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Abba
This Abbafiles site features a collection of
Abba and Abba related information. Includes a discography of the
band and the individual members, lyrics, pictures, books and
links to other Abba sites. Abba emerged on the scene in 1974
with a number one Eurovision Song Contest hit
"Waterloo" but the Swedish band took the charts by
storm from 1976 to the end of the decade with a series of chart
topping singles and top selling albums like "Arrival".
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Abba
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Acker Bilk & Paramount Jazz Band
Clarinetist Acker Bilk fronted the trad
jazz-style Paramount Jazz Band to four top ten hits in the early
Sixties. The biggest, "Stranger On the Shore", was a
TV programme theme that never made the top spot but spent a year
in the charts to become a UK million seller in the period 1961 -
62.
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Acker Bilk
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Adam
Faith
Adam Faith, originally named Terry Nelhams,
is described as a "musician, actor and businessman" by
Mike Smith who has published this excellent website. His real
impact on the British charts were in the years 1959 - 63. He had
5 top five hits in 1960, with "Poor Me" a number one.
However, he is also well remembered for his starring role in 70s
TV series "Budgie".
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Adam Faith
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Alvin Stardust
The rock revival of the early Seventies was
good news for Alvin Stardust whose "Jealous Mind" was
a number one in 1974 and who also had top ten hits with
"Red Dress" and "You You You" that year.
Alvin had re-invented himself as the arch rocker following an
earlier pop career when, as Shane Fenton and the Fentones, he
had a number of minor top thirty hits in 1961 - 62. In his new
guise he scored a series of top ten hits from 1973 - 84.
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Alvin Stardust
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Andy
Williams
American Andy Williams has been at the top
for over fifty years, starting as a member of family act, the
Williams Brothers and then carving out a very successful solo
career. His first chart entry in the UK was his only number one,
in 1957. However, he captured the number one album spot in 1968
with "Love Andy"; in 1970 with "Andy Williams'
Greatest Hits"; and in 1971 with "Home Loving
Man". Andy was ever-present during the Sixties and
Seventies up until 1976, helped by a much-watched series of TV
shows.
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Andy
Williams Hits |
| Animals
The Animals reached the UK top ten no less than eight times
from 1964 - 67. Their first entry was with the classic
"House of the Rising Sun", their only British number
one - almost not released because it was 'too long' at over four
minutes. They disbanded and re-formed around lead singer Eric
Burdon in 1966, although Alan Price had already parted company
in 1965.
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Animals Hits
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Anthony
Newley
Judy Harris has put together this fond memory
of Newley who died in 1999. Anthony Newley, who had successive
number one hits in 1960 with "Why" and "Do You
Mind", enjoyed his golden period from 1959 - 61. He was
originally a successful actor - a child star from 14 - who
became a pop singer almost by accident. He had numerous film,
stage and TV roles included the Artful Dodger in David Lean's
1948 film Oliver Twist.
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Anthony
Newley Hits |
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Archies
Biggest world-wide single of the year 1969
was "Sugar Sugar" from the Archies - very much a one
hit wonder band but they were number one in the UK for 8 weeks.
The characters came from an American cartoon and the lead singer
on this enormously successful hit was Ron Dante.
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Archies
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Art
Garfunkel
Following the break up of Simon &
Garfunkel, Art Garfunkel concentrated on his acting and produced
a series of albums. However, he managed the second biggest
single of 1979 with "Bright Eyes", a million seller -
he also enjoyed a number two album that year with "Fate For
Breakfast". In 1975 he revived "I Only Have Eyes For
You" - also a number one single.
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Art
Garfunkel Hits |
| Bachelors
The Irish vocal trio, the Bachelors, revived a series of hits
from the Fifties and earlier to make the top ten eight times
from 1963 - 66. Their only number one was "Diane", in
1964. That was their best year, with a further three top five
hits at a time when - most weeks - they had two top twenty
records.
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Bachelors
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Bay
City Rollers
Teenybopper stars the Bay City Rollers had
their best years from 1974 - 77. They were the biggest act of
1975, thanks to three big singles "Bye Bye Baby" (the
number two single of the year), "Give a Little Love",
also a number one, and "Money Honey", a number three.
The band also had a number one album in 1975 with "Once
Upon a Star".
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Bay City
Rollers Hits |
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Beach
Boys
After spending the early Sixties as an
American phenomenon, the Beach Boys finally broke into the UK
charts in 1966 with a trio of top three hits led by
"Barbara Ann" then "Sloop John B" and
"God Only Knows" before making number one with
"Good Vibrations". Their LP, "Pet Sounds"
was also a big success in 1966 and went on to be one of the most
acclaimed albums of the decade. The Beach Boys fan club was
started by Alice, the president, in 1973, when she wrote to rock
magazines expressing an interest in seeing more articles about
the band and it is the official Beach Boys fan organisation.
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Beach
Boys Hits |
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Beatles
If you want just one Beatles site, then
"I Am The Beatles" is the site to find everything
about the band. 'All the albums, all the songs, all the lyrics,
and what their songs really mean.' Their first big hit was in
1963. "Please Please Me" did not reach number one on
all the UK charts but the follow up singles "From Me To
You", "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold
Your Hand" were huge hits. Sales of both "She Loves
You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" exceeded 1.5
million in the UK - the first time this level had ever been
reached. Within another year "I Want to Hold Your
Hand" had become the biggest ever selling global single by
a British artist. Not only did the Beatles master the singles
charts until April 1970 when the band broke up but their albums
also dominated the LP charts through the Sixties.
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Beatles
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Bee
Gees
The Bee Gees were an ever-present in the
Sixties and Seventies. Although strongly associated with
"Saturday Night Fever" (the soundtrack was the year's
biggest album of 1978 and seven of the tracks are by the Bee
Gees), their chart career is long and illustrious starting in
1967 and running to the present day. Their hottest period was
from 1967 when they had their first number one,
"Massachusetts", to 1979 when they topped the charts
once again with "Tragedy".
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Bee Gees
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| Billy Fury
Billy Fury (real name Ronald Wycherly) was a consistent star
who never quite made the number one spot but came close with
"Halfway To Paradise" and "Jealousy" in
1961. He had eleven UK top ten hits from 1960 - 65, four of them
in the top three. Billy saw a revival when he played a cameo
role in 1972 rock film "That'll Be The Day" and sang
on a couple of tracks but he died in his early forties in 1983.
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Billy Fury
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Billy
J Kramer and the Dakotas
Like the Beatles, this was another Mersey
band - and also in the Brian Epstein stable. Their single hits
started in 1963 with Lennon/McCartney song "Do You Want to
Know a Secret" which just failed to hit the top spot. Then
"Bad to Me" and "Little Children" were
number ones.
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Billy J
Kramer & Dakota Hits
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Blondie
Blondie was the top act of 1979 as punk and
its influence changed the pop music scene completely. The band
built on its success of 1978 by scoring two consecutive number
one single hits: "Heart of Glass" and "Sunday
Girl" followed by a number two with "Dreaming"
and a top twenty hit "Union City Blue". Their album
"Parallel Lines" was the biggest of the year, finally
making the number one spot in February. It had been launched the
previous September and sales built steadily. They continued to
have a major influence on the UK charts until 1982.
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Blondie
Hits |
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Bob
Dylan
This site is devoted to the songs, recordings
and performances of Bob Dylan - a man who had a huge influence
on the music and thinking of the Sixties. It includes the
catalogue of officially released albums and songs. There is also
a searchable database of Bob Dylan's published lyrics. Dylan was
always more of an album artist, enjoying a consistent run of top
ten entries in the UK charts from 1964 - 83, including six
number ones from 1965 - 70, the biggest of which was probably
"John Wesley Harding" which topped the LP charts for
three months in 1968. He also managed six top ten singles during
the second half of the Sixties.
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Bob Dylan
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Bobby
Vee
The Official Bobby Vee website celebrates the
40 year career of Robert Velline of North Dakota, USA. His
success in the UK included 7 top ten hits during 1961 - 63. His
biggest success was "Take Good Care of My Baby" and
his first UK hit "Rubber Ball" had to contend with a
big-selling cover version from Marty Wilde.
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Bobby Vee
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Boney
M
Boney M were at their peak from 1977 - 79,
launching their UK chart career with top three hits in 1977 with
"Sunny" and "Ma Baker". In another year
Boney M would be top performers but they had to settle for
number two in 1978. Their big single was "Rivers of
Babylon", biggest hit of the year and eventually selling
just under two million copies in the UK alone. Later in the year
they had a top two song with "Rasputin" followed by a
massive Christmas hit with the classic "Mary's Boy
Child" (another huge seller that eventually reached 1.8
million in the UK and second biggest hit of the year). They also
had a huge album hit with "Night Flight to Venus" in
1978.
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Boney M
Hits
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Boomtown Rats
Among the punk notables of the period 1977 - 80 were Irish band
the Boomtown Rats who finally had a number one in 1978 with
"Rat Trap" and followed this with a number one single
"I Don't Like Mondays" in 1979.
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Boomtown Rats
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Brenda
Lee
This is the official website of American
country star Brenda Lee - "Little Miss Dynamite" - who
had a steady stream of top twenty singles from 1960 - 65.
Although she never had a UK number one, Brenda reached number
three with "Speak to Me Pretty" (her biggest UK hit).
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Brenda Lee
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Brotherhood
of Man
The biggest single of 1976 belonged to
"Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man, a UK
million seller and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.
However, the band had first entered the British top ten in 1970
and went on to reach number one again in 1977, with
"Angelo", and 1978, with "Figaro".
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Brotherhood
of Man Hits |
| Bryan
Ferry & Roxy Music
Bryan Ferry formed Roxy Music in 1971 and spent the Seventies
and Eighties alternating between being the band's singer and a
solo career. On his own Bryan had four top ten hits in the
Seventies. Roxy Music were in the top ten six times with hits
including "Love Is the Drug" in 1975 and "Dance
Away" in 1979 both reaching number two. Their album
"Stranded" topped the LP charts in 1973 - just one of
a series of big selling albums through the decade.
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Bryan Ferry
Hits
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Carpenters
The Carpenters were at the top from 1970 -
77. Their first UK top ten single was "Close To You",
released in 1970. However, they never made the top spot with
their singles. Their biggest successes were "Yesterday Once
More", a number two in 1973, and "Please Mr
Postman", a number two in 1975. On the other hand, their
album "The Singles 1969-1973" was the biggest of 1974.
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Carpenters
Hits |
| Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) became a stronger album than singles artist. But
he still had four top ten hits from 1967 - 72. The biggest was
"Matthew and Son", a number two in 1967. His run of
five top three albums started in 1971 with "Teaser and the
Firecat" and went on to 1975.
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Cat Stevens
Hits
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Cilla
Black
The Mersey sound had been very much a male
preserve until Cilla Black emerged in 1963. As Priscilla White,
she had been a cloakroom attendant at the Cavern Club in
Liverpool until Beatles' producer George Martin signed her up.
Her only two number ones were in 1964: "Anyone Who Had a
Heart" (a cover of a Dionne Warwick US hit) and
"You're My World".
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Cilla Black
Hits |
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Cliff
Richard
The official Sir Cliff Richard website
naturally celebrates the life and times of the star who had
chart hits from the Fifties to the Nineties. During the decades
since he crashed into the UK charts in 1958, it is claimed that
he has sold 250 million records He was ever-present through the
Sixties and Seventies with his best years running from 1960 to
1963, when he was constantly backed by the Shadows - in their
own right a very successful band.
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Cliff
Richard
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