Brief 37: Choose the Twos!

OK, this is a playlist of the Greatest UK Number 2 singles of all time. I tried to get it down to 60, but couldn't get it lower than 66 songs. Lots of great songs here, and if they're not great, they're at least quite fun.

No one artist is permitted more than one song. Every song has to have reached Number 2, no higher. If I wasn't sure what to include, I went with songs whose presence near the top of the charts was odd or interesting. Sometimes, similarly, I've chosen songs whose Number 2 status is famous in and of itself, like 'Vienna' and 'Sit Down'.

My favourite, in a way ... 24 years later, I still have not got my head round the fact that 'Slight Return', a pleasingly jangly modest shrug of a song by a diffidently pleasant band, entered the pop charts at Number 2. Those were funny times.

My actual favourite ... Penny Lane, I guess. That's a good one. Aah, another note - where's it a double-a side, I've only included one song ... so no Strawberry Fields.

There are, you'll notice, some of the greatest pop songs of all time in the list. The Number 2s in the late 60s were just incredible.

Whether something got to Number 2 or Number 1 used to really, really matter. Perhaps it still does to some people, but it doesn't feel like it.

Final note - this is a playlist, not an order. God Save the Queen is not my favourite, but it seems a fun place to start.

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/choose-the-twos/pl.u-d29p0tAZrR6

1. God Save the Queen      The Sex Pistols
2. Sir Duke              Stevie Wonder
3. I Want You Back              The Jackson 5
4. Penny Lane        The Beatles
5. One Day I’ll Fly Away      Randy Crawford
6. Absolute Beginners        David Bowie
7. Sometimes         Erasure
8. Wonderwall      Oasis
9. Shake it Off        Taylor Swift
10. Love Machine    Girls Aloud
11. Some Girls          Rachel Stevens
12. Get the Party Started     Pink
13. Pump Up the Jam           Technotronic ft. Felly
14. Groove is in the Heart    Deee-Lite
15. Take On Me       A-ha
16. My Generation The Who
17. Gimme Some Lovin’       Spencer Davis Group
18. Suspicious Minds            Elvis Presley
19. Ain’t Got No - I Got Life  Nina Simone
20. Lovin’ You          Minnie Riperton
21. Dreaming           Blondie
22. Zoom    Fat Larry’s Band
23. That’s the Way Love Goes           Janet Jackson
24. Confide in Me    Kylie Minogue
25. A Design for Life              Manic Street Preachers
26. Rocket Man       Elton John
27. I Believe in a Thing Called Love   Darkness
28. My Name Is       Eminem
29. Bitter Sweet Symphony Verve
30. Common People             Pulp
31. Wind of Change The Scorpions
32. Sit Down            James
33. Axel F    Harold Faltermeyer
34. Downtown         Petula Clark
35. This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us            Sparks
36. Born Slippy        Underworld
37. Ms. Jackson       Outkast
38. Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of              U2
39. God Only Knows              The Beach Boys
40. Waterloo Sunset             The Kinks
41. Yesterday Once More    The Carpenters
42. In the Air Tonight            Phil Collins
43. Vienna  Ultravox
44. Oliver’s Army     Elvis Costello & The Attractions
45. Push It  Salt-N-Pepa
46. I’m Too Sexy      Right Said Fred
47. Don’t Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go)    Noisettes
48. I Need a Dollar  Aloe Blacc
49. Empire State of Mind     Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys
50. Danger High Voltage      Electric Six
51. My Love is Your Love      Whitney Houston
52. Torn      Natalie Imbruglia
53. Up the Junction Squeeze
54. Kids in America Kim Wilde
55. Golden Brown   The Stranglers
56. Fairytale of New York     The Pogues ft Kirsty MacColl
57. Electric Avenue Eddy Grant
58. Ain’t No Pleasing You     Chas and Dave
59. Justified and Ancient      KLF ft. Tammy Wynette
60. On a Ragga Tip  SL2
61. Song 2  Blur
62. Slight Return     Bluetones
63. Cry Me a River   Justin Timberlake
64. Milkshake          Kelis
65. Pompeii              Bastille
66. American Pie     Don McLean