UK Number One Quirks and Controversies Quiz

Answer: two

"Record Retailer" published the forerunner of the official chart. "Please Please Me", The Beatles' second release in the UK, reached number one in many of the other charts around at the time but only got to number two in "Record Retailer".

In 1969 BBC and "Record Retailer" commissioned BMRB to compile the chart. There have been various changes of company since then, and in 2001 the Official Charts Company took over. But these are the charts endorsed by the Guinness Book Of Hit Singles - and thus the UK's official hit singles.

Answer: computer error

When the chart for 28 February 1976 was announced, "Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto De Aranjez" had taken over the number one spot from the Four Seasons' "December '63 (Oh What A Night)". Almost immediately this was corrected. The mistake was due to a 'computer error' and the whole chart was wrong. 'Manuel' had to settle for the number three position.

Manuel & His Music Of The Mountains was actually an English orchestra leader called Geoff Love.

Answer: Steve 'Silk' Hurley

There are strict rules regarding eligibility for the singles chart, which include the maximum playing time for each format. The 12" of "Jack Your Body" by Steve 'Silk' Hurley was longer than the maximum allowed playing time (which was 25 minutes in 1987). No-one noticed and as a result it spent two weeks at number one. "Jack Your Body" was the first house music track to get to the top of the charts.

The incorrect answers are all artists who have issued house music tracks.

Answer: increase in sales from the previous week

In 1980 a rule was introduced which meant that dead heats were no longer allowed. As the two singles tied on record sales the new rule was invoked. Based on the increase in sales on the previous week, "The Joker" was placed number one and "Groove Is In The House" was placed second.

Once the organisation compiling the chart had reviewed the figures they 'discovered' that "The Joker" had actually sold eight more copies anyway.

Answer: Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

Originally no new chart was compiled for the week between Christmas and New Year. There was no big demand for a new chart and it allowed workers to have the week off. Now, in the computer age, a chart can be compiled every week and the BBC are happy to broadcast it. However, there was a period in the middle where a chart was compiled but was not published.

John Lennon was killed on 8 December 1980 and prior to Christmas "(Just Like) Starting Over" (which had been going down the chart) went to number one. In the week ending 27 December 1980, St Winifred's School Choir was number one with "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma". The compiled chart for week ending 3 January 1981 had John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" in the number one slot but this was not published and is not credited as a number one in authorised chart history. By week ending 10 January "Imagine" was number one.

"Super Trouper" by Abba was number one in November 1980.

Answer: EMI

"Golden Brown" was issued on the Liberty record label, part of the EMI record company.
The Jam released a 7" and 12" format of "Town Called Malice" with different flip sides. This created a stir in the industry. EMI objected to both formats being counted towards record sales, on the grounds that Jam fans were buying both formats and preventing The Stranglers from getting to number one. Their challenge was unsuccessful.
Since then it has become commonplace for multi formats to be available.

Answer: "God Save The Queen" by The Sex Pistols

1977 in the UK saw the Queen's silver jubilee and the rise of punk. The focus of the official jubilee celebrations was on June 6. The Sex Pistols, who were at the vanguard of UK punk, had released their irreverent single "God Save The Queen". The media exploited the clash between the old establishment and the new upstarts. Speculation was rife that the chart published on June 7 would see "God Save The Queen" occupying the number one position.

When the chart was published Rod Stewart retained the top spot with the double A-side "I Don't Want To Talk About It"/ "First Cut Is The Deepest". Rumours began that the chart had been fixed in order to avoid controversy.

No proof has come to light that this was the case. Many of the major retailers refused to stock the record and it is likely that it did not make enough sales. Nevertheless an urban myth was born.

Answer: "Shaddap You Face" by Joe Dolce

Ultravox's "Vienna" is regarded by many to be one of the classic records of the 1980s. In February 1981 it climbed to the number two position and seemed a certainty to take over the number one spot from John Lennon's "Woman". But "Shaddup You Face" leap-frogged "Vienna". Both singles then maintained their positions for a further two weeks, before "Vienna" fell to number four.

Maybe we needed an upbeat happy song to provide some respite following John Lennon's death.

The other songs given as possible answers were all UK number ones from that era.

Answer: One Day At A Time

A compilation error was discovered and the chart was corrected. However, as the error was not discovered immediately, some newspapers printed the incorrect chart list. Dr Hook did make it to number one the following week.

Other one-hit wonders of around that time were:
"Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward (1979)
"Together We Are Beautiful" by Fern Kinney (1980)
"Move Closer" by Phyllis Nelson (1985)

Answer: Bohemian Rhapsody

Ironically Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" is one of the UK's best selling singles of all time and regularly features at or near the top of greatest song lists/ polls.

The BBC's Chart of the Year was an unoffical chart so this error has never been corrected.

The other song titles are all number ones from 1975 or 1976.