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Story: Jack Foley
ELVIS Presley underlined his position as the undisputed king
by recording the UK's 1,000th number one on Sunday, January 16,
2005, with the re-issue of One Night.
The single follows Jailhouse Rock to the number one
spot, which means Elvis has posted the UK's 999th and 1,000th
chart-toppers.
What's more, One Night marks Presley's 20th number one
record in total and comes one week after what would have been
his 70th birthday.
The King's success came at the expense of contemporary bands,
with his closest challengers proving to be the Manic Street Preachers
with their new single, Empty Souls, and The Killers,
with another re-issue, Somebody Told Me, which charted
at number three.
X-Factor winner, Steve Brookstein's Against All Odds,
slipped to number four, while hotly-tipped new boys, Rooster,
are at five, with Staring at the Sun.
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Don't expect to have heard the last
of Elvis at number one either, given that record company, SonyBMG,
intends to release all 18 of the singer's number one singles at
the rate of one a week in Britain, complete with the original
artwork and a collector's box.
Hence, A Fool Such As I is next in line, with the smart
money being on an Elvis hat-trick.
Indeed, such is the enduring popularity of Elvis that bookmakers,
Ladbrokes, is only offering odds of 10/1 that all 18 re-release
singles will top the charts.
Spokesman, Warren Lush, told the BBC: " It's a case of two
down, sixteen to go. Bookmakers certainly don't underestimate
the power of the King and his fans.
"When we first looked at the chances of Elvis scoring 18
number ones in a row we thought it would be very unlikely, but
when you consider that singles sales are so woefully low you certainly
cannot rule it out."
William Hill are similarly offering low odds that Elvis could
indeed enjoy the number one spot for the remaining 16 weeks.
But then sales of singles have declined rapidly in recent years,
with last week's Jailhouse Rock selling just 21,262 copies
to reach number one, the lowest since data began in 1969.
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