An Interview with Rob Barker, author of ‘Every UK Number One’
Almost a decade ago, East Yorkshire author Rob Barker set himself the epic task of writing about every number one single to grace the UK charts. Roger Crow talks to him about that project, and its Fab Four spin-off.
Rob, tell us how you got started on this epic quest to document ‘Every UK Number One’.
I started a blog back in the summer of 2017, so nearly 10 years ago, with the view to review every single number one from 1952 onwards. I insisted on doing it from start to finish.
If you could have started the project in any year, which one would it be and why?
I would have loved to have started from 1963 because I am a massive Beatles fan. The Beatles are in my blood. They changed the world several times over. They knocked down class barriers, racial barriers. They transformed music several times over with landmarks, singles, and albums. I did the 50s number ones; found myself enjoying it more than I expected. Quite interesting to trace the progression of pop music. And got on to the 60s, rubbing my hands with glee because I couldn’t wait to cover the 60s. I covered the 60s number ones a few years back. And after doing that, I decided to do some books based on the blogs. It would be quite nice to round them up in two decades, little collections on paperback and Kindle. So I did a 50s book, covered the 70s number ones online, and then went back and did a 60s book. The 60s book was huge. The 50s book was only covered 1952 to ‘59 anyway. But as well as a 60s book being a full decade, I had so much more to say because I’m a Beatles obsessive. I’ve read a million Beatles books. And the Beatles had what still stands as the most number ones for any group in the UK.
“Some great songs”
How many chart-toppers did they have?
They had 17 number ones from 1963 to 1969. So I was able to cover all of those from ‘From Me To You’ in 1963. There is controversy that many Beatles fans say that ‘Please Please Me’ should be number one, but I won’t go into the details here. It should have been their first number one. It was actually number one on the NME chart.
What was the difference between the official singles chart and the NME chart?
‘Please Please Me’ was number one on the NME chart. However, the NME chart isn’t recognised as the official singles chart in the 60s; it’s a different chart. And that chart recognised ‘From Me To You’ as the first Beatles number one. So ‘From Me To You’ in 1963, right through to ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ in 1969, all the Beatles number ones were covered in the 60s book. Obviously, there are also so many other singles as well, and some great songs.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently writing 80s Number Ones online. And people have been asking me for the 70s book, which is lovely. However, I’m some way off from doing that; that will be a few years away now. And I’ve kind of got to thinking, it would be nice to do some kind of stopgap book. And it made total sense for me to cover the Beatles.
The full version of this interview can be heard at podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nostalgiahhh
Adopted Yorkshireman Roger Crow developed a passion for film and TV in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been a published film and TV reviewer since the 1990s; a world travel and restaurant critic since the noughties, and for the past decade has assessed the pros and cons of live gigs and theatre productions around the UK. His ideal day would involve reviewing a performance of Bat Out of Hell, followed by a Pad Thai while being serenaded by Texas on a cruise around Europe.
crowsfeat.com; nostalgiahhh film podcast
