THE 100 GREATEST No.1 SINGLES

1950s & 60s   1970s   1980s   1990s & 2000

56. Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) - Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler.
    A worldwide smash that ensured their place as one of the most influential dance acts of the eighties. Not bad for a group who started out selling t-shirts in Camden.
57. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson.
    Jacko took the story of the fan who plagued him with letters threatening suicide if he didn't own up that he was the father of her child and turned it into the dance track with which he gave the world the "Moonwalk."
58. Careless Whisper - George Michael.
    The first step of what would become George Michael's multi-million selling solo career after Wham!, this tale of teenage two-timing went down so well in China that it inspired five different Cantonese cover versions.
59. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners with the Emerald Express.
    The Dexy's star was in decline until a Romany-look band makeover and Kevin Rowland's bittersweet song of Catholic guilt brought on by teenage sex topped the charts around the world.
60. Don't You Want Me - Human League.
    Semi-autobiographical synth pop hit (backing singers Suzanne and Joanne weren't "working in a cocktail bar" when band leader Phil Oakey met them, but they were dancing in a disco).
61. Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid.
    "Leave Your Egos Outside the Studio" was Bob Geldof's request to the all star line-up who gathered to record Britain's biggest selling single ever to help raise money to alleviate the famine in Ethiopia.
62. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? - Culture Club.
    Terrible reviews ("watered down, fourth division reggae") and hostility from radio stations ("We don't interview transvestites") couldn't stop born star Boy George from hitting number one in twenty-three countries.
63. Every Breath You Take - The Police.
    Sting knew that he had a winner on his hands when he came up with this brooding, sinister lyric couched in a romantic setting. "All the bastards wrote us off, and I knew I had this song. I knew it would be number one."
64. Ghost Town - The Specials.
    The streets of Bristol, Liverpool and Brixton were ablaze with the most bloody riots for years…… and the soundtrack of that uptight summer of 1981 was this bleak picture of inner city life under Margaret Thatcher.
65. Going Underground - The Jam.
    First number one (of four) for the Woking trio whose run of classic 45s made them most consistently successful singles band since The Beatles.
66. Hello - Lionel Richie.
    Mega-selling mid eighties ballad, supported by slushy video where Lionel soulfully and repeatedly intones "hello" to his blind girlfriend on the phone while she lounges in her boudoir and makes a bust of the ex-Commodore in her pottery class.
67. House of Fun - Madness.
    The Nutty Boys spent more time on the charts in the 80s than any other group, but this was their only number one.
68. I Just Called To Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder.
    After almost two decades of sweet soul music from Tamla Motown's most famous son, it took this ballad from the soundtrack of The Woman in Red to give Stevie Wonder his first UK solo number one.
69. I Should Be So Lucky - Kylie Minogue.
    The Hit Factory of Stock, Aitken and Waterman signed up the Neighbours actress in 1987, but by the time she turned up at their studios they had forgotten to write any songs for her. So if this infectiously catchy hit sounds like it was written in five minutes, you know why.
70. Jealous Guy - Roxy Music.
    Conceived as a spontaneous tribute to the murdered John Lennon, when they brought it out as a single, this cover version gave Roxy their only number one.
71. Like A Prayer - Madonna.
    The video included a daring mixture of stigmata, Southern States racial bigotry, rape and a saint's statue that comes to life to make love to the singer in a church. The record blended a great tune, kitchen-sink-and-all production and an impassioned vocal from the world's biggest star. The result was, unsurprisingly, a world-wide number one.
72. Red Red Wine - UB40.
    The band didn't realise that this was a Neil Diamond composition (they only were familiar with Jamaican singer Tony Tribe's version.) It gave them their first UK number one and breakthrough in the States.
73. Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
    Relax seemed to have peaked half way up the top ten until the BBC cottoned on to what it was about and pulled it off the play list. To no avail…the song's new-found notoriety and the band's pre-ban TOTP appearance ensured it leapt straight to number one.
74. Ride on Time - Black Box.
    Although its success was dogged with controversy over the uncredited sample of the vocal from Lolleata Holloway's disco single 'Love Sensation,' these late 80s luminaries of the Italian House movement were six weeks at number one.
75. Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash.
    Six years after the band split up, a Levi's ad turned this Clash City Rocker into the band's most successful single and only number one hit.
76. Tainted Love - Soft Cell.
    Northern soul classic given the early eighties, futurist fringe, leather cap and smudged mascara treatment. Best selling record of 1981 and all time longest resident in the US Hot One Hundred.
77. The Lady in Red - Chris de Burgh.
    The Irish crooner hit the top spot just the once with a ballad extolling the virtues of the (later to be estranged) Mrs de Burgh.
78. The Model/Computer Love - Kraftwerk.
    Massively influential robot-popsters, whose 70s experiments in sound formed the blueprint for modern dance music. This was their only UK number one single, making them the first German act to top the charts.
79. There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) - Eurythmics.
    The only number one for the innovative 80s duo. It's no surprise the harmonica solo is spot on - it's Stevie Wonder.
80. True - Spandau Ballet.
    North London new romantics dumped their kilts and ruffed collars and told the world they had been soul boys all the while "listening to Marvin all night long." The world seemed to like Spandau phase two, though, and True was their first and only chart topper.
81. West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys.
    When the first version of this song (and its follow up) sunk without a trace, would be pop star Neil Tennant's farewell article as a music journalist - "Why I Quit Smash Hits to Be a Teen Sensation" looked a little rash. Second time round, though, his "rapping in English" take on London life was a massive hit world-wide.