UK '60s Music: Most Weeks at Number One Quiz

Answer: It's Now Or Never

"It's Now Or Never" was written by Wally Gold/Aaron Schroeder/Eduardo di Capua. It was number one for eight weeks on the UK singles chart for Elvis Presley in 1960. It was number one for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

"It's Now Or Never" was Elvis Presley's first UK number one hit of the '60s and entered the chart at number one. World wide it has sold in excess of 25 million copies. It was the first of four consecutive UK number one hits, "It's Now Or Never" (1960), "Are You Lonesome Tonight" (1961), "Wooden Heart" (1961) and "Surrender" (1961).

"It's Now Or Never" was inspired by a song from the '40s sung by Tony Martin called "There's No Tomorrow" written by Al Hoffman/Leo Corday/Leon Carr/Eduardo di Capua. That song was inspired by an Italian song called "'O Sole Mio", which was written in 1898 by Giovanni Capurro/Eduardo di Capua.

Answer: Wooden Heart

"Wooden Heart" was written by Fred Wise/Ben Weisman/Kay Twomey/Bert Kaempfert. It was number one for six weeks on the UK singles chart for Elvis Presley in 1961. It did not chart in the US.

"Wooden Heart" was featured in the 1960 movie "G. I. Blues" starring Elvis Presley, Juliet Prowse and Arch Johnson. It spent 27 weeks on the UK singles chart which is the longest that any Elvis Presley record has spent on the UK singles chart.

The song was recorded and released in the US by Joe Dowell and spent one week at number one. He never made the US Top 20 again. Elvis Presley's version was released on a single in the US in 1964 as the B-Side of "Blue Christmas".

Answer: Wonderful Land

"Wonderful Land" was written by Jerry Lordan. It was number one for eight weeks on the UK singles chart for The Shadows in 1962. It did not chart in the US.

"Wonderful Land" was recorded a year before its release but only released after strings were added. Its eight weeks at number one is the longest stay at number one by an instrumental on the UK singles chart.

At the time of recording the group were Jet Harris (bass guitar), Hank Marvin (lead guitar), Tony Meehan (drums) and Bruce Welch (rhythm guitar). By the time the record was released Tony Meehan had left and while the record was at number one, Jet Harris left the group. Jet Harris and Tony Meehan later formed a duo and had a UK number one hit with "Diamonds". It replaced The Shadows' "Dance On" at number one in 1963.

Answer: From Me To You

"From Me To You" was written by Lennon/McCartney. It was number one for seven weeks on the UK singles chart for The Beatles in 1963. As a B-Side it peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.

"From Me To You" was The Beatles' first UK number one hit but people still disagree about it even now. At the time there were a number of pop charts and "Please Please Me" was number one on some of them. After an official chart was formed "Please Please Me" was only designated as a number two hit.

"From Me to You"/"Thank You Girl" was released in 1963 in the US but failed to make the Billboard Hot 100. "From Me To You" was then re-released in 1964 as the B-Side of "Please Please Me". However, "From Me To You" did reach the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, as a single by Del Shannon. It peaked at number 77 and in doing so, Del Shannon became the first singer to chart in the US with a Lennon/McCartney song.

Answer: I Feel Fine

"I Feel Fine" was written by Lennon/McCartney. It was number one for five weeks on the UK singles chart for The Beatles in 1964. It was number one for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

"I Feel Fine" was The Beatles' sixth UK number one hit and their third UK number one hit of 1964. It was also their sixth US number one hit but all six came in the same year, 1964. With "I Feel Fine" The Beatles went one ahead of Elvis Presley for consecutive UK number one hits. Elvis Presley had previously held the record with five.

In the UK "I Feel Fine" had advance orders in excess of 750,000 and was the Christmas number one on both sides of the Atlantic. The B-Side "She's A Woman" can be heard playing on a tape recorder underground, during the Salisbury Plain scene in The Beatles' 1965 movie "HELP!" It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.

Answer: Tears

"Tears" was written by Frank Capano/Billy Uhr. It was number one for five weeks on the UK singles chart for Ken Dodd in 1965. It did not chart in the US.

Ken Dodd, now Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE, has been making people laugh since 1954 and at the time of this quiz and at the age of 89 is still going strong. He is a stand up comedian/actor/singer/songwriter and his trade marks are unruly long hair, buck teeth and his Diddy Men. Diddy Men are little people who inhabit an area of Liverpool known as Knotty Ash. On stage they are played by children or adults with dwarfism. There are also string operated puppet Diddy men.

Ken Dodd has had UK chart hits from 1960 to 1981 and his biggest hits have bucked the trends of the time. His first Top Ten hit was "Love Is Like A Violin", (number eight) in 1960 and in 1965 he had two records in the UK Top Ten at the same time, "Tears" (reached number one) and "The River (Le Colline Sono In Fioro)" (peaked at number three). "Tears" was the UK's biggest selling single of 1965 with sales in excess of 1,000,000 copies.

Answer: Distant Drums

"Distant Drums" was written by Cindy Walker. It was number one for five weeks on the UK singles chart for Jim Reeves in 1966. It peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the Billboard Country chart the same year.

Jim Reeves achieved his only UK number one hit two years after his death. "Distant Drums" was the first UK number one hit written by a solo female songwriter. In July 1964 Jim Reeves was flying a single-engine Beechcraft Debonair aircraft en route to Nashville. With him was his business partner/manager and pianist in Reeves' backing group The Blue Boys, Dean Manuel. While flying over Brentwood, Tennessee, in the late afternoon they ran into a violent thunderstorm and crashed. They both died in the crash.

Although "Green Green Grass" sung by Tom Jones reached number one on the UK singles chart in December 1966 and spent seven weeks at the top, two of those seven weeks were in 1967. It only tied with "Distant Drums" for the most weeks at the top in 1966.

Answer: Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)

"Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)" was written by Eddie Miller/Robert Yount/Dub Williams/Robert Harris. It was number one for six weeks on the UK singles chart for Engelbert Humperdinck in 1967. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year. "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum also spent six weeks at number one in 1967.

"Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)" kept "Penny Lane"/Strawberry Fields Forever" from reaching the top spot on the UK singles chart. The Beatles had 11 consecutive number one hits before "Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)" and six consecutive number one hits after it. One of the UK's music papers at the time, the Melody Maker magazine, did have "Penny Lane"/Strawberry Fields Forever" at number one for three weeks on their pop chart.

"Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)" spent 56 weeks on the UK singles chart and sold in excess of 1,000,000 copies. It was Engelbert Humperdinck's first UK chart hit and it came eight years after his first record release "Crazy Bells" in 1959. (A truly awful record).

"A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum also spent six weeks at number one in 1967. The Beatles were also at number one for seven weeks with "Hello, Goodbye" but three of those weeks were in 1968.

Answer: Those Were The Days

"Those Were The Days" was written by Gene Raskin/Alexander Vertinski. It was number one for six weeks on the UK singles chart for Mary Hopkin in 1968. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

Mary Hopkin was Apple Records' first female artist and "Those Were The Days" was produced by Paul McCartney. What a coincidence that it should replace The Beatles' "Hey Jude" at number one on the UK singles chart. Then be replaced by "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker which was written by Lennon/McCartney.

Mary Hopkin had one solitary hit album on the UK album chart in 1969 with "Postcards". Although it was produced by Paul McCartney it did not contain any songs written by any of The Beatles. It did contain three songs written by Donovan, one by Harry Nilsson and one by George Martin.

Answer: Sugar Sugar

"Sugar Sugar" was written by Jeff Barry/Andy Kim. It was number one for eight weeks on the UK singles chart for The Archies in 1969. It was number one for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

"Sugar Sugar" was originally released on The Archies' second album "Everything's Archie" in 1969. The voices for the cartoon group's recordings were provided by Ron Dante (lead vocals), Toni Wine and Andy Kim. The multi-talented Ron Dante has the rare distinction of appearing in the same UK Top Ten with two different groups, The Archies with "Sugar Sugar" and "Tracy" (which peaked at number four) with The Cufflinks. He also produced "Mandy" with Barry Manilow.

"Sugar Sugar" was classified by the RIAA as a gold record in 1969, having sold one million units. It was number one in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Spain, UK and USA. It shares the record for consecutive and most weeks at number one on the UK singles chart in the '60s. "It's Now Or Never" (1960), by Elvis Presley and "Wonderful Land" (1962), by The Shadows both spent eight consecutive weeks at the top.