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Place Names in Number 1 Singles

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    Place Names in Number 1 Singles

    Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick contains ten place names. I assume this is unequalled?

    How many other #1s contain more than two or three?

    What's the most obscure place name in a #1?

    #2
    We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel mentions tons, and was indeed a #1 in the US.

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      #3
      Dancing In the Streets has 6, but does bulk it out with 9 countries

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        #4
        Sadly this song only reached number 10 in the charts.

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          #5
          I don't think that any of the various vesions of I've Been Everywhere have ever reached number one.

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            #6
            Charlene's 'I've Been To Harrogate But I've Never Been To Leeds' contains: Georgia, California, Nice, Harlow, Monte Carlo and the Isle of Greece if such a place ever existed.

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              #7
              Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
              What's the most obscure place name in a #1?
              "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" references Teddington, Market Street and 22 Liddley Lane.

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                #8
                There are a fair few American cities/states referenced in Steve Miller's 1976 US number one Rock 'n' Me (#11 UK). (The Beach Boys' California Girls also lists a few, but it didn't quite reach the summit.)

                Originally posted by pebblethefish View Post
                Dancing In the Streets has 6, but does bulk it out with 9 countries
                Countries still constitute 'places', don't they?

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                  #9
                  Bathgate, Linwood, Methil, Irvine, Lochaber, Sutherland, Lewis, Skye, Wester Ross, Nova Scotia, Miami, Canada, America

                  13

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                    #10
                    Yeah, I imagine it was #1 in the Scottish charts at some point...

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                      #11
                      "Ballad of John and Yoko" has Southampton, Holland, France, Gibraltar, Spain, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna & London.

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                        #12
                        #2 Ireland and #3 UK (for Letter From America), at least.

                        Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                        What's the most obscure place name in a #1?
                        'A land called Honahlee', perhaps? As mentioned in Puff the Magic Dragon, the Peter, Paul & Mary version of which was a US Adult Contemporary number one in 1963 (and US #2). (Yeah, I know...)

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                          #13
                          I once asked someone from Texas whether she'd been to Amarillo and whether it was a nice place. Her reply was in the negative.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by treibeis View Post
                            "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" references Teddington, Market Street and 22 Liddley Lane.
                            Novelty #1s are a good source of obscure place names. Bridgetown and Brixton in Typically Tropicals "Barbados", Salford and Ancoats in Bryan and Michaels "Matchstalk Men"

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                              #15
                              New York, London, Paris, Munich... everyone's talkin' 'bout how M unfortunately only got to Number 2.

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                                #16
                                Vienna only named one place. And didn't get to #1...

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                                  #17
                                  For years I thought Brian and Michael were singing "parts of handcarts where I used to play " Ancoats obviously makes more sense

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                                    #18
                                    Vesoul, by Jacques Brel, in 1968.

                                    Not sure it was ever in the charts (le "hit parade" as it was called in France) but it's always been an extremely popular song in the French-speaking world and beyond (there have been over 100 covers of the song in 20 languages). Outstanding accordion accompaniment, by the fabled accordionist Marcel Azzola.



                                    12 places: Vesoul, Vierzon, Hambourg, Honfleur, Anvers, faubourgs d'Anvers, Paris, Mont Valérien, Cantal, Byzance, Pigalle, Gare St Lazare.

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                                      #19
                                      I thought Peter Sarstedt might be in with a shout here. But he can only offer five, if I've counted correctly.

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                                        #20
                                        Unfortunately, I can't find any reference to "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" ever being a Number 1.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by elguapo4 View Post
                                          For years I thought Brian and Michael were singing "parts of handcarts where I used to play " Ancoats obviously makes more sense
                                          Until I read that, I'd spent the past forty-odd years of my life thinking that they were singing 'hang-outs where I used to play' - with a hard 'g'...

                                          (But I guess this is that other thread's territory.)
                                          Last edited by Jah Womble; 02-11-2017, 21:44.

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                                            #22
                                            Heaven is a Place on Earth has two in the title.

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                                              #23
                                              The Smiths never got to #1 but Panic is a very annoying example of place names being strung together witlessly. Easily their worst single, and a sign of the rot setting in.

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by Crystal Staples View Post
                                                Heaven is a Place on Earth has two in the title.
                                                ...and at least one more in its singer's name.

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                                                  #25
                                                  I'd left England before it was released, so I'm not entirely sure:

                                                  Did Peter And The Test Tube Babies' "Shit British Tour" ever get to Number One?

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