer"

44. SUNDAY GIRL- Blondie (671,900) 1979 13 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 The most famous song ever written about a cat going missing? Well possibly. Debbie Harry’s cat was called “Sunday Man” and when it ran away it proved just the inspiration that Chris Stein needed for this track which became Blondie’s second No 1 on the trot. It never got a US release with the label favouring “One Way Or Another” there.

Yes pre downloads "Take A Chance" was their biggest seller marginally then Super Trouper Dancing Queen Knowing Me Fernando. The OCC gave their version in 2021 where the top 5 were now 1 DANCING QUEEN 1 1976 2 SUPER TROUPER 1 1980 3 KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU 1 1977 4 TAKE A CHANCE ON ME 1 1978 5 FERNANDO 1 1976

Are you talking now or "at the time"- i.e circa 1983