1990 Number One Songs UK
The 1990 number one songs UK mark a brand new decade in music history. Goodbye 80s, hello 90s. What the top 100 songs of the 90s would be was still a long way off, as we hadn’t even heard of Britpop at this point.
The previous year, 1989, was big for a couple of Australian soap stars – who were indeed a couple at the time. Some 1990 hits in the UK were pretty forgettable, while others are regularly recieve airtime to this day.
I was 16 in 1990, starting my A-level studies that year which would later lead me to Salford University at the heart of the whole Madchester music scene. That was still some way off, though.
There were 17 hits of 1990 in the UK that topped the charts, and the acts concerned hailed from the US, Ireland, Australia and the UK. A big boy band, a song from a Tom Cruise film and a track that made us all ‘collaborate and listen’ were among the successes.
Here are the number one hits of 1990, here in the UK. From a novelty ditty and a football anthem to one that held onto the top spot for five weeks, there’s a few here that some of us will remember well. Whether we want to or not.
The 17 1990 number one songs in the UK
Band Aid II – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
1 week at number one in January 1990
New Kids On The Block – Hangin’ Tough
2 weeks at number one in January 1990
Kylie Minogue – Tears On My Pillow
1 week at number one in January 1990
Sinead O’Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U
4 weeks at number one in February 1990
Beats International – Dub Be Good To Me
4 weeks at number one in March 1990
Snap – The Power
2 weeks at number one in March & April 1990
Madonna – Vogue
4 weeks at number one in April & May 1990
Adamski & Seal – Killer
4 weeks at number one in May & June 1990
New Order – World In Motion
2 weeks at number one in June 1990
Elton John – Sacrifice/Healing Hands
5 weeks at number one in June & July 1990
Partners In Kryme – Turtle Power
4 weeks at number one in July & August 1990
Timmy Mallett & Bombalurina – Itsy Witsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
3 weeks at number one in August & September 1990
Steve Miller Band – The Joker
2 weeks at number one in September 1990
Maria McKee – Show Me Heaven
4 weeks at number one in September & October 1990
The Beautiful South – A Little Time
1 week at number one in October 1990
The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody
4 weeks at number one in November 1990
Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby
4 weeks at number one in December 1990
Cliff Richard – Saviour’s Day
1 week at number one in December 1990
What do you think of the 1990 number one songs in the UK?
Which number 1 song in 1990 do you like best? For me, it’s Madonna’s Vogue, though I do find World in Motion hard to resist when an England match is coming up…
Even though Prince didn’t exactly achieve a number one song in 1990 under his own name, he wrote Nothing Compares 2 U. Tragically Sinead O’Connor lost her son a while ago – so sad.
I’d forgotten about how successful Elton John’s Sacrifice was – and all about Timmy Mallett. Mercifully, in the case of the latter.
Marcy x
Discover the number ones from every other year of the 90s here:
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