TomJ1991

I just had to check if We Didn't Start the Fire got to number 1, but it was a number 7 hit...it mentions more different people than probably any other song! There are also bound to be songs that use nicknames to reference some artists - like saying MJ instead of Michael Jackson, or The King to reference Elvis.

Band Aid II and Band Aid 40.

The Starmer song was number 1 on downloads last week (didn't trouble the main charts, though). Not entirely sure why they were pushing for downloads a week early, mind. It's quite funny to see both "Beard Meats Food" and "Beardman" in the top 10 on iTunes!

I believe that if it was combined and reset, it would have had around 49k, so would have just snatched the #1 this week. But it seems the charts company are pretty unwilling to reset Christmas songs - probably because it would be silly if artists released a new CD, sold 5k copies of that, then gained 20k streaming sales from the original version.

So it finished at #8 this week. 28,289 combined sales [4,990 CDs, 2,438 vinyl] - which I imagine means it hasn't had a reset? Does anyone know? Though god knows how they work out all the data when new versions of an old song are included...

This has prompted me to look up his history of Christmas Number 1 chart campaigns: 2008: Ricky Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up - #73 2009: RATM - #1 2011: Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit - #11 2012: The Justice Collective, He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother - #1 2013: ACDC, Highway to Hell -#4 2014: The Peace Collective, All Together Now - #70 2017: Wham, Last Christmas - #2 2020: The Kunts, Boris Johnson is a f***ing c**t - #5 2021: The Kunts, Boris Johnson is STILL a f***ing c**t - #5 2022: The Kunts, f*** the Tories - #7 2023: The Pogues - #6 Despite his past success, I really don't see this taking off at all. All of the recent hits were either: Directly related to Christmas - so they would have got tons of sales anyway. Odds are that both Wham and The Pogues would have charted in similar positions without a campaign, frankly. OR Were actively being pushed and promoted as protest songs, with multiple versions for download. I can't see ELO playing the game and having 20 different versions on Bandcamp for 59p! They will also get virtually no streaming compared to the deluge of Christmas hits in the charts.

I think this week it will go top 20 with the sales of both versions combined, but that's it. Considering Girls Aloud released a new version of I'll Stand By You for Children In Need, and it didn't make the top 100...I just think too much has changed since Band Aid 30, charity singles are not what they once were. The new version will be number 1 on physical sales, though, but that is about it. I'm fairly certain the original version will actually have more sales this week from streaming points alone, I just don't see any real hype behind this.

I believe Jess Glynne was the last Children in Need single to have a CD release, back in 2015. It just isn't a thing anymore. To be honest, the impact of being a "Children In Need single" hasn't really been a thing since then, either. Only one CIN song has reached the top 20 since 2015.

I think moving the certifications upwards is a tricky idea - would we have to take the Silver discs off songs with less than 400k? Or would they get a 2nd silver disc once they reach it? It would mean some songs would go silver, gold, and then silver and gold again. :lol:

SOUTHGATE YOU'RE THE ONE! YOU STILL TURN ME ON! FOOTBALL COMING HOME AGAIN! I would love for us to win and for this song to go to number 1. :lol:

This is a great one - it literally was an illegal release, you can't even find this version anymore. In a similar vein, in 2013, "Alonzo Holt featuring James Arthur" charted at 97 with Wrecking Ball - it was just James' cover of the song from YouTube, but uploaded by someone illegally. I agree with the person who said Rik Mayall earlier, too. The song would never have charted if Rik hadn't sadly passed so close to a major tournament. Another some that was impacted by real world events was "Boris Johnson is a Sausage Roll" - the song was definitely helped massively by Boris effectively cancelling Christmas in such embarrassing fashion that year!

I believe in 2017, an artist called Captain Ska tried to get the "election number 1" with a song about Theresa May being a liar. I think they got to number 2? I'm a bit surprised it isn't a bigger thing, considering the popularity of protest songs over the years!

Why is James Arthur - Just Us in the iTunes chart? I swear it was already released as a single a while ago...

While I would love England to win the Euros, I have just realised that if we do, Baddiel and Skinner will inevitably release a "no more years of hurt" edition of Three Lions. Bleh.

More artists should be named after football managers.

I hope we win and Atomnic Kitten's "Southgate You're the One" hits #1.

2. D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better 56. D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better (D:Reamix Edit) 142. D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better (D:Reamix Edit)

9. D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better 61. D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better (D:Reamix Edit)

Would love to see Bambie Thug get into the top 40.

There was a song released in 1999 just before the Millennium that was simply Big Ben chiming. Reached number 53. https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/8572/big-ben/

Both those 2 instrumentals were charity records with lovely stories behind them. I guess the only way for instrumentals to chart nowadays is with a charity campaign behind them.

Great thread, looking forward to following this!

Absolutely not. Running Up That Hill was number 1 for 3 weeks, with 10 weeks in the top 10. Murder on the Dancefloor did 7 weeks in the top 10 before dropping to #16.

I often think of Christmas songs with records like this. For example: Darlene Love has only had two top 40 hits. Below is when they first entered the top 40: All Alone On Christmas, #31, 1992 Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), #22, 2008 Ronettes have had 3 top 20 hits: Be My Baby, #4, 1963 Baby I Love You, #11, 1964 Sleigh Ride, #20, 2023 Bobby Helms had 3 top 40 hits in the 1950s, before Jingle Bell Rock returned very recently: My Special Angel, #22, 1957 No Other Baby, #30, 1958 Jacqueline, #20, 1958 Jingle Bell Rock, #30, 2020 (it eventually became his first top 10 hit in 2022) I imagine it's a matter of time before someone who has had a single hit in the 50s somehow returns with a brand new Christmas staple!

From https://www.everyhit.com/record5.html: "But wait! For industry purposes, a weekly Top 200 is compiled. In the chart for week ending 22th Nov 2003, Westlife appeared at no. 200 with "Mandy". This was due to sales 'leaks'; a relatively small number of singles being accidentally sold the day before the embargo date of 23rd Nov. The following week it shot to Number 1. This 199 place leap could well be considered to be the biggest ever jump to No. 1."