02-05-2002 20:00									#91
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

I know there's no controversy, I was only wondering whether I could be missing another solo entry by FM... I'm actually quite surprised he hadn't anymore. Did "I'm going slightly mad" chart at all?

	02-05-2002 20:19									#92
	Increase Your PM Length

He actually had five top-ten hits, two-and-a-half of them posthumous (Barcelona reached the #2 spot twice).

I'm Going Slightly Mad in a Queen song, not a Solo FM one. It reached #22 in 1991, well before FM's death in November.

	02-05-2002 20:28									#93
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Did Jackie Wilson get to number 1 with Reet Petite (the one with the claymation video)?

In fact, was he even dead when that was released (mid 80s ish)?

	02-05-2002 20:30									#94
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Yes, and two years earlier.

Only one left now.

	02-05-2002 20:30									#95
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

oops...cross post.

	03-05-2002 05:03									#96
	Suffering from ads?

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase Yes, and two years earlier. Only one left now.

Has to be Eddie Cochran's "Three Steps To Heaven" in 1960.

Hopefully the extravagant run of Spanish public holidays is now over and Fiera will start going to bed at a normal time and he'll stop hogging the questions!

	03-05-2002 05:11									#97
	Support Apolyton

Correct. There, now answer either the longest song title or album title (both somewhere between 68-75).

And come on, give a guess as to the highest-selling non-#1 single.

And let me add a third question in case either of those also gets too boring:

What song has been a charting hit for most artists (easy)? Can you name some of them (harder)?

	03-05-2002 06:05									#98
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

"Louie Louie" is said to be the most recorded song of all time. Then again, so is "Yesterday". I wonder who keeps these sorts of stats? Anyway, "Louie Louie" wouldn't have charted the most. I'm not sure that "Yesterday" would have either. This is from the top of my head. I'll go away and ferret.

I'm still working on the longest single and album titles. Get off my back!

	03-05-2002 06:13									#99
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

By my reckoning, "Unchained Melody" has had at least 8 different versions on the British charts. Anywhere close?

	03-05-2002 08:44									#100
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" only has 30 letters and doesn't even come close to the unbracketed record (54 letters, held by The Charlatans' "I Never Want An Easy Life If Me And He Were Ever To Get There"), let alone the longest title one. The hit in question has 115 letters, not counting punctuation. Early seventies.

You mean there's something longer than the Carpenters' 1977 "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognised Anthem Of World Contact Day)"? Which, using my fingers, tallies 73 letters?

There should be a law against it.

Edit. 20 minutes later. Snappy, do these long title questions pertain to the British charts? Because, for the British charts, I can't find anything longer than the Carpenters' 73 letters. Unless it's not listed in my sources by its full title. And if it's not, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised.

Apart from that, my album sources are sadly lacking, so I'll have to concede on the longest album title. I can only assume it was one of those ****ers like Rick Wakeman or ELP.

	03-05-2002 12:53									#101
	Inflate your Upload Space

Don't think it's Wakeman/Yes...their's tended not to be that long (Fragile, Close to the Edge, Journey to the Center of the Earth).

	03-05-2002 15:50									#102
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

quote: Originally posted by finbar By my reckoning, "Unchained Melody" has had at least 8 different versions on the British charts. Anywhere close?

That's the one I thought of.

	03-05-2002 15:54									#103
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Your source must have printed the abridged version of the title of the longest single. Which, of course, is "You Can Make Me Dance Sing Or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A Walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold Away The Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings)" by Rod Stewart/The Faces, #12 in 1974.

The longest Album title is "My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair, But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows" by what was then called Tyrannosaurus Rex, later known under a more familiar moniker.

	03-05-2002 16:34									#104
	Put an end to popups!

M-hm. It's listed as "You Can Make Me Dance Sing (Or Anything)". Understandably.

T-Rex, hm? Oh well, Marc Bolan got his for being a smartypants.

So what's left to answer now? The highest-selling single that didn't hit #1.

I'll get back to you.

	03-05-2002 18:36									#105
	Get a bigger avatar today!

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase Which, of course, is "You Can Make Me Dance Sing Or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A Walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold Away The Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings)" by Rod Stewart/The Faces, #12 in 1974.

And no, the holidays aren't over. In fact, we're having what we call a "bridge", that is, a non-holiday (today) is turned into a holiday so we can have a run of five free days (from wednesday to sunday). And then some people wonder why we Spanish are only know to foreigners for our fiestas...

	03-05-2002 20:02									#106
	Got spare money?

A "bridge"? We have them in Australia all the time. It's called a "sickie"!

	03-05-2002 22:56									#107
	Got spare money?

I'm gonna have a try at the highest selling single not to hit #1. Frank Sinatra's "My Way" was the highest selling single for 1969, though it never reached the top of the charts, could that be the one?

	03-05-2002 23:47									#108
	Got spare money?

Although My Way holds the record for single having spent most time on the charts, there are three songs reckoned to have sold a million copies without ever reaching the top spot.

I see it's time to add another two questions to the fray. Still british Charts.

Name the seven #1 hit "one hit wonders" achieved in the sixties, where the artist in question was involved in NO OTHER CHARTING HIT. (If you want you can name the 12 70s ones as well.)

What band has had the greatest number of Top 40 hits without making the top ten?

	04-05-2002 00:16									#109
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

OK, another wild guess for the highest selling not #1 single: Pat Boone "Love Letters in the Sand". ?

	04-05-2002 09:19									#110
	Got spare money?

Here's one for y'all....:
What band undertook their comeback in a 1967 UK tour that also included the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Amen Corner and Pink Floyd?

	04-05-2002 18:52									#111
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase I see it's time to add another two questions to the fray. Still british Charts. Name the seven #1 hit "one hit wonders" achieved in the sixties, where the artist in question was involved in NO OTHER CHARTING HIT. (If you want you can name the 12 70s ones as well.)

1960: Ricky Valance - "Tell Laura I Love Her;
1962: B. Bumble & The Stingers - "Nut Rocker";
1966: Overlanders - "Michelle";
1968: Crazy World of Arthur Brown - "Fire";
1969: Zager & Evans - "In The Year 2525; Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg - "Je T'aime, etc"; Archies - "Sugar Sugar".

***

1970: Lee Marvin - "Wanderin' Star"; Norman Greenbaum - "Spirit In The Sky"; Matthews' Southern Confort - "Woodstock";
1971: Clive Dunn - "Grandad";
1973: Simon Park Orchestra - "Eye Level";
1975: Typically Tropical - "Barbados";
1976: J.J.Barrie - "No Charge";
1977: Floaters - "Float On";
1978: Althia & Donna - "Up Town Top Ranking" (sounds familiar! ); Brian & Michael - "Matchstalk Men & Matchstalk Cats and Dogs";
1979: Anita Ward - "Ring My Bell"; and Lena Martell - "One Day At A Time".

I won't carry on into the 80s. Actually, this was a question I had lined up.

	04-05-2002 19:23									#112
	Support Apolyton

quote: Originally posted by SuperSneak Here's one for y'all....: What band undertook their comeback in a 1967 UK tour that also included the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Amen Corner and Pink Floyd?

The Move were on that tour. But they weren't making a comeback. They were huge at the time. Great band, too. The Nice (with Keith Emerson on keyboards), Outer Limits and Eire Apparent were also along for the ride. None of them were making comebacks. So, unless someone else sneaked onto the bill somewhere along the way ...

	04-05-2002 19:49									#113
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase What band has had the greatest number of Top 40 hits without making the top ten?

The Clash had 16 by my reckoning. Any higher than that?

Elton John seems have to have the record for most Top 10 hits without a #1 with 16. Aside from his #1 duet with Kiki Dee. Electric Light Orchestra had 14 apart from a #1 with Olivia Newton-John).

	04-05-2002 21:08									#114
	Got spare money?

Damn it, if you knew all the answers you should have let someone else have a go!

Actually, it's not The Clash (Who are disqualified anyway for having a #1 hit with the 1991 reissue of Should I Stay or Should I Go), but a band with no less than 19 top-40-but-not-top-10 hits, from 78 to 95.

Sorry, not Love Letters in the Sand. Two out of the three million-sellers are Eighties tracks...

	04-05-2002 23:08									#115
	Increase the size of your Attachments

Fin...that's who I was thinking of, and calling it, erroneously, a "comeback" when I should have termed it more of a "re-entry". After some initial huge hits that were followed up by a horrendous publicity backfire (taken to court by the PM for a slanderous depiction of infidelity) I figured it was a reset back on the popularity path....but I guess slamming the status quo doesn't necessarily make us unpopular, now does it?

You got it, in any case.

	05-05-2002 00:24									#116
	Suffering from ads?

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase What band has had the greatest number of Top 40 hits without making the top ten?

Sorry Finbar, this one's mine: it's AC/DC.

As Snapcase said, a run of 19, from "Rock'n'Roll Damnation" in 1978, to "Hard as a Rock" in 1995. Not a single Top Ten. The highest they reached was #12 with Heatseeker in 1988.

	05-05-2002 06:02									#117
	Support Apolyton

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase Damn it, if you knew all the answers you should have let someone else have a go!

And wait five years for someone to guess - at most - two or three of them? It was, after all, one of the more arcane questions. Which was why I was going to ask it.

quote: Actually, it's not The Clash (Who are disqualified anyway for having a #1 hit with the 1991 reissue of Should I Stay or Should I Go), but a band with no less than 19 top-40-but-not-top-10 hits, from 78 to 95.

AC-DC.

Edit. This is bizarre. When I replied to Snappy with this post, neither Fiera's post - re AC-DC - nor even Supersneak's post had appeared. And they were posted hours ago. When I posted this, they appeared. S-p-o-o-k-y.

quote: Sorry, not Love Letters in the Sand. Two out of the three million-sellers are Eighties tracks...

This one's intriguing.

	05-05-2002 06:36									#118
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: Originally posted by SuperSneak Fin...that's who I was thinking of, and calling it, erroneously, a "comeback" when I should have termed it more of a "re-entry". After some initial huge hits that were followed up by a horrendous publicity backfire (taken to court by the PM for a slanderous depiction of infidelity) I figured it was a reset back on the popularity path....but I guess slamming the status quo doesn't necessarily make us unpopular, now does it? You got it, in any case.

The Move issued postcards featuring PM Harold Wilson naked in a bath to promote their single "Flowers In The Rain". After legal action, Wilson copped all royalties from the song and donated them to charity. If anything, the whole thing made The Move more popular with the youth of the time.

The Move, a Birmingham band, were basically a meltdown of egos waiting to happen. You had, at the band's peak, Jeff Lynne (later of ELO, et al), Roy Wood (one of Brit music's wonderful eccentrics and brilliant musos, later of Wizzard, et al) and Bev Bevan (later of ELO). "Flowers In The Rain" is a great song, famous apart from anything else for being the first record played on BBC's Radio One - the BBC's first pop station - when it opened. Roy Wood's "Blackberry Way" - a sort of tribute/pastiche to/of "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields" - is another Move track worth checking out. Roy was very fond of tributes/pastiches.

After The Move transmogrified into Electric Light Orchestra, Roy got a bit bored - well, okay, there wasn't enough room in 100 bands for egos the size of Roy's and Jeff Lynne's - and Roy departed. Some of the stuff he did, later, with Wizzard, remains quite extraordinary.

	05-05-2002 06:41									#119
	Increase Your PM Length

Off the top of my head I could probably have named (at least) Ricky Valance, Z & E, Greenbaum, Marvin, and probably Matthew's Southern Comfort as well.

I'm slightly suspicious about The Archies, though. Surely that was just one of many names used by studio musicians under Don Kirchner? In fact, a bit of extra research unearths that the three Archies Vocalists were perennial hit-maker Ron Dante and the songwriting team Greenwich/Barry (!), all of which had many top-ten hits- Ron Dante even as a performer. "Tracy" by the Cuff Links anyone?

	05-05-2002 07:45									#120
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase Off the top of my head I could probably have named (at least) Ricky Valance, Z & E, Greenbaum, Marvin, and probably Matthew's Southern Comfort as well.

My point exactly. What hope would anyone else have had? I wouldn't have got Ricky Valance but I knew the others you name, along with "Michelle" and "Fire".

quote: I'm slightly suspicious about The Archies, though. Surely that was just one of many names used by studio musicians under Don Kirchner? In fact, a bit of extra research unearths that the three Archies Vocalists were perennial hit-maker Ron Dante and the songwriting team Greenwich/Barry (!), all of which had many top-ten hits- Ron Dante even as a performer. "Tracy" by the Cuff Links anyone?

True, the bubblegum factories shuffled session musos and singers between studios and called them something else. So it's purely a statistical thing.

Phil Spector - bow down! Mono Rules! - must've started that factory genre. No one - not even Phil - will probably ever know how many times Darlene Love was recorded and under how many names. The Crystals being a classic case - on "He's A Rebel" and "He's Sure The Boy", the girls who, as the Crystals, recorded "Uptown" and "He Hit Me", didn't sing. It was Darlene Love backed by The Blossoms. The original girls returned for "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me". But you'd be hard-pressed to know by listening.