Greatest Number One Singles

Culture
54

By a long way as good as it got for us.

1988 DESIRE U2
1988 ORINOCO FLOW ENYA
1990 NOTHING COMPARES 2 U SINEAD Oā€™CONNOR
1991 THE FLY U2
55

One for the Iā€™d Say in Her Day thread.

16/06/1973 CAN THE CAN SUZI QUATRO 1

56

Outstanding live performance of an outstanding number one.

We were a proper country then.

29/09/1990 SHOW ME HEAVEN MARIA MCKEE 4

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57

Didnā€™t make the Guardianā€™s top 100. WTAF.

Shut the damn thing down.

22/02/1992 STAY SHAKESPEARā€™S SISTER 8

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58

It just is.

02/03/1996 DONā€™T LOOK BACK IN ANGER OASIS 1

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59

Mariaā€™s half brother Bryan McLean is responsible for writing one of the greatest songs of all time - Loveā€™s Alone Again Or.

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60

Louise by Human League is written about the same couple from Donā€™t You Want Me meeting 4 years later

61

I think Donā€™t You Want Me Baby is an utter classic.

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62

It sounds like a five year old banging a Casio keyboard.

There are so many better examples of synth pop from 1981 alone.

Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes being top of the list. It unmistakably defined a year and a time yet to this day still sounds cutting edge. But it only reached number 10.

Donā€™t You Want Me Baby unmistakably defined a time and a place but has dated terribly, because it was never great in the first place.

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63

Yeah. Itā€™s a classic.

64

Iā€™d love to see you trying to copy that riff.

65

I prefer Love Action by the Human League.

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66

they year it was first written and performed: 1975?

67

Itā€™s all a matter of taste. I think Betty Davis Eyes is an awful dirge but each to their own.

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68

I prefer Dickie Davies Eyes by Half Man Half Biscuit.

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69

To close a circle here. Jackie de Shannon who wrote Bette Davis Eyes dated Love guitarist Bryan McLean referenced in farmers post below.

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70

Yes and the original version is almost unrecognisable from the Kim Carnes version.

Two of the definitive songs of 1990 are Nothing Comes 2 U by Sinead Oā€™Connor and Step On by The Happy Mondays. They were originally released by Princeā€™s band The Family in 1985 and John Kongos in 1971 respectively.

Kim Carnesā€™ version of Bette Davis Eyes was released in March 1981.

71

I want that man blondie, penned by the Thompson twins is a banger.
Surprised Another Brick in the wall hasnā€™t been mentioned. Seminal video.

72

Iā€™d consider it one of the key cornerstones on which 1980s electro pop was built, rarely if ever bettered. A pure blues voice mixed with groundbreaking synth sound and drum beats. Itā€™s definitely a key signpost on the road between Kraftwerk-New Order-Madonna-Jam and Lewis-Janet Jackson-Chicago House-Detroit Techno.

Also itā€™s a fucking belter of a song which is the only thing that matters.

73

Another Brick In The Wall is a seminal* song.

But I wouldnā€™t want to listen to it ten times in a row. Thatā€™s the acid test of whether a song is genuinely great or not - if you listen to a song once and then half an hour or forty minutes later you mentally wake up and realise youā€™ve just listened to it ten times in a row.

*Seminal is a word that is only used in wanky music discussion, like revellers is only used about pubgoers pre-Christmas.

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