50 Fun Facts About British Music

Which compilation series took its name from an old Danish bacon poster featuring a pig?

Now That's What I Call Music! got its name from a Danish Bacon poster Richard Branson found in a London shop and gave to Virgin's Simon Draper.

Which rap-metal band's 1992 single beat X Factor winner Joe McElderry to the 2009 Christmas number one?

Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name' got there through an online campaign, and the band thanked fans with a free London concert.

Whose 16 simultaneous top-20 entries in March 2017 pushed the UK chart to cap each artist at three songs?

After Ed Sheeran's run, the July 2017 revamp that brought the cap also halved the streaming weight of older, fading songs, so they dropped out faster to make room for new releases.

Which Welsh singer is the only artist to have performed more than one official James Bond theme?

Shirley Bassey also recorded 'Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' for Thunderball, but the producers wanted the film's title in the theme, so Tom Jones got the job.

Which pink, yellow-spotted Noel's House Party character had a UK Christmas number one in 1993?

Mr Blobby was knocked off the top after a week, then made a surprise return to number one on Christmas Day.

Whose 'Can We Fix It?' ended Westlife's run of seven straight number ones at Christmas 2000?

Bob the Builder's 'Can We Fix It?' sold over a million copies, yet NME later named it one of the worst songs of the 2000s.

Which YouTube couple's sausage-roll charity covers were Christmas number one five years running from 2018?

LadBaby gave the proceeds of their sausage-roll singles to the Trussell Trust, a charity that supports food banks.

Whose 'Spectre' theme, 'Writing's on the Wall', was the first James Bond song to reach UK number one?

Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes wrote it in under half an hour, and the demo vocal was so good they kept it for the finished record.

Which Clydebank band spent 15 weeks at number one in 1994 with a cover from Four Weddings and a Funeral?

Wet Wet Wet covered the Troggs' 'Love Is All Around', and the royalties let writer Reg Presley fund his research into crop circles.

Which Britpop frontman invaded the stage during Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song' at the 1996 Brit Awards?

Jarvis Cocker was detained by police after the stunt, and comedian Bob Mortimer, a qualified solicitor, spoke up for him.

Which deputy prime minister was drenched with iced water by Chumbawamba's singer at the 1998 Brit Awards?

John Prescott was soaked by Danbert Nobacon in protest at Labour's refusal to back striking Liverpool dockers, a cause the band had already name-checked from the stage that night.

Which Page 3 model co-hosted the notoriously shambolic 1989 Brit Awards alongside drummer Mick Fleetwood?

Samantha Fox blamed wrong cue cards and a broken Autocue, and the Brits were pre-recorded afterwards so that errors could be edited out.

Which album's cover shows the Beatles walking across a zebra crossing?

Abbey Road's cover followed a Paul McCartney sketch, and a policeman held up the traffic while Iain Macmillan shot it from a stepladder.

Which Wolverhampton glam band beat Wizzard to the 1973 Christmas number one?

Slade's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' is credited with starting the annual race for the Christmas number one, and since downloads began counting in 2007 it has re-entered the chart every December.

Which Sheffield band's 2006 debut became the fastest-selling debut album by a band in UK chart history?

Arctic Monkeys built their following by giving away demo CDs at gigs, which fans then uploaded to sites like MySpace.

Which boy band's 1996 split announcement led the Samaritans to set up hotlines for distraught fans?

Take That's split came seven months after Robbie Williams quit, and his contract had barred him from releasing solo material until the group dissolved.

Which group assembled on ITV's Popstars: The Rivals went on to 20 consecutive top-ten singles?

Girls Aloud's debut 'Sound of the Underground' beat the boy band from the same show, One True Voice, to the 2002 Christmas number one.

Which group's skirt-ripping routine won Eurovision 1981 for the UK with 'Making Your Mind Up'?

Bucks Fizz were only formed in 1981, put together specifically to compete in that year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Which Cambridge band won Eurovision 1997 for the UK with 'Love Shine a Light'?

Katrina and the Waves were already famous for 1985's 'Walking on Sunshine', and their winning song had been shelved for years as 'a bit too Eurovisiony'.

Whose 'Space Man' took the UK to second place at Eurovision 2022 with 466 points?

Sam Ryder won the jury vote outright, just a year after the UK had finished last at Eurovision with nul points.

Which Liverpool duo gave the UK its first Eurovision nul points, with 'Cry Baby' in 2003?

Jemini blamed a technical fault for their off-key 'Cry Baby', saying they couldn't hear properly on stage.

Which singer lost Eurovision 1968 by a single point to Spain's 'La, la, la' with 'Congratulations'?

Cliff Richard's 'Congratulations' still went to number one in the UK and became a hit across Europe, despite the one-point defeat.

Which Specials single spent three weeks at number one in 1981 as riots broke out across English cities?

Ghost Town grew from what Jerry Dammers saw touring a Britain he said was falling apart, with shops shuttered and industry closing down.

Which Camden Town ska band spent 214 weeks on the UK singles chart between 1980 and 1986?

Madness spent all those weeks on the chart yet scored just one number one, 'House of Fun', in 1982.

Who wrote and sang 'Are "Friends" Electric?', the 1979 synth-pop single that spent four weeks at number one?

Gary Numan's 'Are "Friends" Electric?' later resurfaced in the Sugababes' 2002 number one 'Freak like Me', which sampled it.

Which label, co-founded by TV presenter Tony Wilson in 1978, released Joy Division and ran the Haçienda?

Factory Records' die-cut sleeve for New Order's 'Blue Monday' reportedly cost so much that early copies sold at a loss.

Which band's 1990 Spike Island gig in Widnes became a legendary moment of the Madchester era?

The Stone Roses' Spike Island gig was dismissed at the time over sound problems and shambolic organisation, yet it became the stuff of legend.

Which MC won the 2003 Mercury Prize with his debut album 'Boy in da Corner'?

Dizzee Rascal was still a teenager when he won, and the album gave grime its first mainstream exposure.

Which Tottenham MC's 'Konnichiwa' won the 2016 Mercury Prize?

Skepta's Konnichiwa came out on his own Boy Better Know label and beat albums by David Bowie and Radiohead to the prize.

Which Battersea garage collective topped the chart in August 2001 with '21 Seconds'?

So Solid Crew named '21 Seconds' after the time each MC got for a verse, so the whole crew could fit on one single.

Which Birmingham reggae band took 'Red Red Wine' to number one in 1983?

UB40 didn't realise Neil Diamond wrote 'Red Red Wine': they knew only Tony Tribe's reggae version and took 'N Diamond' for a Jamaican artist.

Which album by Bobby Gillespie's band won the inaugural Mercury Prize in 1992?

Screamadelica's sound came from DJ Andrew Weatherall, whose remix of an old Primal Scream song became their breakthrough single 'Loaded'.

Which song topped the very first UK singles chart, published by the NME in November 1952?

Al Martino's Here in My Heart topped a chart the NME's Percy Dickins compiled by phoning record shops.

Which band's guitarist Jonny Buckland met its future singer as a student at University College London?

Coldplay's breakthrough 'Yellow' got its title when Chris Martin, missing a key word, looked at the nearest book: the Yellow Pages.

Which Birmingham band's guitarist Tony Iommi lost two fingertips on his last day at a sheet-metal factory?

Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi lost two fingertips to a guillotine on his last shift, then made new ones from a melted Fairy Liquid bottle.

Which BBC2 rock show, long fronted by Bob Harris, was commissioned by David Attenborough and ran until 1988?

The Old Grey Whistle Test came from David Attenborough, then the BBC's director of programmes, who also commissioned Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Which Squeeze keyboardist became host of BBC Two's music show 'Later...' when it began in 1992?

Jools Holland was once suspended from The Tube for six weeks after swearing in a live early-evening trailer.

Which label, founded in 1976 at the start of the punk boom, signed Ian Dury and Elvis Costello early in 1977?

Stiff Records was launched with a £400 loan from Dr Feelgood singer Lee Brilleaux, and its first single was Nick Lowe's 'So It Goes'.

Which singer's 'Back to Black' made her the first British woman to win five Grammys in a single night?

Amy Winehouse's US visa was not approved in time, so she performed for the ceremony via satellite from London's Riverside Studios.

Which band's 'Spaceman' shot to number one in 1996 after featuring in a Levi's jeans advert?

Babylon Zoo's 'Spaceman' spent five weeks at number one, though the advert had used only Arthur Baker's sped-up remix of the song.

Which pirate station, founded by Ronan O'Rahilly in 1964, broadcast from a Danish ferry off Felixstowe?

Radio Caroline's launch sparked a flotilla of pirate stations, until the government outlawed them with the Marine Offences Act of 1967.

Which Joe Dolce novelty song kept Ultravox's 'Vienna' stuck at number two for three weeks in 1981?

Joe Dolce, who is Italian-American, wrote 'Shaddap You Face' from memories of relatives talking in broken English.

Which 1998 World Cup song by Fat Les was dreamed up at the Groucho Club by Keith Allen and Alex James?

Vindaloo stalled at number two, kept off the top by the re-recorded 'Three Lions '98' from Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds.

Which Northern Irish band's 'Teenage Kicks' opening words are carved on DJ John Peel's gravestone?

The Undertones' 'Teenage Kicks' was John Peel's favourite record, and his coffin left his 2004 funeral to its sound.

Which Welsh band's lyricist Richey Edwards vanished in 1995, his car later found by the Severn Bridge?

Manic Street Preachers carried on as a trio, and later recorded an album built from lyrics Richey Edwards had left behind.

Which identical twins from Leith, Craig and Charlie Reid, recorded 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)'?

The Proclaimers finally took '500 Miles' to number one in 2007, re-recording it for Comic Relief with Peter Kay and Matt Lucas.

Which band's self-titled 1993 debut won the Mercury Prize and is often credited with starting Britpop?

Suede's debut entered the album chart at number one, after Melody Maker had named them the best new band before they had even released a record.

Which Somerset 'scrumpy and western' band topped the chart in June 1976 with 'The Combine Harvester'?

The Wurzels' founder Adge Cutler died in 1974, two years before the band finally reached number one.

Which Second World War singer became the oldest living artist to top the UK album chart, aged 92 in 2009?

Vera Lynn volunteered in 1944 to entertain troops abroad, travelling through India to sing for soldiers in Burma.

Which comedian wrote and sang 'Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)', the Christmas number one of 1971?

Benny Hill drew on his own early job as a milkman when he wrote 'Ernie' for a TV sketch.