Gaga tells Her Maj that she has had way more number ones than Queen
So was the Lady G in the right place at the right time? Was it luck or was it a marketing ploy? Personally as the release date for “Born This Way” was announced so long ago I think it was pure fluke. What the hell am I going on about I can hear you say. Well obviously that Lady Gaga has made more history by having the 1,000th US Billboard charts number one with her new single. It now sits at the top of the Hot 100 pile, that particular chart started in 1958. Read about her achievement at the BBC site.
Elvis had really wanted Hound Dog to be the 1000th number one
Elvis celebrated his achievement by simply horsing around
That particular feat was achieved just over six years ago in the UK, but then our charts started back in 1952. So who made it to the top for the 1,000th UK number one? Well in my opinion it was largely planned as part of a massive reissue campaign. It was Elvis Presley’s 20th UK number one, coming 27 years after his death with a reissue of “One Night” Read about that feat here, again at the BBC.
It would appear that UK chart history was made today by Rihanna. She became the first female artist to have a number one single five years in a row. She has almost matched the feat of Elvis Presley who managed a number one in each year from 1957 to 1963, some six years in total. Starting with “All Shook Up” and ending with “Devil In Disguise“. Inevitably the current record is held by the Beatles who had a number one in each year from 1963 to 1969, a 7 year run. Staring with “From Me To You” and ending with “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” I reckon Rihanna has a good chance of overturning both of those records. read about it on the NME site by clicking here.
Rihanna hoovers up yet more chart records
Rihanna’s UK number one singles since 2007 have been;
Rihanna was born nearly 20 years after the last of the Beatles run and she is still only 22. She will be 23 in February. She originates from Barbados and plays a big part in the support of the marketing of her homeland. She is now an honorary cultural ambassador. She is also a great philanthropist, setting up her Believe Foundation in 2006. It is a charity which supports terminally ill children.
Is it Grace Jones? Is it Max Wall? No it's Rihanna!
Almost over for this year then, it’s the penultimate day of my UK Christmas Number Ones Advent Calendar, it’s December 24th, Christmas Eve. So as we are that close to the big day I have decided to take you back to the Christmas of 1974 and I hope you won’t be lonely at Christmas because todays song is from Mud and it’s “Lonely This Christmas”. It stayed at number one for 4 weeks. Like many of the big pop hits of the 70s it was written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, whose publishing company was known as Chinnichap. A bit like a pre Jedward melding of names there methinks.
“Lonely This Christmas” was the second of their UK number ones following “Tiger Feet” earlier in 1974 and a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Oh Boy” in 1975. Singer Les Gray was well-known for his Elvis soundalike vocal, in fact at the time many people believed that “Lonely This Christmas” was by Elvis himself! Sadly Les Gray died of a heart attack in 2004. Drummer Dave Mount died in December 2006.
Of the two remaining band members bass guitarist Ray Stiles joined the Hollies. However lead guitarist Rob Davis has carved out a very successful career as a songwriter. He has written dance hits for Kylie Minogue and Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis Bextor. The latter hit the number one spot with a song that Davis co wrote, it was “Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)” it also, thankfully, prevented Victoria Beckham from having a solo number one. She remains the only former Spice Girl never to have a solo number one.
Sir Cliff laughs in the face of the recent cold snap by keeping his shirt open
After a mammoth Beatles Advent Calendar post yesterday, today, December 21st, brings you another person who has so far had three UK Christmas Number Ones. So let’s open that little cardboard flap and see who it is. You’ll firstly be taken back to Christmas 1960 when I was fast approaching the milestone of two years old. It was the first of Cliff Richard’s UK Christmas Number Ones and on this one he was backed by the Shadows, it is called “I Love You”. Cliff is the only act to have achieved UK Christmas Number ones in three separate decades. The other two were “Mistletoe And Wine” in 1988 and “Saviours Day” in 1990. Thankfully the awful, in my opinion anyway, Cliff’s “Millennium Prayer” didn’t make it to the top at Christmas 1999, however it did get to number one for two weeks and was deposed by Westlife, with “I Have A Dream/ Seasons In The Sun“. Of the two I’m really not sure which was the worst, but a 2004 VH1 poll registered “Millennium Prayer” as the worst number one ever. I presume that makes it officially a pile of number twos!
Sir Cliff prepares to celebrate his first UK Christmas Number One
After Hank and the boys moved on Cliff struggled to play his guitar parts on air guitar
Anyway onto the three songs that made it to that coveted UK Christmas Number One spot for Cliff. Firstly with “I Love You” backed by the Shadows in 1960. The song was written by Bruce Welch off of the Shadows and stayed at the top for just two weeks. John Lennon once said that ‘before Cliff and the Shadows there was nothing worth listening to in British Music’ Whilst Cliff went on to massive success without the Shadows, they too were a very successful band. Cliff has had a total of 14 UK number ones, sadly that record is now equalled by Westlife, which puts him and them just behind the Beatles on 17 and Elvis on 21. The Shadows had three number ones in their own right, including the fabulous “Apache” from 1960, and a further seven backing Cliff.
Sir Cliff's cunning plan to disguise himself as Santa wasn't a great success
Cliff waited 28 years for his next UK Christmas Number One which arrived in 1988, it was called “Mistletoe And Wine”, certainly not one of my favourites, but then, to each their own as they say! The song comes from a 1976 musical adaptation of Han’s Christian Andersen’s ‘The Little Match Girl‘. It was Cliff’s 99th UK single, which whether you like him or not is an astonishing record (no pun intended!) It was also his 12th UK number one and the biggest selling single of 1998, it spent 4 weeks at number one. Like many Christmas themed songs it often returns to the UK charts in December.
And there was me thinking that only Freddie Mercury could get away with clothes like that!
The third and so far final UK Christmas UK Number One from Cliff was “Saviours Day” in 1990. The video for the song was filmed in Dorset. It is one of only three UK Christmas Number Ones to remain at the top for just one week. An honour it shares with “Goodbye” from the Spice Girls in 1998 and “Killing In The Name” from Rage Against The Machine in 2009. At the time of writing Matt Cardle’s “When We Collide” has been at the chart summit for less than a week, but I expect that it will remain for a bit longer yet. I find it pretty sad that once again the X Factor gets the Christmas Number One slot. We must do better next year people, let’s make sure it doesn’t happen. We need another Rage Against The Machine moment, let’s start a Facebook campaign now!
Madonna, Amy Winehouse and Sir Cliff Richard in Lego..... a strange trio if you ask me!
It’s December 1986 and a song that was recorded nearly 30 years before makes it to the top of the chart and also 3 years after it’s singer died. Can you guess what we’ll find when we open the December 11th Cardboard flap on my UK Christmas Number Ones Advent Calendar? It’s the truly stupendous Jackie Wilson with “Reet Petite”. Back in the 70s this was always one of the favourite songs of my mate Glen’s Dad Bill Voisey.
Jackie meets Elvis
Jackie Wilson was a truly gifted vocalist. How can people not be moved by “Your Love Has Lifted Me Higher And Higher” and “I Get The Sweetest Feeling“. In 1985 Wilson was mentioned in the post Lionel Richie Commodores hit “Night Shift” along with the likes of Marvin Gaye. Wilson was mentioned in quite a few songs and in fact “Reet Petite” was given reference in David Bowie’s “Red Money” from the 1979 album ‘The Lodger’. “Reet Petite” was number one for 4 weeks including the Christmas of 1986. Jackie’s cousin was Levi Stubbs Jr off of the Four Tops, probably one of my favourite vocalists of all time and very sadly missed.
The song also made the top slot in Ireland and Holland, enjoy the video below, after some other Jackie Wilson classics
December 9th is where we are, almost into double figures! Todays little chocolate delight (well ok chocolate substitute then) behind the cardboard on my UK Christmas Number Ones Advent Calendar is the song that was number one in the UK on the day I was born and was also the UK Christmas number one at Christmas 1958. For those of you that are curious I was born on Thursday January 1st 1959 and as I said this very song was the UK number one. It is Conway Twitty‘s “It’s Only Make Believe”. Considering what might have been number one when I was born I have never been too disappointed with this. What was number one the day you were born?
This is me with my Grandfather mere weeks after Conway Twitty held the UK number one spot!
Conway was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins in 1933, he died aged just 59 in 1993. He was turned on to rock n roll after hearing Elvis Presley’s “Mystery Train“. He made his way to Sun Studios in Memphis and actually recorded with head honcho Sam Phillips. Twitty resided near Nashville and built his own country music entertainment complex, as many country stars seem to do, his was called in a mildly amusing kind of way, Twitty City.
Conway on stage with Loretta Lynn. Any man who can openly wear a suit like that can only deserve our admiration and respect!
Chubby Checker teaches Conway Twitty and Dick Clark how to do the Twist
As with many big hits the song started out as a B Side to “I’ll Try” but radio stations just flipped the disc and played “It’s Only Make Believe” instead, which just goes to prove what poor judgement record companies often have! The song has been covered by many acts including Billy Fury, Glen Campbell, Gary Glitter and the Misfits. Twitty also rerecorded it as a duet with Loretta Lynn in 1970. You can check out the original and some of those covers below.
Incredibly you can actually purchase a Conway Twitty tribute pistol. It includes 5 portraits of him etched into the 24 carat gold!
It’s already December 5th, just less than three weeks before the bearded weirdie arrives on his sleigh, and those little cardboards doors on my UK Christmas Number Ones Advent Calendar a falling like dominoes. Today brings you a veritable treat from the 80s and regular readers will know that’s a decade that is my least favourite in musical terms!
Chris and Neil make a blatant bid for a hit in Russia, either that or they were on the FIFA committee that just awarded the 2018 World Cup to them
Ladies and gentlemen and those gender or species uncertains amongst you I give you the Pet Shop Boys. Their cover of the classic “Always On My Mind” was number one at Christmas 1987 where it stayed for four weeks. Incidentally my daughter Lauren was born that year so that was her first Christmas and just like then she is always on my mind now, even though she may not think so.
Initially the Pet Shop Boys bricked it when asked to cover an Elvis song, but once they had 'Lego' of their anxieties they were fine!
The duo first played the song earlier in the year as part of a TV show to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. It was so well liked that they decided to record it and release it as a single and the rest as they say, is history! Elvis recorded his version in 1972 shortly after the song had been released as an US single by Brenda Lee. She was one of my Dad’s all time favourite singers. It is believed that the song has been recorded by at least 300 different acts. In addition to Elvis, Brenda Lee and the Pet Shop Boys, my favourite version is probably that by Willie Nelson. His cover was released in 1982 and reached the top spot on the US Country Chart that year.
Th boys prepare, rather badly in fact, for their cover of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"
The Pet Shop Boys version was the third of their four UK number ones, they only reached number one in the US chart once. That was with “West End Girls” which was their first UK number one. They did however reach the summit of the US Dance Charts some nine times between 1984 and 2009. Finally, for the record, the group’s name has absolutely nothing to do with hamsters, guinea pigs, cardboard tubes and insertion into bodily orifices. They were originally known as West End and Chris and Neil felt that the nickname of their two friends who worked in a pet shop would work better than that!
Enjoy the Pet Shop Boys video for the song from 1987 below
Here we are on December 2nd and the second day of my Christmas Advent Calendar. As I said yesterday, this year it’s all about UK Christmas number ones, next up is one of my favourite Elvis songs. It may not be classic Sun Records or Elvis or Memphis Sessions Elvis, but it’s definitely not Fat Elvis! It’s a truly classic pop song and it’s “Return To Sender”. It was the UK Christmas number one for 1962, just before my 4th birthday (wow that’s bloody old!) it held the top spot for three weeks. The session player who provided the baritone saxophone sound was in fact Bobby Keys. He has played with the Rolling Stones for years and also played on George Harrison‘s ‘All Things Must Pass’ album.
Elvis clearly didn't trust the US Postal Service so he delivered this one directly to President 'Tricky Dicky' Nixon
and here is an extract from that very letter to Nixon
On January 8th 1993, what would have been Presley’s 58th birthday the US Postal Service released a set of Elvis stamps. Apparently many people bought them and used them to send letters to fictitious addresses in the hope that they would be returned stamped ‘RETURN TO SENDER‘!
Here is Elvis performing the song as Ross Carpenter in the film ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’
Here is a later period (Fat Elvis) with a live version of the song
I’d like to finish with two postal related songs for your further pleasure. Starting with “Blame It On The Pony Express” from Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon. I love that song. After that you’ll get the Box Tops with “The Letter”
This is a post for those regular readers that prefer looking at pictures! 🙂
Before she was famous the one time Ms Germanotta appeared in a public service film about sexual harassment. Clearly in those days she had no hype nor outrageous dress sense and indeed no “Paparazzi” either!
She is not the only star that has an old film in their closet. Check out this one from David Bowie, where as David Jones he represents the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men in an interview with Cliff Michelmore.
To accompany that here is a little compilation of Bowie’s hairstyles from the 60s through to 1990.
So then these two videos got me thinking that I ought to add a few pictures of music stars as young people or kids. Can you guess who these ones are? What do you think of them?
Forbes magazine recently published it’s list of the top earning dead celebrities in the year to October 1st 2010. Unsurprisingly there are a number of dead musicians, singers and a composer in the list. They share the space with authors, actors, a cartoonist, a sports franchise owner, a TV Producer and a scientist!. Obviously I only intend to focus on the musical aspects of the list, but here is the top 13. Why 13? Why not? It also includes their earnings for the year. Only one living celebrity topped Jacko’s earnings and that was Oprah Winfrey. He also earned more than the combined totals of the two biggest living musical earners; U2 and AC/DC. Read about it on the Forbes site here and also on the BBC here.
No. 1 Michael Jackson – $275 million – Here is Michael with the Jackson 5 with the frankly underrated and underplayed “Sugar Daddy”. A truly brilliant slice of Motown magic!
No. 2 Elvis Presley – $60 million – Here he is with a classic and probably one of my favourite Elvis songs, “Suspicious Minds” originally recorded in the Memphis sessions in the late 60s
No. 3 J.R.R. Tolkien – $50 million
No. 4 Charles Schultz – $33 million
No. 5 John Lennon – $17 million – I have included loads of Lennon stuff recently so here is an excellent Lennon tribute song from Dan Bull called “Lennononandonandon”
No. 10 Richard Rodgers – $7 million – This is the Richard Rodgers off of Rodgers and Hammerstein and below you can see a rather interesting version of their classic song “The Lady Is A Tramp” sung by the somewhat eccentric Nina Hagen.
No. 11 (tie) Jimi Hendrix – $6 million – Here is Jimi with his classic cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower”. Dylan was so impressed with it that it is now the arrangement he uses when he plays the song live.
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 