FOLLOWING a week in which they graced the small screen on five separate occasions, it’s perhaps understandable that Frankie Goes To Hollywood managed to tighten their already vice-like grip on the top of the singles chart last week, with ‘Relax’ moving up a notch to number two, while ‘Two Tribes’ held steady at number one.
After close examination of more than 30 years of British charts, I could come up with only four direct parallels with Frankie’s top two takeover.
- On August 3 1957, and again two weeks later, Elvis Presley’s ‘All Shook Up’ and ‘Teddy Bear’ were ranked at number one and number two respectively.
- For three weeks from December 14 1963, the Beatles were on top with ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, while the record it dethroned, ‘She Loves You’ was at number two.
- The Beatles also held the top two places in the chart for a three week spell commencing on December 30 1967. This time, their twin-pack EP ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ lined up immediately behind the chart-topping ‘Hello Goodbye’
- On January 31 1981, less than two months after his death, John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ and ‘Woman’ filled the top two chart berths.
Though not directly comparable with Frankie’s achievements, the following are also worthy of mention.
- On March 23 1963, and again the following week, Cliff Richard And The Shadows were in pole position with ‘Summer Holiday’. The Shadows, this time without Cliff, were also at number two with ‘Foot Tapper’.
- On September 7 1974, The Osmonds, with Donny as focal point, were number one with ‘Love Me For A Reason’. Donny was also at number two, this time in a duet ‘I’m Leaving It All Up To You’, with sister Marie.
- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Summer Nights’ was number one for seven long weeks in 1978. Just before it vacated the top spot —
on November 4 1978, to be precise — Travolta’s solo effort ‘Sandy’ eased up to number two. - On January 10 1981, John Lennon ruled the roost with ‘Imagine’, whilst ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ credited to John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band And The Harlem Community Choir was at number two.
Before moving on, a warning that Trevor Horn has been feverishly beavering away at Sarm Studios to keep the ‘Two Tribes’ variants flowing. The recently released ‘Carnage (Two Tribes)’ has been relegated to a supporting role on a new 12-inch picture disc which gives top billing to a ‘heavy’ remix of ‘War (Hide Yourself)’…