"Uptown Top Ranking" is a song by Jamaican teenage singersAlthea Forrest and Donna Reid, recorded when they were 17 and 18 years old respectively.[1] Released in 1977, the song comprises the girls ad-libbing to deejay track "Three Piece Suit" by Trinity. The lyrics were written by the duo and Errol Thompson.[1][2] It was produced by Joe Gibbs,[1] using a re-recording of the riddim of the 1967 Alton Ellis song "I'm Still in Love", which had already been re-popularised in the 1970s by Marcia Aitken's cover "I'm Still in Love With You Boy", and "Three Piece Suit" by Trinity, to which "Uptown" was an "answer record".[3]
The record was initially recorded as a joke, but it was played by accident by BBC Radio 1DJJohn Peel, resulting in numerous requests for additional plays.[4] With early championing by Peel and a performance on Top of the Pops, it soon became a surprise hit, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart in February 1978.[1] The track spent a total of 11 weeks in the charts. Althea & Donna became the youngest female duo to reach the number-one spot on the UK chart.[2]
^ Jump up to: abcdRice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 188. ISBN0-85112-250-7.
^ Jump up to: abRoberts, David (2001). British Hit Singles (14th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 47. ISBN0-85156-156-X.
^Colin Larkin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN0-7535-0242-9, p.10-11
^Scaping, Peter, ed. (1979). "Top 200 Singles in 1978". BPI Year Book 1979 (4th ed.). London, England: The British Phonographic Industry Ltd. pp. 186–89. ISBN0-906154-02-2.
