List Of Number-one Singles From The 1960s (UK)
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The
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
is the official
record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...
in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1969 there was no official singles chart; however,
The Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
and Guinness'
British Hit Singles & Albums ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of ...
regard the canonical sources as ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') before 10 March 1960 and ''
Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...
'' from then until 15 February 1969 when ''Retailer'' and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
jointly commissioned the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) to compile the charts. The choice to use ''Record Retailer'' as the canonical source for the 1960s has been contentious because ''NME'' (which continued compiling charts beyond March 1960) had the biggest circulation of periodicals in the decade and was more widely followed. As well as the chart compilers mentioned previously, ''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'', '' Disc'' and ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...
'' all compiled their own charts during the decade. Due to the lack of any official chart the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
aggregated results from all these charts to announce its own ''
Pick of the Pops ''Pick of the Pops'' is a long-running BBC Radio programme originally based on the Top 20 from the UK Singles Chart and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 4 October 1955. It transferred to BBC Radio 1 (simulcast on BBC Radio 2) from 19 ...
'' chart. One source explains that the reason for using the ''Record Retailer'' chart for the 1960s was that it was "the only chart to have as many as 50 positions for almost the entire decade". The sample size of ''Record Retailer'' in the early 1960s was around 30 stores whereas ''NME'' and ''Melody Maker'' were sampling over 100 stores. In 1969, the first BMRB chart was compiled using postal returns of sales logs from 250 record shops. In terms of number-one singles,
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
were the most successful group of the decade having seventeen singles reach the top spot. The longest duration of a single at number-one was eight weeks and this was achieved on three occasions: " It's Now or Never" by
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
in 1960; "
Wonderful Land "Wonderful Land" is an instrumental piece written by Jerry Lordan and first recorded and released as a single by The Shadows in February 1962. It stayed at number one for eight weeks on the UK Singles Chart, a feat only Elvis Presley (in 1960), th ...
" by
The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
in 1962 and "
Sugar, Sugar Sugar, Sugar is a song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim (singer), Andy Kim. It was originally recorded by the Archies – a fictional band of studio musicians linked to the 1968–69 US Saturday morning TV cartoon ''The Archie Show'', inspire ...
" by
The Archies ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
in 1969.
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' song "
She Loves You "She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded by English rock band the Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several sales records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record i ...
" became the best-selling single of all time in 1963, a record it held until 1977 when band member
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
's new band,
Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
, surpassed it with "
Mull of Kintyre The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula (formerly ''Cantyre'') in southwest Scotland. From here, the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland is visible on a calm and clear day, and a historic lighthouse, the second ...
". "She Loves You" was the best-selling song of the decade and one of fourteen songs believed to have sold over one million copies in the 1960s.


Number-one singles


By artist

The following artists achieved three or more number-one hits during the 1960s.


By record label

The following record labels had five or more number ones on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
during the 1960s.


Million-selling and gold records

Although official
music recording sales certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
s were not introduced until the
British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
was formed in 1973, '' Disc'' introduced an initiative in 1959 to present a gold record to singles that sold over one million units. Information about when a record was classified gold by ''Disc'' is "not well documented". The awards relied on record companies correctly compiling and supplying sales information. This could lead to errors, such as
The Archies ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
' "
Sugar, Sugar Sugar, Sugar is a song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim (singer), Andy Kim. It was originally recorded by the Archies – a fictional band of studio musicians linked to the 1968–69 US Saturday morning TV cartoon ''The Archie Show'', inspire ...
" incorrectly being awarded a gold disc in January 1970. Such inaccuracies led to the instigation of official classifications by the BPI. Nevertheless, following the introduction of
music download A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. Thi ...
s in 2004, "Sugar, Sugar" passed the one-million sales mark.
The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
instrumental, "
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
", is the first known song to being awarded ''Disc''s gold record but it is disputed whether one million copies were sold. The awarding of fifteen gold records (one erroneously) is documented and, notably, five were awarded to releases by
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
. No song is believed to have sold one million copies after 1967 – "
The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...
" by Engelbert Humperdinck – and before BPI instigated its platinum record (still one million units) in 1973. Although
The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los ...
first released "
Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert Rodri ...
" in August 1965 it had more success after being re-released in the 1990s reaching number one and selling over one million copies.


Notes


References


Further reading

* Davis, Sharon. ''Every Chart-Topper Tells a Story: The Sixties''. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 1997 , 288p.


External links


Archive of all UK Number One Singles of the 1960s with images of original packaging
{{featured list
1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...
1960s in British music