Biggest fall from number 1?

'We're Sending Our Love Down The Well'

Elvis Presley probably, from earlier this year.

Elvis' "It's Now or Never" fell from #1 to #17.

The previous record for a fall from #1 for a first team released song was "Beetlebum", which fell to #7.

Fun fact: the three songs to only spend a week in the top 10 before falling out of the top 40:

Pet Shop Boys- A Red Letter Day
Embrace- My Weakness Is None of Your Business
The Wedding Present- Come Play With Me

NIN - The Fragile

Kid A was UK#1 for two weeks, after which it went to #13.

How about the Manics' Masses Against The Classes - it was only on sale for one week, where did it fall to the week after?

Were there only three Top 10 and outs?

Chart career of Masses Against The Classes:

1-4-20-39-57-73

In the U.S., the biggest fall from #1 was to #15, accomplished by both "Nothing From Nothing" by Billy Preston and "Then Came You" by Spinners f/ Dionne Warwick(e). Unless one of the American Idol chart-toppers fell worse and I missed it. Only time I've seen it challenged recently was Eminem's "Lose Yourself" moving 1-11 after nine weeks at #1.

Did Eminem tell everyone to stop buying it? And they all did?

the Doves 'There Goes The Fear'; Number 2 - Number 38

There Goes The Fear was only a limited release (IIRC). I remember making an effort to buy it on day of release as it wouldn't be on sale for long.

I don't know how this works, though - MATC was only meant to be on sale for a week but it stayed in the charts...theoretically it would have sold 0 copies the week after.

UK charts, prior to 2005-era Elvis:

Dickie Valentine - Christmas Alphabet - 1 to 9 (Jan 1956)
Temperance Seven - You're Driving Me Crazy - 1 to 9 (Jun 1961)
Nancy Sinatra - Boots/Walkin' - 1 to 9 (Mar 1966)
Iron Maiden - Bring Your Daughter To The Salughter - 1 to 9 (Jan 1991) (this had the shortest chart career of any number 1 single in the UK for a bit, it spent only 5 weeks in the top 75 but the first two of those at number 1. pretty sure this has been topped now. but not 100%)
The Beatles - Hello Goodbye - 1 to 8 (Jan 1968)
Mud - Lonely This Christmas - 1 to 8 (Jan 1975)

These are all nabbed out of the lovelystats section of the 1996 Guinness Book Of Hit Singles (they don't seem to include this stuff anymore), so everything post-95 is memory. But I'm certain that a few weeks after Beetlebum went 1 to 7, Block Rockin' Beats went 1 to 8 also. Hrm, HRM. I think.

(Not the same thing, quite, but, Raving I'm Raving by Shut Up And Dance is (was?) the only record to chart at #2 but spend only 2 weeks in the top 75 (2-15-NOWHERE, due to non-sample-clearance/deletion, I think)

(has any #2 single had a greater fall than Empty Souls by the Manics did earlier this year? was that 2-28, or similar? it seemed spectacular at the time, I daresay it has been trumped too at some point)

That should also have included:

Harry Belafonte - Mary's Boy Child - 1 to 12 (Jan 1958)
Flying Pickets - Only You - 1 to 10 (Jan 1984)

I don't know where those went. January seems to be a pretty excellent time for records to plummet, post-xmas I suppose.

u2 The Fly was a 1 week only release too so what happened with that?

Apparantly it did 6 weeks in the top 75. The limitedness of these limited records doesn't seem to stop them from hanging around a bit, which doesn't make for exciting chartstats, sadly.

There Goes The Fear did sink like a stone very quickly, but I think this was more to do with the fact that the first week position of #3 was 'artifically inflated' by the 99p retail price and excitable sense of 'lead single off follow-up-album to critically/commerically wildly successful debut!' weight of expectation and the corresponding exceptionally rabid fanbase/floating voter folk who ALL hoovered it up that first week, and the fact that it wasn't released in early January. Even bloody Turin Brakes wee able to go top 5 the following year with the same tactic.

Masses Against The Classes was definitely touted at the time as being a run of 10,000 only; this was bollocks, really, wasn't it?

yeah. much like the song looking back. loved it at the time but heard it recently and..sheesh.

The words "masses" and "classes" don't even rhyme anyway, unless you're a scouser.

or welsh?

or from the north of england anywhere, i think.

or scotland.

in fact anywhere but London.

Is "Ebeneezer Goode" the only record to have been deleted while still at number one?

"Love Is All Around" was deleted during its 15th week at number one because Wet Wet Wet claimed to be "fed up" with the record. Some of us had already been fed up with the record 15 weeks previously, of course.

'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' was deleted once it sold a million, but I can't remember if it was still at number one at the time.

Yes it was. Why, I don't know as it wasn't on an album at the time. Maybe Stiff didn't want lots of unsold copies and/or cash flow probleems.