On 14th November 1969 “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies entered its fifth week at No.1 on the UK singles chart. It went on to top the charts for eight weeks. The single became the longest running One Hit Wonder in the UK. It was the first No.1 performed by cartoon characters. It reached the top spot in fifteen countries including the USA. The song was written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. Ron Dante provided the lead vocals, accompanied by Toni Wine and the other co-writer, Andy Kim. This was also the first single that I ever bought, from Uxbridge market when I was just ten years old. Check out the dancing in the second video!
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On November 14th 1969, “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies was halfway through its 8 week reign at the top of the British pop chart. Not only did the song mark the first No.1 hit by an animated cartoon band, but, after holding its position for eight weeks, it became the longest-running one-hit-wonder in the UK. It was written by veteran songwriter Jeff Barry and Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Kim. The latter went on to have a huge solo hit with “Rock Me Gently” in 1974. Ron Dante sang lead vocals, he was also the voice of bubblegum pop band the Cufflinks and he went on to produce Barry Manilow’s first nine albums. “Sugar Sugar” also spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, and went to No.1 in many countries, including South Africa, Canada, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Brazil, Sweden, Singapore, Denmark, Norway, Germany and Mexico. This single was also the first one that I ever bought.
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When I read the headline I assumed that Morrissey was ready to release a cover of the Archies “Sugar Sugar”. But then I read it again and I realised that the story was in fact about a potential appearance by our Mozza in the long running BBC radiosoap operaThe Archers. I can only assume that he’ll be playing himself and that he will try to air his militant veggie views.
This month, November 2012, marks the 60th anniversary of the UK singles chart which began in the NME in 1952. We’ve come a long way from crooner Al Martino‘s “Here In My Heart” all those years ago to the current resident of the number one spot in the UK singles chart; Robbie Williams with “Candy”. Maybe we haven’t come too far though as Robbie does fancy himself as a crooner doesn’t he. I must confess that Robbie’s current number 1 is one of the few songs of his that I like.
The chart now includes downloads which have helped to boost sales of singles considerably. Apparently there have been 3.7 billion singles sold in that 60 year period in all formats. But the peak for the physical format was the 80s which recorded 640 million singles sales. The biggest selling UK single ever was Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind ’97” which was the singers dedication to Princess Diana. It sold 4.9 million copies and therefore raised millions for charity. Personally I prefer the original version. Does anyone ever play the Diana version these days? Incidentally do you know what the biggest selling single never to top the charts is? It’s Wham! with “Last Christmas/ Everything She Wants” which lost out to Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas” which is the second best-selling single ever back in 1984.
There have been more than 1,200 number ones in the chart’s history. The artists with most number one singles in the UK are;
As a teenager I can still recall lining up my cassette recorder microphone near the transistor radio to record my favourite songs from the Radio 1 chart rundown back in the 70s. How many of you did the same? I know of at least one fellow blogger who did. You can check out his excellent post on this chart milestone on his Every Record tells A Story blog by clicking here. You’ll even be able to see him on the chart history documentary on the Beeb! Recording the charts now seems almost pointless given the availability of music on-line, which I think is a real shame. But hey that’s progress right? Talking of progress, the first ever UK number one single based on download sales alone was as far back as 2006. It was the excellent “Crazy” from Gnarls Barkley.
There are also a number of chart records an artist probably wouldn’t want though, like;
Most Top 75 hits (97 of them) without a number one. That one is the honour of the Glee Cast. I hope they keep that one forever
Most Top 40 hits without a number one is easily won by Depeche Mode with 40 of them.
But perhaps the one you really should feel sorry for is Sash! A record of five number 2 singles and no number 1.
But let me finish on a better note. The first single I ever bought was a classic UK number one in my opinion. It was “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies and stayed at the top for 8 weeks at the tail end of 1969. Personally I fell that the charts will stay with us for many years yet, albeit very much adapted from the old days of purely physical sales. I would love to hear your thoughts on this fabulous UK Charts anniversary.
How many of you remember the SimpsonsUK number one from 1991, “Do The Bartman“? It is nearly 21 years old now after all. Did you know that it was the first UK number one song by a cartoon act since the Archies in 1969? Which incidentally was the first single that I ever bought.
But back to “Do The Bartman” which was included on the album ‘The Simpsons Sing The Blues’ and the the vocals were provided by Nancy Cartwright who provides Bart’s voice in the series. It was co written and co produced by Bryan Loren by none other than Michael Jackson. Jacko was a big fan of the Simpsons but contractual reasons (he was on a different record label) meant that he wasn’t credited on the original release. This was rumoured for sometime after the event and was eventually revealed by Simpsons creator Matt Groening at a convention in 1998. I know this will be old news to some of you but I only read about it a couple of days back. Jackson did go on to make an appearance on the show but not as a caricature of himself.
The song also reached the top of the charts in Norway, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. It only made it to number 24 in the USA, but it was never officially released as a single there. It stayed at number one in the UK for 3 weeks between February and March 1991.
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