Did you know?

A few morsels to get your teeth into

Dolly Parton wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You in the same day. She said, “It was a good day’s writing.”

Gary Numan is 13 days older than Gary Oldman.

Adele and Jessie J went to the same performing arts high school and used to sing together during lunch.

Kurt Cobain wrote the Nirvana hit Heart-Shaped Box about his wife’s (Courtney Love) vagina.

Ben Elton and Olivia Newton-John are third cousins.

Mick Jagger was taught to dance (!) by Tina Turner when she toured with them in the 60s.

Childish Gambino claims he got his rap name from a Wu-Tang Clan name generator.

Music was sent down a telephone line for the first time in 1876, the same year the phone was invented.

One in five country music songs refer to alcohol, one in three to tears and one in seven to ‘mama’.

Taylor Swift’s mum was a fan of James Taylor so she name her daughter after him.

Acts to peak at every position in the top 10

There are 12 acts who have had at least one UK hit to peak at every position between one and 10. Here is the list along with the number of hits to peak at that position.

Artist 1’s 2’s 3’s 4’s 5’s 6’s 7’s 8’s 9’s 10’s
Cliff Richard 16 11 8 6 1 6 6 6 5 7
Drake 6 3 5 5 3 2 2 3 2 5
Elton John 10 2 2 5 4 1 5 2 2 3
Elvis Presley 18 9 5 2 3 5 2 3 11 1
Lonnie Donegan 3 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 9 2
Madonna 13 11 8 5 6 4 7 1 2 3
Mariah Carey 3 2 4 5 2 1 1 2 3 1
Pink 3 2 3 1 2 2 1 2 9 2
Taylor Swift 1 4 3 3 2 1 2 1 1 1
Tom Jones 3 5 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 1
U2 7 5 4 6 2 3 2 1 1 2
Usher 4 2 1 3 3 1 1 1 2 3

Longest singles to make number one

In the history of the UK singles chart, 11 songs have reached the top which time in at over six minutes. Here is the list.

Artist Title Year Length
Oasis All Around The World 1998 9m 04s
Justin Timberlake Mirrors 2013 8m 00s
Oasis D’you Know What I Mean? 1997 7m 24s
Beatles Hey Jude 1968 7m 06s
George Michael Jesus To A Child 1996 6m 55s
Eminem Stan 2000 6m 47s
Queen Innuendo 1991 6m 29s
Madonna Frozen 1998 6m 18s
USA For Africa We Are The World 1985 6m 17s
Simple Minds Belfast Child 1989 6m 04s
Ferry Aid Let It Be 1987 6m 01s

10 UK and US chart trivia facts

The Go-Go’s were the first all-female band to write all their own songs and played all their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts.

In 2014, Taylor Swift accidentally released an 8 second track of white noise onto iTunes. It reached the top of the Canadian charts almost instantly.

Paul McCartney used the pseudonym “Bernard Webb” on the song, Woman to prove that his music would be successful no matter who took credit for it.

Connie Francis became the first solo woman to have a Billboard number one hit with Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool in 1960.

When Billy Idol’s cover of Tommy James and the Shondells’ song Mony Mony reached number one on the Billboard charts in 1987, it knocked off Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now, which was also a cover of a Tommy James and the Shondells song.

In 2002, George Harrison knocked Aaliyah off the top of the UK singles chart, it was the first time that one deceased artist had replaced another at the top.

The first rap song to top the Billboard singles charts was Rapture by Blondie, it was also the first rap music video to appear on MTV.

The Orb’s 1992 hit Blue Room was 39 minutes and 58 seconds long, two seconds shorter than the maximum permitted for a single under the-then chart rules.

The longest note held on a UK hit is by Morten Harket. In the A-Ha hit, Summer Moved On, he holds a vocal note for 20.2 seconds.

Drake holds the record for the most US top 10 hits, up to July 2022 he has had 58.

 

Most weeks at number one in Canada

In the next instalment of songs that spent 10 or more weeks at number one various countries, this week it’s Canada.

Artist Title Year Weeks
Stars on 45 Stars on 45 Medley 1981 12
Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You 1992 10
Lou Bega Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…) 1999 11
Elvis Presley vs. JXL A Little Less Conversation 2002 10
Clay Aiken Bridge over Troubled Water / This Is the Night 2003 13
Ryan Malcolm Something More 2003 13
Fantasia I Believe 2004 10
Madonna Hung Up 2006 13
Taylor Hicks Do I Make You Proud 2006 15
Timbaland feat OneRepublic Apologize 2007/08 13
Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling 2009 16
Maroon 5 feat Christina Aguilera Moves like Jagger 2011 10
Rihanna feat Calvin Harris We Found Love 2011/12 11
Robin Thicke feat T.I. & Pharrell Blurred Lines 2013 13
Pharrell Williams Happy 2014 10
Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 2015 15
OMI Cheerleader 2015 11
Chainsmokers feat Halsey Closer 2016 13
Ed Sheeran Shape Of You 2017 16
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat Justin Bieber Despacito 2017 16
Drake God’s Plan 2018 10
Lil Nas X feat Billy Ray Cyrus Old Town Road 2019 19
Roddy Ricch The Box 2020 10
24kGoldn feat Iann Dior Mood 2020/21 11
The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber Stay 2021 12
Elton John and Dua Lipa Cold Heart (Pnau remix) 2022 12
Harry Styles As It Was 2022 17 Still at No.1 at time of publication

 

Most weeks at number one in France

Continuing the theme of songs that spent 10 or more weeks at number one in various countries, this week it’s France and there are a whopping 64, here is the list. The man in the quiz was in Marmalade

Artist Title Year Weeks
Doris Day Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Será, Será) 1957 12
Dalida Bambino 1957 31
Annie Cordy Hello, le soleil brille 1958 25
Kalin Twins When 1958 15
Les Compagnons de la chanson Le marchand de bonheur 1959/1960 13
Bob Azzam Mustapha 1960 12
Édith Piaf Non, je ne regrette rien 1961 14
Henri Tisot L’Auto-circulation 1961/1962 10
Richard Anthony J’entends siffler le train 1962 11
Sylvie Vartan La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser 1963 10
Salvatore Adamo La Nuit 1965 10
Salvatore Adamo Ton Nom 1966 10
Dimitri Dourakine Casatchok 1969 12
Mike Brant C’est ma prière 1972 12
Patrick Green & Olivier Lejeune Pot pour rire Mr le Président 1974 12
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John You’re the One That I Want 1978 14
Patrick Hernandez Born to Be Alive 1979 14
The Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star 1979/1980 11
Kim Wilde Cambodia 1982 12
Toto Cutugno L’Italiano 1983 12
Irene Cara Flashdance… What a Feeling 1983 17
Stéphanie Ouragan 1986 10
Images Les Démons de minuit 1986 13
Licence IV Viens boire un p’tit coup à la maison 1987 13
Vanessa Paradis Joe le taxi 1987 11
Los Lobos La Bamba 1987 11
Charles Aznavour & various artists Pour toi Arménie 1989 10
Kaoma Lambada 1989 12
Lagaf La Zoubida 1991 10
Jordy Dur dur d’être bébé! 1992 15
Freddie Mercury Living on My Own 1993/1994 12
Youssou N’Dour & Neneh Cherry 7 Seconds 1994 16
Elton John Can You Feel the Love Tonight 1994/1995 10
Coolio feat L.V. Gangsta’s Paradise 1995/1996 12
Robert Miles Children 1996 11
Gala Freed from Desire 1996 13
Wes Alane 1997 10
Céline Dion The Reason / My Heart Will Go On 1998 13
Manau La Tribu de Dana 1998 12
Daniel Lavoie, Patrick Fiori & Garou Belle 1998 18
Larusso Tu m’oublieras 1999 12
Lou Bega Mambo No. 5 1999 20
Yannick Ces soirées-là 2000 14
Philippe d’Avilla, Damien Sargue & Gregori Baquet Les Rois du monde 2000 11
Garou Seul 2001 12
Las Ketchup Asereje 2002 11
O-Zone Dragostea din tei 2003 14
Ilona Mitrecey Un Monde parfait 2005 14
Crazy Frog Axel F 2005 12
Rihanna Don’t Stop the Music 2007 12
Yael Naim New Soul 2008 11
Enrique Iglesias & Nâdiya Tired of Being Sorry 2008 10
Madcon Beggin’ 2008 10
Helmut Fritz Ça m’énerve 2009 10
David Guetta feat Akon Sexy Bitch 2009 10
Jena Lee J’aimerais tellement 2009 11
René la Taupe Mignon Mignon 2010 15
Pharrell Williams Happy Happy 2014 18
Lilly Wood and the Prick Prayer in C (Robin Schulz remix) 2014 13
Omi Cheerleader 2015 11
Adele Hello 2015 11
Ed Sheeran Shape of You 2017 15
Luis Fonsi feat Daddy Yankee Despacito 2017 18
Jul feat SCH, Naps, Kofs, Elams, Solda, Houari & Soso Maness Bande organisé 2020 12