The very first UK Singles Chart
published was by N.M.E. Magazine and was a Top
12. Published on 14 November 1952, it continued to be the
official chart until 10 March 1960. Previous to 14 November
1952 the only chart (published by (Melody Maker) related to
sales of sheet music.
The last N.M.E. chart used as
the official chart was published on 26 February 1960.
From 3 January 1963 the Top 50
became independently audited.
US records where the sounds
of the time until the arrival of The Beatles, and for the first
time on 4 April 1964 they created history as they held all
the Top
5 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 with even more further down the chart.
1 January 1964 saw the
first ever edition of the TV show TOP
OF THE POPS from the
BBC, it was first broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 18.35
hrs. It was intended to only last for 6 weeks, with an option
for another 6, but due to its popularity they kept it going,
though; gradually changing its format somewhat. After the initial broadcasting it then went out
on Thursday evenings at 19.00 hrs (7pm) for years, in its last years out at 19.30 hrs (7.30pm) on Fridays. There is a history of
TOP OF THE POPS on this site.
It also now has sister programs (still called Top Of The Pops) in Germany, Holland
and indeed in over 120 countries worldwide.
The previous year ITV started
its own pop show on Friday nights and it's catchphrase was
The Weekend Starts Here. On this show though, (which featured
the georgeous Cathy McGowan) most acts mimed to their records.
This show was called READY STEADY GO. The rights to all the
recordings of this show that are known to still exist are owned
by Dave Clark formerly of top 60s band DAVE CLARK FIVE.
From around 1963, Germany has
its own pop shows, one of which, similar in format to TOTP
was BEAT CLUB. This was a great show and lasted well into the
70s and featured mainly UK and US acts, also one of the presenters
was British DJ, Dave Lee Travis. Lots of editions of this show
still survive today, over 95% of the act on this show were
either British or American and clips can sometimes be seen
on the UK version of satelite TV station VH1 Classics.
When the Marine Offences
Act of 1967 came into force all but one of them closed down
and the british government stated that anyone sending supplies
to them or advertising on them would be prosecuted. Also
anyone working on them would be prosecuted if they came inside
terretorial waters after the August 14 1967 deadline.
The only station to carry on broadcasting was Radio Caroline
South (the station that started it all) and at 00.01 hrs
on 15 August 1967 the first record played was We Shall Overcome
by Joan Baez.
January 26 1967 saw the chart entry for
the first week, of the record with the longest number of
continuous weeks in the UK chart. This record was Release
Me by Englebert Humperdinck which spent a massive 56 continuous
weeks in the UK charts, then still a Top 50. September 30
1967 saw the first broadcast of Radio One from the BBC and
at 7.00 on this day the very first record was introduced
by DJ Tony Blackburn. The record being FLOWERS IN THE RAIN
by MOVE.
On 21 January 1965 a unique chart occasion
happened but unknown at this time but the first of 2 chart
entries (the other first charted on 1 November 1967), of
the title EVERYBODY KNOWS by DAVE CLARK FIVE. Both had the
same title, both by the same artist but were quite different
songs. The only other time to come close to this was the
chart entry of 13 October 1984 and 15 December 1990 there
were 2 different songs both called Freedom. The 1984 entry
was by WHAM and the 1990 entry was by GEORGE MICHAEL who
was also on the single by Wham.
On 13 February 1969, the chart now compiled
for Record Retailer (Music Week) and the BBC by British Market
Research Bureau
Still on the subject of unique chart occasions
the next one was on the charts of 4 October 1969 and the
following week on the 11th. This was unique in that they
contained a record at 2 different chart positions which were
the same song the same artists and the same recorded version.
The only thing different is that they were both on different
record labels. The song in question was JE T'AIME...MOI NON
PLUS by JANE BIRKIN & SERGE GAINSBOURG. It was originally
released on the Fontana label but was banned by Radio One
at that time due to its errotic sound, so due to its controversy
Fontana withdrew the record and was then released on the
Major Minor label.
Because there were Fontana singles still in the shops along with the Major Minor
release, on 4 October 1969 the Major Minor release was at number 3 and the Fontana
single at number 16. Also at that time it was the biggest ever selling single
for a completely foreign language record.
This seemed to be the era of the banned
record for on it's way down this chart after peaking at number
10 was reggae record WET DREAM by MAX ROMEO. Also banned
at this time were WRECK A BUDDY by SOUL SISTERS and EROTICA
by RITA.
From 6 February 1971 - for 7 weeks, the
chart was restricted to a Top 40 due to a postal strike.
On 27 March Top 50 resumes.
There were 2 instances when at 2 different
positions with the same record by the same artists (Leader
Of The Pack by Shangri-las) in 1976 and (Shout by Lulu) in
1986, but they were the original version and either a re-recorded
or re-mixed version.
July 1977 saw the first edition of the Guinnes
Book Of Hit Singles hit the shops. It was then published
every 2 years.
On 5 May 1978 the charts were further extended
to a Top 75. At this time they were compiled
by the British Market Research Bureau. Later the charts were
compiled by Gallup. Radio One stayed just with the top 40
as it still does today (I do not know why.) Perhaps if they
played the complete Top 75 their Chart Show rundown on Sunday
evenings would last 4 hours.
On 7 February 1981 saw the entry date of
the first ever single to hit the charts on import sales alone.
The record: THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT by JAM. This never happened
again until the late 90s.
The chart was increased again on 8 January
1983. This was the last time the chart increased, this time
to a full Top 100 although positions 76-100
were unofficial. Also on this day the chart compilation was
taken over by Gallup.
In the new millenmium the charts were to be compiled by the Official Charts Company then in 2007 it made the Top 100 official, although the chart unofficially there are positions 101-200.
On 19 March 1983 was the entry date of
the best selling 12inch single of all time which peaked at
number 8 and was in and out of the Top 100 for nearly 5 years.
The record: BLUE MONDAY by NEW ORDER.
July 6 1991 saw the first week at number
one for the record that spent the longest number of continuous
weeks at number one, this was Eveything I Do by Bryan Adams
which spent 16 weeks at number one and totalled 24 weeks
in the UK Top 75. Just under a year later was the second
highest number of continuous weeks at number one, this was
Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet which spent 15 weeks and
a total UK Top 75 run of 37 weeks.
December 1992 sees chart compilation taken
over by CIN. These included vinyl, cassette and CD singles.
This was based on a minumum of 500 outlets.
12 February 1994 sees chart compilation
taken over by Millward Brown. This was based on a minumum
of 1000 outlets.
21 February 1998 saw the second single
to make the Top 75 on import sales alone before an official
UK release. The record: IT'S LIKE THAT by RUN DMC vs JASON
NEVINS. Following on 21 March 1998 was the next one which
was IT'S TRICKY also by RUN DMC vs JASON NEVINS.
1999 exagerated the situation in the UK
charts in that from Aug 1 to Nov 30 there were 10 singles
that entered the UK top 75 that had not had an official UK
release and therefore made the charts on import sales alone.
There have never been so many singles on sales of imports
only hit the charts in such a short time before. All but
2 of them (*) were big European produced hits. See HERE
Now we are in the new Millenium the only
artist to have a Top 10 hit in 6 decades from the 50s through
to 2000 is Cliff Richard. Though he is not liked by everyone
this is still a great milestone. His first single MOVE IT
first entered the UK charts on 12 September 1958 and reached
number 2. He has had 65 Top 10 hits and sold more than 86
million singles worldwide.
Right at the beginning of the new millenium
another unique occasion has happened on the UK charts. On
the 10 January 2000, the record MASSES AGAINST THE CLASSES
by MANIC STREET PREACHERS was released. 24 hours later the
record was deleted but it still made number 1 on the 16 January.
This is something that has never happened before in chart
history.
Here we go, the UK's single releases are
behind again. The charts for February 19 & 26 2000 see
3 more singles hit the charts on import sales only.
Another first in the history of the UK
charts has happened for the week April 9 to 15 2000. It is
the first time ever that the top 6 positions are all new
entries on the chart.
Chart History keeps on being made and the
latest is that a record entered the UK charts on 15 April
2000 that has become the longest Top 75 survivor than any
other that failed to make the Top 20, a full 21 weeks. The
record in question is AMAZING by LONESTAR.
2000 has seen a new record in the history
of the charts as MY LOVE becomes Irish boy band WESTLIFE'S
8th consecutive number one out of their first 8 releases although
the follow-up WHAT MAKES A MAN breaks the sequence in December
as CAN WE FIX IT by animation character BOB THE BUILDER keeps
it at number 2 over the Christmas period.
The charts for week ending 24 Feb 2001
has seen the first single to top the charts in for more than
3 weeks in this millenium. This is quite a rare thing these
days. The single in question is WHOLE AGAIN by ATOMIC KITTEN.
On March 19 2000 the brand new UK number
one makes another historic record. The single in question
is PURE & SIMPLE by HEAR'SAY. This has become the fastest
selling single ever for a debut disc. A phenominal 600,000
in just 6 days. This band was got together on the UK TV show
Popstars which showed them auditioning right through to making
the big time. There have also been versions of this show
in USA (Eden's Crush), Germany (No Angels), Australia (Bardot),
Ireland (Six), France (L5), New Zealand and Sweden (Exellence).
The New Zealand group sank without trace but the Australian
group also hit big time and have so far had 4 singles in
the Aussie Top 10.
On May 6 2001 another chart record has
been set. This time the honours go to GERI HALLIWELL who's
song IT'S RAINING MEN (a cover of the Weather Girls 1980s
hit) became her 4th UK consecutive number one single. This
makes her the first female UK solo singer ever to have 4
solo consecutive number one hits in the UK.
August 2001 sees another piece of chart
history made in that OVER THE RAINBOW by EVA CASSIDY becomes
the first single ever to chart for more than 25 weeks without
ever reaching the Top 40.
The chart for week ending January 26 2002
sees the next landmark.
It is the first time that posthumous number ones have followed each other. In
this case it is those of the late AALIYAH & GEORGE HARRISON.
AND THE STORY GOES ON...
