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A few of us have that one song we keep in our metaphorical back pocket to belt out on karaoke.

Chances are, however, that you won’t hear the songs on this list sung very often. Why? As ����ý Bitesize shows, despite making the much-desired number one spot on the UK singles chart, none of these tracks have any lyrics.

Mantovani - Song from Moulin Rouge

Mantovani (full name: Annunzio Paolo Mantovani) was born in Venice, Italy, in 1905 - but he found greater success in the United Kingdom. As a youngster, his talents as a violinist were noticed and he eventually became a conductor.

In 1953, the British film Moulin Rouge, based on the life of French artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, featured a song called It’s April Again - or alternatively titled Where is Your Heart? Lip-synched by actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, it became popular for orchestras of the time to record it with a guest singer. Mantovani had the biggest hit with it, although his version did not feature any vocals - despite its title.

The UK's first instrumental number one hit reached the top for one week in August 1953.

Winifred Atwell - Let’s Have Another Party

Instrumental hits were not uncommon in the 1950s, but this one marked a milestone in popular culture.

The Christmas 1954 medley Let’s Have Another Party was performed by the Trinidadian pianist Winifred Atwell, making her the first black artist to have a UK number one hit. To date, Atwell is also the only female instrumentalist to have secured a top-selling single.

It wasn’t her only one - The Poor People of Paris was a chart-topper in April 1956. Atwell also had her ‘other piano’, an upright one bought in a second-hand shop and used in many live performances.

Atwell had other interests. She was a trained chemist and opened a hair salon in Brixton in 1956 which catered specifically for black hair care. Her fame was such that the opening of the salon made news reports, although it wasn’t the first of its type in the UK.

Elton John revealed in a ����ý radio interview how Atwell was his ‘pianist hero’ when he was growing up, saying: “I wanted to play the piano, and I wanted to be like her.”

The Shadows - Foot Tapper

One of the most successful British bands of all time is The Shadows, with six number one hits. Initially the backing band for Sir Cliff Richard, the group’s line-up changed over the years but key members include Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Jet Harris.

As the 1960s dawned, The Shadows became successful in their own right and their guitar-heavy melodies appealed to the record-buying public as well as inspiring a generation of guitarists.

Foot Tapper was the last of their number one hits, peaking in April 1963. The following month, The Beatles had the first of their 17 UK number one hits with From Me to You. It marked a transition away from the rock ‘n’ roll sounds of The Shadows as music with a different beat took a firmer grip on popular culture.

Hum along if you know it...

There have been more instrumental number one hits than those listed in this article. Here are a few others worthy of mention. Even if you don’t recognise the titles, they may sound familiar on first listen.


Lord Rockingham’s XI - Hoots Mon (1958)

B Bumble and the Stingers - Nut Rocker (1962)

Hugo Montenegro - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1968)

Fleetwood Mac - Albatross (1969)

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards - Amazing Grace (1972)

Lieutenant Pigeon - Mouldy Old Dough (1972)

Doop - Doop (1994)

Simon Park Orchestra - Eye Level

Music from films and TV shows can become number one hits - a recent example is We Don’t Talk About Bruno from Encanto. A curious case happened in the 1970s when a piece of library music (recorded for later use by programme makers) was selected as the theme tune to ITV's Amsterdam-set detective series Van der Valk.

The composition was surprisingly bright and breezy for a show about crime. It was written by Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart, released under the pseudonym Jack Trombey, and performed by the Simon Park Orchestra. As the series, starring Barry Foster, became more popular, so did its theme tune which became available as a single. In September 1973, it began a four-week run at the top of the charts, keeping glam rock classic Ballroom Blitz by Sweet at number two.

Van der Valk was revived in 2020 with Marc Warren in the title role. The decision to change the theme tune so that only a suggestion of Eye Level remained in the melody created some headlines, but has not impacted on the show’s success.

Mr Oizo - Flat Beat

TV adverts have proved another source of number one smashes. For example, the 1988 hit First Time by Robin Beck became a success after it featured in a soft drinks advertisement.

Eleven years later, a yellow puppet called Flat Eric nodded along to an electronic bassline in the passenger seat of a car during an advert for jeans. A three-minute version of the tune used in the commercial, Mr Oizo’s Flat Beat, subsequently topped the charts, with Eric featuring prominently in the accompanying video.

The music was the creation of French musician Quentin Dupieux, who also happened to be Mr Oizo. He told the ����ý at the time: “When you like the puppet, you obviously like the music - because the puppet is really part of the music and the music is part of the puppet. If you know what I mean.”

He had a point. Flat Eric, made at Jim Henson’s Creatureshop where the Muppets were also brought into being, went on to become a merchandise hit as well, with the furry yellow character popping up in shops in various countries as the 21st Century drew closer.

This article was published in September 2023