Chig's chart chatter

[17.30] In just over an hour, possibly the most important singles chart record of all is about to be smashed, after standing for nearly 25 years. Since August 1977, the title of Most Number Ones has been shared by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, stuck on 17 each. Today, with the help of the first ever remix sanctioned by Presley's estate, a film soundtrack and a Nike TV advert, he will claim that record for himself, for the first time ever.

It's been a real tortoise and hare race to get this far. From Elvis's first number one, All Shook Up, in June 1957, to his 18th today, A Little Less Conversation, is one week short of 45 years. The Beatles, on the other hand, crammed all 17 of their number ones into a period of six years and two months (April 1963 - June 1969), with at least one number one in each of those seven years. They haven't hit number one since splitting up, not even when three singles of supposed 'newly discovered' material were released in 95/96, with Free As A Bird getting closest, at number 2. (And do you remember which upstart had the temerity to hold onto the number one spot for six weeks to deny the Beatles? The answer is in the comments.)
Presley's approach was a little more leisurely. He similarly had an initial run of seven years (1957-63) where he had at least one number one each year, taking his total to fourteen. Then he failed to make #1 in 1964, and had one more in 1965 (Crying In The Chapel). It took another five years and two months to clock up his 16th (The Wonder Of You, July 1970), and it took his death another seven years and one month after that to make Way Down jump from #42 to #4 and eventually to the top on its fourth week in the chart.
Despite what some people think, it's not the Nike football advert (where Eric Cantona referees games on a ship between the world's top players), which has resurrected interest in A Little Less Conversation. It actually appears in its original version on the soundtrack of this year's Ocean's Eleven film. I am prepared to believe it was actually in the film, but I don't remember it, and as the full version was only 1' 39" long, perhaps it's not surprising. It's easy to forget that Elvis Presley actually went through a phase in the late sixties where his popularity had waned to such an extent that some of his singles didn't chart at all. This may have been one of them, as it was a hit in America in 1968, but has never charted before today in the UK.

Finally, the remixers of the Elvis track are normally called Junkie XL, but had to change their billing to JXL in order for the Presley estate to allow the release. Junkie XL are two Dutch producers, Patrick Tilon and Tom Holkenborg, who first hit the chart themsleves for a mere one week at #60 in July 2000 with a track called Zerotonine.

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