| UK singles chart number ones |
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| UK singles chart |
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Melody Maker was a British weekly pop music newspaper which was published between 1926 and 2000. Melody Maker was the third publication (after NME , or New Musical Express, in 1952, and Record Mirror in 1955) to publish a weekly record chart. NME is now regarded as the "canonical" source for record charts by the Official Charts Company in the period up to 10 March 1960; after that, when Record Retailer began compiling a chart, the Official Charts Company and Guinness' British Hit Singles & Albums cited them as the canonical source for the British singles chart. Prior to 15 February 1969, when the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) chart was established as part of a joint commission by Record Retailer and the BBC, [1] there was no one universally accepted or official source and many periodicals compiled their own chart. [2] [3] [4]
By the 1980s, NME and Melody Maker had the last surviving independently compiled charts in the UK, Record Mirror having ended its own chart in 1962, Disc & Music Echo likewise in 1967, and the short-lived Top Pops/Music Now folding in 1971. [2] [3] Melody Maker was the first to throw in the towel, publishing its last independently compiled chart on 4 June 1988, with NME publishing its last the next week on 11 June 1988. [5] In the respective following weeks, both began publishing Market Research Information Bureau chart. [6]
Notable differences when compared to the official chart run by BMRB and, later, Gallup, and even NME are additional number-one singles in the decade for Rick Astley, Adam and the Ants, The Police, Shakin' Stevens, David Bowie, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Phil Collins. Significantly, Tears for Fears' song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" spent four weeks at the top of the Melody Maker chart (and three weeks on the NME chart) although it never topped the Gallup chart. Additionally, as well as making number one on the Melody Maker and NME charts and not the official chart, a-ha's "Take On Me" and Ultravox's "Vienna" were also in the top five best-selling singles of their year. [7] Thirty-two acts achieved a number-one single on the Melody Maker chart (more than NME) but never had an official number-one single [nb 1] although two of these had songs they had written reach number one when performed by another artist. [nb 2]
| ‡ | The song did not reach number one on the BMRB which later became the Gallup chart which is considered as the official chart after 15 February 1969. |
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| [nb #] | The song spent a week at number one where it shared the top spot with another song. |
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Yazoo were an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, Essex, consisting of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke (keyboards) and Alison Moyet (vocals). The duo formed in late 1981 after Clarke responded to an advertisement Moyet placed in a British music magazine, although the pair had known each other since their school days.
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV, is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2005 and streaming in July 2014.
"Chains of Love" is a song by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released in May 1988 as their ninth single overall. It was written by Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, and released by Mute Records as the second single from Erasure's third studio album, The Innocents (1988). In the United States, Sire Records released it as the first single. The chorus is memorable for Bell's use of falsetto. The album version was produced by Stephen Hague and was slightly remixed for its single release. The accompanying music video featured Clarke and Bell performing the song while being hoisted through the air by thick, metal chains.
"Dub Be Good to Me" is a song by British dub group Beats International featuring singer Lindy Layton, released on 24 January 1990 as the first single from their debut album, Let Them Eat Bingo (1990). It was written by frontman Norman Cook and interprets the SOS Band's 1983 hit "Just Be Good to Me", which it is named after. It also samples the songs "The Guns of Brixton" by the Clash, the Once Upon a Time in the West theme by Ennio Morricone, and "Jam Hot" by Johnny Dynell.
"Like a Motorway" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne. It appears on their third album, Tiger Bay (1994) and was released as a single by Heavenly Records in May 1994, reaching number 47 on the UK Singles Chart and number 13 on the UK Dance Singles Chart. The US release of Tiger Bay also features an "alternate version" with more complex percussion and electric guitar stings. It also appears on the original soundtrack for the 1994 film Speed, although the single is never heard in the actual film itself.
Until 15th February 1969, there was no officially compiled chart.