In association with MusicWeek


The million-selling singles club is still a small and exclusive one. Here, artists reminisce on how it felt to enter the upper reaches of the Official Singles Chart - and go on to enjoy seven-figure sales success


Thanks a million...


Engelbert Humperdinck Million-seller(s): Release Me & The Last Waltz, Engelbert Humperdinck 1967


“It felt great! Release


Me made history because it stopped The Beatles from getting their eighth consecutive No.1 [with Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever] and it stayed on the Singles Chart for 56 weeks [in 1967 and 1968]. The Last Waltz went to No.1 a few months later and was my first No.1 around the world; it was played in dance halls around the world and it’s really stayed in people’s minds.“


Marc Almond Million-seller: Tainted Love, Soft Cell, 1981


“When we first started putting Tainted Love into Soft Cell’s live set,


we were curious about the reaction it would get. Electronic music at that time was meant to be cold and emotionless and about alienation. We wanted to be an electronic band with emotion and soul so we chose a Northern Soul number to put into our set for our audience to dance to. We never imagined it would become as popular as it did. It took Soft Cell from being an art school band into the mainstream.”


Bernard Sumner Million-seller: Blue Monday, New Order, 1983


“When it first came out I remember a few


discouraging comments saying it was a different sound for New Order. I don’t think they got it because it was such a distinct change of direction. When we wrote it, it was a question of me and Stephen playing around with lots of new technology. Stephen had an Oberheim DMX drum machine and I has all these synths. Blue Monday is pretty much totally electronic, apart from the odd bit of bass guitar here and there.”


Sir Cliff Richard Million-seller: The Young Ones, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, 1962


“Every No.1 is special - I’ve learned that it’s not


always possible from every record you release. I can almost remember when the charts started. When I first started singing, it wasn’t to get rich. It’s because I heard music by Elvis and Little Richard and Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, and longed to sing the stuff they sang myself. Then, by trying it I realised I could sort of do it. I got my audition with EMI, I got a contract and I was off and running.”


Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber Million-seller: Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Julie Covington, 1976


“I couldn’t really


understand how Evita became such a big hit. It was six minutes long, it had a one- minute instrumental by the London Symphony Orchestra and Julie Covington refused to promote it. It even went to No.1 in the disco chart, which I just couldn’t understand. I asked a friend of mine who was a DJ, why was it so popular - he said, ‘Because DJs are playing it to clear the dance floor’ [laughs].”


Kevin Rowland Million-seller: Come On Eileen, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, 1982


“It was massive [to hit No.1]. Going to Top Of


Interview excerpts taken from The Million Sellers, a new book published by Omnibus to mark 60 Years Of The Official Singles Chart. (ISBN: 978-1-78038-718-5)


Boy George Million-seller: Karma Chameleon, Culture Club, 1983


“[Fellow No.1 single] Do You Really Want To Hurt


Me is a bit cooler. Karma Chameleon is one of those songs nobody ever admits to buying. Hurt Me was a really personal song, I didn’t really understand why the label wanted to put it out.... When I sang Karma Chameleon to the band for the first time, they just laughed at me. I wrote the melody pretty much all the way through in my head and sang it back to them at Ray’s flat. He hated it [laughs].”


The Pops was always a great thing for me, I watched it since I was a kid - I loved it. I never took it for granted. I couldn’t believe my luck. Things could have gone very differently for me; I could’ve ended up in prison or anything like that. When Eileen was going up the chart it was incredibly exciting because the record company had lost faith in us, our singles before hadn’t been selling very well.”


David Baddiel Million seller: Three Lions, Baddiel &


Skinner & The Lightning Seeds, 1996


“I knew it had sold a lot,


but not quite this much [1.5m] - I wasn’t expecting to hear that even now. We were trying to do something that had never been done before. We decided to try and write it from the view of what it was like to be an England fan. Previous songs were about triumph. That is, aside from World In Motion, which wasn’t really a football song at all. We were very fortunate that Ian Broudie wrote this great music.”


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