Madness are an English ska band from Camden Town, North London, who formed in 1976. One of the most prominent bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s two-tone ska revival, they continue to perform with six of the seven members of their original line-up. Madness's most successful period was from 1980 to 1986, when the band's songs spent a total of 214 weeks on the UK Singles Chart.
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to many James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists in Britain.
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched a successful solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single. His 1986 album, So, is his best-selling release and is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the U.S. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and, according to a report in 2011, it was MTV's most played music video of all time.
Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in his career, Islamic music. He returned to making secular music in 2006 although he still makes Islamic music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
Richard Thompson is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio, known professionally as Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice.
Bobbie Lee Gentry is a retired American singer-songwriter, who was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material.
Status Quo are an English rock band that formed in 1962. The group originated in London as The Scorpions and was founded by Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster while they were still schoolboys. After a number of lineup changes, which included the introduction of Rick Parfitt in 1967, the band became The Status Quo in 1967 and Status Quo in 1969.
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish singer, songwriter, and television and radio presenter who currently hosts a breakfast show on Magic Radio. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer of Irish group Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999 and he has recorded eleven albums. He gained worldwide attention when his single "When You Say Nothing at All" was featured in the film Notting Hill and reached number one in several countries.
Keane are an English alternative rock band from East Sussex, formed in 1995. They met whilst at Tonbridge School together. The band currently comprises Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes, and Jesse Quin. Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by American girl group the Supremes, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. American rock band Vanilla Fudge released a cover version in June of the following year, which reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100. English singer Kim Wilde covered "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1986, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1987. In the first 32 years of the Billboard Hot 100 rock era, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" became one of six songs to reach number one by two different musical acts. In 1996, American country singer Reba McEntire's version reached number two on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The BBC ranked the Supremes' original song at number 78 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all-time UK downloads and streams.
Iain Matthews is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was an original member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention from 1967 to 1969 before leaving to form his own band, Matthews Southern Comfort, which had a UK number one in 1970 with a cover version of Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock". In 1979 his cover of Terence Boylan's "Shake It" reached No. 13 on the US charts.
"Suzanne" is a song written by Canadian poet and musician Leonard Cohen in the 1960s. First published as a poem in 1966, it was recorded as a song by Judy Collins in the same year, and Cohen performed it as his debut single, from his 1967 album Songs of Leonard Cohen. Many other artists have recorded versions, and it has become one of the most covered songs in Cohen's catalogue.
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a song written by Paul McCartney, and first recorded and released in 1967, on the album of the same name by the Beatles. The song appears twice on the album: as the opening track, and as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", the penultimate track. As the title song, the lyrics introduce the fictional band that performs on the album.
"Crazy" is the debut single by American soul duo Gnarls Barkley, taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and several other countries.
"I Think We're Alone Now" is a song written and composed by Ritchie Cordell that was the title selection from a same-named album released by the American recording artists Tommy James and the Shondells. "I Think We're Alone Now" was a 1967 US hit for James and the Shondells, reaching number 1 on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey for five weeks, starting on 24 February 1967, and number 8 for the entire year 1967, and number 4 on the Hot 100 on 22 April 1967, nearly two months later, and one week to the day before Tommy's 20th birthday.
"Merry Xmas Everybody" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and it was produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's sixth and final number-one single in the UK. Earning the UK Christmas number one slot in December 1973, the song beat another Christmas-themed song, Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", which reached fourth place. It remained in the charts for nine weeks until February 1974.
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is an English singer and songwriter. She is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 120 million records. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a record deal with XL Recordings. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 and spawned the UK top-five singles "Chasing Pavements" and "Make You Feel My Love". The album was certified 8× platinum in the UK and triple platinum in the US. Adele was honoured with the Brit Award for Rising Star as well as the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Sandie Shaw, is an English singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (1964), "Long Live Love" (1965) and "Puppet on a String" (1967). With the latter, she became the first British entry to win the Eurovision Song Contest. She returned to the UK Top 40, for the first time in 15 years, with her 1984 cover of the Smiths song "Hand in Glove". Shaw retired from the music industry in 2013.
The UK Compilation Chart is a record chart based on sales of multi artist compilation albums in the United Kingdom. It is compiled weekly by the Official Charts Company (OCC), and each week's Top 40 is published online on the official websites of the OCC, BBC Radio 1 and MTV, and in the magazines Music Week and UKChartsPlus.
