Members alphanguy74 Posted July 26, 2012 Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 I'm finally going to start this thread. The UK charts would sometimes mirror the United states Billboard charts, but many times, be completely different. It's very interesting to see and compare the differences. The UK singles chart is the official chart in the United Kingdom. Record charts n the UK began life in 1952 when Percy Dickins from New Musical Express imitated an idea started in American Billboard magazine and began compiling a hit parade. Prior to this, a song's popularity was measured by the sales of sheet music. Initially, Dickins telephoned a sample of around 20 shops asking for a list of the 10 best-selling songs. These results were then aggregated to give a Top 12 chart published in NME on 14 November 1952. The number-one single was "Here In My Heart by Al Martino. unlike the US.. there wasn't 1 specific official source for record charts in the early years, So The sources, in accordance with the official canon of the Official UK Record Charts Company, are the New Musical Express chart from 1952 to 1960; the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969; and the Official UK Singles Chart from 1969 on. Martino, born Alfred Cini, made his singing debut over 40 years ago in Philadelphia with the song Here In My Heart. What a debut it was! The title instantaneously sold over one million copies. With this ballad, Mr. Martino became the first American artist to hit number one in the British "single" charts during 1952, consequently putting him into the Guinness Book of World Records. This song spent 9 weeks at number one, from November 14, 1952 - February 15, 1953. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted July 26, 2012 Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 And since 1967, BBC Radio 1 has had at least one chart show (of different names/variations) to go long with the official UK singles chart. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/ There were years when I was growing up, particularly in middle school and in high school, where I would pay more attention to the UK singles and albums charts than their US counterparts. Actually, that's still kind of true of me today. For a while, I think I consumed more British pop culture than the average British person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted July 26, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 Yes, I never paid it much attention until about 10 years ago, and discovered that I could find a HUGE amount of older music that was a big hit in the UK, that I had never heard before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted July 26, 2012 Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 And of course, these are the artists (with the amount of #1's) with the most #1's on the UK singles chart. I just included those with 7 or more #1 hits. 21 – Elvis Presley 17 – The Beatles 14 – Westlife 14 – Cliff Richard 13 – Madonna 12 – The Shadows 11 – Take That 9 - Kylie Minogue 9 – ABBA 9 – Spice Girls 8 – Oasis 8 – The Rolling Stones 7 – Eminem 7 – Elton John 7 – George Michael 7 – McFly 7 – Michael Jackson 7 – U2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted July 26, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 See.... Westlife, I would have had NO idea they had that many hits. I've heard of them.. but didn't know they were incredibly huge like that. And Cliff Richard only had two hits in the US.. and of course, one of the biggest in chart history in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted July 26, 2012 Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 Westlife were the Irish boyband that made Simon Cowell the person he is today. They hold the record for most consecutive #1 debut UK hits with 7 between 1999 and 2000. I also believe their debut album is the only album to have 5 #1 UK singles off of it. They were typical ballad/boyband cheese. They recently disbanded, after a few years of less success and parting ways with Cowell. They only had one US hit, when Swear It Again (their first UK #1 single) peaked at #20 in 2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted July 26, 2012 Members Share Posted July 26, 2012 I would say they were the cheesiest of them all! They made bands like Take That, Backstreet Boys and the rest look hip and edgy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Posted July 27, 2012 Members Share Posted July 27, 2012 Alphanguy, thank you so much for starting this fascinating thread. "Here in My Heart" also reached #1 in America. During the rock era, Martino's biggest U.S. hit was "I Love You Because," which peaked at #3 in 1963. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted July 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 27, 2012 The next song in line is "You Belong To Me" by Jo Stafford, which was number one for one week, from February 16- February 22, 1953. Jo was born November 12, 1917 and died on July 16, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0dSAo8F0d8 Jo actually had 2 careers, also recording as comedy singer Darlene Edwards with her husband, as Jonathon Edwards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqVGr843h1E She even won a grammy for best comedy album in 1961 A more detailed Bio of Jo Stafford can be found here: http://mysite.verizo...ds.com/id1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted July 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 27, 2012 "You Belong To Me" was also number one in the Unites States, but many do not know it was a cover. The original being released several months before by country singer Sue Thompson: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted July 28, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 28, 2012 Next we have "Comes A Long A Love" by Kay Starr, which was number one from January 23- January 29 1953. Born Katherine Laverne Starks on an Oklahoma indian reservation on July 21, 1922, her father was an iriquois indian who worked installing sprinklers. She has recorded and performed since 1939, racking up a total of 37 top 40 on the US billboard charts, but only 5 on the UK charts. Her last top 40 hit (In the US) was "When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World) in 1965. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_fJkt0UM_s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Posted July 28, 2012 Members Share Posted July 28, 2012 "Comes a Long a Love" sounds a little bit like "Rock and Roll Waltz." Jo Stafford's version of "You Belong to Me" is enjoyable, but the best incarnation of the song was performed by a Jersey City doo-wop group called the Duprees. (In 1962, they took this song to #7 in the United States.) <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XCeNCvwEFU8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted July 28, 2012 Members Share Posted July 28, 2012 Whenever I think of "You Belong to Me" I think of Bette Midler singing it in Down and Out in Beverly Hills. A lot of the American artists who had big hits in the UK in the early 50's went on to have nostalgia tours for years in the UK, didn't they? It seemed like much of the US forgot them, but the UK didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members quartermainefan Posted July 29, 2012 Members Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have to disagree here. Jo Stafford just owns this song. This is a pale imitation I think. The lead singer doesn't even have a nice voice here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted August 1, 2012 Author Members Share Posted August 1, 2012 Next is Eddie Fisher with "Outside Of Heaven", number one from January 30 - February 5, 1953. Edwin John "Eddie" Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American entertainer. He was the most successful pop singles artist of the first half of the 1950s , selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. He left his first wife, actress Debbie Reynolds, to marry Debbie's best friend, actress Elizabeth TAylor, when Taylor's husband film producer Mike Todd died. This event garnered scandalous and unwelcome publicity for Fisher. He later married Connie Stevens. Fisher is the father of actresses Carrie Fisher (with Reynolds), Joely Fisher (with Stevens), and Tricia Leigh Fisher (with Stevens) This one only went to number 10 in the US: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.