everybody's number one to someone

One week at number one on 2nd July 1988 It’s another strange backwards step for the blog.

One week at number one on 25th June 1988 One undisclosed afternoon (or was it evening?)

If you're one of the Sunday faithful logging on here wondering where today's update is, please accept my apologies.

Two weeks at number one from 11th June 1988 It may have been a constant feature of the NME Indie Chart from day one, but commercially speaking, goth rock was truly at its zenith in 1988.

Three more weeks at number one from 21st May 1988 Well, this is an interesting case for chart pedants (and possibly nobody else).

One week at number one on 14th May 1988 Bill Drummond once argued that anybody could have a number one in 1988, and it felt as if he had a point.

Three weeks at number one from 23rd April 1988 Over the years, drivers on the A38 road from Willand to Taunton have reported the appearance of a bedraggled, curly haired gentleman with a torch.

One more week at number one on 16th April 1988 You can't keep a brilliant track down it seems, and The Wedding Present returned to the number one slot for a further week once Erasure's sales weakened.

One week at number one on 9th April 1988 This is the first time Vince Clarke has been number one on the NME Indie Chart since 1983, when The Assembly reached the top spot with “Never Never”.

Three weeks at number one from 19th March 1988 Sometimes – often, in fact – I find myself wondering what “pop music” is, and what the word really means.

Three weeks at number one from 27th February 1988 “This?

Three weeks at number one from 6th February 1988 Sometimes releasing a unique, spellbinding single as your debut can be disadvantageous; it can end up defining a group or an artist beyond reasonable bounds.

One week at number one on 30th January 1988 Casual dismissers of eighties music usually refer to the over-produced “sameyness” of the era.

One more week at number one on 23rd January 1988 Throughout the Autumn of 1987 and the winter of 1988, "Birthday" was the single which just wouldn't lay down and die - modest sales of the record dripped in week after week, which meant very little in "big…

Three weeks at number one from 2nd January 1988 While we were discussing the entry for “True Faith” on Bluesky, a number of followers jumped in to offer early praise for this follow-up single.

There's a pattern to 1987's indie chart I've appreciated experiencing slowly, and in depth, as I've written this blog.

Three further weeks at number one from 12th December 1987 The way "Birthday" sold in late 1987 was downright peculiar, even by cult indie standards.

Three weeks at number one from 21st November 1987 If there’s one thing very few Smiths singles had, it was a touch of sleaze.

One week at number one on 14th November 1987 On a scorching summer day in the mid nineties, I was sat in the park with an ex-goth, swigging from a cheap bottle of wine, testily asking him about the old days.

Two weeks at number one from 31st October 1987 As a kid, I developed a strange fascination for the furthest flung bits of the globe – the sparse, underpopulated areas which contained people I’d never met, whose beliefs and customs I’d never been exposed t…

Six weeks at number one from 19th September 1987 It’s a summer evening in 1987 and I’m stood on the doorstep to my parent’s garden.

New Order: One more week at number one on 5th September 1987 The Smiths: One more week at number one on 12th September 1987 Here the record buyers go again, ruining the natural cut and flow of my blog with their historical purchasing decisions.

One week at number one on 29th August 1987 Sometimes, amidst a string of often more noble efforts, one particular single becomes a catchphrase in a band’s career.

Three weeks at number one from 8th August 1987 In the eighties, New Order never really seemed like the kind of group to embrace the idea of a "Greatest Hits" album.

One week at number one on 1st August 1987 It sometimes feels as if people were mourning the death of the hippy dream within five minutes of the whole thing starting.

Five weeks at number one from 27th June 1987 When I started writing this blog, I did idly wonder what the hundredth number one might be, and promised myself that I wouldn’t draft a full list in advance and project ahead.

Two weeks at number one from 13th June 1987 Pop Will Eat Itself are one of the few groups I can vividly remember entering and exiting my life.

Three weeks at number one from 23rd May 1987 “If this was video, we could forward all the crap”.