Talk:UK singles chart records and statistics

Sources?

Where are all the links to sources for all of the information given in the article? Due to their absence the article unfortunately falls well below Wikipedia standards, which is a shame as the topic is an interesting one. 89.234.101.199 12:11, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Off topic/Need of tightening

This is about the UK charts, yet specifies facts on worldwide sales throughout. Not appropriate. Asmentioned above, it specifies many facts and references none. This requires major cleanup work Maggott2000 23:53, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed - article needs a top to bottom reworking. Too much of it is written in a breathless "Nobody thought this record could be beaten, until it was!" style of copywriting that is best left to Teen Beat magazine. RoyBatty42 (talk) 19:34, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Another sub-section?

What about another sub-section for Artists with the most singles competing with each other on the Top 5 (or on the Top 10). Wouldn't that be another to feature The Beatles prominently at the top? --Tlatosmd 22:13, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

List of best selling singles (UK)

The above list clearly existed at one point, being linked to in the 'Biggest selling single' section, but it's now been deleted and i can't find it. If it's been moved can someone update the link from this article, if not, why was it deleted?! The only similar list is the List of best-selling singles by year (UK) which isn't quite the same (for my purposes...). extraordinary (talk) 14:25, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Downloads

This section is becoming less significant now since that's the way singles are going anyway, perhaps it could just have the first single to achieve it rather than an ever growing list.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 22:36, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

There should be a most #1 albums list

Someone should provide the most #1 albums list for artists that have achieved 5 or more #1 albums. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AJS2050 (talk • contribs) 12:04, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Gloria Estefan

In this article, it says that Gloria Estefan has had the most top 75 hits without having a top 5 hit. However, in 2003, Mylo vs. Miami Sound Machine took Doctor Pressure to number 3. Here is a source: http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=847 . I am unsure whether this affects the achievement or not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.92.187.109 (talk) 19:25, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Conjecture, Phrasing

"and with single sales declining year-on-year, things will probably never go back the way things were in the charts for singles to still clock up such high sales." This seems akin to being in the midst of a recession and claiming that "things will probably never be as good as they once were". It may prove to be true, but this statement seems exactly the kind that will end up being referred to in hindsight over how silly it was. Just because there is a downward trend for several years does not mean that trend will continue ad infinitum. It's likely that in somewhere between here and the end of the universe (unless that end was remarkably soon), sales will recover enough to be able to be able to beat these records. -Nichlemn

...and, indeed, since the above was written (in 2005!), sales have risen every year and broke all-time records in 2011. Wise words proved true, Mr Nichlemn :D BillyH 00:48, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Elvis Presley

Someone out there got Elvis's death month wrong. He died in August 1977. Who could make such a stupid mistake?

Even though reissues have helped bring Elvis' total to 21, should reissues really be included in this list (as the Guinness World Records credits him with 18 number ones)? - Dbone828

• Apparently the policy of the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles is to regard the re-issues as new number ones because they were separate releases. On the other hand, if a single gets released twice and makes the top 75 both times this only counts as one top 75 hit. This seems a bit inconsistent to me. MFlet1 12:38, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
  • What you state is incorrect, the Guinness Books regard all re-issues (i.e. when the record is given a completely new release with a new catalogue number, often months or years after the original release) as new hits, but re-entries (i.e. when the single drops off the chart for a short while but then comes back on, still in the same release with the same catalogue number) don't count as new hits ChrisTheDude 09:22, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Just found this page and someone seems desperate to have Elvis as 21 No.1s - he didn't, he had 18. These latter ones are not re-entries but classed as re-issues (because of new catalogue numbers) (by the Guinness Book of among others) - not new hits, they are only classed as new hits if the song has a new vocal.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 17:41, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

This isn't true. It is widely accepted that Elvis has had 21 number 1s, including by Guinness, Radio One and the other rival chartographers such as Jon Kutner and Neil Warwick. If it weren't true, then the re-issue of One Night wouldn't have been classed as the 1000th number 1, which all the aforementioned sources consider it to be. Technohead1980 (talk) 21:01, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

OK, obviously Guinness have changed their policy, because it used to be that, but having checked the Official Charts company, they do concur he's had 21 No.1s. So fair enough, although I fail to see how the same recording can be counted as 2 different No.1s, but I bow to the official sources - although these do need to be put as references to avoid further confusion. --Tuzapicabit (talk) 22:02, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

"Foreign Language"

It occurs to me that the term "foreign language" should not be used in this context. There is no official language of the United Kingdom. English is only the de facto language of the United Kingdom, and, as such, the term "Foreign language" is wrong.

I have no idea what should be done about it, just putting it out there, really. Adamjhepton (talk) 14:30, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

Most Weeks in Chart per Decade

Can I ask how Most weeks on UK Singles Chart by decade is calculated because I don't see how someone can be in the charts for over 600 weeks, in a 520 week period. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.94.86 (talk) 13:42, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

The artist could have more than one song in the chart on the same week. So it's one week for the first song and another week for the second song (ie. two weeks in the chart in the same week). As mentioned in the article, on 5 July 2009 Michael Jackson had 21 singles in the chart - so he accumulated 21 weeks in the chart in a single week. --Tuzapicabit (talk) 10:27, 11 June 2012 (UTC)

Clean up

==Most successful debuts==

The most successful debut is also considered to be an important record. Obviously Al Martino scored the first No.1 hit, meaning he was the first act to have his first single reach No.1 (although it was not the first single he ever released, it was the first single to chart). Eddie Calvert took "Oh Mein Papa" to the top in 1954 and "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White" the following year. Eddie Calvert became the first act to have his first two singles reach No.1. Over 8 years later, in 1963, Gerry & the Pacemakers became the first act to have their first 3 singles reach No.1 when "How Do You Do It?", "I Like It" & "You'll Never Walk Alone" all hit the top spot.

Gerry & the Pacemakers remained the only act to have achieved this until 1984, when Frankie Goes to Hollywood's first single "Relax" (which coincidentally had Gerry Marsden's "Ferry Cross the Mersey" as one of its B-sides) climbed up to No. 1 after being banned by the BBC and a frenzy followed. It dropped out of the charts only to return to No.2 six months later. Through all of this, the single managed to sell 1.91 million copies. The band's second single, "Two Tribes" sold in excess of 1.5 million copies and spent 9 weeks at No.1, 4 weeks longer than their first single. Their third single, "The Power of Love" did not quite manage to equal the success of its predecessors, but spent a week at the top and was only knocked off by Band Aid, which went on to sell over 3.5 million copies. Their next release stalled at No.2, ending their consecutive run making their record the same as Gerry & the Pacemakers, but it would be fair to say that Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a more "successful" debut, because of incredibly high sales. 5 years later, Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers equalled the record of an act having their first 3 singles reaching No. 1 (and, in May 1998, Aqua also achieved the feat).

In 1997, 34 years after Gerry & The Pacemakers achieved their 3rd No.1, the Spice Girls took their first 6 singles to No.1. Promoting "Girl Power" they were hugely successful and proved so by extending this record to having their first 6 singles ("Wannabe", "Say You'll Be There", "2 Become 1", "Who Do You Think You Are", "Spice up Your Life" & "Too Much") reaching No.1. Their run was eventually broken by the ironically named song "Stop", their seventh single stalling at No.2, although the group then went on to have another 3 consecutive #1 hits following this.

By this time it had become more common for singles to enter at No.1. "Wannabe" did not enter at No.1, so the Spice Girls could not claim the record for the first act to achieve their first six singles entering at No.1. This was a new record. B*Witched became the first act to have their first four singles ("C'est La Vie", "Rollercoaster", "To You I Belong" & "Blame It On The Weatherman") all enter at No.1. Westlife, became the most successful boyband in Britain and became the first act to have their first seven singles ("Swear It Again", "If I Let You Go", "Flying Without Wings", "I Have A Dream / Seasons In The Sun", "Fool Again", "Against All Odds" & "My Love") all enter at No.1. This record was achieved in 2000.

As an example of the sort of clean up this article needs. I've pruned this section back by about half the length. Several issues (aside from the fact that it's entirely unreferenced), mainly as regards the flowery language:

1. Why mention the record sales of Frankie Goes to Hollywood? It's not important in what the section is talking about, and certainly Band Aid's sales are not important at all.
2. "...after being banned by the BBC and a frenzy followed". Again, unimportant why it happened and speculative anyway.
3. "and, in May 1998, Aqua also achieved the feat". Needless since Spice Girls had already achieved it before them. It's probable that FGTH and Jive Bunny don't need to be mentioned either really.
4. "Promoting "Girl Power" they were hugely successful and proved so by..." Seriously?
5. Entry at No.1 is not mentioned until we have B*Witched get their first 4 #1s to enter at #1. What about the first debut single to enter at #1 and first two and first three?
6. "Westlife, became the most successful boyband in Britain..." Incorrect for a start and how do you define boyband anyway? Were the Beatles a boyband?

As I say it's all unreferenced, it also smacks of WP:OR and several instances of style issues as well. The cleanup tag doesn't give a reason, but as seen here - there are a lot of issues.

Top-selling singles

• Even more horrors appear in the following section concerning the UK's top-selling singles (which I'll decline to clean up right now)...

1. "The biggest selling singles in most countries tend to be charity singles." Untrue and why mention most countries? This is about the UK alone.
2. "A lot of novelty singles clock up high sales and many one-hit wonders manage to sell many copies with their sole hit." And a lot of novelty singles don't sell well, many one-hit wonders don't sell many copies. What's the point in this anyway?
3. " Since sales also increase during the Christmas season, a Christmas number one single is sometimes able to sell in excess of a million copies, due more to the timing of the single's release than to any considerations of quality." And sometimes a Christmas number one doesn't sell a million, sometimes singles in June sell a million. And who's to judge the quality of a record?
4. "The biggest selling single in the world is "Candle In The Wind" by Elton John." Again, the world?
5. "Rock and roll became a massive craze in the mid-1950s and the first massive hit and most certainly the first number one to come from this genre in both the UK and the US was the second single released by Bill Haley & His Comets, "Rock Around The Clock". The single received massive airplay all around the world and was well-received across the globe. Breaking many records in various countries," Genre is completely unimportant. Why mention that it was a US No.1? Massive airplay around the world? Yes, it was a hit and again, the world. Well-recieved? Yes, the fact that it was a hit would suggest that yet again, the globe? Breaking which records in which countries?
6. "it became the biggest selling single of all time in the UK after topping the charts for a total of five weeks in late 1955 and early 1956 and returning to the charts several times until 1957, when it clocked up its millionth sale. Spending 36 weeks in the charts, it sold 1.39 million copies and remained the biggest selling single of the 1950s. The record took the greatest phenomenon in the UK to be broken." Finally we get to something worth mentioning. It was the biggest selling single of the 1950s yes (not of all time) (a citation is needed here of course). Remained? It still remains. Total sales are to date (or I presume up to 2002 when the all-time sales were calculated).
7. "The Beatles's first single only reached #17 in the UK charts in 1962, but by 1969, they had scored that many UK #1s, they'd become a global phenomenon and clocked up 7 million-selling singles in the UK." First single's chart position unimportant. Global? It also seems to suggest they became a global phenomenon because of having a lot of UK #1 singles. Amount of million sellers is not needed - this about top selling singles not artists.
8. " "She Loves You" was the band's second UK #1 and a huge worldwide success. Selling 1.89 million copies after spending 29 weeks in the UK chart, it was the track which catapulted them to superstardom." Worldwide again. It was not the track that made them famous either, not that it's important anyway.
9. "It became not only the biggest selling single of the year and the decade, but also of all time; a record which remained for another 14 years. The Beatles' other million-selling singles were "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Can't Buy Me Love", "I Feel Fine", and the double A side We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper." Yes, She Loves You needs to be mentioned as the new best-selling single with its total sales and a citation. Other Beatles singles need not be mentioned.
10. "In 1971, Paul McCartney formed a group called Wings, which also included his wife Linda McCartney." Who cares?
11. "They enjoyed great success over the decade and in 1977 scored a massive hit with their single "Mull Of Kintyre". It topped the charts for nine weeks, enjoying the longest stay at the top of the charts all decade (joint with "Bohemian Rhapsody")" Uses of "great success" and "massive hit" are unencyclopedic. Amount of weeks at No.1 are not the issue in this section.
12. " and sold in excess of 2.05 million copies, becoming the first single to break the 2 million mark." This is the next point that needs to be mentioned, but again, needs a citation.
13. "It remained so for another 7 years, even amid a period of greatly increased singles sales in general, as shown by the huge success of the singles from the soundtracks to films such as Saturday Night Fever and Grease. The success of relatively new calypso group Boney M also clocked up high sales." Yes, 1978 and 1979 were the top selling years for singles (up until recent years with the advent of downloads - and they remain so in terms of physical singles), but not sure it needs to be said here, maybe in a new section? Saturday Night Fever was a big selling album - but only one of its singles reached No.1 (for two weeks). Sure, Grease and Boney M were successful but their inclusion here is unnecessary.
14. "When Bob Geldof (former lead singer of the Boomtown Rats) saw images of the effects of devastating famine on the Ethiopian people, it inspired him to form the most successful charity act ever in UK history, Band Aid." Perhaps just a mention of charity supergroup or charity ensemble Band Aid here. Bob Geldof was still a member of Boomtown Rats at the time as well.
15. "Comprising a number of very successful artists at the time (1984), the single "Do They Know It's Christmas", written by him and Midge Ure, entered the charts at #1 and remained at the top for 5 weeks, selling over 3.55 million copies during its chart run. This made it the biggest selling single in the UK," Yes, a new top-selling single, that's fine - citation needed of course.
16. "but this was not all that came from Band Aid. The famous Live Aid concert of 1985 clocked up huge sales and saw many successful and popular artists perform in the UK and the US to millions of fans either there in person or watching on TV. The USA also made their own charity record, "We Are The World", which topped the charts in the UK, but was a much bigger success in the US selling over 4 million copies." Live Aid clocked up huge sales of what? Live Aid was a concert, what's it doing here? Why are We are the World's US sales mentioned? Why is it mentioned at all, there were lots of charity singles following Band Aid?
17. "The 1997 release of Elton John's "Something About The Way You Look Tonight / Candle In The Wind 1997" became the biggest ever selling single in the world and also became the biggest selling single in Britain with 4.86 million copies sold. "Candle In The Wind", originally about Marilyn Monroe, was re-written and re-released to commemorate the then recently deceased Diana, Princess of Wales. It topped the UK charts for five weeks and topped the US charts for 14 weeks, where it sold 11 million copies." Candle in the Wind 1997 is not a re-release. Certainly why this became such a big seller I think is fine to mention, but it's sales and weeks in the US are not.
18. "It is highly unlikely, due to rapidly declining numbers in single sales, that this record will be broken anytime soon, with the biggest selling single since then being Will Young's debut single "Evergreen" selling only 1.78 million copies by comparison." This has already proved to be untrue because single sales massively increased in the late 2000s/early 2010s. It's certainly speculation anyway and an attempt to predict the future. Only 1.78 million? Not sure if it needs to be mentioned anyway, since Candle in the Wind remains the top selling single. Perhaps a brief mention as the top selling single of the 2000s maybe? It was also a double A-side not just "Evergreen".
19. "The biggest-selling single released by a female artist in the UK history is Cher's "Believe". It reached the top spot of the UK Singles Chart at the end of the 1998 and stayed there for 7 consecutive weeks. So far, it has amassed in excess of 1.7 million units and became one of the biggest-selling singles in the UK." I think top-selling single by a female artist is fine, since we already have top selling by a male act and by a group above. Amount of weeks at No.1 not important and a citation is needed for sales.

Please also note the capitalisation of song titles is in all cases wrong as well. Phew!--Tuzapicabit (talk) 11:13, 11 June 2012 (UTC)

Most Top 75 hits without reaching Top 5

The article states Chris Rea (32). However, the Pet Shop Boys have 40 hits that charted between positions 6 and 75.

Most Top 40 hits without reaching Top 5

The article states Gloria Estefan (27). However, the Pet Shop Boys have placed 38 hits between positions 6 and 40.

Most Top 10 hits without reaching Top 5

The article states Gloria Estefan (5). However, the Pet Shop Boys have placed 12 hits between positions 6 and 10.

Most Top 40 hits without reaching Top 10

The article states Super Furry Animals (20). However, the Pet Shop Boys have also placed 20 hits between positions 11 and 40.

Most Top 20 hits without reaching Top 10

The article states The Levellers and Super Furry Animals (8). However, the Pet Shop Boys have placed 17 hits between positions 11 and 20.

Hello. Except Pet Shop Boys HAVE reached the top 5 and 10.Tuzapicabit (talk) 12:32, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Flags

No flags please. The artists aren't representing their countries and it's not NPOV. Also what do you do with groups who come from more than one country like Boney M? Just not necessary. Btljs (talk) 13:28, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

OLDEST ARTIST TO HAVE A UK NUMBER ONE

This record, previously held by Tom Jones was broken by John Craven (aged 74)- appearing as part of Gareth Malone's All Star choir when they reached number one with their version of "Wake Me Up" on 16th November 2014.90.204.152.97 (talk) 15:53, 17 November 2014 (UTC)