The Ultimate Averaged Chart - The BBC Chart Re-Imagined

[RokinRobinOfLocksley]

I'd say the BBC chart, even with its foibles, was still better (less imperfect) than RR. And the BBC chart is probably the closest of all of them to the Brian Ultimate Chart...

[MrTibbs]

I'd say the BBC chart, even with its foibles, was still better (less imperfect) than RR. And the BBC chart is probably the closest of all of them to the Brian Ultimate Chart...

Yeah the formula used to compile the BBC chart forms the first stage of The Ultimate Chart which corrects all the errors etc found in the original BBC chart.

The principle behind the BBC chart was sound, no doubt about it, as the averaging process ironed out outliers and found the centre ground. It was the compilation that was haphazard. I honestly believe the BBC saw their chart as a fun chart and not to be taken too seriously. Each week was here today and gone tomorrow and never intended to be retrospectively examined.

[Splodj]

I think all the charts were compiled on an ephemeral basis. They were expected to recover their costs in the week of publication, and I doubt much consideration was given to how they would be viewed in the future.

The charts that stand up most robustly to retrospective examination, RM and then MM, are now the least visible.

[Graham76man]

I honestly believe the BBC saw their chart as a fun chart and not to be taken too seriously. Each week was here today and gone tomorrow and never intended to be retrospectively examined.

That's very true indeed. And since the BBC has no interest at all in these charts I think it proves your point.
The same attitude was adopted to the performances of Top of The Pops, with nearly all the 60's shows wiped. The reason being nobody would be interested in them in years to come, especially Black and White. Of course that was before the presenter scandals. But even if they had kept the shows, the performances could have be extracted from them. In the end cost cutting wiped out loads of performances that are simply not available today.

[Gambo]

It is so sad, but true, that nobody had foresight to see any longer-term value in certain programmes that really were trailblazers and significant indicators of the culture of the period. Anything 'youth' or 'pop'-orientated, along with various lightweight comedy programmes, were doubtless dismissed even as they were being made by the stuffy old farts of the Beeb still exerting senior influence at that time.

Basically, your last hopes are some obscure person's yet-to-be-unearthed private archive that's somehow lain untouched for 50+ years, or possibly good old Bob Monkhouse's private video collection! Though I suspect by now all the obvious gems from that incredibly thorough archive will've been clocked and shown, or at least incorporated into official archives for posterity.

[kingofskiffle]

Some of the issues in the early days of TV was a reliably storage/future transmission medium. Plus, the BBC charter (I may be mistaken) was only supposed to have limited repeat programming as it was believed people would not stomach paying the licence fee to see the same stuff again. But that does go back to the old Music Hall/Theatre approach. Silent movies were junked on mass when Sound came along; Black and White TV was junked on mass when Colour came along ('People won't pay for watching a Black and White programme on a Colour TV Licence') until they found home video and the re-sale market....

Still a shame nevertheless. More of the ITV stations (Putting on the Donegan as an example) where saved due to having to be made on film for transfer around different ITV stations.

[MrTibbs]

Grrrrrr ! Im on my way home from hols. Been enjoying 30 degrees all week and Im told its cold and wet back in Scotland. There's a surprise !!! Not.

So normal service resumes tomorrow guys with the continuation of the UAC for 1956.

All together now 'It's Raining It's Pouring' .....

[Graham76man]

Some of the issues in the early days of TV was a reliably storage/future transmission medium. Plus, the BBC charter (I may be mistaken) was only supposed to have limited repeat programming as it was believed people would not stomach paying the licence fee to see the same stuff again. But that does go back to the old Music Hall/Theatre approach. Silent movies were junked on mass when Sound came along; Black and White TV was junked on mass when Colour came along ('People won't pay for watching a Black and White programme on a Colour TV Licence') until they found home video and the re-sale market....

Still a shame nevertheless. More of the ITV stations (Putting on the Donegan as an example) where saved due to having to be made on film for transfer around different ITV stations.

Most people didn't get colour TV till much later in the UK. It wasn't junked on mass! There was also a shortage of TV sets in the 1970's due to a production problem. The licence fee was much higher for a colour set too. Some people also said colour sets gave you eye strain. The first colour set I saw was at a wedding, which was held in a hotel in Sheffield. All the wedding people were watching the TV, even though it was mostly "green".
They were very expensive, most people rented TV sets as the broke down often, especially the colour ones. They were massive too, an 18 inch screen set had a huge back on it! Many TV engineers had back problems moving them around. Even the cost of rentals of colour were expensive. We couldn't afford one till 1976!
Nearly all the TV stations used Sony TV's. They were the most expensive of the lot!

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending February 4th 1956

Here are all '' the uppers, the downers, the just hanging 'arounders '

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending February 4th 1956							NME	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey			Stores	60	52	Points
Week	Week		The Top 23 Singles Chart					20	Scored
1	1	Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford					1	1	2240
2	2	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes					2	2	2128
6	3	(Love Is) The Tender Trap - Frank Sinatra					3	3	2016
4	4	Love And Marriage - Frank Sinatra					4	4	1904
3	5	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Tennessee Ernie Ford					5	5	1792
7	6	Rock A Beatin' Boogie - Bill Haley and His Comets					6	6	1680
9	7	Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan					8	7	1508
5	8	Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing - The Four Aces					7	9	1464
10	9	When You Lose The One You Love - David Whitfield and Mantovani					12	8	1216
12	10	Robin Hood - Gary Miller					10	11	1180
11	11	Pickin' A Chicken - Eve Boswell					9	14	1084
18	12	Dreams Can Tell A Lie - Nat King Cole					11	12	1068
8	13	Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets					14	10	992
13	14	Only You - The Hilltoppers					15	15	672
17	15	Zambesi - Lou Busch					17	13	656
14	16	Sixteen Tons - Frankie Laine					13	19	584
22	17	The Shifting Whispering Sands - Eamonn Andrews					18	17	388
20	18	Robin Hood - Dick James					16		300
NEW	19	It's Almost Tomorrow - The Dream Weavers						16	260
NEW	20	Ain't That A Shame - Fats Domino						18	156
RE	21	Suddenly There's A Valley - Jo Stafford					19		120
NEW	22	My Boy Flat Top - Frankie Vaughan					20		60
23	23	With Your Love - Malcolm Vaughan						20	52
15		Meet Me On The Corner - Max Bygraves
16		The Shifting Whispering Sands - Billy Vaughan
21		Suddenly There's A Valley - Petula Clark
19		Yellow Rose Of Texas - Stan Freberg

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending February 11th 1956

Here are all '' the uppers, the downers, the just hanging 'arounders '

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending February 11th 1956							NME	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey			Stores	60	52	Points
Week	Week		The Top 23 Singles Chart					20	Scored
1	1	Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford					1	1	2240
3	2	(Love Is) The Tender Trap - Frank Sinatra					2	2	2128
2	3	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes					3	4	1964
NEW	4	Memories Are Made Of This - Dean Martin					4	3	1956
15	5	Zambesi - Lou Busch					7	5	1672
4	6	Love And Marriage - Frank Sinatra					5	10	1532
6	7	Rock A Beatin' Boogie - Bill Haley and His Comets					6	9	1524
7	8	Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan					9	6	1500
14	9	Only You - The Hilltoppers					8	8	1456
5	10	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Tennessee Ernie Ford					10	6	1440
10	11	Robin Hood - Gary Miller					11	13	1016
8	12	Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing - The Four Aces					13	14	844
19	13	It's Almost Tomorrow - The Dream Weavers					16	11	820
NEW	14	Young And Foolish - Ronnie Hilton					17	12	708
11	15	Pickin' A Chicken - Eve Boswell					15	16	620
12	16	Dreams Can Tell A Lie - Nat King Cole					12	20	592
18	17	Robin Hood - Dick James					14		420
23	18	With Your Love - Malcolm Vaughan					18	17	388
9	19	When You Lose The One You Love - David Whitfield and Mantovani						15	312
16	20	Sixteen Tons - Frankie Laine						18	156
NEW	21	Band Of Gold - Don Cherry					19		120
NEW	22	Young And Foolish - Edmund Hockridge						19	104
22	23	My Boy Flat Top - Frankie Vaughan					20		60
13		Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets
17		The Shifting Whispering Sands - Eamonn Andrews
20		Ain't That A Shame - Fats Domino
21		Suddenly There's A Valley - Jo Stafford

[MrTibbs]

'Memories Are Made Of This', not just for Dean Martin's very high new entry, but because Don Cherry's 'Band Of Gold' also entering means a lot to me too. An uncle of mine sang this at any family parties so I became familiar with the song and I absolutely love Don Cherry's version. What a voice and What a song

[brian05]

NEW 21 Band Of Gold - Don Cherry

Is that the same song that Freda Payne released in September 1970?


23 My Boy Flat Top - Frankie Vaughan

Maybe that's where John Lennon got the inspiration for the beginning of Come Together.

Here come old flat top
He come grooving up slowly

[MrTibbs]

NEW 21 Band Of Gold - Don Cherry

Is that the same song that Freda Payne released in September 1970

Here come old flat top
He come grooving up slowly

Hi Brian. No its an entirely different song. A fifties style ballad but an excellent one.

[Metalweb]

23 My Boy Flat Top - Frankie Vaughan

Maybe that's where John Lennon got the inspiration for the beginning of Come Together.

Here come old flat top
He come grooving up slowly

As well as Chuck Berry ?!?

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending February 18th 1956

Here are all '' the uppers, the downers, the just hanging 'arounders '

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending February 18th 1956							NME	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey			Stores	60	52	Points
Week	Week		The Top 22 Singles Chart					20	Scored
4	1	Memories Are Made Of This - Dean Martin					1	2	2188
5	2	Zambesi - Lou Busch					3	1	2120
1	3	Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford					2	3	2076
2	4	(Love Is) The Tender Trap - Frank Sinatra					4	5	1852
13	5	It's Almost Tomorrow - The Dream Weavers					6	4	1784
3	6	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes					5	8	1636
9	7	Only You - The Hilltoppers					8	6	1560
6	8	Love And Marriage - Frank Sinatra					7	11	1360
NEW	9	Rock And Roll Waltz - Kay Starr					9	9	1344
21	10	Band Of Gold - Don Cherry					10	10	1232
10	11	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Tennessee Ernie Ford					14	7	1148
8	12	Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan					12	12	1008
NEW	13	Memories Are Made Of This - Dave King					13	13	896
16	14	Dreams Can Tell A Lie - Nat King Cole					11	16	860
22	15	Young And Foolish - Edmund Hockridge					17	14	604
11	16	Robin Hood - Gary Miller					17	15	552
7	17	Rock A Beatin' Boogie - Bill Haley and His Comets					15	19	464
NEW	18	Who's Sorry Now - Johnnie Ray					19	17	328
17	19	Robin Hood - Dick James					16		300
RE	20	Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets						18	156
NEW	21	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Max Bygraves					20		60
15	22	Pickin' A Chicken - Eve Boswell						20	52
12		Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing - The Four Aces
14		Young And Foolish - Ronnie Hilton
18		With Your Love - Malcolm Vaughan
19		When You Lose The One You Love - David Whitfield and Mantovani
20		Sixteen Tons - Frankie Laine
23		My Boy Flat Top - Frankie Vaughan

[Robbie]

'Memories Are Made Of This' by Dean Martin has had a very quick climb to the top. Was it featured in a film or just very popular at the time?

[Graham76man]

'Memories Are Made Of This' by Dean Martin has had a very quick climb to the top. Was it featured in a film or just very popular at the time?

It was just popular at that time, but also later on became used in many TV adverts, especially those involving cameras.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending February 25th 1956

Here are all '' the uppers, the downers, the just hanging 'arounders '

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending February 25th 1956							NME	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey			Stores	60	52	Points
Week	Week		The Top 24 Singles Chart					20	Scored
1	1	Memories Are Made Of This - Dean Martin					1	2	2188
2	2	Zambesi - Lou Busch					2	1	2180
5	3	It's Almost Tomorrow - The Dream Weavers					3	3	2016
4	4	(Love Is) The Tender Trap - Frank Sinatra					4	4	1904
3	5	Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford					5	5	1792
7	6	Only You - The Hilltoppers					6	6	1680
9	7	Rock And Roll Waltz - Kay Starr					7	8	1516
10	8	Band Of Gold - Don Cherry					8	7	1508
6	9	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes					9	10	1292
12	10	Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan					11	11	1120
15	11	Young And Foolish - Edmund Hockridge					12	12	1008
13	12	Memories Are Made Of This - Dave King					15	9	984
14	13	Dreams Can Tell A Lie - Nat King Cole					10	16	920
11	14	Ballad Of Davy Crocket - Tennessee Ernie Ford					14	13	836
8	15	Love And Marriage - Frank Sinatra					13	17	688
17	16	Rock A Beatin' Boogie - Bill Haley and The Comets					19	15	432
NEW	17	With Your Love - Robert Earl						13	416
19	18	Robin Hood - Dick James					16		300
18	19	Who's Sorry Now - Johnnie Ray					17		240
NEW	20	In Old Lisbon - Frank Chacksfield					18		180
RE	21	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Gary Miller (A)						18	156
20	22	Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets						19	104
RE	23	Young And Foolish - Ronnie Hilton					20		60
NEW	24	Young And Foolish - Dean Martin						20	52
21		Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Max Bygraves
22		Pickin' A Chicken - Eve Boswell
16		Robin Hood - Gary Miller (B)

[brian05]

11 Young And Foolish - Edmund Hockridge
23 Young And Foolish - Ronnie Hilton
24 Young And Foolish - Dean Martin


21 Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Gary Miller (A)
? Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Max Bygraves
14 Ballad Of Davy Crocket - Tennessee Ernie Ford
9 Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes


18 Robin Hood - Dick James
? Robin Hood - Gary Miller (B)

I assume these are cover versions.

[MrTibbs]

11 Young And Foolish - Edmund Hockridge
23 Young And Foolish - Ronnie Hilton
24 Young And Foolish - Dean Martin


21 Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Gary Miller (A)
? Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Max Bygraves
14 Ballad Of Davy Crocket - Tennessee Ernie Ford
9 Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes


18 Robin Hood - Dick James
? Robin Hood - Gary Miller (B)

I assume these are cover versions.

Yeah Brian they are all just different versions of the same song.

[Robbie]

Very much a reflection of the era with multiple versions of songs and acts with multiple hits. If only unique songs by acts with only one charting hit were allowed on the chart there would barely be a top 10...

[kingofskiffle]

I kind of see why Cashbox printed a list of titles in the 1940's and combined all versions. Listen to the various versions and they all sound pretty identical (okay some do change it a little) but it's not as if one is, say, Jazz and another is, say, Punk (Yes Punk is the 70's but you get what I mean!). They all sound roughly the same. Is that good? I like the change that's now starting to happen (Lonnie, Elvis, Cliff etc ) of 'writing your own stuff' .

[MrTibbs]

I kind of see why Cashbox printed a list of titles in the 1940's and combined all versions. Listen to the various versions and they all sound pretty identical .

I think that is where The Sheet Music Chart still played an important role at this time as it was a better indicator of each songs comparative popularity as opposed to being split into versions.

[Graham76man]

The multitude of titles all by the same artists is down to the way the industry worked at that time. Song writers took the work to Tin Pan Alley or the Brill Building in the USA and got the work published by them. It was then sent around to the Record Companies, who each had a team of A&R men (no women of course) for each label on the books. They would all listen to the songs presented to them and pick out the best. Each A&R man would assign the track to the artists on the books. The artists had to sing them of course. Few artists wrote their own material so they needed the songs to have hits. The Music Publishers would take the work around to each Record Company. Any songs from the USA would also be done like this. Generally the Labels tried to get an English artist to sing and record the US song before the one on the USA labels got issued in the UK. The largest company in the UK EMI had many labels under it's brand. Each with it's own A&R chap. Just because one A&R wanted one song for an artist, didn't stop another A&R chap selecting the same song. Nor did it stop each A&R chap picking the same song for different artists on the same label.
It was the Beatles that ended the system, but for a while they (well Lennon & McCartney) were feeding the system.
The system had two flaws. It didn't encourage groups. And in the end certain songwriters or teams held the monopoly on popular songs. I also think it didn't help instrumental hits as they are not common at all.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending March 3rd 1956

Here are all '' the uppers, the downers, the just hanging 'arounders '

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending March 3rd 1956							NME	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey			Stores	60	52	Points
Week	Week		The Top 27 Singles Chart					20	Scored
1	1	Memories Are Made Of This - Dean Martin					1	1	2240
2	2	Zambesi - Lou Busch					2	2	2128
3	3	It's Almost Tomorrow - The Dream Weavers					3	3	2016
7	4	Rock And Roll Waltz - Kay Starr					4	5	1852
6	5	Only You - The Hilltoppers					5	4	1844
8	6	Band Of Gold - Don Cherry					6	6	1680
4	7	(Love Is) The Tender Trap - Frank Sinatra					7	7	1568
5	8	Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford					8	9	1404
10	9	Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan					9	10	1292
12	10	Memories Are Made Of This - Dave King					11	8	1276
11	11	Young And Foolish - Edmund Hockridge					10	11	1180
9	12	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes					12	12	1008
13	13	Dreams Can Tell A Lie - Nat King Cole					13	16	740
15	14	Love And Marriage - Frank Sinatra					16	16	560
18	15	Robin Hood - Dick James					14		420
NEW	16	Jimmy Unknown - Lita Roza						13	416
16	17	Rock A Beatin' Boogie - Bill Haley and His Comets						14	364
14	17	Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Tennessee Ernie Ford						14	364
20	19	In Old Lisbon - Frank Chacksfield					15		360
NEW	20	The Great Pretender - Jimmy Parkinson					17		240
RE	21	Pickin' A Chicken - Eve Boswell					18		180
17	22	With Your Love - Robert Earl						18	156
NEW	23	My September Love - David Whitfield					19		120
22	24	Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets						19	104
24	25	Young And Foolish - Dean Martin					20		60
RE	25	With Your Love - Malcolm Vaughan					20		60
NEW	27	Tumbling Tumbleweeds - Slim Whitman						20	52
19		Who's Sorry Now - Johnnie Ray
21		Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Gary Miller
23		Young And Foolish - Ronnie Hilton