Did you know?

10 different ‘Johnny’ facts

Johnny Gill was the lead singer with New Edition, but he was encouraged to make a demo by his neighbour Stacy Lattisaw whose biggest hit was Jump to the Beat in 1980.

Johnny Pearson was an orchestra leader who recorded many TV theme tunes. The only one that charted was Sleepy Shores which charted at the end of 1971 and was the theme to the doctor series Owen MD. It was also the first single I ever owned.

Johnny Tillotson, who had a number one in 1961 with Poetry in Motion, spent most of his youth looking after his grandmother. The inspiration for the title of his number one came from the two songwriters, Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, looking up from their desk and watching a line of young ladies from a nearby school pass by outside their window every day.

Johnny Nash wrote and performed the theme song to American cartoon The Mighty Hercules in the 1960s.

Although Johnny Logan represented and won the Eurovision song contest in 1980 with What’s Another Year, his real name is Sean Patrick Michael Sherrard and he was born in Melbourne Australia.

Johnny Johnson’s (of the Bandwagon) real name is Johnny Mathis.

Johnnie (sometimes spelt Johnny) Ray lost his hearing in his right ear after a stupid blanket-toss accident at school where he fell on the ground on his ear.

Johnny Kidd and the Pirates had a minor 1964 hit called Always and Ever. Its B-Side was a cover of a Willie Perryman song called Dr Feelgood from which the punk/rock band took their name in the 70s.

Johnny Mathis, before becoming a singer was a high jump champion at school.

Johnny Cash, for 20 years, lived next door to Roy Orbison in Tennessee and in 1968 when Roy was touring the UK, a fire broke out at his home which killed his two sons, but it was Johnny who called the fire brigade.

A – Z of bands with sisters in them.

Here’s an (almost) A – Z of bands with sisters in them, but not all of them had UK hits.

A Ace Of Base Jenny & Linn Bergrenn
B Bangles Debbi & Vicki Peterson
C Cleopatra Zainam, Yonah & Cleopatra Higgins
D Dale Sisters Betty, Julie & Hazel Dunderdale
E Emotions Sheila, Wanda & Jeanette Hutchinson
F Five Star Denice, Doris & Lorraine Pearson
G Gardiner Sisters Hailey, Allie, Mandi, Lindsay, Abby, and Lucy Gardiner
H Heart Ann & Nancy Wilson
I Ibeyi Twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz
J Jackson Sisters Lyn, Pat, Rae, Jacqueline & Glennie
K Kossoy Sisters Irene & Ellen
L Las Ketchup Pilar, Lola & Lucia Munoz
M McGuire Sisters Phyllis, Dorothy & Christine McGuire
N Nolans Bernie, Coleen, Linda & Maureen
O Out of Eden Danielle, Andrea & Lisa
P Pointer Sisters June, Anita, Ruth & Bonnie Pointer
Q Quinn Sara & Tegan Quinn
R Ronettes Estelle & Veronica Bennett
S Sister Sledge Kathy, Kim, Joni & Debbie Sledge
T Tempers Corina & Chalia Bakker
U Unthanks Becky and Rachel Unthank
V Voice Of The Beehive Tracy & Melissa Brooke-Belland
W Winans Angie & Debbie Winans
X Xscape LaTocha & Tamika Scott
Y There are none
Z There are none

 

 

Classic FM top 20

Over Easter, Classic FM polled their listeners and with a return of over 96,000 votes they compiled the top 300 tracks and played them over the Bank Holiday weekend. This was the top 20.

Rank Composer Piece
20 Ennio Morricone The Mission
19 George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
18 Edward Elgar Cello Concerto
17 Anton Dvorak Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)
16 Antonio Vivaldi Four Seasons
15 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Clarinet Concerto
14 Max Bruch Violin Concerto No.1
13 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Requiem
12 Dmitri  Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.2
11 Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No.6 (Pastoral)
10 John Williams Schindler’s List
9 Gregorio Allegri Miserere
8 Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No.9 (Choral)
7 Gustav Holst The Planets Suite
6 Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor)
5 Karl Jenkins The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
4 Edward Elgar Enigma Variations
3 Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
2 Ralph Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
1 Serge Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2

European Capital cities song titles

This came in as a reqested from Darryl Moreton who ask how many UK hits contain a Capital city in the title. Upon checking that he didn’t mean cities in part-words like Rubberneckin’, then there is 72, here is the list and I’ve included one EP title. They are in alphabetical order by Capital.

Artist Title Year Position
Max Bygraves Tulips From Amsterdam 03/05/1958 3
Ronnie Hilton A Windmill In Old Amsterdam 13/02/1965 23
Elvis Costello New Amsterdam 07/06/1980 36
Simple Minds The Amsterdam (Ep) 09/12/1989 18
Wheatus American In Amsterdam 06/09/2003 59
Don Fardon Belfast Boy 18/04/1970 32
Boney M Belfast 29/10/1977 8
Barnbrack Belfast 16/03/1985 45
Simple Minds Belfast Child 18/02/1989 1
Energy Orchard Belfast 27/01/1990 52
Orbital Belfast 27/05/1995 53
John 00 Fleming Belfast Trance 02/02/2002 74
Infernal From Paris To Berlin 22/04/2006 2
Mobiles Drowning In Berlin 09/01/1982 9
Ry X Berlin 16/11/2013 38
George Ezra Budapest 16/11/2013 72
Danny Kaye Wonderful Copenhagen 28/02/1953 5
Dermot O’brien The Merry Ploughboy (Off To Dublin In The Green) 22/10/1966 46
Frank Chacksfield In Old Lisbon 25/02/1956 15
Ralph Mctell Streets Of London 07/12/1974 2
T.Rex London Boys 06/03/1976 40
Wings London Town 09/09/1978 60
Electric Light Orchestra Confusion/Last Train To London 17/11/1979 8
Clash London Calling 15/12/1979 11
Charlie Harper Barmy London Army 19/07/1980 68
Light Of The World London Town 18/10/1980 41
Xtc Towers Of London 18/10/1980 31
Anti Nowhere League Streets Of London 23/01/1982 48
Chas And Dave London Girls 19/03/1983 63
Bucks Fizz London Town 01/10/1983 34
Bill Sharpe New Thing From London Town 04/10/1986 52
Radio Heart London Times 13/06/1987 48
Mr. Lee Pump Up London 06/08/1988 64
Jean Michel Jarre London Kid 07/01/1989 52
London Boys London Nights 01/07/1989 2
Wendy James London’s Brilliant 17/04/1993 62
X Press 2 London X-Press 05/06/1993 59
Elvis Costello London’s Brilliant Parade 26/11/1994 48
Collapsed Lung London Tonight 22/06/1996 31
Scott Garcia A London Thing 01/11/1997 29
Jds London Town 23/05/1998 49
Fergie London Bridge 16/09/2006 3
Grm Daily London’s Calling 19/05/2018 69
Aj X Deno London 02/06/2018 45
Young Thug The London 08/06/2019 18
Ed Sheeran Take Me Back To London 27/07/2019 3
M24 London 22/02/2020 32
Tony Osborne The Man From Madrid 25/02/1961 50
Lil Macks Oslo 02/04/2022 66
Dean Martin Under The Bridges Of Paris 02/04/1955 6
Eartha Kitt Under The Bridges Of Paris 02/04/1955 7
Winifred Atwell The Poor People Of Paris 17/03/1956 1
Gary Moore Parisienne Walkways 21/04/1979 8
U.K. Subs Party In Paris 25/10/1980 37
Mood Paris Is One Day Away 22/05/1982 42
Tygers Of Pan Tang Paris By Air 11/09/1982 63
Style Council The Paris Match 13/08/1983 3
Dario G Carnival De Paris 20/06/1998 5
Ladyhawke Paris Is Burning 12/07/2008 61
Morrissey I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris 21/02/2009 21
Jay-Z N***ers In Paris 03/03/2012 10
Chainsmokers Paris 28/01/2017 5
Lana Del Rey Paris Texas 08/04/2023 48
Edmund Hockridge By The Fountains Of Rome 01/09/1956 17
David Hughes By The Fountains Of Rome 22/09/1956 27
Morcheeba Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day 05/08/2000 34
Passengers Miss Sarajevo 02/12/1995 6
Clairo Sofia 07/11/2020 75
Ultravox Vienna 17/01/1981 2
Falco Vienna Calling 31/05/1986 10
Four Aces The World Outside (Theme From Warsaw Concerto) 24/01/1959 18
Russ Conway The World Outside (Theme From The Warsaw Concerto) 24/01/1959 24

American Singles chart achievements

Here are 10 American chart facts that will hopefully interest you.

Only two acts in American chart history have occupied the top three positions at the same time, The Beatles in 1964 with Can’t Buy Me Love, Twist & Shout and Do You Want to Know a Secret and matched in 2019 by Ariana Grande with 7 Rings, Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored and Thank U, Next.

The longest gap between Top 10 hits is held by the Ronettes from Be My Baby in 1963 to Sleigh Ride in 2022.

The longest climb to no. 1 record was also broke in 2020 when Glass Animals’ hit Heat Waves topped the chart in its 59th week.

Most weeks at number was Lil Nas X’s song Old Town Road which, in 2019, spent 18 weeks there.

Most weeks at number two without getting to number one: two have achieved this, Foreigner’s 1981 hit Waiting for a Girl Like You and Missy Elliott’s Work It but spend 10 weeks in runner up position.

Most weeks in the top five: in 202/21 The Weeknd with Blinding Lights spent 43 weeks in the top five.

Biggest jump to the top from within the top 100. In 2009, Kelly Clarkson with My Life Would Suck Without You leapt from 97–1.

Grandest plummet out of the Hot 100: In 2016, following his death Prince was back with Purple Rain but as quick as it arrived, it disappeared vanishing from number four.

Acts with the most U.S. number ones, the goes to the Beatles with 20, but Mariah Carey is closing the gap, she’s currently on 19.

And finally, most consecutive weeks in the top 10: that record holder is Katy Perry where between 2010 and 2011 she spent 69 weeks on the chart with the songs California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Firework, E.T.,  and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).

 

ANZAC Day

This week marks ANZAC Day so I thought a list of the most successful Australian and New Zealand acts in UK chart history. I’ve included every act that have achieved eight or more hits and bands who are part-antipodean. I also show their active years and an end year if they haven’t chart for more than two years.

Rank Name Total UK hits UK number ones Chart Active years
1 Kylie Minogue 58 7 1988 – 2020
2 AC/DC 28 0 1978 – 2012
3 Sia 27 1 2000 –
4 INXS 25 0 1986 – 1997
5 Jason Donovan 17 4 1988 – 1993
6 Thompson Twins 16 0 1982 – 1992
7 Crowded House 15 0 1987 – 2007
8 5 Seconds Of Summer 15 1 2014 – 2020
9 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds 14 0 1992 – 2008
10 Iggy Azalea 11 1 2012 – 2016
11 Pendulum 11 0 2004 – 2010
12 Rolf Harris 10 1 1960 – 2008
13 Natalie Imbruglia 10 0 1997 – 2007
14 The Kid Laroi 10 0 2020 –
15 Lords 9 1 2011 – 2021
16 Tina Arena 9 0 1995 – 2003
17 Savage Garden 9 0 1997 – 2001
18 The Seekers 9 2 1965 – 1967
19 Darren Hayes 8 0 2002 – 2007
20 Lemonheads 8 0 1992 – 1996
21 Craig Mclachlan 8 0 1990 – 1995