Elvis PresleyTHE king of rock 'n' roll has returned to the top nearly 30 years after he was laid to rest.

Elvis Presley, who was already topping the UK single charts with re-released hit Jailhouse Rock, has cemented One Night into the record books.

Last night the hit, which originally topped the charts in 1959, became the UK official chart's 1,000th number one.

Elvis died on August 16, 1977, but remains one of the world's best-selling artists.

He would have turned 70 on January 8 and to mark the occasion, his record label, SonyBMG, is re-releasing each of his 18 number ones in what is described as the most ambitious singles release campaign in the history of the UK music industry.

Elvis fans in Swindon spoke of their delight at seeing their idol clinch the milestone.

Family man Joe Galati has even named his house in Whitworth Road, Graceland, and has dedicated an upstairs room the "Elvis Room."

He said: "I think it's brilliant news I knew the King would do it."

The builder has reservations about the song, however.

"One Night is a great song but I think they should have re-released a less well-known song. There are so many brilliant ones out there," he said.

"I Miss You would have been a good one. It would have been fitting too in the wake of this tsunami disaster.

"People are feeling emotional at the moment and I think a song with a bit more meaning would have gone down well."

Mr Galati believes the latest Elvis success story will trigger many more old names in music to come out of the woodwork.

"This latest success just goes to show today's music is nothing like yesterday's," he said.

He is a life-long fan and the first record he bought was You'll Never Walk Alone.

"To me, songs these days lack meaning," he said. "It's all beat with no soul. With an Elvis track playing, you can sit back and think about life."

His wife, Michelle, 41, and their two children, Karina, 17, and Carmelo, 16, say they just have to put up with his obsession.

Michelle said: "I like Elvis just not as much. He disappears to his music room and starts reciting all the songs."

Musical memories

The 1,000th number one is a massive cultural milestone in the UK

It all started in 1952 when music fan Percy Dickins, who was also a joint founder of the music magazine NME (New Music Express), had a brainwave to publish a chart which was based on the sales of records

Soon he was telephoning a selection of record stores across the country and compiling the charts himself

In the first chart that Percy compiled, the first-ever top spot was taken by American singer, Al Martino's song Here in My Heart on November 14, 1952

Since then, collecting information on the music charts has become big business and has been computerised and checked from record stores across the UK

A number of Swindon performers have also made it to the top-spot, including Billie Piper and Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Kevin Shoesmith