THE 100 GREATEST No.1 SINGLES

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

82. Baby One More Time - Britney Spears.
    Modern classic pop single and the best seller of last year.
83. Back for Good - Take That.
    At the time it was released, this was the song which first saw critics giving Take That some credit. Subsequently, ex-member Robbie Williams included a thrash metal version in his live set performed while riding on a motorised toilet.
84. Brimful of Asha (remix) - Cornershop.
    This celebration of the stars of Hindi film soundtracks (and in particular vocal overdub queen Asha Bhosle) hit the top once it had been sprinkled with the Norman Cook remix fairy dust. Norman was so keen to get his hands on the track that he didn't bother charging a fee.
85. Candle in the Wind '97 / Something About The Way You Look Tonight - Elton John.
    Days before the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, Elton John enlisted regular lyricist Bernie Taupin to rework their 1974 classic, turning a bittersweet elegy to dead filmstar Marilyn Monroe to a tribute to "England's Rose".
86. Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis.
    Combining piano main homage to Lennon's Imagine, classic chord sequence and barrel chested vocal - it's only people called Sally at pub closing time who can have any complaint with this nineties classic.
87. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You - Bryan Adams.
    UK number one for sixteen weeks and the second highest seller ever in the US, this song from the soundtrack of Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves was pipped for that year's best song Oscar by Disney's "Beauty and the Beast."
88. Firestarter - The Prodigy.
    Slammed by the fire service as an incitement to arson, this track (and in particular it's video) introduced the easy-going charm of singer Keith Flint to a dazed world.
89. Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio.
    This reworking of a Stevie Wonder song was the first rap record to enter the UK charts at number one.
90. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers.
    The first number one for the agit-prop Welsh rockers commemorates volunteers from the Valleys who fought in the Spanish Civil War.
91. It's Like That - Run DMC vs Jason Nevins.
    'It's Like That' was re-mixed by fellow New Yorker Jason Nevins in 1998 - with a breakdancing video that had a new generation attempting 'windmills.' Nevins has made a habit of re-mixing the sounds of the eighties (he followed this with a remix of 'Mickey' by Toni Basil).
92. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston.
    Karaoke favourite taken from the movie (The Bodyguard) in which the soul diva made her big screen debut. The biggest selling commercial single ever.
93. Love Is All Around - Wet Wet Wet.
    Reg Presley of the Troggs wrote it in ten minutes with his feet up on the sofa after a Sunday roast in the summer of love. Twenty-seven years on Wet Wet Wet took it to number one……..for a very long time. In the week that their version was poised to beat Bryan Adams' 16 weeks at the top, the band deleted it because it was doing their heads in.
94. Millennium - Robbie Williams.
    Sampling John Barry's James Bond strings on the track, and taking on the 007 persona for the accompanying video did the trick for Robbie, giving him his first solo number one.
95. My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion.
    With the Titanic (and Leonardo di Caprio) well on the way to the bottom of the Atlantic, what cinema-goers needed to raise their spirits was a mega-ballad from Celine.
96. No Matter What - Boyzone.
    Their version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's song from Whistle Down the Wind expanded the boy band's appeal to take in i) America and ii) Mums and Dads, giving them the best seller of 1998 in the process.
97. Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor.
    A heart-wrenching vocal and brilliantly simple video made Sinead's version of Prince's raw lovesong a massive hit and turned her into an indelible household name.
98. Praise You - Fatboy Slim.
    Brighton DJ Norman Cook reworked an obscure 70s track ("Take Yo' Praise" by Camille Yarbrough) and turned it into a dance classic. By last autumn it had become such a popular favourite that New Labour used it instead of the Red Flag to end their Party Conference.
99. Ready or Not - Fugees.
    Taken from the worldwide smash album 'The Score,' this showed a darkly melodic side to Lauryn Hill's voice, mixing R'n'B with gangster rap. The Refugee All Stars are not only one of the biggest hip-hop groups of all-time, but also spawned three major solo careers - those of Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras.
100. The Drugs Don't Work - The Verve.
     After folding the band once, Richard Ashcroft refloated The Verve in 1997 with the lush album Urban Hymns, from which this epic ballad was taken.
101. The Fly - U2.
     The Irish rockers have broken countless box office records around the world and are probably most celebrated for their albums, but they have also released three best selling UK singles - this revamp of their sound was their first number one of the 90s.
102. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World - Prince.
     In 20 years of UK chart success The Artist Formerly Known as Prince has only hit the top spot once with this song (although Sinead O' Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U is one of his songs).
103. Wannabe - Spice Girls.
     The first debut by an all-female band to enter the UK charts at number one. Its seven weeks at number one (topping the listings in 21 other countries too) turned the Spice Girls into media icons.
104. World in Motion - Englandneworder.
     The song that rehabilitated the football single was a reworking of the theme music to youth current affairs show Reportage, with the addition of a sing-a-long chorus and a rap by John Barnes (whose efforts were understandably used in preference to Gazza's attempt).
105. Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) - Spiller.
     An Italian DJ and Sophie Ellis-Bextor from The Audience were the duo responsible for this year's Ibiza anthem. 'Groovejet' (the name is taken from a club in Miami) famously pipped Posh Spice's debut solo.