In November 1952 the very first UK singles chart was published. It detailed the 10 best-selling records of that week. The self-styled hit parade soon became the ultimate test of success for any recording artist.
This created a natural symmetry with the Football League tables. Both were compiled and updated on a weekly basis. There could be long unbroken runs or a fleeting one week stay at the top. Between September 1958 and August 2006, West Ham spent a total of 23 weeks at the top of the First Division or the Premier League.
In recent years playing schedules have fragmented and aside from Super Sunday, games are played throughout the week. This means that going top will now be a fleeting experience for most clubs. It might be 24 hours or less if a game kicks off at 5:30pm on a Saturday afternoon.
Back in the day it was a different story. Whilst there was an occasional midweek game it would always be 3pm on a Saturday. If other results were kind you could go top for a whole week. During the chart era, West Ham have had an all too infrequent view from the top. But who was number one on the occasions they reached the top?
The Hammers’ first visit to the summit was in September 1958. The club had secured promotion in the 1957-58 season and returned to the top flight after a 26-year absence. It had been a strong start to the season with three wins, one draw and only one defeat. A healthy crowd of 35,672 had filled Upton Park for the visit of Manchester United.
A promising youngster called Bobby Moore made his debut at left half. They raced into a 3-0 lead but United pulled two goals back. Thankfully the Hammers held on to win and go top of the table. It was, sadly, a short lived stay as West Ham were crushed 4-0 in the next game against Nottingham Forest. A sixth place finish that season remains the joint third highest finish in the top flight.
Clean cut all American boys the Kalin Twins were top of the charts with ‘When’. The late fifties were a time of great change as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan declared that ‘Britons have never had it so good’. Consumer spending boomed as rationing ended and wages increased. Football and pop music were twin passions for millions of people who now enjoyed a weekly wage of £12 – £237.40 in modern values. Punters could therefore indulge in both as disposable income increased.
In November 1959 West Ham had a two week stay at the top of the First Division. A 3-1 victory away at Arsenal was followed by a 3-2 home win against reigning champions Wolves. It was the highlight of a hot streak that saw the Hammers win seven out of eight games. Perhaps typically the run came to an abrupt end when they were thrashed 7-0 at Sheffield Wednesday.
It was ultimately a disappointing season as the team finished in 14th position. Cliff Richard and the Shadows were in the middle of a five week stay at number one with the rockabilly tinged ‘Travelling light’. The ‘English Elvis Presley’ was dominant in the pre-Beatles era, and characterised the clean cut pop stars that were considered safe and harmless.
Nearly four years passed before the Hammers went top again. By 1963 the political climate had shifted on its axis. Harold Macmillan stepped down as Prime Minister and the Profumo scandal had broken. The War Minister’s tryst with a show girl signalled the end of deference to the ruling classes.
Labour leader Harold Wilson declared that a new Britain would need to be forged in the white heat of a scientific revolution. For the Hammers it was a brief one week occupation of the top spot. At the beginning of September they beat Blackpool away 1-0 but would not bother the top 10 for the rest of the season.
Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas were no.1 with ‘Bad to me’, a Lennon/ McCartney song that underlined the dominance of the Mersey Beat bands. Between August 1963 and January 1964 Liverpool acts filled the no.1 spot with the exception of three weeks in October when Brian Poole & The Tremeloes took the honours.
The back end of August 1964 saw the Hammers go numero uno after a 3-1 home win against Manchester United. Two months later the Labour Party swept to power at the General Election with a wafer thin majority of four. Manfred Mann were no.1 with a cover of the Exciters’ ‘Do wah diddy’. It was a steady but unspectacular season in the League as the Hammers finished ninth.
The post-1966 period should have signalled the glory years. For a team bristling with home grown talent there was a mystifying lack of consistency. They were distinctly underwhelming years with only brief glimpses of what should have been. In August 1968 West Ham went top with a handsome 5-0 home victory over Burnley.
Geoff Hurst and 19-year old Trevor Brooking scored two goals apiece. An off duty linesman was plucked from the crowd to replace an injured referee, and awarded one goal that was clearly offside. The Beach Boys were no.1 with the sublime ‘Do it again’.
West Ham didn’t do it again until August 1969 when a 2-0 home win against Chelsea sent them to first place. Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst deftly played a one-two to seal the victory but crowd trouble detracted from a lively London derby. The Rolling Stones topped the singles chart with the raucous and irresistible ‘Honkey tonk women’.
Two weeks previously the Apollo 11 space mission made history as Neil Armstrong proclaimed, ‘one step for man, one giant leap for mankind’. The analogy of men landing on the moon with West Ham topping the table seemed wholly appropriate. The new decade ushered in a period of tumultuous change particularly where our twin passions were concerned.
The dazzling Brazilians won the World Cup in 1970 and England lost to West Germany in the quarter finals. It was the age of Woodstock as Jimi Hendrix died and the Beatles split up. The Equal Pay Act was passed and the ban on women playing at league grounds was lifted. The Tories led by Ted Heath won the General Election and triggered a period of industrial strife. Decimalisation took effect and we all learnt to count in multiples of ten.
The Hammers danced with relegation in the early 70s and only just avoided the drop in 1971. But things were looking up as they went top again in August 1972. Coventry were defeated with the winner scored by Clyde Best. Alice Cooper was no.1 with ‘School’s Out’, an anthem for truants and occasional bunkers.
West Ham finished sixth in the 1972/73 season and just missed out on European qualification.
Labour were returned to power in 1974 as the Three Day Week brought the country to its knees. Bobby Moore left the club to join Fulham and Ron Greenwood moved upstairs as general manager. His assistant John Lyall took over the reins and we all took a deep breath. The end of Lyall’s first season in charge was memorable for obvious reasons. But May 1975 was the only time West Ham and the singles chart met head on.
To mark the club’s FA Cup Final appearance the West Ham United Cup Squad recorded ‘I’m forever blowing bubbles’. It was released as a single on the Pye label and reached no.31. It spent only two weeks on the chart but seems in keeping with the club’s fondness for short runs. This version of the song now greets the players as they take the pitch at the London Stadium.
The 1975/76 season promised much but delivered very little. In August 1975, a Keith Robson goal on the stroke of half time secured a 1-0 victory over Spurs. It was enough to put the Hammers top of the pile. But was never going to be sustained with a European campaign on the itinerary. The smooth and soulful Stylistics reigned at no.1 with ‘I can’t give you anything (but my love)’.
November 1975 was a landmark for the club as they went top of the table again. A 1-1 draw with Coventry seemed unremarkable, but it was the latest point in any season that the Hammers have ever been top. If there was ever an illustration of coming down with the Christmas decorations this was it. David Bowie was no.1 that same week with the hauntingly brilliant ‘Space oddity’.
The late 70s were a dark time as rubbish piled high in the streets and the Winter of Discontent brought down Jim Callaghan’s government. Margaret Thatcher, a disciple of private enterprise and market forces became Britain’s first female Prime Minister.
West Ham were sadly relegated as a 20 year stay in the top flight ended. The irony of relegation was heightened by the club boasting one of their finest teams which took shape during this period.
When Phil Parkes was signed from QPR, it complemented a solid defence comprised of Ray Stewart, Frank Lampard, Billy Bonds and Alvin Martin. Trevor Brooking and Alan Devonshire ran the midfield with solid support from Geoff Pike and Paul Allen. The hugely underrated David Cross was centre forward and partnered first with Stuart Pearson and later Paul Goddard. What could possibly go wrong?
Three misfiring years in the second division was the result. It was a team that should have achieved much more in the top tier. The Hammers missed out on the chance of sharing chart honours with Ian Dury & the Blockheads, the Police, Blondie and the Jam.
Promotion was eventually gained to the First Division in 1981 and the seasons that followed were at times an exhilarating ride. In September 1981 fans positively gurgled with delight as the Hammers went top for a whole four weeks.
The month started with a 4-0 win against Spurs at White Hart Lane. David Cross kindly scored all four goals in a deeply satisfying rout. He was on the score sheet again as Sunderland were beaten 2-0 away from home. The run also included wins against Stoke and Southampton.
Paul Goddard scored a hattrick in the latter fixture and looked well worth the record £800,000 record fee. Soft Cell topped the charts with a cover version of Gloria Jones’ ‘Tainted love’. It was replaced by ‘Prince Charming’ the second no.1 for new romantic darlings Adam & the Ants.
What felt like a regular fix of top status level arrived again in August 1983. The Hammers remained top for six weeks with a run that stretched until the beginning of October. It included wins against Everton, Spurs, Leicester, Notts County and Coventry. Tony Cottee had emerged as an international class striker and David Swindlehurst found the net on a regular basis.
However, a 3-1 defeat to Stoke brought the run to an end. KC & the Sunshine Band was among the chart toppers with the summery ‘Give it up’. UB40 followed them at no.1 with Neil Diamond’s tale of alcoholic oblivion ‘Red, red wine’. The Culture Club came next with the truly horrific ‘Karma Chameleon’.
West Ham’s greatest ever season in the league was 1985/86 when strikers Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie led the charge. Surprisingly, they never once made the top spot during that memorable season. It had been a slow start as the Hammers registered one win in their first seven league games.
Only 12,225 turned up to watch a 3-0 home win against Leicester. It put the Hammers 13th but was the start of a magnificent run of form that yielded 11 wins and three draws in fourteen games. Six consecutive wins in April put the Hammers in second spot going into the final game against Everton. But any hope of the title was dashed in a 3-1 defeat. George Michael was no.1 in the charts with the angst ridden ‘A different corner’.
There was one last hurrah at the top of the table before the decade was out. In August 1986 West Ham beat Manchester United 3-2 away to go top for one week. Boris Gardiner was no.1 with the sweet lover’s rock vibe ‘I want to wake up with you’.
In 1990 Margaret Thatcher left 10 Downing Street for the last time. John Major held the fort until 1997 when Tony Blair took office with his unique brand of social democracy. It would be 20 years before West Ham went top again. In August 2006 a 1-1 draw was eked out against Watford to secure first spot.
But it was followed by a season of shocking underachievement as the Hammers dropped to 15th place in the Premier League. Shakira was no.1 with the infectious ‘Hips don’t lie’. Since then there have only been tantalising hints of the summit which are quickly overtaken by subsequent results.
West Ham’s visits to the number 1 spot have been infuriatingly brief. But as fans we cherish it even more when it does happen. Inconsistency runs through the team like a stick of rock and we know we won’t stay there for very long. Instead we console ourselves with the occasional cup win and outstanding random performances.
The analogy with chart success used to be a good yardstick but we live in a very different world today. The end of the 20th century has coincided with the decline of the singles chart. It is no longer at the forefront of popular culture.
The kudos of a no.1 single has been lost and allure of the chart rundown has been buried by the convenience of streaming. Many would struggle to name the current no.1 single, but are more likely to know who’s top of the Premier League.
That’s partly because it could only be one of three teams at any given time. This cantor through corresponding no.1s only proves that football is nowhere near as exciting as it used to be. Teams like West Ham would have been in with a shout of securing the top spot however brief it might be. Now we can only wonder when the Hammers will next go top and if there will ever be a great no.1 single again?
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