SIXTY YEARS OF BRITISH NUMBER ONES |
DOUBLE TOPS |
| YEAR | SONG TITLE | ARTIST | COMMENT |
| 1953 | I Believe | Frankie Laine | Spent 18 weeks at No 1, the most (non-consecutive) weeks at the top, ever! |
| 1995 | I Believe | Robson & Jerome | This was their second No 1, being a remake of a former chart topper (as was their first No 1 - see below). |
| NEAR MISS: The Bachelors reached No 2 with the same song in 1964. | |||
| 1954 | This Ole House | Rosemary Clooney | She was a major US singing star at this time. |
| 1981 | This Ole House | Shakin' Stevens | He was a Welsh Rock 'n' Roll revivalist, who succeeded with several re-workings of old hits. |
| 1955 | Unchained Melody | Jimmy Young | The theme from the film "Unchained". This UK balladeer was covering the original US version. |
| 1990 | Unchained Melody | Righteous Brothers | Same song, used for another film, "Ghost". This recording originates from 1965, when it reached No 14. |
| 1995 | Unchained Melody | Robson & Jerome | First outing for the acting duo featured in tv's "Soldier, Soldier". They specialised in remaking former hits. |
| 2002 | Unchained Melody | Gareth Gates | Runner-up of the tv contest show "Pop Idol", took the song to the top for a record fourth time. |
| 1957 | Young Love | Tab Hunter | US heart-throb movie actor who was persuaded to record this song. |
| 1973 | Young Love | Donny Osmond | Part of the squeaky clean US singing family. He was 15 when this hit the top. |
| 1957 | Mary's Boy Child | Harry Belafonte | Famous for his Caribbean calypso music, although he was a New Yorker. |
| 1978 | Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord | Boney M | These were genuine Caribbeans, although based and recorded in Germany. The hit was a medley of the two titles. |
| 1959 | Living Doll | Cliff Richard & The Drifters | The first of 14 chart toppers over a 40 year span for the perennial performer. The Drifters, with Hank B Marvin, became the Shadows soon after this. |
| 1986 | Living Doll | Cliff Richard & The Young Ones | Re-recorded for the Comic Relief fund raisers, in anarchic style with the four stars of "The Young Ones" tv series, plus Hank B Marvin on guitar. |
| 1962 | Can't Help Falling In Love | Elvis Presley | One of The King's great hit ballads. From his movie "Blue Hawaii". |
| 1993 | (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You | UB40 | Ever-popular mixed race reggae band. This version also made No 1 in the US, which Elvis failed to do! |
| NEAR MISSES: Andy Williams reached No 3 with the song in 1970; The Stylistics made No 4 with their version in 1976. | |||
| 1963 | You'll Never Walk Alone | Gerry & The Pacemakers | Gerry Marsden's Mersey beat group with a song by Rogers & Hammerstein, which became a Liverpool football anthem. |
| 1985 | You'll Never Walk Alone | The Crowd | A charity record, fund raising for the Bradford City football fire, on which Gerry Marsden returned (with others) to remake his 1963 No 1. |
| 1965 | I Got You Babe | Sonny & Cher | Celebrated as the definitive Hippie anthem. He became a politician, she became an international star. |
| 1985 | I Got You Babe | UB 40 & Chrissie Hynde | Remarkably, this version reached the top exactly 20 years after the original, in the month of August. |
| NEAR MISS: Comedian, Avid Merrion with actresses Davina McCall and Patsy Kensit, reached No 5 with their version of the song at Christmas 2004. | |||
| 1967 | Somethin' Stupid | Frank Sinatra & Nancy Sinatra | Father and daughter recording that uniquely topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. |
| 2001 | Somethin' Stupid | Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman | The UK star teamed up with the Hollywood actress to recreate the No 1 from 1967. Taken from William's crooner-era album "Swing When You're Winning". |
| 1968 | Baby Come Back | Equals | Reggae band led by Eddy Grant, who had solo hits in the 1980s. |
| 1994 | Baby Come Back | Pato Banton | UK reggae/rap performer. Vocals are also provided by Ali and Robin Campbell of UB40. This was that pair's third involvement in a chart topper that was a former No 1 song (see 1962 and 1965). |
| 1968 | With A Little Help From My Friends | Joe Cocker | Gravel-voiced singer from Sheffield, who gave a power-soul treatment to the sing-along original by the Beatles. |
| 1988 | With A Little Help From My Friends | Wet Wet Wet | Charity remake for Child Line, and given a treatment more like the Beatles original. |
| 2004 | With A Little Help From My Friends | Sam & Mark | The two guys who came 2nd & 3rd in the tv show "Pop Idol" joined to record a duet version of the old Beatles song. |
| 1969 | Dizzy | Tommy Roe | US teen-orientated singer who co-wrote this song, which made No 1 in the US as well. |
| 1991 | Dizzy | Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff | The off-beat comedian teamed up with the band from the Midlands, and returned the song to the top. |
| 1970 | Spirit In The Sky | Norman Greenbaum | A "Praising Jesus" song that Norman wrote himself. He became a One-hit Wonder. |
| 1986 | Spirit In The Sky | Doctor & The Medics | Although this act are not true One-hit Wonders, their two subsequent hits failed to get any higher than No 29, making them One-hit Wonders in "spirit". |
| 2003 | Spirit In The Sky | Gareth Gates featuring The Kumars | Recorded for Comic Relief, it was the second time that the singer had taken a multi-time chart topper back to No 1 (see 1955). |
| 1972 | Without You | Nilsson | Suicide song written by two members of Badfinger who both later committed suicide. |
| 1994 | Without You | Mariah Carey | Major US star with 16 Top 10s in the 1990s, and a further No 1 in 2000. |
| 1974 | Seasons In The Sun | Terry Jacks | Jacks is a Canadian performer. The song (written in French by Belgian, Jacques Brel), has English lyrics by poet Rod McKuen. |
| 1999 | Seasons In The Sun | Westlife | The Irish boy band had an Abba cover on track 2 of the single ("I Have A Dream", 1979, No 2). |
| 1974 | Everything I Own | Ken Boothe | Jamaican reggae artist with a song written by David Gates from Bread. |
| 1987 | Everything I Own | Boy George | The former Culture Club vocalist with his first solo hit. It was pretty much a note-for-note copy of Boothe's version. |
| 1975 | Barbados | Typically Tropical | They were two recording engineers who wrote the song themselves, but became One-hit Wonders. |
| 1999 | We're Going To Ibeza | Vengaboys | Original words slightly changed for the new location. |
| 1979 | Tragedy | Bee Gees | Taken from their "Spirits Having Flown" album, at the height of their disco period, and, of course, written by themselves. |
| 1999 | Tragedy | Steps | Double A side with "Heartbeat". Tragedy is a note-for-note remake of the Bee Gees hit. |
| 1980 | The Tide Is High | Blondie | Written by Jamaican reggae star, John Holt, this was the band's fifth No 1 and their last for 19 years. |
| 2002 | The Tide Is High | Atomic Kitten | This was the second time that the British female trio had re-recorded a former No 1 and reached the top themselves (see 1989). |
| 1983 | Every Breath You Take | Police | Their 5th and last No 1. Composer and lead vocalist, Sting, went on to solo stardom. |
| 1997 | I'll Be Missing You | Puff Daddy & Faith Evans | The title was changed to become a tribute to a murdered rapper. Entered both UK and US charts at No 1. |
| 1983 | Uptown Girl | Billy Joel | Written by the singer-songwriter himself about his former wife and model, Christine Brinkley. |
| 2001 | Uptown Girl | Westlife | Recorded by the Irish boy band for the Comic Relief Charity. |
| 1984 | Do They Know It's Christmas | Band Aid | Charity record fund raising for famine relief in Ethiopia, featuring a host of UK stars. It was the brain-child of Bob Geldorf and sold 3 million copies. |
| 1989 | Do They Know It's Christmas | Band Aid II | New recording, raising more funds for the same charity. Mainly different stars this time, but Bananarama featured in both recordings. |
| 2004 | Do They Know It's Christmas | Band Aid 20 | Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first recording, the song returned, with new stars (although Bono sang the same line as on the first), again raising money for Africa. |
| 1986 | When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going | Billy Ocean | He was a disco singer from the 70s, but enjoyed greater success in the 80s. |
| 1999 | When The Going Gets Tough | Boyzone | Recorded by the Irish boy band for the Comic Relief charity. |
| 1989 | Eternal Flame | Bangles | US all-girl band, who were much bigger at home. Led by Susanna Hoffs who had solo hits in 1991. |
| 2001 | Eternal Flame | Atomic Kitten | British all-girl band who first charted in 1999 and first hit No 1 earlier in 2001. |
| 1996 | Three Lions | Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds | Recorded as the Official song of the England Football team, for Euro '96. |
| 1998 | 3 Lions '98 | Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds | New lyrics for England's campaign in the 1998 World Cup, held in France. |
| 1998 | Lady Marmalade | All Saints | A remake by the London, all-girl group, of LaBelle's 1975, No 17 hit. |
| 2001 | Lady Marmalade | Christina Aguilera with Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink | The US star, and some friends, with a version featured in the Baz Luhrmann film "Moulin Rouge". |
| 1999 | Mambo No 5 | Lou Bega | One of several summer 1999 Latino hits, this one from the German-based Latin dance act. |
| 2001 | Mambo No 5 | Bob The Builder | The tv animated character got his second No 1 with this remake of the hit which was just two years old. The lyrics were changed to reflect Bob the Builder's trade. |
| 2000 | Against All Odds | Westlife & Mariah Carey | Unlikely collaboration between the Irish boy band and the US star. Remake of Phil Collins' original 1984 hit, which reached No 2. |
| 2005 | Against All Odds | Steve Brookstein | The winner of the tv talent show "X-Factor" recorded the track and took it and himself to the top of the first chart of 2005. |
| NEAR MISS: Phil Collins reached No 2 with the original version in 1984. | |||
| 1995 | You Are Not Alone | Michael Jackson | First of two chart toppers from his album "HIStory", and his fifth up to that time. |
| 2009 | You Are Not Alone | The X-Factor Finalists | The 12 final acts recorded this charity single to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. |
SAME RECORDING BY SAME ARTIST AT NUMBER ONE
MORE THAN ONCE
(in date order of achievement)
| 1975 & 1991 |
Bohemian Rhapsody | QUEEN | Returned to the top 16 years later, following the death of lead singer, Freddie Mercury. Was at the top end 1975 and beginning 1976, then again end 1991 and beginning 1992, making it No 1 in four different years. |
| 1971 & 2002 |
My Sweet Lord | GEORGE HARRISON | Returned to the top 31 years later, following Harrison's death in November 2001. |
| 1958 & 2005 |
Jailhouse Rock | ELVIS PRESLEY | Returned to the top 47 years later, as part of a Presley singles re-issue programme to celebrate the 70th anniversary of his birth. |
| 1959 & 2005 |
One Night / I Got Stung | ELVIS PRESLEY | Also part of the above Presley singles re-issue programme to celebrate the 70th anniversary of his birth, this track returned to the top 46 years later. |
| 1960 & 2005 |
I'ts Now Or Never | ELVIS PRESLEY | This was the final previous Elvis No 1 to return to the top following reissue in 2005. |
NOTE: This listing excludes records which fell from
No 1, but returned to the top
a week or two later, indicating just a fluctuation in on-going sales.
Also excluded are the 1950s phenomena where two versions of the same song,
on simultaneous release, both reached No 1 within a week or so of each other.
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