I’m not sure if you used to listen to the Top 40, but it was essential listening for me on a Sunday afternoon. Wherever I was, I’d always grab my Walkman, notepad and pen, and listen to David ‘Kid’ Jensen count them down. Yes, I was sad enough to keep a weekly record of the chart, and even at one stage compiled my own!
There have been loads of famous chart battles over the years, from Spiller’s dancefloor filler Groovejet denying Posh Spice her first solo number one in 2000, to the renowned Britpop wars (largely confected by the tabloid press at the time) which saw Blur win the battle against Oasis, but perhaps not the war. The most frequently quoted song that should have been number one is Vienna by Ultravox. Midge Ure and co lost out back in 1982 to Joe Dolce’s irksome earworm Shaddap You Face. Incredibly, Dolce shifted six million copies worldwide, and the song has been recorded in over 35 different foreign language versions. Terry Wogan played it on his breakfast show and declared it the worst thing he’d ever heard, which did the song’s notoriety no harm!
These days, the chart is not as often quoted in the papers, and you might be reading this thinking you have no idea who is at number one. I disagree with those who say it no longer matters though, and it’s certainly a useful barometer of popularity, based on a mixture of streams, YouTube views and, to a much lesser extent, sales. You only need to look at the small number of people who shell out for music nowadays to understand why gig tickets have become so eye-wateringly expensive.
An interesting trend has been identified this week by the Official Chart Company, who compile the survey that’s counted down on Radio 1 each week. The days of songs only being number one for a single week seem to be behind us, and acts like Justin Bieber, Camila Cabello and Alex Warren are proving a long stay at pole position on the singles chart is entirely achievable. 2014 had about 40 different number ones, but 2025 so far has only had six.
But who has been at number one for the longest in history? Let’s have a look at the biggest four stays...
Frankie Laine - I Believe (18 weeks) - the American crooner scored pole position back in 1953, just after turning 40, and racked up 18 non-consecutive weeks at number one. The track hit the top again in 1995, thanks to Robson & Jerome (shudder!), and shifted over a million copies, but Frankie’s 18 week stay has still not been surpassed.
Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (16 weeks) - we can thank the Canadian rock legend for keeping I’m Too Sexy off the top spot, along with many other songs in the summer of 1991. I remember tuning in every week, marvelling at the fact he was still there! The Kevin Costner movie certainly did the song no harm, and U2’s The Fly proved to be the magic ointment to eventually knock Adams off his perch.
Wet Wet Wet - Love Is All Around (15 weeks) - it was almost Barry Manilow’s Can’t Smile Without You or Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive that received the Marti Pellow treatment, but in the end, the Troggs song from 1967 was covered for Four Weddings And A Funeral, and even the band themselves got sick of the song during summer 1994 (presumably they didn’t get bored of the cash rolling in, though!). They decided in the end to delete the single, halving its production, and opening the way for Whigfield to claim number one with her novelty smash Saturday Night. It was still far and away the biggest seller of 1994.
Drake - One Dance (15 weeks) - you might be surprised this song spent a week longer at the top than Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, but it ruled the roost for over a quarter of 2016. It’s the longest running number one of the digital age. Bo Rhap and Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You both managed 14 weeks, whilst Alex Warren’s Ordinary has just racked up 13 weeks, but is set to drop down the chart this weekend.
When deciding what to play on Tameside Radio’s A and B list, the chart is still a big deciding factor for me. It may not mean the same to Generation Z, but it’s as good a guide to musical trends as we’ve got.
Alex Cann's weekly blog - 9th January
