16. Love is All Around, by Wet Wet Wet, from Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
The original version of Love Is All Around was released in 1967 by the Troggs, and it didn’t do too badly for itself, reaching number 7 in the US and number 5 in the UK. However the remake went gangbusters, largely due to its place on the Four Weddings and a Funeral soundtrack. Just three weeks after its release it went number 1 in the UK – and stayed there for 15 (15!!!) consecutive weeks. Holy moly. In fact, it remains the 10th highest selling single in that country, having sold over 1.8 million copies there.
It was so popular, that Four Weddings and a Funeral writer, Richard Curtis, spoofed it for another of his rom-coms, Love Actually, turning it into a shameless attempt at a comeback Christmas number one for aged rock star Billy Mack (Bill Nighy). Even that single sold well. It would seem love is all around that song.
Stats: Number 1 in the UK and Australia, number 41 in the US.
Penalty Points: Not hugely successful in the US; Andie MacDowell should not have been in that movie (possibly not Wet Wet Wet’s fault, but still).
Bonus Points: Christmas is All Around; this piece of trivia: Reg Presley, of the Troggs, used the money he earned from Wet Wet Wet’s version of the song to research crop circles. You couldn’t make that up.
hesaidwhatnow? 
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