tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post3422059484703700784..comments2024-02-23T08:40:24.961+00:00Comments on Yes It's Number One: Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-5391307922607593952012-07-10T16:20:16.139+01:002012-07-10T16:20:16.139+01:00For what it's worth, here's my theory as t...For what it's worth, here's my theory as to what happened. WH Smith,a large seller of chart singles, weren't on the sales panel - normally this didn't matter much, indeed it reduced sluggishness in the charts. However, by not stocking this single, its sales were over-represented in chart return shops, so although it ws Number 1 in those, to truly reflect national sales all the other records' sales needed to be boosted, thereby relegating it to No 2Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-18354929967116233262012-07-07T16:40:23.023+01:002012-07-07T16:40:23.023+01:00I'm looking forward to one that beat the '...I'm looking forward to one that beat the '77 censor ~ Meri Wilson and the fabulously scadalous Telephone Man :-)Angelohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-44560441519736803052012-07-06T21:47:57.122+01:002012-07-06T21:47:57.122+01:00Great post Simon.
Not much to add, except that I&...Great post Simon.<br /><br />Not much to add, except that I've always thought that Jon Savage is a total arse, and that I wish 'Magic Fly' by Space had been an official Number One!Noaxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-17548250494414288012012-07-06T14:38:07.106+01:002012-07-06T14:38:07.106+01:00a while back Record Collector magazine did a compr...a while back Record Collector magazine did a comprehensive article on all the records banned by the beeb (and surprisingly there were a great many long before the sex pistols controversy) - as tyrone states, pretty much all due to sexual innuendo (as philip larkin says, sex wasn't invented until 1963!)<br /><br />however, as far as i know no-one has ever done a feature on those that managed to slip through the net: the lou reeds, the squeezes, the stranglers-es (is that right?) etc...<br /><br />i may have mentioned this before, bur whenever judge dread was in the charts (which was quite frequently in the early-to-mid 70's) they would never play his singles in the chart rundown nor offer an explanation as to why not, so as soon as i came across one in the ex-chart bargain bin i had to buy it just to find out why!wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-54241703559699042702012-07-06T11:00:30.339+01:002012-07-06T11:00:30.339+01:00This sort of thing went on for longer, in ways, th...This sort of thing went on for longer, in ways, then people assume - TOTP refused to show The Real Slim Shady in prime-time when it was number one (even though they had a studio performance). Even last year Pick Of The Pops did 1999 and skipped over My Name Is entering at number two.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05834265575179460764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-71710460773552967482012-07-06T10:51:12.525+01:002012-07-06T10:51:12.525+01:00Prior to 'God save the Queen' songs tended...Prior to 'God save the Queen' songs tended to be denied airplay on the basis of implied sexual references. The most obvious example of this is the 1969 Birkin/Gainsbourg No 1 'Je T'aime...' and others have included the mid-70s cod-reggae (that phrase again!)ditties by Judge Dread. A rare example of a record being banned because of an implied political orientation was Wings 'Give Ireland back to the Irish' in 1972, though given the trite lyrics the politics were rendered innocuous!<br />Considering the pre pop/rock era I'm not sure if Billie Holiday's rendering of 'Strange Fruit' , for example,was denied radio airplay. <br />There are some strange anomalies: the BBC sanctioned 'Walk on the wildside' despite the reference to oral sex and the allusions to transvestism.Tyrone Jenkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07974017788512976015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-12079597377639487662012-07-05T21:12:26.461+01:002012-07-05T21:12:26.461+01:00Such an interesting piece of pop history ~ and a g...Such an interesting piece of pop history ~ and a great story too ~ yes I can see why getting to number two was the ultimate success for this record ~ number one would have been no good - no story - no controversy - no immortality.<br /><br />The thing though that is really shocking to me now, is that the song broke no laws, contained no swearing, and yet in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech, could be so completely banned, just for offering an alternative point of view.<br /><br />It wasn't even particularly anti-monarchy really - it seems more of a protest about unemployment and lack of opportunities.<br /><br />Really looking forward to watching the Pretty Vacant performance in a few weeks time.Angelohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16090709386124664912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-15058759395427411972012-07-04T16:59:46.852+01:002012-07-04T16:59:46.852+01:00An epic. Nuff said.An epic. Nuff said.Arthur Nibblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-81266437319902849452012-07-04T16:47:36.543+01:002012-07-04T16:47:36.543+01:00Thank's for this posting,an excellent article ...Thank's for this posting,an excellent article which lends clarity to this piece of pop cultural controversy. Start writing that social/cultural history book!Tyrone Jenkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07974017788512976015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-84688349796676494832012-07-04T15:49:34.159+01:002012-07-04T15:49:34.159+01:00It is a bit long, sorry about that. Hopefully what...It is a bit long, sorry about that. Hopefully what I've done is left it open enough to suggest there's possibilities for fixing that week while giving the understandably not often aired reverse. I can't imagine there was a concerted effort specifically to keep Rod top, more that the groundswell wasn't enough.<br /><br />I didn't want to get into the payola side of things, because the piece is involved enough already but of the two parties involved here one had no reason to (Rod was at his commercial peak at this stage) and the other didn't feel the need (though compared to the rest of their sales and given shock tactic semi-desperation, who knows 100%?), but there's plenty of cases, mostly from a bit later, of clear and later documented payola in action, most egregiously new wave also-rans The Photos, who out of nowhere (the preceding single peaked at 56) had a number four album on Epic in June 1980 and then disappeared again. Pluggers offering free cameras for extra chart returns may have been responsible...Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05834265575179460764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-18317045297444798922012-07-04T11:44:06.138+01:002012-07-04T11:44:06.138+01:00thanks for that simon, although it's all getti...thanks for that simon, although it's all getting a bit too heavy for me to take in at times!<br /><br />as i understood it, despite millions of records being sold through thousands of outlets at the time, presumably due to technical/logistical problems chart placings (in this country anyway - i don't know about the US) were determined by a very small sample of record retailers - perhaps as few as 100?<br /><br />those chosen for this purpose were supposed to be kept secret so that sales of records couldn't be massaged and manipulated by record company pluggers and other employees/agents, but of course the word would get out (i think they had some kind of machine installed in the shop for such purpose - probably next to the till for convenience - that made it obvious to those who knew what to look out for) so it was always likely that payola was going on to some extent. i knew a guy who had managed a record shop that was on the BMRB sample list in the 70's, and he told me the pluggers would regularly come in and offer "incentives" to bump up the sales figures of certain records (of course with a nudge-nudge, wink-wink, no questions asked approach)... and that he would happily accept whatever they offered and then not bother doing what they expected of him! as they had to rely on trusting him to do their dirty work,they were never aware of that so continued handing over "gifts" in return for favours...<br /><br />anyway, regarding the ongoing debate about the establishment stopping the sex pistols from topping the charts in jubilee week, what i'd like to know is: did daily mail readers and other monarchists rush out to their local record shops (or more likely wh smiths!) to buy all the available copies of rod's single just so that it outsold the pistols?wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uk/noreply@blogger.com