List of best-selling singles of the 1960s in the United Kingdom explained

A single is a type of music release defined by the British Official Charts Company (OCC) as having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes.[1] On 31 May 2010, a retrospective record chart was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 that listed the 60 biggest-selling singles in the United Kingdom during the 1960s.[2] The programme, entitled The Top 60 Best Selling Records of the 60s, was hosted by British DJ Tony Blackburn.[3] The chart was compiled by the OCC, and was based on sales of singles from 1 January 1960 to 31 December 1969.[4]

The most represented act in the chart is the Beatles, who feature on the list with 18 releases, seven of which are in the top twenty.[5] Similarly, the most represented record label is Parlophone, who released music from the Beatles between 1962 and 1968 in the UK.[6] The most represented act after the Beatles is the Rolling Stones, who have five singles in the list.[7] [8] The highest-placed solo female artist on the list is Cilla Black at number 27, with her 1964 single "Anyone Who Had a Heart", which was also distributed by Parlophone.[3] Of the 60 discs in the chart, more than half (44) are by British acts.[9]

During the 1960s, sales of singles in the UK were monitored by several magazines, including New Musical Express (NME), Record Retailer, Melody Maker and Disc. Before 1969, no officially recognised singles chart was published in the UK. Until 10 March 1960, chart compilers used the weekly chart listed by NME, after which they moved to the singles list published by Record Retailer, despite NME having the wider circulation and higher readership.[10] [11] During the start of the decade, Record Retailer was sampling roughly 30 stores; NME and Melody Maker had a sample size of more than one hundred.[10] One source explains that the reason for using the Record Retailer chart for the early 1960s was that it was "the only chart to have as many as 50 positions for almost the entire decade".[12] On 15 February 1969, Record Retailer and the BBC jointly commissioned the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) to record sales of singles in what officially became the UK Singles Chart.[13] The BMRB compiled the chart by using hand-written and post-submitted data from approximately 250 record stores.[13]

Between 1960 and 1969, fourteen singles sold more than one million copies in the UK, of which the biggest-selling was "She Loves You" by the Beatles.[14] [15] Released on 23 August 1963, the single spent six non-consecutive weeks at number one and sold more than 1.89 million copies, approximately 140,000 more than its nearest rival, "I Want to Hold Your Hand", also by the Beatles.[5] The biggest-selling record not to top the UK Singles Chart was Acker Bilk's 1961 instrumental "Stranger on the Shore" – it sold more than 1.13 million copies and peaked at number two, being kept off the top by "The Young Ones" by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, another million-seller.[16]

Singles

!scope=col
Singlescope=colArtistscope=colRecord labelscope=colYearscope=colChart
peak
scope=row style="text-align:center;"1"She Loves You"Parlophone19631
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2"I Want to Hold Your Hand"Parlophone19631
scope=row style="text-align:center;"3"Tears"Columbia19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"4"Can't Buy Me Love"Parlophone19641
scope=row style="text-align:center;"5"I Feel Fine"Parlophone19641
scope=row style="text-align:center;"6""Columbia19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"7"We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper"Parlophone19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"8"Release Me"Decca19671
scope=row style="text-align:center;"9"It's Now or Never"RCA19601
scope=row style="text-align:center;"10"Green, Green Grass of Home"Decca19661
scope=row style="text-align:center;"11""Decca19671
scope=row style="text-align:center;"12"Stranger on the Shore"Columbia19612
scope=row style="text-align:center;"13"I Remember You"Columbia19621
scope=row style="text-align:center;"14"" and The ShadowsColumbia19621
scope=row style="text-align:center;"15"Sugar, Sugar"RCA19691
scope=row style="text-align:center;"16"" / "Bachelor Boy" and The ShadowsColumbia19621
scope=row style="text-align:center;"17"Telstar"Decca19621
scope=row style="text-align:center;"18"From Me to You"Parlophone19631
scope=row style="text-align:center;"19"Two Little Boys"Columbia19691
scope=row style="text-align:center;"20"Hey Jude"Apple19681
scope=row style="text-align:center;"21"Hello, Goodbye"Parlophone19671
scope=row style="text-align:center;"22"There Goes My Everything"Decca19672
scope=row style="text-align:center;"23"Help!"Parlophone19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"24"Cathy's Clown"Warner Bros.19601
scope=row style="text-align:center;"25"Glad All Over"Columbia19631
scope=row style="text-align:center;"26"Needles and Pins"Pye19641
scope=row style="text-align:center;"27"Anyone Who Had a Heart"Parlophone19641
scope=row style="text-align:center;"28"Apache"Columbia19601
scope=row style="text-align:center;"29"Lovesick Blues"Columbia19621
scope=row style="text-align:center;"30"My Way"Reprise19695
scope=row style="text-align:center;"31"Distant Drums"RCA19661
scope=row style="text-align:center;"32"You'll Never Walk Alone"Gerry and the PacemakersColumbia19631
scope=row style="text-align:center;"33"Get Back" and Billy PrestonApple19691
scope=row style="text-align:center;"34"All You Need Is Love"Parlophone19671
scope=row style="text-align:center;"35"Strangers in the Night"Reprise19661
scope=row style="text-align:center;"36""Decca19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"37"Are You Lonesome Tonight?"RCA19611
scope=row style="text-align:center;"38"I'll Never Find Another You"Columbia19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"39"Are You Sure?"Fontana19612
scope=row style="text-align:center;"40"Yellow Submarine" / "Eleanor Rigby"Parlophone19661
scope=row style="text-align:center;"41"I'm a Believer"RCA19671
scope=row style="text-align:center;"42"Paperback Writer"Parlophone19661
scope=row style="text-align:center;"43""Decca19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"44"Ticket to Ride"Parlophone19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"45"Those Were the Days"Apple19681
scope=row style="text-align:center;"46Parlophone19672
scope=row style="text-align:center;"47"Wooden Heart"RCA19611
scope=row style="text-align:center;"48"19th Nervous Breakdown"Decca19662
scope=row style="text-align:center;"49"It's Not Unusual"Decca19651
scope=row style="text-align:center;"50"Honky Tonk Women"Decca19691
scope=row style="text-align:center;"51"Penny Lane" / "Strawberry Fields Forever"Parlophone19672
scope=row style="text-align:center;"52""Parlophone19641
scope=row style="text-align:center;"53"I Love You Because"RCA19645
scope=row style="text-align:center;"54"Summer Holiday" and The ShadowsColumbia19631
scope=row style="text-align:center;"55"Oh, Pretty Woman"London19641
scope=row style="text-align:center;"56"I Won't Forget You"RCA19643
scope=row style="text-align:center;"57"Lady Madonna"Parlophone19681
scope=row style="text-align:center;"58"Surrender"RCA19611
scope=row style="text-align:center;"59"Delilah"Decca19682
scope=row style="text-align:center;"60"Jumpin' Jack Flash"Decca19681

References

General (chart positions)
Specific

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rules for Chart Eligibility: Singles . August 2009 . . London . 5 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130624004533/http://www.officialcharts.com/media/56/2956-official-uk-charts-singles-chart-rules.pdf . 24 June 2013 . live . 22 October 2011 .
  2. News: The Unswinging Sixties. BBC News. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20110721124937/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8719454.stm. 21 July 2011. live. 3 June 2010. 2 September 2011.
  3. Web site: The Beatles' She Loves You tops Radio 2 chart of best-selling record of the Sixties . 31 May 2010 . BBC . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20130624115251/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/05_may/31/record.shtml . 24 June 2013 . live . 23 November 2011 .
  4. News: The Beatles: bigger than Ken Dodd – but only just. Andy. McSmith. The Independent. London. 0951-9467. 185201487. https://web.archive.org/web/20121111182846/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-beatles-bigger-than-ken-dodd--ndash-but-only-just-1987999.html. 11 November 2012. live. 1 June 2010. 2 September 2011.
  5. News: Ken Dodd single comes third in chart of bestselling Sixties singles. Valentine. Low. The Times. London. 0140-0460. 421637096. 1 June 2010. 16 September 2011. subscription .
  6. Web site: Key Events in Harrison's Life . 30 November 2001 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20011204080856/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C39779%2C00.html . 4 December 2001 . dead . 22 October 2011 .
  7. News: 31 May 2010. Ken Dodd tickles top selling chart hits. The Scotsman. Edinburgh. JPIMedia. 0307-5850. 614655655.
  8. News: 31 May 2010. Beatles and Dodd topped sales in 60s. The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. Yorkshire Post. 0963-1496. 1035112329.
  9. Web site: The Top 60 Best Selling Records of the 60s. 2010. BBC Programmes. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20120222233317/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sknv3. 22 February 2012. live. 22 October 2011.
  10. News: Music: Charting the number ones that somehow got away. Leigh. Spencer. 20 February 1998. The Independent. London. 0951-9467. 185201487. https://web.archive.org/web/20120201091918/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/music-charting-the-number-ones-that-somehow-got-away-1145809.html. 1 February 2012. live. 5 August 2010.
  11. Web site: Smith . Alan . 50s & 60s UK Charts – The Truth! . December 2007 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20110510032556/http://www.davemcaleer.com/page21.htm . 10 May 2011 . dead . 22 October 2010 .
  12. Book: Warwick. Neil. Kutner. Jon. Brown. Tony. The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums. 3rd. 2004. Omnibus. London. 978-1-84449-058-5. 474573230. v. 22 October 2011.
  13. Web site: Key Dates in the History of the Official UK Charts. Official Charts Company. London. 16 May 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20080110032725/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/company_history.php. 10 January 2008.
  14. Web site: Million Sellers . 2008 . . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20080416145908/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/stats-million_sellers.php . 16 April 2008 . dead . 22 October 2011 .
  15. News: Ken Dodd 'third best-selling artist of 1960s'. BBC News. London. 1 June 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100926092438/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10201932. 26 September 2010. live. 2 September 2011.
  16. Web site: Acker Bilk. Official Charts Company. London. 14 September 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160805010354/http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/30120/mr-acker-bilk/. 5 August 2016.