Category: Did you know?

Here is a list of the top 20 oldest living solo artists to have had a UK hit single. There are others who would fit this category, but did not have a solo hit. All this is based on available information at the time. Incidentally, the oldest living person who was a member of a group is Teddie Beverly from the Beverly Sisters who was born on 5th May 1927.

Rank	Artist	Month born	Year	UK No. 1
20=	Pat Suzuki	22 September	1930
20=	Joni James	22 September	1930
18	Clint Eastwood	31 May	1930
17	Rolf Harris	30 March	1930	yes
16	Mitchell Torok	28 October	1929
15	Leroy Van Dyke	04 October	1929
14	C.W McCall	15 November	1928
13	Marcello Minerbi	07 August	1928
12	Burt Bacharach	12 May	1928
11	Cleo Laine	28 October	1927
10	Dick Hyman	08 March	1927
9	Harry Belafonte	01 March	1927	yes
8	Laurie Johnson	07 February	1927
7	Robert Earl	17 November	1926
6	Tony Bennett	03 August	1926	yes
5	Mel Brooks	28 June	1926
4	Sue Thompson	19 July	1925
3	Bill Hayes	05 June	1925
2	Jane Morgan	03 May	1924	yes
1	Ray Anthony	20 January	1922

It’s a double feature on Jim Steinman this week. He has charted 36 UK hit singles either as a producer and/or writer. Obviously there are multiple versions of the same song and they are all included in this list of his UK chart success.

Artist	Title	Year	Position	Prod / Writ
Meat Loaf	You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth	1978	33	w
Meat Loaf	Two Out Of Three ain’t Bad	1978	32	w
Meat Loaf	Bat Out of Hell	1979	15	w
Jim Steinman	Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through	1981	52	p/w
Meat Loaf	I’m Gonna Love Her for Both of Us	1981	62	w
Meat Loaf	Dead Ringer for Love	1981	5	w
Bonnie Tyler	Total Eclipse of The Heart	1983	1	p/w
Bonnie Tyler	Faster Than the Speed of Night	1983	43	p/w
Bonnie Tyler	Have You Ever Seen The Rain	1983	47	p
Barry Manilow	Read ‘Em And Weep	1983	17	p/w
Jim Steinman And Fire Inc.	Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young	1984	67	p/w
Meat Loaf	Nowhere Fast	1984	67	w
Bonnie Tyler	Holding Out for A Hero	1985	2	p/w
Bonnie Tyler: Vocalist Todd Rundgren	Loving You’s a Dirty Job but Somebody’s Gotta Do It	1985	73	p/w
Sisters of Mercy	This Corrosion	1987	7	p
Sisters of Mercy	Dominion	1988	13	p
Pandora’s Box	It’s All Coming Back to Me Now	1989	51	p/w
Sisters of Mercy	More	1990	14	p/w
Meat Loaf	I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)	1993	1	p/w
Meat Loaf	Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through	1994	11	w
Meat Loaf	Objects in The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are	1994	26	p/w
Nicki French	Total Eclipse of The Heart	1994	54	w
Taylor Dayne	Original Sin (Theme from The Shadow)	1995	63	p/w
Take That	Never Forget	1995	1	p
Bonnie Tyler	Making Love (Out of Nothing at All)	1996	45	p/w
Celine Dion	It’s All Coming Back to Me Now	1996	3	p/w
Red Hill Children	When Children Rule the World	1996	40	p/w
Celine Dion	Call the Man	1997	11	p
Tina Arena	Whistle Down the Wind	1998	24	w
Boyzone	No Matter What	1998	1	p/w
Meat Loaf Feat Patti Russo	Is Nothing Sacred	1999	15	w
Russell Watson	Nothing Sacred – A Song for Kirsty	2002	17	w
Jan Wayne	Total Eclipse of The Heart	2003	28	w
Meat Loaf Feat Marion Raven	It’s All Coming Back to Me Now	2006	6	p/w
Glee Feat Jonathan Groff	Total Eclipse of The Heart	2010	9	w
Glee (Season Three)	It’s All Coming Back to Me Now	2012	69	w

Following the 65th Eurovision Song Contest final which took place yesterday, PRS for Music has revealed a list of the most played Eurovision entries on radio and television in the UK during 2020. Here is the list.

Rank	Artist	Title	Year
20	Storm	SuRie	2018
19	Where Are You?	Imaani	1998
18	Knock, Knock Who’s There?	Mary Hopkin	1970
17	Bigger than Us	Michael Rice	2019
16	Are You Sure?	The Allisons	1961
15	Say It Again	Precious	1999
14	Flying the Flag (for You)	Scooch	2007
13	Rock Bottom	Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran	1977
12	One Step Further	Bardo	1982
11	Power to All Our Friends	Cliff Richard	1973
10	Boom Bang-a-Bang	Lulu	1969
9	Puppet on a String	Sandie Shaw	1967
8	Love City Groove	Love City Groove	1995
7	Congratulations	Cliff Richard	1968
6	Beg, Steal or Borrow	The New Seekers	1972
5	Love Shine a Light	Katrina and the Waves	1997
4	Save Your Kisses for Me	Brotherhood of Man	1976
3	Making Your Mind Up	Bucks Fizz	1981
2	My Last Breath	James Newman	2020
1	Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit	Gina G	1996

 

Ever wondered how many song titles have charted that have no vowels? No? I’m not surprised, however, if you did here is a list of the 35 top 20 hits to chart with no vowels.

Artist	Title	Year	Position
Anthony Newley	Why	1960	1
Crash Test Dummies	Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm	1994	2
3T Feat Michael Jackson	Why	1996	2
Sonique	Sky	2000	2
Kym Marsh	Cry	2003	2
Donny Osmond	Why	1972	3
H & Claire	DJ	2002	3
Rihanna	S&M	2010	3
Flo Rida Feat Sage The Gemini & Lookas	G.D.F.R.	2015	3
Annie Lennox	Why	1992	5
Bronski Beat	Why?	1984	6
Lily Allen	LDN	2006	6
Mel And Kim	F.L.M.	1987	7
DJ Sammy	Why	2005	7
Mis-Teeq	Why	2001	8
P!nk	Try	2012	8
Drake Feat Giggs	KMT	2017	9
Carly Simon	Why	1982	10
Glamma Kid	Why	1999	10
Ultravox	Hymn	1982	11
Adamski	N-R-G	1990	12
Fall Out Boy	Thnks Fr Th Mmrs	2007	12
Alex Parks	Cry	2004	13
Xzibit	X	2001	14
Ian Van Dahl	Try	2002	15
Nelly Furtado	Try	2004	15
Armand Van Helden	My My My	2004	15
Nicki Minaj Feat Rihanna	Fly	2011	16
Waterfront	Cry	1989	17
Jason Donovan	R.S.V.P.	1991	17
Godley And Creme	Cry	1985	19
System F	Cry	2000	19
Blackout	Mr. DJ	2001	19
Frankie Avalon	Why	1960	20
Hillary Duff	Fly	2006	20

 

Ever since the UK singles chart began, there have been a number of EPs that have made the chart. There have been 347 between 1956 and 2010 of which 29 have made the top 10. For those too young to remember or know what an EP is, EP stood for extended play and it was a 7″ or CD single which contained anything from three to six tracks and were introduced for people who never had enough money to splash out on a full album, but could afford more than just a single.

Here’s are the 29 that made the top 10.

Artist	EP Title	Lead Track	Year	Position
Beatles	Magical Mystery Tour	Magical Mystery Tour	1967	2
Simon And Garfunkel	Mrs. Robinson	Mrs Robinson	1969	9
Demis Roussos	The Roussos Phenomenon	Forever and Ever	1976	1
Bryan Ferry	Extended Play	The Price Of Love	1976	7
Specials	The Special A.K.A. Live!	Too Much Too Young	1980	1
Madness	Work Rest and Play	Night Boat to Cairo	1980	6
Motorhead	The Golden Years Live	Leaving Here	1980	8
Toyah	Four from Toyah	It’s A Mystery	1981	4
Motorhead	St. Valentine’s Day Massacre	Please Don’t Touch	1981	5
Genesis	3 X 3	Paperlate	1982	10
Shakin’ Stevens	Shakin’ Stevens	Lawdy Miss Clawdy	1982	2
Michael Reed	The Music of Torvill And Dean	Bolero	1984	9
Erasure	Crackers International	Stop	1988	2
Deacon Blue	Four Bacharach & David Songs	I’ll Never Fall in Love	1990	2
Proclaimers	King of The Road	King Of The Road	1990	9
Seal	Killer	Killer	1991	8
Prodigy	Everybody in The Place	Everybody in The Place	1992	2
Wonder Stuff	Welcome to The Cheap Seats	Welcome to The Cheap Seats	1992	8
Erasure	Abba-Esque	Lay All Your Love on Me	1992	1
Take That	A Million Love Songs	A Million Love Songs	1992	7
Therapy	Shortsharpshock	Screamager	1993	9
George Michael	Five Live	Somebody to Love	1993	1
Apache Indian	Nuff Vibes	Caste System	1993	5
Wonder Stuff	On the Ropes	On The Ropes	1993	10
Mansun	Five	She Makes My Nose Bleed	1997	9
Mansun	Seven	Closed for Business	1997	10
Embrace	All You Good Good People	All You Good Good People	1997	8
Mansun	Eight	Legacy	1998	7
Brian Kennedy	George Best – A Tribute	You Raise Me Up	2005	4

Barry Manilow’s first job was in the mailroom as CBS television.

Mick Jagger back as a hospital porter.

T’Pau’s Carol Decker was a lifeguard.

David Bowie was a Butcher’s delivery boy.

Jarvis Cocker worked in a fishmonger.

Noel Gallagher was a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets.

Calvin Harris was a shelf-stacker in Marks & Spencer.

Kele Okereke (from Bloc Party) was a cinema usher.

Rod Stewart marked out plots in a cemetery.

Lady Gaga worked as a waitress in a Greek restaurant.

KanYe West began working in the Gap chain.

Madonna worked for Dunkin’ Donuts in Times Square.

Eddie Vedder (from Pearl Jam) was once a night shift security guard.

P!nk served burgers in McDonalds.

Elvis Presley drove a truck for the Crown Electric Company.