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Which major hit songs are country specific

Which of these four was the biggest hit?

James Ingram
"I Don't Have The Heart"
  Elton John
"Sacrifice"
  Bruce Hornsby & The Range
"Across The River"
  The Skyhooks
"Jukebox In Siberia"

The chances are that you have heard of only one of them, which one depends on where you are from. This page lists the hits that were most closely tied to a particular country or region.

Imagine this, you're writing the screenplay for a spy thriller set in 1987 where the hero has to visit various bars scattered all over the world. Of course when you want to establish that a bar is in Brisbane (for example) you could have some of the extras wear hats with corks and speak with broad Australian accents, but you feel you can do better. Well, we can help you, if you have "Slice of Heaven" by Dave Dobbyn & Herbs playing in the background then anyone in the know will congratulate you on your authenticity. A few scenes later when you need to subtly establish that the bar is in Liverpool then you play "Under the Boardwalk" by Bruce Willis, if you don't care for subtlty then "Star Trekkin'" by The Firm should be your choice.

Those particular songs were big hits in one territory but didn't do well anywhere else. With a bit of processing we can identify the most "distinct" songs for each year. If we divide the world up into the USA, UK, Germany, France, Canada, the Antipodes (Australia and New Zealand) and Scandanavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) then we have enough data to identify the most distinctive hits from 1960 to 2004.

Here are the list of chart topping songs (of the whole year) that were not hits anywhere outside their specific regions:

# Artist Song Title Year Region
1 Michelle Mcmanus All This Time 2004 UK
1 Busted Thunderbirds Are Go 2004 UK
1 Tom Cochrane I Wish You Well 1995 Canada
1 Sam & Mark With a Little Help From My Friends 2004 UK
1 Wencke Myhre Gi meg en cowboy til mann 1963 Scandinavian
1 Girls Aloud I'll Stand By You 2004 UK
1 Sugar Jones Dayz Like That 2001 Canada
1 Richie Knight & the Mid-Knights Charlena 1963 Canada
1 Gyllene Tider NAr Vi Tva Blir En 1980 Scandinavian
1 Busted 3AM 2004 UK
1 Ken Dodd Tears 1965 UK
1 Ryan Malcolm Something More 2003 Canada
1 Serial Joe Completely 2001 Canada
1 Caramba Hubba Hubba Zoot-Zoot 1981 Scandinavian
1 THP Orchestra Theme from 'SWAT' 1976 Canada
1 Sheila L'Heure de la Sortie 1966 France
1 Stein Ingebrigtsen Bare du 1973 Scandinavian
1 Christophe Aline 1965 France
1 Jimmie Rodgers I Wanna Go Home (The Wreck of the 'John B') 1960 Canada
1 McFly Obviously 2004 UK
1 The Swingers Counting The Beat 1981 Antipodean
1 Robertino Romantica 1961 Scandinavian
1 Eric B & Rakim I Know You Got Soul 1987 UK
1 Robson & Jerome Unchained Melody 1995 UK
1 Wencke Myhre La meg vaere ung 1964 Scandinavian
1 DJ Casper Cha Cha Slide 2004 UK
1 The Tragically Hip Ahead by a Century 1996 Canada
1 Richard Anthony J'entends Siffler le Train 1962 France
1 Salvatore Adamo Vous Permettez Monsieur 1964 France
1 Arne Bendiksen Jeg vil ha en bla ballong 1963 Scandinavian
1 Northern Lights Tears Are Not Enough 1985 Canada
1 Daddy Cool Eagle Rock 1971 Antipodean
1 blink-182 I Won't Be Home for Christmas 2001 Canada
1 Sven-Ingvars Froken Fraken 1964 Scandinavian
1 John Mellencamp Pop Singer 1989 Canada
1 Sheila L'ecole est Finie 1963 France
1 Kalan Porter Awake In A Dream 2004 Canada
1 Lillebjorn Nilsen Barn av regnbuen 1973 Scandinavian
1 McFly Five Colours in Her Hair 2004 UK
1 Edith Piaf Non, je ne regrette rien 1961 France
1 Cliff Richard Dancing Shoes 1963 Canada
1 Bob Hudson Newcastle Song 1975 Antipodean
1 Busted Who's David? 2004 UK
1 The Beatles This Boy 1963 Canada
1 Platinum Blonde Crying Over You 1985 Canada
46 Will Young Anything is Possible 2002 UK

The multiple entries for the UK in 2004 are an artifact of the low volumes of data we have for later years (we've removed the ones after that year).

Decades: 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s              
Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Distinct Songs of the USA

The most distinctive songs of the USA are:

# Artist Song Title Year Region
1 Bette Midler The Rose 1980 USA
2 Three Doors Down Kryptonite 2000 USA
3 Keith Carradine I'm Easy 1976 USA
4 Rufus Thomas Walkin' the Dog 1963 USA
5 The Goo Goo Dolls Name 1996 USA
6 George Benson This Masquerade 1976 USA
7 Los Lonely Boys Heaven 2004 USA
8 The Marvelettes Please Mr Postman 1961 USA
9 The Verve Pipe The Freshmen 1997 USA
10 Quad City DJs C'Mon Ride the Train 1996 USA
11 Dickie Goodman Mr Jaws 1975 USA
12 Jewel You Were Meant for Me 1997 USA
13 Rufus & Chaka Khan Sweet Thing 1976 USA
14 Jodeci Lately 1993 USA
15 The Miracles You Really Got a Hold on Me 1962 USA
16 Heatwave Always & Forever 1978 USA
17 Shai Comforter 1993 USA
18 Vanessa Williams Colors of the Wind 1995 USA
19 Matchbox Twenty Unwell 2003 USA
20 Dionne Warwick Alfie 1967 USA

There is an additional page that gives more deatils about distinct songs of the USA.

Distinct Songs of the UK

The most distinctive songs of the UK are:

# Artist Song Title Year Region
1 Michelle Mcmanus All This Time 2004 UK
1 Busted Thunderbirds Are Go 2004 UK
1 Sam & Mark With a Little Help From My Friends 2004 UK
1 Girls Aloud I'll Stand By You 2004 UK
1 Busted 3AM 2004 UK
1 Ken Dodd Tears 1965 UK
1 McFly Obviously 2004 UK
1 Eric B & Rakim I Know You Got Soul 1987 UK
1 Robson & Jerome Unchained Melody 1995 UK
1 DJ Casper Cha Cha Slide 2004 UK
1 McFly Five Colours in Her Hair 2004 UK
1 Busted Who's David? 2004 UK
13 Will Young Anything is Possible 2002 UK
14 England Football World Cup Squad Back Home 1970 UK
15 Charles Aznavour She 1974 UK
16 Darius Colourblind 2002 UK
17 Anthony Newley Why? 1960 UK
18 Adam Faith Poor Me 1960 UK
19 Three of A Kind Babycakes 2004 UK
19 The Shapeshifters Lola's Theme 2004 UK

There is an additional page that gives more deatils about distinct songs of the UK.

Distinct Songs of Germany

The most distinctive songs of Germany are:

# Artist Song Title Year Region
1 Bernd Spier Memphis, Tennessee 1964 Germany
2 De Randfichten Lebt denn dr alte Holzmichl noch ...? 2004 Germany
3 Ronny Kenn ein Land 1965 Germany
4 Juli Perfekte Welle 2004 Germany
5 Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung Kuess die Hand schoene Frau 1987 Germany
6 O.K Okay! 1988 Germany
7 Reinhard Fendrich Macho Macho 1988 Germany
8 Sarah Connor Let's Get Back to Bed... Boy 2001 Germany
9 Vicky Leandros Ich hab' die Liebe geseh'n 1972 Germany
10 Xavier Naidoo Sie sieht mich nicht 1999 Germany
11 Billy Vaughn Wheels 1961 Germany
12 Marika Kilius Wenn die Cowboys traeumen 1964 Germany
13 Cliff Richard Sag 'no' zu ihm 1964 Germany
14 Marika Kilius & Hans-Jurgen Baumler Honeymoon in St Tropez 1964 Germany
15 Freddy Breck Rote Rosen 1973 Germany
16 Will Brandes Baby-Twist 1963 Germany
17 Peter Hinnen Siebentausend Rinder 1963 Germany
18 Connie Francis Wenn du gehst 1963 Germany
19 Blue Diamonds Sukiyaki 1963 Germany
20 Petula Clark Casanova Baciami 1963 Germany

There is an additional page that gives more deatils about distinct songs of Germany.

Distinct Songs of France

The most distinctive songs of France are:

# Artist Song Title Year Region
1 Sheila L'Heure de la Sortie 1966 France
1 Christophe Aline 1965 France
1 Richard Anthony J'entends Siffler le Train 1962 France
1 Salvatore Adamo Vous Permettez Monsieur 1964 France
1 Sheila L'ecole est Finie 1963 France
1 Edith Piaf Non, je ne regrette rien 1961 France
7 Sylvie Vartan Si Je Chante 1963 France
8 Richard Anthony C'est ma Fete 1963 France
9 Claude Francois Si J'avais un Marteau 1963 France
10 Gilbert Becaud Et maintenant (What now my love) 1961 France
11 Enrico Macias Enfants de Tous Pays 1963 France
12 Claude Francois Dis-Lui 1963 France
13 Joe Dassin L'ete Indien 1975 France
14 Johnny Hallyday Retiens la nuit 1962 France
15 Jacques Dutronc Les Playboys 1966 France
16 Richard Anthony Ce Monde 1964 France
17 Claude Francois J'y Pense et Puis J'oublie 1964 France
18 Richard Anthony A Present Tu Peux T'en Aller 1964 France
19 Sylvie Vartan La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser 1964 France
20 Claude Francois Donna, Donna 1964 France

There is an additional page that gives more deatils about distinct songs of France.

Distinct Songs of the Antipodies

The most distinctive songs of the Antipodies are:

# Artist Song Title Year Region
1 The Swingers Counting The Beat 1981 Antipodean
1 Daddy Cool Eagle Rock 1971 Antipodean
1 Bob Hudson Newcastle Song 1975 Antipodean
4 The Shadows The Boys 1962 Antipodean
5 Dave Dobbyn & Herbs Slice of Heaven 1987 Antipodean
6 Normie Rowe & The Playboys Que sera sera (Whatever will be will be) 1965 Antipodean
7 Gwyneth Paltrow & Huey Lewis Cruisin' 2001 Antipodean
8 The Hollies Too Young to Be Married 1971 Antipodean
9 Big Audio Dynamite Rush 1991 Antipodean
10 Johnny O'Keefe I'm Counting On You 1961 Antipodean
11 Celine Dion The Power of The Dream 1996 Antipodean
11 Sonia Dada You Don't Treat Me No Good 1993 Antipodean
13 Austen Tayshus Australiana 1983 Antipodean
14 Graham Bond Farewell Aunty Jack 1974 Antipodean
15 The Twelfth Man It's Just Not Cricket 1984 Antipodean
16 Spiderbait Black Betty 2004 Antipodean
17 Guy Sebastian Angels Brought Me Here 2003 Antipodean
18 Daryl Braithwaite The Horses 1991 Antipodean
19 Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs I Told The Brook 1965 Antipodean
20 John Farnham Sadie (The Cleaning Lady) 1967 Antipodean

There is an additional page that gives more deatils about distinct songs of the Antipodies.

Distinct Songs of Scandanavia

The most distinctive songs of Scandanavia are:

# Artist Song Title Year Region
1 Wencke Myhre Gi meg en cowboy til mann 1963 Scandinavian
1 Gyllene Tider NAr Vi Tva Blir En 1980 Scandinavian
1 Caramba Hubba Hubba Zoot-Zoot 1981 Scandinavian
1 Stein Ingebrigtsen Bare du 1973 Scandinavian
1 Robertino Romantica 1961 Scandinavian
1 Wencke Myhre La meg vaere ung 1964 Scandinavian
1 Arne Bendiksen Jeg vil ha en bla ballong 1963 Scandinavian
1 Sven-Ingvars Froken Fraken 1964 Scandinavian
1 Lillebjorn Nilsen Barn av regnbuen 1973 Scandinavian
10 Gilbert O'Sullivan Matrimony 1972 Scandinavian
11 Grynet Molvig Det var du som sa nei 1962 Scandinavian
11 Anita Lindblom San't ar livet 1962 Scandinavian
13 Inger Jacobsen Froken Johansen og jeg 1960 Scandinavian
13 Nora Brockstedt Er du glad i meg enno, Karl Johan 1960 Scandinavian
15 Bolland You're In The Army Now 1982 Scandinavian
15 Barbi Benton Ain't That Just The Way (That Love Goes Down) 1976 Scandinavian
15 Bill Lovelady One More Reggae For The Road 1980 Scandinavian
15 Attack Ooa hela natten 1981 Scandinavian
19 Michael Learns To Rock The Actor 1992 Scandinavian
20 Ann-Louise Hansson Tag emot en utstrackt hand 1972 Scandinavian

There is an additional page that gives more deatils about distinct songs of Scandanavia.

Distinct Songs of Canada

The most distinctive songs of Canada are:

# Artist Song Title Year Region
1 Tom Cochrane I Wish You Well 1995 Canada
1 Sugar Jones Dayz Like That 2001 Canada
1 Richie Knight & the Mid-Knights Charlena 1963 Canada
1 Ryan Malcolm Something More 2003 Canada
1 Serial Joe Completely 2001 Canada
1 THP Orchestra Theme from 'SWAT' 1976 Canada
1 Jimmie Rodgers I Wanna Go Home (The Wreck of the 'John B') 1960 Canada
1 The Tragically Hip Ahead by a Century 1996 Canada
1 Northern Lights Tears Are Not Enough 1985 Canada
1 blink-182 I Won't Be Home for Christmas 2001 Canada
1 John Mellencamp Pop Singer 1989 Canada
1 Kalan Porter Awake In A Dream 2004 Canada
1 Cliff Richard Dancing Shoes 1963 Canada
1 The Beatles This Boy 1963 Canada
1 Platinum Blonde Crying Over You 1985 Canada
16 Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band Real Love 1991 Canada
17 Rod Stewart Leave Virginia Alone 1995 Canada
18 Jackie DeShannon Needles & Pins 1963 Canada
19 Our Lady Peace Clumsy 1997 Canada
20 John Cougar Mellencamp Just Another Day 1997 Canada

There is an additional page that gives more deatils about distinct songs of Canada.

These were calculated for data version 2.3.39