Artists who reached #1 with their first or only top 10 despite multiple chart entries

its_steve116 · 30-03-2021 6:38pm #1

Not counting one hit wonders (or including one hit wonders who had hits outside the top 10), can anybody think of any established artists who reached the top 40 several times, and had a number one single, but otherwise never reached the top 10?

I'll start with Kraftwerk and "The Model/Das Modell". The song topped the charts in 1982 but apart from that their highest charting UK single got to #11.

BOSTIK · 30-03-2021 7:47pm

This surely fits the bill, think they had four or five other Top 40 hits but none reached the Top ten.

its_steve116 · 30-03-2021 9:26pm

Tony Bennett's only UK #1 and Top 10 was "Stranger in Paradise" which spent 16 weeks in the charts. His next highest charting single, Close Your Eyes, reached #18, and he had seven other top 40 hits.

its_steve116 · 30-03-2021 9:52pm

Also in the US, Henry Mancini, with the theme tune to "Romeo & Juliet", also known as "A Time for Us".

His "Moon River" theme fell just short of the US Top 10.

S.M.B. · 31-03-2021 6:57pm

Lauryn Hill as both a solo artist and a member of The Fugees on the Billboard Hot 100?

Although I think the most surprising thing for me is how badly the singles from The Score did (most didn't even make the top 100) considering it was a chart topping album.

NewbridgeIR · 31-03-2021 11:27pm

New Edition
Sinead O’Connor

The Housemartins failed to make the top 10 after Caravan Of Love topped the charts but Happy Hour was a big hit before it,

Declan A Walsh · 01-04-2021 10:07am

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

New Edition
Sinead O’Connor

The Housemartins failed to make the top 10 after Caravan Of Love topped the charts but Happy Hour was a big hit before it,

Going by the original post, they would not count because it did not stipulate the timing of top 10 hits, i.e. they did have another top 10 hit.

bigar · 02-04-2021 10:27am

BOSTIK wrote: »

This surely fits the bill, think they had four or five other Top 40 hits but none reached the Top ten.

On the Irish Charts, they reached number 6 with Lover Come Back To Me and number 8 with Something In My House

bigar · 02-04-2021 10:36am

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

New Edition
Sinead O’Connor

The Housemartins failed to make the top 10 after Caravan Of Love topped the charts but Happy Hour was a big hit before it,

New Edition never had a number one in Ireland. Candy Girl reached number 2.

Sinead O'Connor had two more top 10 hits after Nothing Compares To U:
The Emperor's New Clothes reached number 5 and My Special Child number 6. She also reached number 6 when she joined up with Shane Mac Howan on their version of Haunted.

The Housemartins had three more top 10 hits after Caravan of Love:
Me and the Farmer and Five Get Over Excited reached number 4 and Build number 9.

NewbridgeIR · 02-04-2021 10:45am

bigar wrote: »

They had three more top 10 hits after Caravan of Love in Ireland:
Me and the Farmer and Five Get Over Excited reached number 4 and Build number 9.

Sorry - was going by UK charts and my book of British Hit Singles (published by Guinness)

While I listened to the Irish top 30 every Sunday, I always considered the UK one more "definitive". The Irish one not being properly archived doesn't help (symptomatic of a wider issue towards archiving generally) - although most of the charts have been published on ukmix.org

bigar · 02-04-2021 11:10am

You can find historic Irish Charts here.

Declan A Walsh · 02-04-2021 11:13am

I get the impression, that the OP was referring specifically to the UK Charts.

bigar · 02-04-2021 11:19am

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I get the impression, that the OP was referring specifically to the UK Charts.

The Bilboard Hot 100 is also mentioned. I would then assume it will also cover other charts including the Irish Charts as, stating the obvious, we are in Ireland.

its_steve116 · 02-04-2021 11:34am

bigar wrote: »

The Bilboard Hot 100 is also mentioned. I would then assume it will also cover other charts including the Irish Charts as, stating the obvious, we are in Ireland.

I mentioned Henry Mancini as an artist who only had one Billboard top 10 hit.

NewbridgeIR · 02-04-2021 11:38am

bigar wrote: »

You can find historic Irish Charts here.

I have seen that page before - it's not bad - you can search by artist or song but there is no way (not that I can see) of viewing the full top 30 for a particular week. ukmix.org covers that off in a series of posts but not an easy way to search.

NewbridgeIR · 02-04-2021 11:45am

In the UK, AC/DC had numerous singles that failed to reach the top 10 - only one has, a reissue of Highway To Hell in 2012.

They're also one of a few high profile acts that have yet to release a Greatest Hits / Best Of / Singles Collection

Metallica, Coldplay and Rihanna are three others.

its_steve116 · 25-11-2021 12:29pm

Another one is Italian DJ Vito Lucente, AKA Junior Jack. His only #1 or top 10 in the UK, was "Make Luv" in 2003, released under the name "Room 5". As Junior Jack he's had several chart entries outside of the top10.

Speaking of dance music, I suppose we could also include New York DJ Roger Sanchez, with "Another Chance". Interestingly though he had 3 other UK top 40 hits but none made the top 20 and "Another Chance" would be his only song that most people would have heard.

its_steve116 · 05-12-2021 12:18pm

I think The Clash are the most successful such artist in the UK; most top 40 hits with their only top 10 hit reaching #1. They had 17 top 40s in total.

its_steve116 · 06-12-2021 11:49am

If we count artists who only had one other top 40 we could also include Modjo, Slik, Black Legend, amongst others.

its_steve116 · 06-12-2021 11:53am

21 Savage as well, he was a featuring artist on Post Malone's "Rockstar" but his next highest charting single got to #13.

its_steve116 · 05-01-2022 12:02am

(Jefferson) Starship as well, in 1987 with "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now".

Interestingly, Jefferson Airplane never had a charting single in the UK until 1987, when a reissue of White Rabbit got to #94.

Donald Trump · 05-01-2022 12:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118419335#Comment_118419335

Do you know if, or where, White Rabbit was used in a film or an ad? It is one of those songs which I can't place but whenever I hear it, I am sure I've heard it in something.

its_steve116 · 05-01-2022 12:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118419394#Comment_118419394

I think a version of it was used in the movie "Sucker Punch".

Donald Trump · 05-01-2022 12:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118419412#Comment_118419412

I don't know that film. Maybe was it used in some Vietnam War film or something? Or maybe something like a Tarrantino film. It is the bit at the end of the song that is triggering the association I cannot place. It might have been used on an ad or for a radio program or something.

I think I actually tried looking it up before. Didn't spend long on it but couldn't find anything. So maybe it was my imagination

Edit: I'm after looking there now and on youtube the comments talk about a new Matrix film. That's not what I'm talking about though. This is in my head from years back. I haven't seen anything related to a new Matrix film

Edit 2: Found it!!! It was used in Platoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh3dm2vWzq8

its_steve116 · 05-01-2022 11:22pm

Kings of Leon, My Chemical Romance and Bryan Adams all reached #1 in the UK with their first top 10s "Sex on Fire", "Welcone to the Black Parade" and "Everything I Do" respectively after years of many hits outside the top 10, but all three would go on to have further top 10 hits.

its_steve116 · 15-01-2022 6:56pm

Another one

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XfR9iY5y94s

gabria · 23-01-2022 12:52am

Tasmin Archer. After sleeping satellite, she had four singles ranging from #16-#40

its_steve116 · 24-01-2022 1:44pm

So that is five top 40 hits! I never would have guessed that.

NewbridgeIR · 27-01-2022 10:59pm

This is highly recommended - https://www.discogs.com/release/15947084-Tasmin-Archer-Sweet-Little-Truths-The-EMI-Recordings-1992-1996

jacool · 01-02-2022 10:28am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118481071#Comment_118481071

An Australian DJ called LUUDE has re-mixed this and Colin Hay has re-recorded some of the vocals, and hey presto #16 in the UK this week!

its_steve116 · 17-02-2022 5:36pm

Ava Max now on 5 UK top 40s with only one chart-topping top 10

its_steve116 · 22-05-2022 1:47pm

Not quite a #1, but pretty damn close. INXS reached #2 in 1987 with "Need You Tonight", surprisingly the only time they hit the UK top 10. They were held off the top spot by Robin Beck's "First Time" and I'd argue NYT is the better-remembered of the two songs.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=w-rv2BQa2OU

NewbridgeIR · 22-05-2022 9:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119097283#Comment_119097283

That was at the second time of asking. It originally underperformed 12 months earlier. Back then - October 1987 - my local disco used play it on a Friday night with Mediate straight afterwards. By the time, I reached #2, they had released three more singles from Kick, none of which did great chart business. Devil Inside missed out on the top 40, albeit the lack of a widely available radio edit didn't help airplay.

BOSTIK · 27-05-2022 11:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119099944#Comment_119099944

Devil Inside was a huge hit in the US, reached no. 2 there.

Mystify, also from the album Kick wasn't released until March 1989, and reached the UK Top 20. This was despite the album having been launched in September 1987, could you imagine that happening now?

NewbridgeIR · 27-05-2022 5:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119121442#Comment_119121442

Yes, there were a few albums back then which had a long shelf-life for their singles

Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction (released July 1987, final single Nightrain released July 1989)

Def Leppard - Hysteria (released August 1987, final single Rocket released January 1989)

Michael Jackson - Bad (released August 1987, final single Liberian Girl released July 1989)

Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814 (released September 1989, final single State Of The World released February 1991)

Michael Jackson - Dangerous (released November 1991, final single Gone Too Soon released December 1993)

its_steve116 · 28-05-2022 10:09am

Another one, Scottish pop-rock band Pilot, topped the charts in 1975 with this. They'd 3 other singles peaking between numbers 11 and 34

https://youtube.com/watch?v=YnQZ5AHUk2U

its_steve116 · 28-05-2022 10:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119123124#Comment_119123124

On the subject of the Rhythm Nation 1814 album, did you know that none of the singles from it charted higher than #15 in the UK? The title track only reached #23!

NewbridgeIR · 28-05-2022 4:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119125478#Comment_119125478

Yes, well aware of its relative commercial failure on this side of the world. My local shop would only get a handful of copies in of each single. Would love to a proper SDE of it with all the single edits, remixes & extended mixes.

its_steve116 · 05-09-2022 5:30pm

In the US, Pink Floyd topped the charts with their only top 10, "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2".

its_steve116 · 11-09-2022 5:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118220489#Comment_118220489

It was also Oliver Cheatham's only UK top 10 hit, with the original version of "Ģet Down Saturday Night" and the follow-up to Make Luv, another Room 5 collaboration "Music & You" both peaking at #38! In total Cheatham had 7 top 100 hits in the UK, with none of the others reaching the top 75

its_steve116 · 28-09-2022 12:49pm

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2kL9sS95zRc

While she had several top 10s as a member of N-Dubz, Tulisa's only solo top 10 was the 2012 chart-topper "Young". Follow-up singles "Live It Up" (featuring US rapper Tyga) and "Sight of You" peaked at Numbers 11 and 18 respectively.

I actually quite liked this song, it knocked the awful "Call Me Maybe" off of the top spot. But it was overshadowed by a similarly titled song by the band fun., which I also quite liked.

its_steve116 · 11-11-2022 6:58pm

21 Savage is now off the UK list. Three songs from his collaborative album with Drake have gone into the top 10.

its_steve116 · 11-11-2022 7:06pm

US rockers Orson topped the UK chart in 2006 with "No Tomorrow". Three further singles peaked between numbers 11 and 27.

its_steve116 · 17-01-2023 11:35pm

You'd think "Would I Lie to You?" was Charles & Eddie's only hit, but they had three other UK top 40 hits peaking between numbers 29 and 38. Yet it's their signature song, which reached #1, that was their only song to crack the top 10.

gabria · 13-02-2023 1:27am

Discovered a new one - Billy Bragg. He reached the top spot in 1988 with the Beatles cover She's Leaving Home , part of double A-side with Wet Wet Wet's cover of With a little help from my friends. He released some other singles and EPs between 1985-2005, none of which charted higher than #11

its_steve116 · 13-02-2023 11:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120234341#Comment_120234341

Wow!

its_steve116 · 12-04-2023 1:06pm

"It was summertime in northern Michigan..."

Mr. Bob Ritchie's only UK top 10 hit after several years of reaching the lower parts of the top 40, went all the way to #1... he never had a UK top 40 hit again.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=aSkFygPCTwE

its_steve116 · 09-11-2023 1:51am

Stevie B topped the Billboard Hot 100 with his only Top 10 hit in his native US, "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)". He had five other top 40 hits outside the top 10.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc1uQI2XmZs&pp=ygU

its_steve116 · 20-01-2024 4:38pm

Another one for the list. This reached #1 in the UK in 1987 on the back of the film of the same name.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dTd2ylacYNU

He had three other UK top 40 hits, including the original release of this song, which only got to #27.

its_steve116 · 21-01-2024 3:54pm

And, in the US, this classic was Meat Loaf's only #1 and top 10. He had several other US top 40 hits though.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9X_ViIPA-Gc

Can you believe that? Indeed, between BOOH1 and BOOH2 he wasn't highly commercially successful, and was beset by bankruptcy.

NewbridgeIR · 21-01-2024 10:38pm

Bat Out Of Hell II is the worst-sounding vinyl album I've ever heard. 75 minutes of music on one LP.

Artists who reached #1 with their first or only top 10 despite multiple chart entries

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