Well, I’m now finished, thank god. What started out as a morbid curiosity, stretched into six months of my life. At least it’s done and I don’t have to do it again. It wasn’t unpleasant; making lists, listening to music, discovering songs new to me. All good stuff. It’s just how much of it there was. Had I really thought about it, shifting through 68 years of UK Chart history and going week by week to find one hit wonders was never going to be a quick thing. But here we are, now logged and preserved for all time. I’ve listened to all but two of the 3,227 entries listed on this blog (please don’t ask me, I can’t for the life of me remember specifically which two), and all in all there are 376 songs I think are some of the best of all time.
I was initially adding my thoughts to each year, either about the songs I liked or a select few of the one hitters, but I came to the conclusion that the facts matter more than my opinion. Not only was I struggling for insightful musings but I was actively stopping searching through the charts to do so. I was kinda worried that I might not even finish and this would be another henge in the stone circle of my half hearted passion projects. So I focused on the raw data and now it’s completed, I’m going to go back and add my pithy little bits to each post.
You might have notice that I’ve not gone beyond the year 2020. In my amateur opinion (chart music noticer), it’s rare that a group or artist have another hit five years after their first. Not impossible mind you, Bon Iver scored a number eight placing, alongside Taylor Swift, 11 years after his chart debut. So anything is possible. Going forward, I will be updating on December 31st of every year; adding new artists who are one hitters and clearing anyone’s good name who graced the United Kingdom’s pop pickers poll yet again.
That doesn’t mean I’ll be dusting this blog off once a year though. I have many more observations whilst doing this project. Scrolling through music history actually gave my insights into aspects of British life, culture and people that hadn’t really considered prior to starting. Our obsession with TV (both programs and adverts), worker’s strikes, our charitable ways and even our ability to sense authenticity. I’ll writing about those and more (who go to No1?) in the next few months.
Whether you’re just browsing or using this site as a resource, I truly hope you enjoy. This has been a labour of love and probably what will end up being my lasting legacy. For any artists who find their name listed herein (I’m sure Justin Hawkins is on the internet), please don’t be discouraged. As you can see, you’re in good company and if you do want to change your fate, get in the studio! That second hit is a decent 3 minutes away.