PSB 8th in hit singles list

[thomashenry]

UK HIT SINGLES
6. Depeche Mode - 40
8. Pet Shop Boys - 38
Source: Guinness World Records

These figures are wrong. Both of them, DM & the PSB have had 36 Top-40 hit singles.

Are you counting DJ Culturemix?

[Janet Street-Porter]

They both are records gloryfying drug taking because it was fashionable at the time, nothing artistic about that whatsoever.

Ebenezer Goode is a novelty record; a clever one but nonetheless a novelty. Strawberry Fields is one of the greatest songs ever. I would also dispute the fact that it's a drugs song in the same way that Ebenezer Goode is; it may have been created under the influence but it doesn't have a chorus of 'Ellis D Ellis D It's Ellis D'

[Zeus On The Loose]

Alright then, Strawberry Fields Forever is closer to Happy Mondays' Bob's Yer Uncle than to Ebeneezer Goode.

[XTZ1969]

[Zeus On The Loose]

Was It Worth It? was also not included on PopArt.

[dVTB]

The most reliable source is Polyhex:

These are the chart runs for Manic Street Preachers

02/02/1991 - Motown Junk 94 ->2
25/05/1991 - You Love Us 62 ->2
10/08/1991 - Stay Beautiful 40 ->3
28/03/1992 - Slash 'N' Burn 20 ->4
13/06/1992 - Motorcycle Emptiness 17 ->6

19/09/1992 with Fatima Mansions - Theme From M*A*S*H/(Everything I Do) I Do It For You 7 ->6
21/11/1992 - Little Baby Nothing 29 ->3
12/06/1993 - From Despair To Where 25 ->4
31/07/1993 - La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) 22 ->5
02/10/1993 - Roses In The Hospital 15 ->3

12/02/1994 - Life Becoming A Landslide 36 ->2
11/06/1994 - Faster/PCP 16 ->3
13/08/1994 - Revol 22 ->3
15/10/1994 - She Is Suffering 25 ->3
27/04/1996 - A Design For Life 2 ->11

03/08/1996 - Everything Must Go 5 ->6
12/10/1996 - Kevin Carter 9 ->4
14/12/1996 - Australia 7 ->7
05/09/1998 - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 1 ->11
12/12/1998 - The Everlasting 11 ->8

20/03/1999 - You Stole The Sun From My Heart 5 ->8
17/07/1999 - Tsunami 11 ->5
22/01/2000 - The Masses Against The Classes 1 ->7
10/03/2001 - Found That Soul 9 ->4
10/03/2001 - So Why So Sad 8 ->7

16/06/2001 - Ocean Spray 15 ->4
22/09/2001 - Let Robeson Sing 19 ->2
26/10/2002 - There By The Grace Of God 6 ->5
30/10/2004 - The Love Of Richard Nixon 2 ->4
22/01/2005 - Empty Souls 2 ->4

That's 30 hit singles, including 2 songs that didn't make the Top 40.
Yet they released as many as 7 re-issued singles:

09/11/1991 - You Love Us {1992} 16 ->4
13/09/1997 - Little Baby Nothing {1987} 50 ->1
13/09/1997 - Love's Sweet Exile/Repeat {1997} 55 ->1
13/09/1997 - Motorcycle Emptiness {1997} 41 ->2
13/09/1997 - Slash 'N' Burn {1997} 54 ->1
13/09/1997 - Stay Beautiful {1997} 52 ->1
13/09/1997 - You Love Us {1997} 49 ->1

... which were apparently counted as well...

[XTZ1969]

[Zeus On The Loose]

D'uh.

[dVTB]

The list of the BBC is obviously based on BANDS, not on solo artists:

Madonna has 65 different entries on Polyhex. This includes 5 re-issues and 1 import title (that was also a regular entry) and 1 more re-released double A-side. So that leaves 58 different hit singles, all of which made the UK Top 40.

Polyhex lists as much as 71 different entries for David Bowie, easily topping Status Quo. This includes 4 re-releases and two remixes of older tracks... Another 8 singles did not reach the UK Top 40. So Bowie had MORE proper UK Top 40 hits than Status Quo.

(I did not look for Michael Jackson)

the other top 10 bands
Status Quo has 62 different entries. This includes 8 singles that didn't reach the Top 40. (By the way: Status Quo have just entered this weeks chart at #11 with a new single, which explains why Polyhex lists 62, instead of the 61 singles mentioned in the first post)

Polyhex lists 51 different entries for Queen, including just one single that didn't make the UK Top 40 (Love Of My Life, released in 1979, peaked at #63). However, this list DOES include versions of Queen songs featuring Wycleff Jean and Five, which we would rather forget about...

The Rolling Stones have 53 entries. This includes 2 re-releases and another 7 singles that didn't make the UK Top 40. The Rolling Stones haven't had a UK Top 10 since 'Start Me Up' hit number 7 in 1981...

UB40 also have 53 entries, this includes 13 singles that didn't make the UK Top 40.

U2 does indeed have 40 entries. However, their list includes two remix hits (made by Musique and LMC) and a remix of Even Better Than The Real Thing that charted seperately from the original single. Four singles did not make the UK Top 40, however this includes one single that was only available as an import. U2 have an impressive amount of 28 UK Top 10 hits.

Depeche Mode has 40 entries too. Their list features one re-release and 3 singles that didn't make the UK Top 40. This leaves exactly 36 proper UK Top 40 hits. Out of these, 7 did not make the UK Top 20.

The Bee Gees have 41 different entries, featuring 1 re-released single. Another nine singles did not reach the UK Top 40, leaving exactly 30 proper UK Top 40 hits.

Pet Shop Boys have 36 entries on their own, featuring NO re-released singles. This list does NOT include DJ Culturemix, which made #40 on its own. Weird, since the remix of the U2-single IS counted. The Pet Shop Boys list also doesn't feature Absolutely Fabulous or their joint hit with David Bowie, which made #12 in 1996, a result Bowie hasn't improved ever since. Of all the bands in this band top 10, Pet Shop Boys have the best hit ratio: all the mentioned singles made the Uk Top 40, only 1 single did not make the Top 20.

REM has 39 different entries on Polyhex, including 2 re-released singles and another 7 singles that didn't make the UK Top 40. I'm shocked to see that Losing My Religion made only #19, by the way...

[Janet Street-Porter]

More like the first boy band and there was Macca slagging Robbie Williams and Take That this morning and the only difference between them was that Gary Barlow wrote all the songs himself whereas Lennon let Macca write the odd bit here and there

And Howard Donald never wrote a song as beautiful as Something either.

[Propertius]

What a depressing topic! I was happy for a moment at the prospect of PSB beign number 8, but then I had a look at what was ahead of them. Status Quo? UB 40? It's pathetic!

On the other hand, Zeus is 100% correct in all his remarks so far. The Beatles just aren't very good.

[Zeus On The Loose]

More like the first boy band and there was Macca slagging Robbie Williams and Take That this morning and the only difference between them was that Gary Barlow wrote all the songs himself whereas Lennon let Macca write the odd bit here and there

And Howard Donald never wrote a song as beautiful as Something either.

No, but he was mega sexy and had a great bum, which is far more important, really. Although, Howard did write Kavanah's 'Crazy Chance' which was jolly good indeed. He was simply always overshadowed by The Barlow.

[Janet Street-Porter]

*Anybody* who doesn't love A day in the life doesn't truly love Left to my own devices either.

[Propertius]

Just as well. "A Day in the Life" is, strngely enough, one of the few Beatles songs I do actually like. Heard it in the convenience shop a few months ago and realized how much I like it. Both Bowie and PSB have stolen lyrics from it, which says something.

[Undertaker]

The Beatles are one of the greatest bands ever. Some quite outstanding songs and in Sgt Pepper, one of the best albums of all time.

So what if they jumped on the drugs taking bandwagon. Who gives a f***? They just wrote about every day stuff and made it work. It's difficult to choose a favourite song but if i was forced, i'd go for Eleanor Rigby.

Dave