paulgilb

Scary to think that You're Beautiful is older now than Boom Boom Boom was when You're Beautiful charted.

And Gary Glitter :)

A couple of other surprising biggies: Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire was a bit of a shock when it first reached #1, considering its first week at #1 was just on downloads (physicals were still significant then) and the band had never previously had a top 10 hit. Clean Bandit - Rather Be was another shock (managing the highest 1-week January sale since 1996), as the band's previous hit had missed the top 40 (and they were not on the Sound Of... list that year).

ISTR the Wet Wet Wet one was (at least in part) due to their giving away blank CDs at a gig for fans to download the track onto (James Blunt - Carry You Home and Hard-Fi - I Shall Overcome also got into the top 40 via a similar trick). Can't believe nobody has mentioned Ja Rule - Wonderful reaching #1 in 2004 (it was a low sales week even by 2004 standards, but it still seemed a mystery at the time). Not a mystery in terms of the overall size of the hit, but the chart run of Good Charlotte - Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous (13-20-8-12-17-23-31-40-47-59) contained a seemingly random jump in week 3 (the chart run being otherwise normal). Again, that week was a relatively quiet one (in the top 20 anyway), but such a climb was still a WTF moment (bearing in mind this was in the days before downloads).

Two Can Play That Game had a week at #5 before its 4 week run at #3. It was listed as a re-entry that week (rather than a re-issue), as was Strike's U Sure Do at #6 the same week (it had reached #31 the previous year).

If it was included on the Artist Album Chart, then it should IMO be regarded as an Artist Album.

Sylvia (US singer who charted with Pillow Talk in 1973; Swedish singer who charted with Y Viva Espana in 1974). Mr Big (UK group who reached #4 in 1977 with Romeo; US group who reached #3 in 1992 with To Be With You). Shaft (dance act who reached #7 in 1991 with Roobarb And Custard; dance act who reached #2 in 1999 with (Mucho Mambo) Sway). Free (UK group of the 1970s fronted by Paul Rodgers who would later team up with Queen; US rap group who featured on Wyclef Jean's re-mix of Queen's Another One Bites The Dust). Bad Company (UK group of the 1970s fronted by the aforementioned Paul Rodgers; UK drum-and-bass group that included DJ Fresh who had 2 minor hits in 2002 before changing their name to Bad Company UK and reaching #24 in 2003).

Kenny (Irish singer who had 2 hits in 1973; UK group signed to the same label who had 4 hits in 1974-75). Stargazers (first UK act to top the chart in 1953; group who had 1 minor hit in 1982). Clint Eastwood (actor/film director whose I Talk To The Trees was initially a double A-side with Lee Marvin's Wand'rin' Star but was de-listed before the track reached #1; Jamaican musician who teamed up with General Saint for 1 hit in 1984). The Jets (UK act who had several hits in the early 1980s; US family group who charted with Crush On You in 1987). Divine (US drag queen who had a few hits in the mid 1980s; US girl group who topped the US chart in 1998).

The week it entered at #9 Rhythm Of The Night was apparently accidentally played at #40 on the Chart Show (as I believe the DJ couldn't find the actual #40 (Midnight At The Oasis by Brand New Heavies).

13/20 for me.

So 2 Unlimited's The Real Thing does not knock Tony Di Bart's The Real Thing off #1 here...

The official peak in 2014 was #66 - #19 was its 1997 peak.

The Official Download Chart started in September 2004 - no idea whether or not they added downloads to the sales totals then or later.

It was actually April 2005.

Anastacia - Not That Kind should not be there (it only reached #11). Also, Another Level's hit was Guess I Was A Fool, not I Guess I Was A Fool. The quiz could also do with a bit more time, as I ran out :(

It looks as though dance re-mixes of non-dance tracks have not been included (otherwise Living On My Own would have appeared), so I believe the track you are referring to will be *missing* from this list.

Wave 105 plays it fairly frequently (often on Saturday evenings). They also play No Limit - but they play the version with the rap (which doesn't feature the Techno Techno Techno Techno line), which is unusual because in many other cases they play non-rap versions of songs.

20 years ago today (20 August 1995) saw one of the most famous chart battles ever, as Britpop rivals Blur and Oasis went head-to-head. Blur were victorious, and the two songs would remain #1 and #2 the following week as well. Overall, of course, Oasis have been far more successful. The full top 10 and other notable entries in the top 40 that week: 1 (-) Blur - Country House 2 (-) Oasis - Roll With It 3 (2) Original - I Luv U Baby 4 (1) Take That - Never Forget 5 (4) TLC - Waterfalls 6 (-) Clock - Everybody 7 (6) JX - Son Of A Gun 8 (-) Madonna - Human Nature 9 (5) Seal - Kiss From A Rose/I'm Alive 10 (7) Corona - Try Me Out 12 (-) Charlatans - Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over 14 (-) Xpansions 95 - Move Your Body 15 (-) Michelle Gayle - Happy Just To Be With You 19 (-) Real McCoy - Come And Get Your Love 23 (-) Bjork - Isobel 25 (-) Ali Campbell - Let Your Yeah Be Yeah 27 (-) Happy Clappers - Hold On 32 (-) Eusebe - Summertime Healing 34 (re) Smokie ft Roy 'Chubby' Brown - Living Next Door To Alice (Who The F**k Is Alice) 39 (-) Cyndi Lauper - Come On Home 40 (-) Matt Goss - The Key And then exactly 5 years to the day later (20 August 2000) was another famous chart battle, this time between Spiller and Truesteppers (the latter featuring Dane Bowers and Victoria Beckham). On this occasion the latter lead for much of the week, but Spiller obtained a large weekend surge (helped by a TOTP performance on the Friday night despite the record having not yet charted) and ultimately won by a reasonable margin. This was the closest Victoria Beckham came to reaching #1 outside of the Spice Girls. The full top 10 and other notable entries in the top 40 that week: 1 (-) Spiller - Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) 2 (-) Truesteppers ft Dane Bowers & Victoria Beckham - Out Of Your Mind 3 (2) Robbie Williams - Rock DJ 4 (1) Melanie C - I Turn To You 5 (-) Britney Spears - Lucky 6 (4) Bomfunk MCs - Freestyler 7 (3) Craig David - 7 Days 8 (6) Storm - Time To Burn 9 (5) Janet Jackson - Doesn't Really Matter 10 (8) Eminem - The Real Slim Shady 12 (-) Hi-Gate - I Can Hear Voices/Caned And Unable 18 (19) Wookie ft Lain - Battle 22 (-) Christian Falk - Make It Right 23 (-) JJ72 - Oxygen 30 (-) Spin City - Landslide 31 (-) Queens Of The Stone Age - The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret 37 (-) Electrique Boutique - Revelation The following week was also a notable one - all of the top 10 dropped 1 place with Madonna entering at #1.

Shouldn't Twilight Zone have 4 weeks (the week at #3 before it was #2 as well as the 3 listed)? Amazing that despite all the big dance hits in the latter part of 1991 and early 1992 there had (at the end of February 1992) still not been a dance #1 since 3AM Eternal.

John Fruin received a name-check on BA Robertson's Bang Bang, which was released on Asylum Records, who are owned by Warner, which raises doubts over the legitimacy of some of Bang Bang's sales...

For those two weeks the top 2 were both UK acts with an African-born member.

Cliff Richard in the 1960s.

Crystal Waters' entry at #3 (with her first hit) equalled Vanilla Ice's record from the previous year for the highest debut for an artist's first hit (excluding the first chart, featured artists such as Billy Preston, and conglomerations such as Band Aid) until beaten by Gabrielle in 1993 and then by Whigfield in 1994.

9/14 :(

Thanks for the list! Incidentally, who is the biggest selling act (in terms of total sales since 1980 rather than sales in any one year) not to feature in this list?