The 100 Greatest Number Ones Of All Time

[Deleted]

.....in my opinion anyway.....

Over the next few (probably) months I will present my countdown of the best UK chart-toppers, from 100 all the way up to my own personal favourite at number 1.

To date there have been approximately 1300 songs which have topped the "official" chart, and I have picked my 100 from this list, so sadly there is no room for The Who or The Sex Pistols.

It has been a tricky process. Originally I compiled a list of around 160 chart-toppers which I either like or which hold personal memories for me, and it did take a while for me to decide which 60 I could do without. I also did consider other threads such as the greatest number 2's ever, but Vas Tariner covered many of those in the Missing Number One's thread, so there would have been too much duplication.

In order for me to make this list, it does mean of course being familiar with all the chart-toppers to be able to rank them, and there have been a fair few which I have had to dig out, download, stream etc, to remind me whether I actually like them or not. It is a bit of an eclectic list because of course it's a personal one, and I can honestly say that I have a vary varied taste in music.

The countdown itself is based upon the chart-toppers that I actually like, and therefore may not include some of those songs which although considered artistic masterpieces, they just don't really float my boat. Also just because a chart-topper sold a squillion copies, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's any good. It all comes down to opinion and taste of course.

With each song I'll include a You-Tube link and a brief synopsis about the song itself. If anyone knows how to remove ads from the start of these videos then let me know.

I welcome comments, even if they're just of the "Nah, I didn't really like that one" variety, and hopefully for some of the lesser-selling or more obscure chart-toppers which I've chosen, it might jog a few memories also. Enjoy!

[Deleted]

Let's start things off with a relatively recent chart-topper.

100. Mika - Grace Kelly (2007)

Born in Beirut, Michael Penniman showed an early aptitude for music by writing songs as early as the age of seven. He was helped in his formative years by spending much time in Paris and London, at one point attending the Royal College of Music in Kensington. He did suffer from dyslexia, making his later musical achievements all the more commendable, and received musical tutoring from a trained Russian opera singer.

"Grace Kelly" was taken from the album "Life in cartoon motion", and the single took barely 2 weeks to top the chart after being released digitally. Mika himself became a star on both sides of the Atlantic, appearing with the likes of Jay Leno and Jools Holland. The single was a phenomenon, reaching the top 5 in at least eleven different countries, and garnered many prizes at the 2007 World Music Awards.

Mika is sometimes thought of as a one-hit wonder, in fact he has reached the top 10 in the UK charts on five occasions, although I am hard-pushed to remember any of the other four.

[Deleted]

I will happy to see even 5 % from my top 100 UK # 1s here.

[Deleted]

99. The Four Seasons - December '63 (1976)

This isn't really the place to discuss the entire history and back catalogue of the Four Seasons, suffice it to say the group name has been in existence for decades, since around 1960 in fact, and even before that during the 1950's the same group members performed as The Four Lovers.

Drummer Gerry Polci sings lead vocals here; with Frankie Valli on backing vocals, and it all works rather well, even if the song was somewhat tarnished by the appalling Ben Liebrand remixes in the 80's and 90's.

Frankie Valli was (and still is) the usual lead singer of the group, but in the mid 70's the group were going through a period of allowing him to take a back seat due to his hearing difficulties, and Polci took his opportunity on lead vocals well, and the formula was repeated a few months later on "Silver Star".

Keyboardist Bob Gaudio wrote the song ostensibly about his wife, although over the years there have been rumours that the lyrics actually refer to a young man losing his virginity to a prostitute, something which became  more apparent later with the Broadway play "Jersey Boys". Gaudio is in fact a successful song-writer; he co-wrote "The sun ain't gonna shine anymore" and "Can't take my eyes off you", both of which have been recorded by Valli, but of course have been massive hits by other artists.

The group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and a group still performs today as The Four Seasons although only Valli remains from the classic line-up.

For trivia buffs - "December '63" was one of the songs included in the erroneous chart broadcast on Radio One in 1976. The incorrect top 30 had the song at number 3, in fact it was number 1, and later placed into that position.

[suedehead]

A good start to your countdown. December '63 is by no means my favourite Four Seasons song, but, as it was their only UK number one, it's that or nothing.

[Shireblogger]

I didn't want to start off by being nasty, but Mika would probably make it into my 100 Worst Number Ones Of All Time. A triumph for hype in my book.

But now you've picked The Four Seasons, I'm also able to say something positive. I'm with suedehead on it not being my favourite Four Seasons song, but its still a very good composition, brilliantly sung.

I'll be interested to see whether we overlap in taste on the majority of your picks, or we diverge.

[Deleted]

98. The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go (1991)

I can't include The Sex Pistols in this countdown, so I may as well find any excuse that I can and mention them here. It was, after all, in 1976 that both The Pistols and The Clash were at the forefront of the UK's embryonic punk scene. The two groups even appeared early-on together in concert in Sheffield, followed a few weeks later by both teaming up again in concert with The Buzzcocks (now that would have been something), and a new, rebellious sound started to emerge.

The comparison between the groups is interesting. I have always thought that The Clash were the more commercial and had more musical variety, but The Sex Pistols just absolutely went for it in one blistering genre-defining album. Certainly if you compare the most successful hit singles of the groups, "God save the Queen" and "Pretty Vacant" absolutely wipe the floor with this chart-topper and, say, "London Calling".

That said, I've always liked SISOSIG. It had no real hidden meaning, just a good-time, no-frills rock song, written by the classic line-up, which consisted of Mick Jones, Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon and Nicholas "Topper" Headon; who himself only joined the group after they had been together for a few months. It was this line-up which produced the groups definitive albums and singles, including of course originally releasing this song in the early 1980's where it reached the top 20, but followed the pattern of all their singles in failing to crack the top 10.

That was until 1991, when the song was re-issued, and became a bit of a surprise chart-topper. By this time the group had split; Headon had a heroin addiction, Jones had formed Big Audio Dynamite, and in fact their song "Rush" was the B-side of this re-release.

The groups penchant for different musical styles is in evidence on the single; the foreign-language section is actually Ecuadorian-Spanish courtesy of the Mother of one of the sound engineers during the original recording of the song. This was a group remember which also turned their hand to rockabilly, ska and even reggae.

Joe Strummer died in 2002, but the other members have flitted in and out of the music scene, working with the likes of Billy Bragg and Gorillaz. There have been numerous attempts and rumours regarding a reformation, although Strummers death meant that things could never be the same.

[Deleted]

97. Manfred Mann - The Mighty Quinn (1968)

Bob Dylan originally wrote this as "Quinn the Eskimo", with many people assuming that it refers to the actor Anthony Quinn, although Dylan himself has also gone on record as saying that it is nothing more than a nursery rhyme.

His songs have been covered en masse over the years, and this wasn't even the first time that Manfred Mann themselves had covered one - their previous Dylan songs had included "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" and "Just Like A Woman", both of which reached the top 10, and in fact many of their hits were cover versions.

Originally with Paul Jones on vocals, Manfred Mann (the keyboardist) had formed the group named after himself in the early 60's, but by the time of "Mighty Quinn" Jones had been replaced by Mike D'Abo (a cousin of Bond girl Maryam), and the group had also served as a stopping-off point for other musical note-worthies such as Tom McGuiness and Jack Bruce.

Mike D'Abo was no slouch himself in the song-writing stakes, penning "Handbags And Gladrags", and I have to say I prefer his singing voice to that of Paul Jones, I just find the earlier Manfred singles a bit lacking, and prefer their late-60's output.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band was a later group, which of course found success with songs written by Bruce Springsteen amongst others, and they did actually perform a live version of The Mighty Quinn on their album "Watch"; it is quite different to their chart-topper.

[raliverpool]

Four goodies to start off with. This looks like a very promising and enjoyable thread.

[Deleted]

96. Fun feat. Janelle Monae - We Are Young (2012)

Poking its head out from the mass of "talent" show acts and club bangers in 2012 came this fine effort from the American indie/pop band Fun. The song was written by three of the group members, including lead singer Nate Ruess, and actually dates from the previous year where it was given airplay on independent radio, followed by a version on "Glee" (never mind) and an appearance during a Superbowl commercial break, of which there are around 4,398 per game.

I generally steer clear of songs which are credited as "X feat. Y" as it sometimes implies a horrendously over-produced noise. But this is one of those occasions where it actually works. The featured singer here was American R&B star Janelle Monae, who actually recorded most of her vocals in that well-known R&B city of Bristol, followed by some subsequent tweaking, and the finished effort topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

"We Are Young" is a well-constructed ditty, with an excellent switch from the almost choir-like intro into the more atmospheric body of the song. There aren't many other chart-toppers in 2012 (if any) which are as original.

Nate Ruess has stated that the song was inspired by one drunken night when he threw up in a taxi, and the accompanying video follows in a similar vein with a bar brawl and a food fight. All good stuff. And Ruess became a hot name, appearing on tracks with the likes of Beck, Eminem, Pink and even Brian Wilson, although as recently as this year he has been performing solo and with a new group named "The Romantics".

[suedehead]

Five songs in, and there's still nothing I can dismiss as rubbish!

[rubcale]

Going to be interesting although I'm sure I won't agree with amny of the choices.

I can't say I've disliked anything so far but The Four Seasons, The Clash and Manfred Mann are all great tracks.

The only thing with a top 100 of all time apart from the ones at the very top is I could get a vastly different order if I listed on any particular day.

[Deleted]

Nov 1, 2015 12:43:40 GMT 1 suedehead said:

Five songs in, and there's still nothing I can dismiss as rubbish!

Wait my top 100.

[o]

Yep, good choices so far, keep up the good work!

[Deleted]

95. Chicory Tip - Son Of My Father (1972)

1972 was arguably the year that the decade really got into its stride, with an eclectic mix of songs not just at number one but really throughout the entire chart. Not all of it was to everybody's taste of course; for every T.Rex and Deep Purple there was an Osmond and a Cassidy.

This interesting mix included Chicory Tip. Formed in 1967 in the Kent area, and reportedly named after a coffee additive, they had struggled to make much impact, and it needed the help of two future-superstar record producers to give them their moment in the sun.

Giorgio Moroder co-wrote the song, and of course subsequently became a major producer, particularly over the next 20 years or so. Chris Thomas played the distinctive Moog Synthesizer and he too would become a significant name, producing for the likes of The Sex Pistols, Roxy Music and Queen.

This particular type of synthesizer was already being used in the world of music, acts such as The Supremes, Yes and Stevie Wonder featured it on a few of their songs, but I wonder if it had ever had such an impact as here. It is a lovely simple sound, aided by Peter Hewson's great vocal performance, and it made for such an unusual chart-topper.

Chicory Tip only ever released one official album (but plenty of compilations) and their song "Cigarettes Women and Wine" was banned by the BBC for being sexist. They did achieve a few other small hits around the top 20/30 mark, but nothing as original as this chart-topper. I've always felt that it is such an underrated song.

[vastar iner]

It's one of the oddities that, of all the number 1 hits, it's one by an act that is surely only remembered by trivia quiz compilers that took off as a football chant for decades afterwards. I remember it as "Frankie, Frankie, Frankie, Frankie Worthington"...

[suedehead]

Nov 1, 2015 22:31:46 GMT 1 vastar iner said:

It's one of the oddities that, of all the number 1 hits, it's one by an act that is surely only remembered by trivia quiz compilers that took off as a football chant for decades afterwards. I remember it as "Frankie, Frankie, Frankie, Frankie Worthington"...

Would you say the same of Go West? 

[vastar iner]

No - it was the Pet Shop Boys' version that kickstarted its terrace popularity.

Like "Tom Hark" was popular circa 1980 thanks to The Piranhas rather than the Zigzag Jive Flutes.

[suedehead]

Nov 2, 2015 0:12:40 GMT 1 vastar iner said:

No - it was the Pet Shop Boys' version that kickstarted its terrace popularity.

Like "Tom Hark" was popular circa 1980 thanks to The Piranhas rather than the Zigzag Jive Flutes.

I wasn't referring to any particular version of Go West.

[Deleted]

94. The Prodigy - Firestarter (1996)

From one moog synthesiser to another. The Prodigy were named after the Moog Prodigy Synthesiser which was actually owned by the groups founder Liam Howlett, and their songs have included some original material mixed with some extremely catchy sampling of anything from Public Information Films to songs by Reggae star Max Romeo (who had his own top tenner banned by the BBC in the late 60's)

The Prodigy had come tantalisingly close to the top spot before. "Everybody In The Place" was only kept at number 2 by the re-issue of "Bohemian Rhapsody", and their other top 10 hits had been eclectic to say the least.

But in 1996, immediately after Take That after had topped the chart with their wrist-slitting Bee Gees song, The Prodigy trampled over all-comers with this startling effort that shook away the cobwebs, and proved that there was a place at number one for rave and techo - provided of course it was done properly.

The star of the song (and the video) is Keith Flint, whose vocals with attitude and brilliant appearance are at a different end of the spectrum to Gary Barlow. He absolutely nails this, and despite the song heavily sampling from at least two previous records, it comes together very well indeed.

The song-writing credits are quite an extensive list; "Firestarter" sampled "The Art Of Noise" which was co-written by none other than Trevor Horn, and the great guitar riff sampled from "S.O.S" by The Breeders.

The Prodigy have been a massive name for close on 25 years, playing the likes of Glastonbury and Knebworth, whilst ignoring requests to appear on Top Of The Pops. Good for them I say.