Best Selling UK Singles – Revised 2016

It’s apparently good blogging etiquette to review your own blogs, some time after the original publishing. So to this end, welcome to this revision blog!

A couple of years ago I put together a review of the best SELLING UK songs of all time. See the originals here:

OriginalBest Selling Singles Blog Part 1

OriginalBest Selling Singles Blog Part 2

But things have changed, and many more vinyl and digital formats have been purchased, so here’s a little update for you, 2016 style, with new entries and chart climbers highlighted in purple:

I don’t tend to buy many music magazines these days, having spent years thumbing through NME and MOJO back in the day. However I do tend to have more of a glimpse when they have their latest ‘greatest songs of all time’ poll results. National newspapers have a crack at it, and TV specials pop up occasionally as well – particularly on ITV.

There are some songs that regularly make the higher echelons of the lists, but there’s also some pleasing variety with changing trends – after all, The Beatles wouldn’t have achieved immortality had they just recorded ‘Love Me Do’ songs for ten years. 

I’m never satisfied with the lists when they come out though. For years I’ve craved a poll that truly reflects the greatest songs ever, and the only way I reckon that could be achieved would be to add it as a mandatory question in the National Census: 

Question 15: What is your favourite song?

Only then will it be definitive! 

It’s hard therefore to do a personal review of the greatest songs of all time as it provokes too much doubt and debate as to whether certain songs should be on the list in the first place. 

What IS definitive though, is a best SELLING singles list.

To this end where better to go but Wikipedia to view the BestSelling UK Singles, and have a little play with that list. 

I’ve included double A-sides where they warrant a mention – note to kids: ask a grown up what a double A-side is...

So here we go:

30. Three Lions (and 3 Lions ‘98) – Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds

Hmm.. not sure the idea of the game is to combine two chart runs of a song that actually each has more than 50% different lyrics. Brilliant record which brings back memories galore of the summer of 1996 – but lucky to make the top 30 on this combined issue. The song has dropped a few places in the last couple of years, so this could be the last hurrah on the elite list…

29. My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion

 A new entry!

I have to admit to not being a HUGE fan of Celine’s, but I do actually like this effort. One cannot hear it though without picturing a big boat at 90 degrees. I’m unsure why it has shot up the list though, as I can’t recall any obvious reason for a surge.

Off on a tangent though, check out Celine’s mock up duet with the King here …

Clever stuff indeed!

28. Perfect Day – Various Artists for Children in Need

 I bought the CD single of this primarily to hear the gender specific versions included therein – probably available on You Tube to have a listen to. The original composer Lou Reed (RIP) himself sings on this, so thankfully it wasn’t butchered. Seemed to linger in the charts for ages, and the accompanying video was pretty good too.

27.  Don't You Want Me – The Human League

 I wonder if lead singer Phil Oakey knew how much this song would eventually be covered by millions due to his long lost cousin Carrie? A definitive 80’s classic though. Even the cover by The Farm wasn’t bad either – plus the video of the latter version featured one Rik Mayall (another RIP)

  

26. Someone Like You – Adele

Not really surprised to see Adele make the list this time around. That said I would have guessed that Rolling In The Deep might have been here too. Maybe next time.

I always get the feeling that Adele is singing for the common woman, and long may she continue to do so.

25.  Two Tribes – Frankie Goes to Hollywood

 Again another song accompanied by an interesting video. Worthy follow up to the other FGTH song that appears higher up this list… Still gets tons of airplay on music television channels.

  

24.  I'll Be Missing You – Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans

I wonder how well this song would have fared had Diana Princess of Wales NOT died. I know it was originally not intended as a tribute to her in particular, but it has certainly panned out that way.  Songs often bring far more comfort in times of pain than we might realise, and this certainly benefited from a nation in mourning. To be fair the song is a good sampler, as samplers go – and who could fail with that STINGing bass-line?

23.  Summer Nights – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John

 I never really got into Grease as a child. I think because my dad didn’t like it much, and therefore by default nor did I as a young child.

And then you grow up and change your mind! The less said about Grease 2 the better though. Even a young Michelle Pfeiffer can’t rescue it. In fact, some years later, bless her but she couldn’t even recall the actor who she played opposite (Maxwell Caulfield).

Blimey – Imagine Sandy not remembering Danny!

  

22. I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston

A chart climber!

Poor Whitney (again RIP) gets a bad rap for this on the basis of it being overplayed, and by default of being a Christmas number 1 it has since become a Christmas playlist staple. I liked it in 1992, but a little less as each year goes by.

21.  Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams

Another chart climber! This was MASSIVE back in 2013 (the year Pharrell Williams became omnipresent) but where has Robin been since, apart from in court. Plenty of time for him to revive his career though.

I shouldn’t really indulge, but the X-rated version of this catchy song is worth a view on YouTube (if you’re an adult) #cough

  

20. Imagine – John Lennon

Imagine if John hadn't been killed. This song might genuinely have forever been condemned to being a poor performer in the charts. Not even a released single when it first surfaced (1971), it then only made number 6 in 1975 before the mourning of a nation revived it in 1980 to become one of his best loved compositions.

It’s another track that has become a Christmas / New Years’ anthem due to the timing and circumstances of its 1980 release. Can’t see its popularity fading any time soon

  

19. I Want to Hold Your Hand – The Beatles

The song that properly broke The Beatles into the American market. Not many better intros to a song than heard on this zippy belter

18. Evergreen – Will Young

An early effort of the yearly X-Factor song that reduces the once revered Christmas chart to a farce every year. Nothing against Will Young, but he did far, far better songs after this one

17. Last Christmas / Everything She Wants – Wham!

Possibly the greatest number 2 ever (don’t!), possibly one of the best Christmas songs ever and possibly the slickest remix ever (check out the Last Christmas Pudding Mix above). In fact the only disappointment for me is that Everything She Wants wasn’t released elsewhere in the year in its own right as that song is just so Wham! at their best

16. Believe – Cher

Wow! Cher’s voice on this. Not done using a vocoder as was originally thought, but by rigging an auto tune machine to warp 3 sets of her vocals. Innovative. And then Madonna did it. Touché.

My main memory of this is going to an awful nightclub in Crawley, West Sussex and hearing it played four or five times an hour. Strong song with a good video too.

  

15. Barbie Girl – Aqua

Novelty songs – you gotta love ‘em eh!? Well no not always. It’s harmless, poppy fun, but I’m not over bothered with it. Aqua could do a job though, and I politely refer you to Turn Back Time, as heard in the soundtrack to Sliding Doors. See!? Get a song in a movie and it’s a sure fire chart scorcher.

14. (Everything I Do) I Do It for You – Bryan Adams

Another chart climber, and another song carried along by the success of a hit film. Overplayed? Perhaps at the time, but not quite so worn out as I Will Always Love you has become. You can’t knock 16 weeks at number 1 though, so well played to the Canadian Londoner Canadian

13. Happy – Pharrell Williams

The least surprising climber in this new revision.

A remarkably simple effort from Pharrell in creating a track that is popular whether you’re aged 3 or 93… and all done without the help of Robin Thicke or Nile Rodgers. Clap your hands.

12. I Just Called to Say I Love You – Stevie Wonder

Now if this ‘ode’ had come out nowadays, would it have been a hit? Would it be renamed?

Maybe:

I Just Texted 2 Say I luv U – LOLZ

Or

I just tindered you, and no thanks

11. Unchained Melody – Robson & Jerome

There must be a million different covers of this song, and whilst R&J (a bit like an old version of Ant & Dec) did their best, no-one is gonna convince me that the Righteous Bros effort isn’t the definitive cover though. Bound to be recorded again by someone in the future. Joey Essex maybe?

10. Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord – Boney M

And into the top ten we go. Again, the Christmas sales probably helped this one make the list, and I suppose if you can rework a traditional slumber seasonal carol into a pseudo Christmas Disco multimillion seller, then you must be doing something right. Oh My Lord indeed.

  

09. Love Is All Around – Wet Wet Wet

Another cover, another song from a movie soundtrack, so obviously another multimillion seller. In fact ‘The Wets’ might have sold even more, but they actually ordered the cessation of production of units whilst they were still at number 1. Apparently this was because they didn’t want to condemn the song to the over played graveyard (too late…)

More likely they didn’t want the embarrassment of being replaced at the top by Whigfield’s Saturday Night…

08. She Loves You – The Beatles

Now we’re cooking. 18 weeks in the top 3 alone, and this included TWO different spells at number one, with a few weeks gap in between hitting the summit. No other song in chart history has had quite the storyline that the chart run of She Loves You has.

The tragedy is that the version we all know is in fact a splice of more than one recording and is the reason why when the Remastered Stereo albums box set was released, SLY was one of the only songs not actually presented in crisp stereo. This for me is singularly the saddest tale in the history of the British charts. Still, it didn’t put millions off buying the record I suppose!

07. Rivers of Babylon / Brown Girl in the Ring – Boney M

Controversy klaxon. This was another double A-side (though originally was a plain old A and B-side), yet you never hear ‘Brown Girl…’ played on the radio. Like EVER.

Is there a race reason behind this? A bit of research suggest it’s nothing of the kind, and is based on a West Indian children’s song – a bit like Ring of Roses, which has its own history. As a child, I loved singing and dancing to it, and still prefer it any day to the original A-side. So dammit DJ’s of the UK, show ME a motion and play it more often!

  

06. Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Like many people possibly, I had no idea what the lyrics to this belter were referring to at the time of release, but does it really matter? Songs inferring sex have been around since the Edison Phonograph. Mary had a little Lamb indeed.

In fact well over half the songs in this top 40 have at least subtle sexual overtones (or undertones), so get over yourselves and be happy and gay.

05. You're the One That I Want – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John

Wow a second entry from the same film. I’m running out of superlatives, so see Summer Nights blurb above.

04. Mull of Kintyre – Wings

As a child I think this came on to my radar before I even knew who The Beatles were.

I like to imagine Lennon hearing about this song the day before it was released…

The Lennon Diaries, Thursday November 10^th 1977:

‘Pfft – Just heard about Macca’s latest! ROTL… Bagpipes and a beach in Scotland? Good luck with that pal. Gear fab, gear fab’

  

03. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

It’s hard to knock this one, but again, I’m still not sure about combining two chart runs (1975 & 1991) just to elevate it up the list. I wasn’t keen on Queen until poor young Freddie passed on, but their music was everywhere in the aftermath of his death and one couldn’t help but admire what they’d contributed to British music. When clubbing at The Event II (another RIP!) nightclub in Brighton in the 1990’s, this was frequently referred to as the club’s ‘anthem’. I’m still not convinced by this, but maybe it was helped by the additional tie in with the film ‘Wayne’s World’. Let the head banging commence.

02. Do They Know It's Christmas? – Band Aid

Just when you thought we’d done Christmas to pieces, along comes the biggest one of them all.

What’s not to like? Always likely to remain a classic at Christmas, and that’s a good thing.

It won’t be a popular view, but I liked the 1989 SAW version too. Not keen on the Band Aid 20 version though, as even I could’ve done Bono’s line better than he did. It’s all going to charity though so we can’t knock it.. and then there was Band Aid 30...

#feedtheworld

01.   Candle in the Wind 1997 – Elton John

Elton John’s music was heard everywhere for weeks after the death of Diana Princess of Wales, and upon his performance of the rewritten song at her funeral, the inevitable charity release followed. They couldn’t make enough copies of the single fast enough. I remember eventually buying it about a month after its release, simply because it was sold out everywhere.

The funeral version differs slightly and is better in my opinion, but the irony is that Diana herself might have preferred another of Elton’s songs given the choice, as she had cited his early single ‘Your Song’ as one of her all-time favourites.

This was a double A-side too, but Something About The Way You Look Tonight tends to get forgotten!

So what are the themes in this list to guarantee a huge seller?

·                   Christmas

·                   Movie soundtrack

·                   Sex

·                   …and – rather morosely – death.

And what one don’t they play on the radio? The children’s song

So I’ll leave you with this final thought:

Go download baby and ShowMe Your Motion

XxX

My Favourite Things (well specifically Albums) Part 2

Okay so Part 1 can be found here.

As mentioned before, I might not get much interest in Part 2 given some of the choices in Part 1, but I bet a lot of the readers bought the same albums as I did in actuality, so I’ll say it again:

I really don’t care if any of the albums chosen get laughed at.

Music stays with us for many reasons, and people should never be ashamed of the music they like. Even Doop by Doop was liked by some people… (not yours truly!)

Note to self: Do a blog about annoying songs…

Anyways, I give you my top five, and again feel free to click on the hyperlinks…

05. The Great Escape – Blur

Me and a mate were on a trip in early 1995 when he persuaded me to listen to a few songs on some album called Parklife by Blur. I knew about the song Girls and Boys, but little else. Anyways I listened to a few songs and thought it was all reasonably good, but then we got to track 9.

Every so often when listening to a song, I get struck by a 'goose pimples' moment, in that I instantly fall in love with it. Some songs have genuinely made me feel that way - like I love them (yes I know I'm odd)...and track 9 To The End was one such song.

It set me up for listening to more Blur songs and when The Great Escape and Oasis' (What's the Story?) Morning Glory were released in the late summer of 1995, BritPop exploded and musically it became a way of life for a good couple of years… and it was great!

I remember going to see Blur in concert at Wembley Arena just before Christmas that year, and during stand out song (and my favourite) The Universal, I'd like to think that whilst singing, Damon Albarn really, really, really WAS pointing directly at me! #itreallyreallyreallycouldhappen

04. True Blue – Madonna

I wasn’t particularly fond of Madonna in the early part of her career, though this was probably more due to a lack of exposure to her material than anything else – besides which I was also very young.

In the mid 1980’s though, two things happened:

1. I learnt that girls liked Madonna (there’s a trend developing here…)

2. Just as I started to listen to chart music, I discovered Borderline (re-released in 1986) and soon after, I also heard Live to Tell.

To clarify point 1, I don’t particularly think I’m a Machiavellian type. I just wanted an ‘in’! The more salient reasons are in point 2. The girl could sing and I was hooked, and I still am to a degree, but the True Blue era was my favourite Madonna period and I feel that nigh on the whole album was absolute pop perfection and very much of it’s time. White Heat took some getting used to, but I liked it just as much as the others in the end.  I frequently borrowed a friend’s copy of the album on cassette during 1986 and 1987 and fell in love with all the songs.

Not least my favourite La Isla Bonita, which is up there amongst the most beautiful songs of all time. In the accompanying music video, Madonna’s look as the un-made up, timid, austere and passive girl (contrasting with the red senorita) absolutely did it for me. I can’t think of a more stunning image of such an apparently plain character. Just wow! > La Isla Bonita

I digress.

So yes obviously this has stayed with me since forever ago – and the poor girl that I initially kept borrowing the cassette off eventually bought me a copy for my 12^th birthday!
Oh and when my daughter was born in 2012, the title track was playing on the radio in the background!

03. Bad – Michael Jackson

"You can’t have two albums by the same artist dammit!" – Yes I can, it's my list!

Jackson's second biggest selling album (just the 40 million units sold) but definitely my favourite of his. For me it's every bit as good as the world record selling Thriller, and just a bit more 'zingy' to make it sound even better.

Much like True Blue above, this was released at an age (11-12ish) when as I was getting seriously into music from my own era (having largely listened to my parents music up to that point), and was now purposefully listening to the charts of a Sunday evening on BBC Radio One. I struggle to find fault with any song, and again like True Blue it's near enough pop perfection. Each song very much gives me a fond memory of the time, and even now they don’t sound dated at all

Favourite song: Man in the Mirror

02. Abbey Road – The Beatles

I could have filled this entire list with Beatles albums, but that would have just been a bit daft!

This album for me was all about craft in the sound and structure of music. Side A of the album is very good in it’s own right, but I could listen to the B-side Abbey Road Medley jam session (which it wasn’t) till the Blue Meanies came home. During Michael Jackson’s Dangerous / Heal the World concert tour, Abbey Road would play over the PA systems at the stadiums he was performing in right before he went on stage (he was a huge fan of The Beatles.) Being in the crowd at Wembley in 1992 for one such concert, it helped pass the time for sure.

People often say The Beatles peaked in 1966 – 1967 with the Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt Pepper albums, but whilst all those albums are terrific, nothing tops the artistry of Abbey Road in my view. The album also contains my favourite lyric ever:

“In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make” from The End

Favourite song: You Never Give Me Your Money

01. Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys

Although I was aware of quite a few of the songs on Pet Sounds, and had heard people laud it, and had read reviews that continually praised it, I didn't actually take the time to listen to the album itself until probably 1994 or 1995. It should have been no chore at a mere 36 minutes long, but one sunny afternoon I decided to give it a go.

The word genius is often overused in culture, but Brian Wilson might just have nailed it with his production of what I had just listened to in fullness for the first time – and for me to get that excited about a mono production is pretty rare. In fact, purists will shudder when I say that I prefer the stereo version that was released in the late 90's, but that's just a preference rather than a criticism.

I believe the content of the album could encapsulate the love life of anyone aged 16-25. How did Wilson manage it? Who knows but it nearly drove him insane in the process searching for perfection.

Favourite song: I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times

Paul McCartney once said "I love the album so much. I've just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life – I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album"... 'nuff said.

And I’ll leave you with one final ‘nuff said:

GodOnly Knows

My Favourite Things (well specifically Albums) Part 1

During last summer on Facebook, a thread trended about people revealing their top ten albums of all time, and why the album had made an impression on them.

I listed mine at the time in a rush as I suspected the idea was that you shouldn’t have to think about it too hard. That said having given it a little more time to reflect, I thought I’d give it another go.

Obviously, millions of people love greatest hits albums and Original Soundtracks (OST) (e.g. The Eagles Greatest Hits, The Bodyguard OST), but for my own list I have avoided these categories.

Each to their own, but there is enough on my list to make others chuckle without me feeling the need to add, for example, The Sound of Music OST to it.

And on that note, I really don’t mind if any of the albums I’ve selected below do indeed get laughed at and I fully expect that to be the case for some! Music choices are SO personalised, and songs stay with us for many reasons, so I’m a huge advocate that people should never be ashamed of the music they like. There are enough genres out there to cater for everybody’s tastes, so live and let live.

Anyways, in reverse order, here is part 1 (albums 10 to 6) …and feel free to click on the hyperlinks:

10. Ten Good Reasons – Jason Donovan

I might as well start as I intend to go on! Yes Jason Donovan. I love my 80’s pop, and this is one of the quintessential ‘pop’ albums of the late 80’s. It sold millions, and yes a very high percentage of those buyers were probably teenage girls, but this teenage boy bought it too and enjoyed virtually every song on it. On the basis that so many girls liked Jason Donovan, I recall thinking it genuinely might help me get a girlfriend if I liked it too #laughtercombustion

Favourite song: You Can Depend On Me

09. Different Class – Pulp

BritPop at it’s finest, and Pulp gave us at least two of the biggest anthems during my dev years in Common People and Disco 2000.

Poignant and accurate songs to the last note. Most people I knew DID have woodchip on their walls.

I bought this at Woolworths (RIP) in Southwick Square (West Sussex, UK) in January 1996, primarily as I hoped to see a girl who worked there that I’d plied with drinks two nights before at the Paradox nightclub in Brighton.

Did I find her? Did I f…

Favourite song: the aforementioned Disco 2000

08. Spiceworld – Spice Girls

Back to pop cheese (no, not pop tarts) and the Spice Girls. Their first album Spice was pretty good in its own right, but this follow up was the phenomenon of the Spice Girls at their absolute peak – every song could easily have been a single. This lingers with me as I used to play it on the way to and from work (Sainsburys, Lewes Rd, Brighton) and in particular when driving past the old Goldstone Ground (another RIP) during its final memorable season hosting Brighton and Hove Albion FC.

Favourite song: Too Much

07. Listen without Prejudice vol.1 – George Michael

I could easily have chosen any one of three George Michael albums. I love Older and Patience almost as much as LWPv1, but it just edges ahead on the basis that Cowboys &Angels is on it.

It’s stayed with me as I used to clog up pub jukeboxes by setting about 7 or 8 of the songs to play two or three times in a row! When on Earth are you going to make LWP volume 2 Mr Panayiotou?

And here’s a useless fact: this is technically the only album in this list that I didn’t purchase myself – it was a Christmas present! A couple of others were also bought for me but I’ve since repurchased them myself for various reasons.

Favourite song: Cowboys & Angels of course!

06. HIStory – Michael Jackson

As a big fan of Michael Jackson, I can still remember the huge anticipation I had for this album's release. The night before it came out, I was in Brighton on my way to The Event nightclub for a colleague's birthday – actually it was The Event II nightclub, having reopened a week or so before following a revamp. The club was stone dead, and a few other issues between friends were kicking off, resulting in one instance of me preventing a guy being beaten up amongst other things. Bored and disillusioned, I left early and wandered back alone along Western Road, Brighton, and having grabbed a box of Cheeky Chicken, I strolled along to HMV. It had a huge window display advertising HIStory, and I felt a lot cheerier after seeing that!

I went home to bed, and got an early bus straight into town to buy the double album and listened to it solidly for weeks on end, writing down all the lyrics and learning them by heart. By far and away this was Jackson’s most personal album in terms of content, had it not been so pricey (the double album was half greatest hits, and half new material) I'm convinced more people would have bought it and it may have even rubbed shoulders with the astronomical sales figures of some of his other albums. It was definitely the last time that he put such enormous effort into a project. After HIStory, I guess he just "ran outta gas..."

Favourite song: Stranger in Moscow, though closely followed by the unreleased Tabloid Junkie. Special mention should go to the awesome Hani's Club Experience version of Earth Song. How anyone could have made Earth Song such a huge trance hit on the club scene deserves a medal!

I’ll post the top five shortly – that’s if I didn’t lose you with Jason Donovan and the Spice Girls of course…