Their Only UK Number One Single Quiz

Answer: The Animals

The song was "The House of the Rising Sun", also sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". Taken from The Animals' self-titled debut album and only their second single release, the song topped singles charts in Canada, Sweden and Australia as well as in the UK and US.

The Animals had seven later Top Ten singles in the UK, notably "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (which got to number three in 1965) and "We Gotta Get out of This Place" (number two in the same year), but never made it back to the number one spot. Two later re-releases of "House of the Rising Sun" again charted in the UK, reaching number 25 in 1972 and number 11 in 1982.

Of the alternatives, all Newcastle-based bands, none ever reached number one in the UK chart.

Answer: Diane

The Bachelors were Conleth 'Con' Cluskey, Declan 'Dec' Cluskey and John Stokes, all from Dublin, Ireland. In February 1964, they knocked The Searchers' "Needles and Pins" out of the top spot in the UK chart with "Diane", a song that had originally been a hit for The Nat Shilkret Orchestra in 1928. Subsequent versions of the song have been recorded by Mario Lanza and Jim Reeves. "Diane" was also The Bachelors' most successful US hit, reaching number ten in the Billboard 100 chart.

Other hit singles by The Bachelors include the much-recorded standard "I Believe", which they took to number two, Irving Berlin's "Marie" (which peaked at number nine in 1965) and their last Top Ten single, a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence", which made it to number three in 1966. In 1964, they also topped the singles chart in their home country for the only time with "I Wouldn't Trade You for the World", which made it to number four in the UK chart.

Answer: Chuck Berry

Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry in St Louis, Missouri in 1926, singer, songwriter and guitarist Chuck Berry was a true pioneer of the rock-n-roll era.

Berry topped the US R&B chart with "Maybellene" in 1955, "School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes The Bell)" in 1957, "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Johnny B. Goode" (both in 1958). These four also made it into the Nillboard Hot 100 Top Ten, with "Sweet Sixteen" performing best, reaching number two. Berry's first UK Top Ten single was "Memphis, Tennessee" in 1959. This was followed by "Let it Rock" in 1960 and "No Particular Place to Go", which got to number three in 1964.

Of the alternatives, three more rock & roll pioneers, only Chubby Checker got close to a UK number one single -- "Let's Twist Again" reached number two in the UK singles chart in 1961 (and topped the UK (NME) chart).

It was not until 1972, when Berry released his version of the novelty song "My Ding-a-Ling", written and first recorded (in 1952) by New Orleans composer and band leader Dave Bartholomew. (He had previously written the Four Seasons' hit "Ain't That a Shame" with Fats Domino.) Many radio stations in the UK refused to play the single which, of course, only helped it on its way to the top of the chart.

Answer: Emma Bunton

Emma Lee Bunton was born in north London in 1976 and was 'Baby Spice' in the most successful girl-band of all time.

Bunton released four singles from her debut solo album, "a Girl Like Me", with "What I Am" reaching number two in the singles chart, "Take My Breath Away" stalling at number five, and "What Took You So Long?" providing her with her only chart-topper. Three more singles from her second album, "Free Me" made it into the Top Ten. Her last solo Top Ten single was "Downtown", which made it to number three in 2006.

Of the alternatives, Victoria Beckham released just one solo album and three singles, all of which made it into the Top Ten without topping the chart. Geri Halliwell released three solo albums, producing four consecutive number one singles and four others that reached the Top Ten. Melanie C, the most productive of the former Spice Girls, had released six solo albums by 2012. Her debut album produced a pair of number one singles and two other Top Five hits.

Answer: Block Buster!

Sweet released four singles in the late 1960s, non of which charted. Then came their first album, "Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be", which spawned two chart singles including their first number two, "Co-Co" in 1971. Two 1972 singles both reached number four and then came the band's only number one, "Block Buster!", which knocked Little Jimmy Osmond out of the top spot in January 1973 and stayed at number one for five weeks. (It was eventually replaced at the top by another glam rock classic, Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize".)

The song was written (as were most Sweet hits) by the Anglo-Australian duo of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman who also wrote hits such as Suzi Quatro's "Can the Can" and "Devil Gate Drive", Mud's "Tiger Feet" and "Lonely This Christmas", and Huey Lewis and the News's "Heart and Soul".

The alternatives all made it to number two in 1973 or 1974.

Answer: Status Quo

Despite numerous really great songs, Simon & Garfunkel had only one UK number one. "The Sound of Silence" and "Mrs Robinson" both topped the US Billboard 100 chart, but stalled at nine and four respectively in the UK. "Homeward Bound" reached number nine, "I am a Rock" number 17 and even "The Boxer" only reached number six. Only the classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water" reached the top spot (for three weeks in March 1970).

Pink Floyd were always more interested in making great albums than producing pop singles. They did get to number six in their very early days with "See Emily Play" (in 1967) but their only number one single (both in the UK, the US and virtually every other chart) was "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)", which was the final number one of the 1970s in the UK.

Considering the great songs recorded by three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Eric Clapton and the awards he has won, it seems incredible that he has released only one non-group single. Even that lone number one, a cover of The Judds' "Love Can Build a Bridge" in 1995, was a collaboration with Cher, Chrissie Hynde and Neneh Cherry rather than a solo work.

The only one of the four alternatives who managed to reach the top of the UK chart twice is Status Quo. They scored a Top Ten single with their debut release, "Pictures of Matchstick Men" in 1968, which reached number seven and had a handful of other Top Ten singles (including the magnificent "Caroline" which reached only number five) before finally topping the chart with "Down Down" in 1974. Over the next two decades, they produced some classic hits, "Rockin' All Over The World" made it to number three, "Whatever You Want" to number four and "In the Army Now" number two. It was only when they made a 'joke' record, that they scored their second number one, with "Come On You Reds" in 1994. (Even then, the credit on this single is actually "Manchester United F.C. with Status Quo".)

Other greats with just a sole UK number one single to their name include Fleetwood Mac, Electric Light Orchestra, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Supremes. Amazing really, when you consider that the Spice Girls had nine number ones! I guess that's Pop "Music" for you, and I use the term lightly.

Answer: Go Now

The Moody Blues' 1967 single from their "Days of Future Passed" album, "Nights in White Satin" is today regarded as one of the all-time classic hits of the era. At the time, though, it reached only number two in the US Billboard 100 chart (the group's best chart position in the US) whereas in the UK it made it only to number nine. "Question" reached number two in the UK in 1970 (although it did top the Dutch chart), whilst "Isn't Life Strange" failed even to reach the Top Ten (peaking at 13) in 1972.

The Moody Blues scored their only number one single with their first chart hit and only their second single release, "Go Now" in 1964 from their debut album, "The Magnificent Moodies". Co-written by her husband, the song had first been released earlier in 1964 by American soul singer Bessie Banks, but it was the Moody Blues' cover that became the more successful version.

Answer: The Beach Boys

Of these four excellent American groups of the 1960s and 1970s, only the Beech Boys managed to top the UK chart more than once. Their first US hit, "Surfin' U.S.A." in 1963, barely scratched the UK chart, reaching number 27. Their first US number one, "I Get Around" in 1964, did better, peaking at number seven in the UK. Their second US number one, "Help Me, Rhonda" in 1965, though, didn't -- back to number 27 in the UK. "California Girls" (number 26 in the UK), "Barbara Ann" (number three) and "Sloop John B" (number six) showed progress and at last they topped the UK chart (and the US) with "Good Vibrations" in 1966. The group's second UK number one came just two years later, in 1968, with "Do It Again".

Founded in 1967 and still going strong today, albums by Chicago are all self-titled with just a number to differentiate one from another -- "Chicago XXXVI" was released in 2014. "Saturday in the Park", "Just You 'n' Me", "Old Days" and "Baby, What a Big Surprise", "Hard Habit to Break" (a Grammy Award winner), "Will You Still Love Me?" and "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" were all Top Five singles in the US. They also topped the US Billboard 100 chart with "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" in 1982 and "Look Away" in 1988. Chicago's only UK number one (which also topped the US chart) was "If You Leave Me Now", which came from the album "Chicago X" in 1976.

Remarkably, Creedence Clearwater Revival never topped the US chart despite numerous Top Five singles including "Proud Mary", "Green River", "Down on the Corner", "Fortunate Son", "Travelin' Band", "Who'll Stop the Rain" and "Lookin' Out My Back Door". Now regarded as a classic, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?", covered numerous times since, notably by Bonnie Tyler, reached only number eight in the US and number 36 in the UK. CCR's only UK number one (which stalled at number two in the US) was the brilliant "Bad Moon Rising" from 1969.

Founded in 1966 in California, the Steve Miller Band scored a massive hit with "The Joker"... but not until 17 years after the single was first released. Originally released in 1973 from the album of the same name, "The Joker" rocketed to the top of the singles chart on both sides of the Atlantic and elsewhere when it was featured in a 1990 commercial for Levi's Jeans. The group had previously topped the US Billboard 100 with "Abracadabra" in 1982 (a number two in the UK) and "Rock'n Me" in 1976 (UK number 11). Other Top Ten US hits that failed to make an impact on the UK chart include "Fly Like an Eagle" and "Jet Airliner".

Answer: Gareth Gates

"Spirit in the Sky" was written and first recorded by Massachusetts-born singer/songwriter Norman Greenbaum in 1969. This original version of the song reached number three in the US Billboard 100 chart and topped the UK singles chart in May 1970. It stayed at the top for two weeks before being knocked off by the 1970 England World Cup Squad's "Back Home". It was Greenbaum's only number one single.

Elton John covered the song in 1969, but the next version to hit the charts came from London-based rock group Doctor & the Medics, a band fronted by Liverpool-born DJ Clive Jackson. They hit the top spot in June 1986, knocking off the memorable Spitting Image "Chicken Song". The three weeks at the top with "Spirit in the Sky" was the only time at number one for Doctor & the Medics: their cover of ABBA's "Waterloo" later in the same year made it only to number 45.

The third version of the song to reach number one was a charity version in aid of Sports Relief, released in 2003 by "Gareth Gates and The Kumars". The Kumars are a fiction British Indian family created for a BBC sitcom, "The Kumars at Number 42", which debuted in 2001. This was their only foray into the music industry, and thus their only number one single.

For Gareth Gates, the runner-up to Will Young in the first series of "Pop Idol", "Spirit in the Sky" was his fourth (and, more than ten years on, still his last) UK number one single. Gates first topped the chart with a cover of a song that has made it to number one an amazing four times, "Unchained Melody", in 2002.

Answer: Tina Turner

Tina Turner has topped the UK album chart on a couple of occasions, with "Foreign Affair" in 1989 and the "What's Love Got to Do with It" soundtrack in 1993. She has never reached number one in the singles chart, though. "Let's Stay Together" was her first Top Ten single, reaching number six in 1983. "What's Love Got to Do with It", her first US number one, made it to number three in the UK in 1984, as did "We Don't Need Another Hero" a year later. "The Best" peaked at number five in 1989 as did her duet with Rob Stewart, "It Takes Two", in 1990.

Marvin Gaye's 1968 classic "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" was his first number one hit in the US and his only UK number one. "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" reached only number five in 1969 whilst his second US chart-topper, "Let's Get It On", reached only number 31 in the UK in 1973. Even a duet with Diana Ross, "You Are Everything" in 1974, couldn't climb higher than number five. His third US number one, "Got To Give It Up (Part 1)" in 1977 and "Sexual Healing" in 1982 made it only to seven and four respectively.

Country legend Tammy Wynette scored 16 number one hits in the US Country chart, but managed only one UK number one single, with "Stand by Your Man" in 1968. Ironically, her other hit single of that same year, "D-I-V-O-R-C-E", did eventually make it to number one in the UK in 1975, but as a comedy version performed by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly.

Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin released her first single in 1960, but it was not until seven years later that she even managed to get a single into the UK chart, her first US number one, "Respect", climbing to number ten in the UK. A year later, "I Say a Little Prayer" peaked at number four, her first UK Top Five hit. Remarkably, though, it would take 27 years since the release of her first single, not to mention a collaboration with George Michael, before she topped the UK chart, with "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", which was also a number one in the US.