In this intermittent series on songs that should have been number ones, we’ve met songs that were classics, deserving of chart glory; songs that may well have been secretly denied top spot; and songs that topped the wrong chart…
But the record I’m featuring today may well have the strongest case to argue in the ‘should have been a #1’ stakes. For no song has ever gone closer…
‘Groove Is in the Heart’, by Deee-Lite – reached #2 in September 1990, behind ‘The Joker’
First up, the song itself. And it’s a classic. Is it disco? Funk? Hip-hop? All of the above? Or does anyone really care, when it makes you move like it does? Linked in spirit to the big dance hits of the time, but a world away from them, there are few songs that sound this fun, so full of a joie de vivre that you wish you could bottle and use to live forever. The little touches – the bubble popping, the horns, the looped intro – add to its appeal, and never grate. Deee-Lite were from NYC, and comprised an American singer, a Ukrainian DJ and a Japanese producer (as unusual a mish-mash as their genre-bending hit) plus contributions from rapper Q-Tip and legendary bassist Bootsy Collins.
So, ‘Groove Is in the Heart’ should have been a number one on merit, because it’s great and I said so. And, for the week beginning 9th September 1990, it was. At least, it was in a tie for number one with the Steve Miller Band’s re-released ‘The Joker’. In the 1950s, when sales data was pretty patchy, tied chart positions were commonplace. Since 1973, however, a rule had been in place which stated that the record with the bigger increase in sales week-on-week would ‘win’. Both records had climbed that week, but ‘The Joker’ had done so with a 57% increase. Deee-lite had only improved their sales by 37%. Steve Miller took the #1.
There was consternation, not least from Deee-Lite’s record label, who felt that the new, up-and-coming act (this was their first ever chart hit) should get preference. ‘The Joker’, as fun as it is, was just so 1973. ‘Groove Is in the Heart’ was fresh and funky, and the future. Except, that’s sadly not how the charts work. They’re all about cold, hard sales figures. And The Steve Miller Band’s victory was confirmed once and for all when it turned that the tied position had been down to a rounding error, and that ‘The Joker’ had sold a whopping eight more copies than ‘Groove…’
The next week, ‘The Joker’ remained at #1 fair and square, and ‘Groove…’ started to slip down the chart. Deee-Lite never made it back into the Top 20, and split up in the mid-90s. Still, they leave quiet the legacy: one of the classic wedding disco floor-fillers, and the unluckiest #2 single of all time…
The UK Number Ones Blog 
Fun song, thanks for sharing it.
My pleasure. Thanks for reading!
The problem with the Steve Miller track was that it’s adult oriented rock (or old man rock as my father called it). Compare it to the last number one you reviewed. ‘Real’ rockers like Maiden, Sabbath, Judas Priest, G&R, even early Bon Jovi, they all blow it out of the water, it’s musical beige usurping one of the most technicoloured records of my generation by 8 copies
Yes this is a real injustice, much more so than ‘Wonderwall’ or ‘Vienna’. 8 measly copies… ‘The Joker’ is fine, but this would have been a resplendent number one.
I didn’t know anything of this song until a friend’s younger brother made a comment to me about “looking like” or “resembling” Dee-Lite with my hair pulled back. I was lost. “I look like WHO?” He played the song for me as I’d never heard it. 1990 was an extremely busy and very, very bad year for me. That year was full of wedding plans, travel plans & severe depression. I don’t think I heard this song until mid-1991.
It is a catchy, goofy song. It’s a shame they split.
I’m guessing they meant the lead singer, not the Japanese guy on keyboards : ) She’s pretty!
It is a great song – it sounds like everything and nothing all at once.
Yeah. LOL! I think her brother meant that my hairstyle, at the time, looked like her. He never mentioned a facial resemblance. I just looked her up….Lady Miss Kier or Kierin Magenta Kirby. Wow. I had no idea she is three years older than I am. And, we have close birth dates in August. I am definitely not a red-head.
It wasn’t number one? It’s a crime 😉
I’ll go with the Joker! Big surprise huh? I just don’t get into dance tracks…and this is a dance track…I’ve heard way too many.
Is this just a dance track though…? It’s funk, disco, rap, pop… I like The Joker well enough, but this would have been a memorable number one.
I do hear the other influences…it’s that beat that I used to hear at clubs…I just associate it with dance.
One day there’s going to be a dance number one that you’ll like… 🙂 I’m an optimist!
Oh…well…there ARE some!
The Twist, Staying Alive, and a few others…but you mean more modern I bet.