UK Number 1s
From an early age I have been into music. Over the years of development, my taste has twisted and tumbled, pulling in all sorts of genres. I love albums, but I’m a sucker for a great single or a stand out track. While I consider my taste to be fairly catholic, I would argue that there is a degree of sophistication and discernment. I used to watch Top of the Pops religiously from a young age until I was in my mid-twenties, less so after that as I was firmly entrenched in dj sets and more underground scenes but, to this day, I keep an ear on what’s going on, dividing my radio listening time between Radio 1 and 6Music.
There is always stuff going round social media about what the number 1 record was on the day you were born, or on certain birthdays. I suppose I got the bug and decided to look at what was number 1 in the UK on each of my birthdays and have listed and linked them below. This has been a fun exercise. Suffice to say, having passed the 50 mark, I shan’t be adding to this list any further!
There are four songs that I actively like in this list. If you think you can guess them, tweet me @alicampbellac
1970 – Norman Greenbaum, ‘Spirit in the Sky‘
1971 – Dawn, ‘Knock Three Times‘
1972 – The Pipes and Drums of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, ‘Amazing Grace‘
1973 – Dawn, ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon‘
1974 – Abba, ‘Waterloo‘
1975 – Mud, ‘Oh Boy‘
1976 – Abba, ‘Fernando‘
1977 – Deniece Williams, ‘Free‘
1978 – Boney M, ‘Rivers of Babylon‘
1979 – Art Garfunkel, ‘Bright Eyes‘
1980 – Dexy’s Midnight Runners, ‘Geno‘
1981 – Adam and The Ants, ‘Stand and Deliver‘
1982 – Nicole, ‘A Little Peace‘
1983 – Spandau Ballet, ‘True‘
1984 – Duran Duran, ‘The Reflex‘
1985 – Paul Hardcastle, ‘Nineteen‘
1986 – Spitting Image, ‘The Chicken Song‘
1987 – Starship, ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now‘
1988 – Fairground Attraction, ‘Perfect‘
1989 – Kylie Minogue, ‘Hand On Your Heart‘
1990 – Adamski, ‘Killer‘
1991 – Cher, ‘Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)‘
1992 – KWS, ‘Please Don’t Go‘
1993 – George Michael and Queen with Lisa Stansefield, ‘Five Live EP‘
1994 – Stiltskin, ‘Inside‘
1995 – Livin Joy – ‘Dreamer‘
1996 – George Michael, ‘Fastlove‘
1997 – Eternal featuring Bebe Winans, ‘I Wanna Be The Only One‘
1998 – Aqua, ‘Turn Back Time‘
1999 – The Backstreet Boys, ‘I Want It That Way‘
2000 – Britney Spears, ‘Oops! …I Did It Again‘
2001 – Geri Halliwell, ‘It’s Raining Men‘
2002 – Holly Vallance, ‘Kiss Kiss‘
2003 – R Kelly, ‘Ignition‘
2004 – Eamonn, ‘F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back)‘
2005 – Akon, ‘Lonely‘
2006 – Gnarls Barkley, ‘Crazy‘
2007 – Beyonce and Shakira, ‘Beautiful Liar‘
2008 – Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, ‘4 Minutes‘
2009 – Tinchy Stryder Ft N Dubz, ‘Number 1‘
2010 – Roll Deep, ‘Good Times‘
2011 – LMFAO, ‘Party Rock Anthem‘
2012 – Tulisa, ‘Young‘
2013 – Daft Punk, ‘Get Lucky ft. Pharrell Williams)‘
2014 – Mr Probz, ‘Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)‘
2015 – OMI, ‘Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)‘
2016 – Drake, ‘One Dance (Feat WizKid And Kyla)‘
2017 – DJ Khaled, ‘Im The One (Feat Justin Bieber Quavo Chance The Rapper And Lil Wayne)‘
2018 – Calvin Harris, ‘One Kiss (Feat Dua Lipa)‘
2019 – Stormzy, ‘Vossi Bop‘
2020 – Drake, ‘Toosie Slide‘