# Number One with their first single **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847 "2020-03-19T22:36:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/61 "2020-03-24T12:23:49Z")
Rick Astley’s overplayed debut single, [_Never Gonna Give You Up_](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Gonna_Give_You_Up), apparently hit #1 in both the US and the UK, and also in Australia and Belgium and Canada and Denmark and Finland and Germany and the Netherlands and New Zealand and Norway and South Africa and Spain and Sweden and I may have missed some. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/62 "2020-03-24T12:36:21Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > One-off charity supergroup USA For Africa hit #1 with their only single\* We Are The World\*. And the inspiration, Band Aid’s\* Do They Know It’s Christmas\*? hit #1 in the UK (peaked at #13 in the US). If we’re counting one-off novelty acts, then we’ve definitely got to make mention of Stars on 45’ _“Medley: Intro ‘Venus’ / Sugar Sugar / No Reply / I’ll Be Back / Drive My Car / Do You Want to Know a Secret / We Can Work It Out / I Should Have Known Better / Nowhere Man / You’re Going to Lose That Girl / Stars on 45”_, which made #1 in the US and a slew of other countries. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/63 "2020-03-24T12:46:01Z")
There are also probably a bunch of examples from singers who were part of a group but then went solo. Zayn Malik’s first solo single after leaving One Direction hit #1. One Direction’s first single went #1 in the UK, but interestingly they never had a #1 in the US despite being the biggest group in the world at the time (the best they could do in the US were a few #2’s). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/64 "2020-03-24T14:49:06Z")
> [@Jet\_Jaguar](#): > > There are also probably a bunch of examples from singers who were part of a group but then went solo. Zayn Malik’s first solo single after leaving One Direction hit #1. One Direction’s first single went #1 in the UK, but interestingly they never had a #1 in the US despite being the biggest group in the world at the time (the best they could do in the US were a few #2’s). For the opposite of a sure thing, the #1 that was DISCO DUCK. [“According to Dees, it took one day to write the song, but three months to convince anyone to perform it.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Duck) ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/65 "2020-03-24T15:02:47Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > See also: “All For Love”, the #1 from Bryan-Adams-and-Rod-Stewart-and-Sting. > > No, I’m not saying that one was for charity. There ought to be charities to benefit victims of that song. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/66 "2020-03-24T16:55:59Z")
[Moderating] I had to re-read the title three times before I noticed the typo, but anyway, it’s fixed now. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/67 "2020-03-24T18:31:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Rick Astley’s overplayed debut single, [_Never Gonna Give You Up_](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Gonna_Give_You_Up), apparently hit #1 in both the US and the UK, and also in Australia and Belgium and Canada and Denmark and Finland and Germany and the Netherlands and New Zealand and Norway and South Africa and Spain and Sweden and I may have missed some. That may need an [asterisk](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/23/rick-astley-how-we-made-never-gonna-give-you-up). > [@](#): > > They put out a single by me and Lisa Carter as Rick and Lisa, which didn’t do anything. Then they got a Fairlight synthesiser-sampler delivered. I helped them get it out of the box. I remember Mike inputting the chords to Never Gonna Give You Up. I made the tea while their programmer, Ian Curnow, did the basic track. Mike sang the melody literally into my ear and I went in and sang it. He was a tough producer but he needed to be. I was a kid who’d sung in pubs and clubs. > > We shot the video in an old church near London’s Westway. All the clothes in the video are my own. There were no stylists – I shoved some stuff in a bag. I really liked the song. I remember thinking: “I’d dance to that if it came on in a disco in Warrington.” I thought it sounded like a hit and suddenly it was. One day I was making the tea. The next I was at No 1. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/68 "2020-03-24T20:42:30Z")
Heh. For the reverse, how about the #1 debut that was [Winchester Cathedral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Cathedral_(song))? > [@](#): > > Stephens was a big fan of tunes from the British music hall era (or what Americans would call “vaudeville”), so he wrote “Winchester Cathedral” in that vein, complete with a Rudy Vallée soundalike[2] (John Carter) singing through his hands to imitate a megaphone sound.[3] Although the song was recorded entirely by session musicians, when it became an international hit, an actual band had to be assembled, with Fontana trying unsuccessfully to recruit the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.[4] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/69 "2020-03-25T11:08:40Z")
Mention was made, in passing, of how George Harrison hit #1 with what’s arguably his debut single when MY SWEET LORD topped various charts around the world; figure I’ll now add, for one reason or another, that HE’S SO FINE had already hit #1 as the debut single for the Chiffons back in ‘63. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/70 "2020-03-26T12:54:47Z")
Another girl group apparently worth a quick mention: the Chordettes, back when they were asking Mister Sandman to please bring them a dream. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/71 "2020-03-27T11:32:26Z")
And, later: the Dixie Cups, singing about goin’ to the [Chapel of Love](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_of_Love). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/72 "2020-03-28T10:47:55Z")
“Afternoon Delight” was Starland Vocal Band’s #1 debut single. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/73 "2020-03-29T12:10:13Z")
Peter and Gordon hit #1 with the McCartney-penned _World Without Love_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/74 "2020-03-30T11:17:15Z")
“Unbelievable” was a #1 debut for EMF (with an assist from Andrew Dice Clay). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/75 "2020-03-31T12:28:15Z")
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch hit #1 with “Good Vibrations”, and then he became an Oscar-caliber dramatic actor, and if you were to add something about Wahlburgers then this sentence would seem like something out of Mad Libs. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/76 "2020-03-31T15:26:08Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > For the opposite of a sure thing, the #1 that was DISCO DUCK. [“According to Dees, it took one day to write the song, but three months to convince anyone to perform it.”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Duck) Rick Dees was the roommate of John Tesh for a little while. Tesh went to Entertainment tonight TV show and later his own music career. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/77 "2020-03-31T16:36:31Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Rick Dees was the roommate of John Tesh for a little while. Tesh went to Entertainment tonight TV show and later his own music career. Speaking of living arrangements: “Hey Paula” was a debut #1 single for the duo of, uh, Paul and Paula. [“Paul” was the song’s writer, Ray Hildebrand, a student at Texas’ Howard Payne University, a Baptist institution in the city of Brownwood. “Paula” was Jill Jackson, the niece of the owner of the boarding house where Ray lived.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Paula_(song)) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/78 "2020-04-01T15:58:24Z")
Since today’s a holiday built around jokey stuff, I’ll make quick mention of the #1 single that was “Monster Mash”, from Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/79 "2020-04-01T16:34:49Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Speaking of living arrangements: “Hey Paula” was a debut #1 single for the duo of, uh, Paul and Paula. [“Paul” was the song’s writer, Ray Hildebrand, a student at Texas’ Howard Payne University, a Baptist institution in the city of Brownwood. “Paula” was Jill Jackson, the niece of the owner of the boarding house where Ray lived.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Paula_(song)) I love that in the early days of rock ‘n’ roll any teenager could write an insanely catchy song and have it discovered and turned into a national hit. It kept happening over and over. My favorite went only to #2. The Surfaris were a bunch of high schoolers who were recording a possible single for a tiny record company. They needed a b-side, so they made one up on the spot and recorded it in one take. That was the sublime “Wipe Out,” my candidate for the most perfect rock instrumental. Not a single note out of place or extra, but with every one counting. And like most of the others who had that moment of supreme inspiration, they never did nothing no more. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847/80 "2020-04-01T21:02:28Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I love that in the early days of rock ‘n’ roll any teenager could write an insanely catchy song and have it discovered and turned into a national hit. It kept happening over and over. Hey, even decades later, teens could still write a catchy #1 debut with [MMMBop](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMMBop). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-one-with-their-first-single/849847.md?page=5)