Toast

He is nowhere near as good value as the Rev. Ralph. I quite like Anselm.

When you adopt a dog from a rescue there isn't always a known history. I don't know the age of my dog for sure.

36 a-ha – The sun always shines on TV -6 35 Pet Shop Boys – It´s a sin +1 32 Rick Astley – Never gonna give you up 32 Falco – Rock me Amadeus 29 Whitney Houston – I wanna dance with somebody (who loves me ) 29 Starship – Nothing´s gonna stop us now 28 Communards & Sarah Jane Morris – Don´t leave me this way +1 26 T´Pau – China in your hand 26 M/A/R/R/S – Pump up the volume 24 Los Lobos – La Bamba 24 George Michael & Aretha Franklin – I knew you were waiting (for me) 22 Bee Gees – You win again 22 Pet Shop Boys — West End Girls +1 21 Madonna – Papa don´t preach +3 21 Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite 21 Mel & Kim – Respectable 21 Diana Ross – Chain Reaction 21 Berlin – Take my breath away +1 19 Madonna – La isla bonita 18 George Michael – A different corner 18 Steve ´Silk` Hurley – Jack your body 15 Ben E. King – Stand by me 15 Billy Ocean – When the going gets tough, the tough gets going 14 Europe – The Final Countdown 14 Wham – The edge of heaven 13 Spitting Image – The Chicken Song 13 Michael Jackson & Siedah Garrett – I just can´t stop loving you 12 Boy George – Everything I own 12 The Housemartins – Caravan of love -6 10 Madonna – True Blue 05 Boris Gardiner — I want to wake up with you

Margaret is a splendid name as it has so many versions, diminutives and nicknames. Margo, Maggie, Meg, Peggy, Margi, Madge, etc, even Daisy or Pearl. Certainly that has kept it in fashion, but it re-emerged before that. No discussion of naming fuckwittery is complete without the Reverend Ralph Tollemache

It's a mystery to me how people sneer at the idea of Barry or Gar(r)y, yet Harry has been popular in recent years. When I was a child Harry was an old man's name.

True, but ideally one should pick a name that's not fashionable without being unfashionable, if you get what I mean. A lot of names can be dated to a period of 10 - 20 years. The secret is to find a name that's never been in or out. Without being cre8tiv.

As has been mentioned before, a lot of lower charting positions are because most people bought the album rather than the single. For instance, U2's Joshua Tree album (which includes both the songs you mention) topped the UK album charts and was one of the top 10 selling albums of the decade. I think it's also interesting to look at the context and see what songs did make No 1 at the time. Singles rarely went straight in at No 1 back then, they tended to climb the chart over a few weeks. Famously Ultravox's Vienna stalled at No 2 but this had a lot to do with the series of John Lennon singles which were successively No 1 after his death. By the time those fell away, everyone who was going to buy the Vienna single had already done so. It might be interesting to repeat this exercise with the No 2 singles, excluding those which did make it to No 1.

Boring though. Oscar has been a Top 10 name for the last ten years. It will date him.

36 a-ha – The sun always shines on TV -1 33 Pet Shop Boys – It´s a sin +4 28 Falco – Rock me Amadeus 26 T´Pau – China in your hand 24 Los Lobos – La Bamba 24 Bee Gees – You win again 24 Whitney Houston – I wanna dance with somebody (who loves me) 24 Steve ´Silk` Hurley – Jack your body 24 M/A/R/R/S – Pump up the volume 23 Starship – Nothing´s gonna stop us now 22 Rick Astley – Never gonna give you up 22 Communards & Sarah Jane Morris – Don´t leave me this way 21 Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls 21 Berlin – Take my breath away 20 Billy Ocean – When the going gets tough, the tough gets going 20 Diana Ross – Chain Reaction 20 Spitting Image – The Chicken Song 20 Boris Gardiner – I want to wake up with you 20 Europe – The Final Countdown 20 Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite 20 George Michael & Aretha Franklin – I knew you were waiting (for me) 20 Mel & Kim – Respectable 20 Madonna – La isla bonita 19 Ben E. King – Stand by me 19 Madonna – True Blue 18 The Housemartins – Caravan of love 18 George Michael – A different corner 18 Wham – The edge of heaven 17 Michael Jackson & Siedah Garret – I just can´t stop loving you 14 Boy George – Everything I own 14 Pet Shop Boys – Always on my mind 14 Madonna – Who´s that girl 14 Madonna – Papa don´t preach 14 Ferry Aid – Let it be 13 Cliff Richard & the Young Ones – Living Doll 0 The Firm – Star Trekkin´ -3 0 Nick Berry – Every loser wins -2 Two for the price of one.

Parents these days forget that they are not naming a baby, but an adult. It seems to be a modern phenomenon, giving children cutesy names that better suit a doll or a pet. People were more responsible in the past, although there were the occasional eccentricities.

32 a-ha – The sun always shines on TV 32 Rick Astley – Never gonna give you up 28 Pet Shop Boys – It´s a sin +4 26 Ben E. King – Stand by me 24 Falco – Rock me Amadeus 24 Whitney Houston – I wanna dance with somebody (who loves me) 24 Steve ´Silk` Hurley – Jack your body 23 Starship – Nothing´s gonna stop us now 22 T´Pau – China in your hand 21 Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls 20 Billy Ocean – When the going gets tough, the tough gets going 20 Diana Ross – Chain Reaction 20 Spitting Image – The Chicken Song 20 Boris Gardiner – I want to wake up with you 20 Communards & Sarah Jane Morris – Don´t leave me this way 20 Berlin – Take my breath away 20 Europe – The Final Countdown 20 Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite 20 George Michael & Aretha Franklin – I knew you were waiting (for me) 20 Mel & Kim – Respectable 20 Ferry Aid – Let it be 20 Madonna – La isla bonita 20 Los Lobos – La Bamba 20 M/A/R/R/S – Pump up the volume 20 Bee Gees – You win again 19 Madonna – True Blue 18 The Housemartins – Caravan of love 18 George Michael – A different corner 18 Wham – The edge of heaven 17 Boy George – Everything I own 14 Pet Shop Boys – Always on my mind 14 Madonna – Who´s that girl 14 Madonna – Papa don´t preach 13 Cliff Richard & the Young Ones – Living Doll 9 Firm – Star Trekkin´ 9 Chris de Burgh – Lady in red 8 Nick Berry – Every loser wins

So post a source when you copy the Wiki entry then. There was no linked obit when I looked at your Wikipedia link. There's a thread for unsourced Wiki deaths.

Source?

76 George Michael – Careless Whisper 62 Madonna – Into the Groove 51 Nena – 99 Red Balloons 40 Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Two Tribes 24 Duran Duran – The Reflex +4 21 Eurythmics — There must be an Angel -6

LOL. As if. They would be as corrupt as the people they should be policing. The Tories would see to that.