The best No 1 records: Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls | Jude Rogers

The Pet Shop Boys' 11th album is a peculiar listen – half brilliant, half bitter and flippant, writes Jude Rogers

Peter Paphides: 1997: Hanson will probably spend the rest of their lives trying and failing to come up with a song that emulates the genius of MMMBop, and there's no shame in that

Kieran Yates: 1993: This was Take That at their peak – keeping them at No 1 for four weeks – and the it's one of the best videos of all time

Peter Paphides: 1960: The Shadows' streamlined instrumental pop was a supercool soundtrack to the small-hours chatter of British teens in Formica-furnished coffee bars

Dorian Lynskey: 2007: This gargantuan R&B power ballad refused to be stopped until it had conquered everything – but there's no denying that Rihanna made it her own

1980: Upping the ante at the start of the decade were the brightest of the US new wave brigade

Tom Ewing: 2011: On first listen it was the awful work of a pop Frankenstein. A few plays on and you had to submit to the onslaught of hooks

Dorian Lynskey: 2010: Tinie Tempah balanced triumphalism with the comically mundane to create a major hit of the UK's rap renaissance

1964: The year wasn't just about Beatlemania – it also saw the Supremes soar to the top of the charts, and with them the idea of the girl group