UK Singles Charts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paul McCartney

For many years, Elvis Presley held the record for the most UK number one singles, having scored a total of 21.
With 17 Beatles number ones added to his chart-toppers with Wings and his solo hits, Paul McCartney has comfortably surpassed that number: "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", featuring McCartney as part of the Justice Collective in 2012 was the 25th UK number one on which he had performed.
Between "Living Doll" in 1959 and "The Millennium Prayer" in 1999, Cliff Richard had performed on 14 number one singles including some credited to The Shadows. Madonna's 2008 number one with Justin Timberlake, "4 Minutes", was her 13th. Michael Jackson had 12 solo #1 singles in the US, but only seven in the UK. He also topped the UK chart in 1985 with "We are the World" as a member of USA for Africa and in 1990 with "Do the Bartman" with The Simpsons. He also had four number one singles in the US as part of the Jackson 5, but none of those topped the UK chart, so his total in the UK stands as just 9.

Answer: The Everly Brothers

The Everly Brothers scored a total of six UK number one singles starting with "All I Have to Do is Dream" and "Claudette" in 1958 and "Cathy's Clown" in 1960. They then topped the charts three times in 1961, with "Walk Right Back", "Ebony Eyes" and "Temptation".

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. The Shadows' last UK number one was "Foot Tapper" in 1963. Brian Poole and The Tremeloes scored their second and final UK number one with "Silence is Golden" in 1967. "Reach Out I'll Be There" was the only UK number one for the Four Tops.

Answer: Sandie Shaw

Born Sandra Ann Goodrich in Dagenham, Essex in 1947, Sandie Shaw was the first British winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967. With "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" in 1964, "Long Live Love" in 1965 and "Puppet on a String" in 1967, she was also the only solo female artist to top the UK singles chart three times during the 1960s. All three of the alternatives came as close as possible without actually hitting the triple... Petula Clark scored UK number one singles with "Sailor" in 1961 and "This is My Song" in 1967, but "Downtown", which topped most of the other European charts in 1964, stalled at number two in the UK. Similarly, Helen Shapiro also had two number one hits, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back To Happiness" (both in 1961) and another which reached number one two, "Tell Me What He Said" in 1962. Cilla Black made it to number one with "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World" (both in 1964) but then saw her 1965 follow-up, a cover of the Righteous Brothers' number one single "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" make it only to number two in the chart.

Answer: Eddie Cochran

Born Edward Raymond Cochran in Albert Lea MN in 1938, Eddie Cochran died at the age of just 21 as a result of head injuries sustained in a car accident in April 1960. His single, "Three Steps to Heaven", made it to number one in the UK chart two months later.
Cochran was traveling in a taxi at the time of the accident. His fiancée, songwriter Sharon Sheeley, and singer Gene Vincent, who were also passengers in the vehicle, both survived the crash. Whilst Cochran's personal effects were impounded at the local police station pending the coroner's hearing, a police cadet named Dave Harman taught himself to play guitar on Cochran's Gretsch. He would subsequently change his name to Dave Dee and lead the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.
The alternatives also scored posthumous UK number one singles: Holly with "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" in 1959 following his death in a place crash; Jim Reeves with "Distant Drums" in 1966, two years after his death; and Hendrix with "Voodoo Child", his only UK number one single, two months after his death in 1970.

Answer: You'll Never Walk Alone

Gerry & the Pacemakers were the first to take "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the musical "Carousel" to the top of the UK singles chart.
The Crowd was a charity group consisting of singers, actors and British TV personalities that was formed to produce a charity record for the "Bradford City Disaster Fund" following a fire at the football stadium in which 56 people died. Gerry Marsden was one of the leading lights behind the project and he thus became the first artist ever to top the UK singles chart with two different versions of the same song.
"Unchained Melody", which first topped the UK singles chart in 1955 (the Jimmy Young version), has since reached number one on three more occasions -- The Righteous Brothers in 1990, Robson & Jerome (again) in 1995 and Gareth Gates in 2002. It is thus the first song to reach number one for four different artists.
Elvis Presley's 1962 classic "Can't Help Falling in Love" was a UK number one for The King and reached the top of the British chart for a second time in 1993 when UB40 produced a cover version.
Although credited to Lennon/McCartney, "Yesterday" was written solely by Paul McCartney. It is also the only Beatles song on which only one member of the group (McCartney) performed. "Yesterday" is probably the most covered song of all time -- more than 2,200 artists have recorded a version since it first appeared on the 1965 "Help!" album. Although the Beatles' version reached number one in the American chart (and those in Norway and Holland), it made it only to number eight in the UK, and no cover version has yet made it to number one either.

Answer: Rubber Bullets

Written by Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and Graham Gouldman, "Rubber Bullets" first appeared on the band's debut, self-titled, 1972 album. It was released as a single in June 1973 and spent one week at number one in the UK charts, although it climbed only to number 73 in the US Billboard 100 chart. Of the alternatives, "Neanderthal Man" was the band's first UK chart single, released in 1970 whilst they were still recording under the name Hotlegs.

It reached number two in the UK singles chart. "Donna" was their first UK chart single under the name 10cc -- it also stalled at number two in 1972. "Dreadlock Holiday" WAS 10cc's third and last UK number one, topping the chart in 1978. Perhaps their biggest hit, "I'm Not in Love", reached number one in the UK and number two in the US Billboard 100 in 1975.

Answer: UB40

UB40 began to collect 'chart weeks' with their debut single, "Food for Thought", which climbed to number four in 1980. Their first number one came in 1983 with the cover version of "Red Red Wine", which also topped the US singles chart. "I Got You Babe" (featuring Chrissie Hynde) provided the group with a second UK number one in 1985. Their 29th and final single release of the decade, "homely Girl" reached number six in 1989. UB40 would continue enjoying success into the 1990s, with their third number one, "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You", topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in 1993, but it was the 1980s that was truly their time.

With a total of 217 weeks, Madness singles spent only five weeks less in the UK charts than UB40s during the 1980s. Kool & the Gang were the third most successful chart band of the decade with 197 weeks in the singles chart, while the releases of Adam and the Ants spent 185 weeks there.

Answer: Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Founded in 1970 by keyboard maestro Keith Emerson, guitarist Greg and drummer Carl Palmer, the supergroup commonly known as ELP sold more than 40 million albums. Their only chart single, "Fanfare for the Common Man", which first appeared on their 1977 album "Works Volume 1", reached number two in the UK singles chart.

Answer: Slim Whitman

Born Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr. in Tampa FL in 1923, country music star Slim Whitman held the top spot in the UK singles chart for eleven consecutive weeks in 1955 with "Rose Marie". The song originated from the Broadway musical of the same name, with music by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart and lyrics by Otto Harbach & Oscar Hammerstein II.
Whitman's record run at the top of the UK chart was not broken until Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" stayed at number one for 16 weeks in 1991.

Answer: None

Bob Dylan has had seven number one albums in the UK and five in the US, but he has not fared so well in the singles charts. "Like a Rolling Stone" in 1965 and "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" in 1966 both reached number two in the US. In the UK, "Like a Rolling Stone" reached number four, the highest chart position achieved by any of his releases with four others making it into the Top Ten.