The Ultimate Averaged Chart - The BBC Chart Re-Imagined

[MrTibbs]

In comes Buddy Holly with Rave On, which is easily one of his best. A cracking rocker for the times.
The Everly's All I Have To Do Is Dream finally makes a welcome rush for the top. Easily one of their very best.

Climbing slowly, but The Platters Twilight Time is another standout record on this week's chart. The harmonies are pitch perfect as you would expect from them. Timeless.

It will take big strides soon but Dean Martin's Return To Me is a beautiful ballad bringing a touch of pure class to the chart.

Then there's Purple People Eater bringing a touch of pure crass to the chart. Least said the better.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending June 21st 1958

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

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending June 21st 1958								NME	MM	DISC	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey					65	25	40	60	Points
Week	Week		The Top 30 Singles Chart				BBC			TOP	30	Scored
1	1	Who's Sorry Now - Connie Francis					1	1	1	1	1	5700
8	2	All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette - The Everly Brothers					2	4	3	2	2	5355
2	3	Tom Hark - Elias and The Zig Zag Jive Flutes					3	3	5	3	3	5270
6	4	On The Street Where You Live - Vic Damone					4	2	4	8	4	5100
7	5	Tulips From Amsterdam / You Need Hands - Max Bygraves					5	5	2	5	7	4895
4	6	Stairway Of Love - Michael Holliday					6	5	7	4	8	4750
3	7	A Wonderful Time Up There/ It's Too Soon To Know - Pat Boone					7	9	6	6	5	4615
5	8	Witch Doctor - Don Lang					8	7	8	7	6	4595
13	9	The Army Game - The TV Cast					9	8	10	11	9	4140
9	10	Grand Coolie Dam / Nobody Loves Like An Irishman - Lonnie Donegan					10	14	9	10	11	3695
12	11	Kewpie Doll - Frankie Vaughan					11	11	11	13	14	3540
14	12	Twilight Time - The Platters					12	12	15	15	10	3535
19	13	Book Of Love - The Mudlarks					13	13	19	12	13	3310
10	14	Wear My Ring Around Your Neck - Elvis Presley					14	21	16	9	12	3045
25	15	On The Street Where You Live - David Whitfield					15=	17	12	18	18	2685
23	16	Big Man - The Four Preps					15=	16		14	15	2615
11	17	Lollipop - The Mudlarks					17=	10	17		18	2495
16	18	Witch Doctor - David Seville					20	18	18		16	2070
17	19	I May Never Pass This Way Again - Perry Como					17=	15	14	16		2065
NEW	20	Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley						22		19	17	1905
20	21	I Dig You Baby - Marvin Rainwater						19		20	20	1880
15	22	Kewpie Doll - Perry Como					19	23	13	17		1530
22	23	I May Never Pass This Way Again - Robert Earl						20	20			990
24	24	Return To Me - Dean Martin						24				455
26	25	A Very Precious Love - Doris Day						25				390
21	26	Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Ella Fitzgerald						27				260
27	26	Teacher Teacher - Johnny Mathis						27				260
NEW	28	Little Serenade - Eddie Calvert						29				130
NEW	28	Rave On - Buddy Holly						29				130
		It's Too Soon To Know - Pat Boone						26
18		Whole Lotta Woman - Marvin Rainwater
28		Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Ted Heath
29		Stairway Of Love - Terry Dene

[MrTibbs]

This may sound silly but is it possible the BBC compiler misread his 3 as a 2, because Vic Damone scored 26 points and Lonnie 36?

Yeah I agree it's the only logical explanation but yet another careless mistake that could have been corrected by a simple follow up check, obviously not done, like the many, many other occasions.

[RokinRobinOfLocksley]

This may sound silly but is it possible the BBC compiler misread his 3 as a 2, because Vic Damone scored 26 points and Lonnie 36?

I thought the same thing...

[Splodj]

This may sound silly but is it possible the BBC compiler misread his 3 as a 2, because Vic Damone scored 26 points and Lonnie 36?

[Robbie]

Four double A sides inside the top 10. Outside of the top 2, there's some variance inside the top 10 among the four newspapers. It appears to be the mid part of the various charts that are in agreement with each other.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending June 14th 1958

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

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending June 14th 1958								NME	MM	DISC	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey					65	25	40	60	Points
Week	Week		The Top 30 Singles Chart				BBC			TOP	30	Scored
1	1	Who's Sorry Now - Connie Francis					1	1	1	1	1	5700
3	2	Tom Hark - Elias and The Zig Zag Jive Flutes					2	2	3	2	2	5485
2	3	A Wonderful Time Up There / It's Too Soon To Know - Pat Boone					3	7	2	3	3	5085
9	4	Stairway Of Love - Michael Holliday					4	3	5	4	6	5050
10	5	Witch Doctor - Don Lang					5	5	8	8	4	4805
7	6	On The Street Where You Live - Vic Damone					6=	4	4	9	9	4630
8	7	Tulips From Amsterdam / You Need Hands - Max Bygraves					8	6	6	6	10	4510
11	8	All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette - The Everly Brothers					9	9	10	7	5	4475
5	9	Grand Coolie Dam / Nobody Loves Like An Irishman - Lonnie Donegan					6=	10	9	10	7	4195
6	10	Wear My Ring Around Your Neck - Elvis Presley					10	13	7	5	8	4190
4	11	Lollipop - The Mudlarks					11	8	11	12	11	3955
12	12	Kewpie Doll - Frankie Vaughan					12	10	12	11	13	3720
18	13	The Army Game - The TV Cast					13	12	17	13	12	3445
16	14	Twilight Time - The Platters					14	16	14	17	14	2980
14	15	Kewpie Doll - Perry Como					15	14	13	20	15	2955
15	16	Witch Doctor - David Seville					16	18	15	15	17	2725
20	17	I May Never Pass This Way Again - Perry Como					17	15	16	16	20	2675
13	18	Whole Lotta Woman - Marvin Rainwater					18	20	18	14	19	2440
28	19	Book Of Love - The Mudlarks					19	19		19	16	2160
25	20	I Dig You Baby - Marvin Rainwater						22			18	1365
17	21	Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Ella Fitzgerald						23	19	18		1340
22	22	I May Never Pass This Way Again - Robert Earl					20	17	20			1185
NEW	23	Big Man - The Four Preps						21				650
NEW	24	Return To Me - Dean Martin						24				455
26	25	On The Street Where You Live - David Whitfield						25				390
NEW	26	A Very Precious Love - Doris Day						27				260
RE	27	Teacher Teacher - Johnny Mathis						28				195
24	28	Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Ted Heath						29				130
19	29	Stairway Of Love - Terry Dene						30				65
		It's Too Soon To Know - Pat Boone						26
21		Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry
23		Lollipop - The Chordettes
27		To Be Loved - Malcolm Vaughan
29		Sweet Little Sixteen - Chuck Berry
30		I May Never Pass This Way Again - Ronnie Hilton
		* The BBC chart placed Lonnie Donegan at 6= but it's chart statistics do not support that high placing. Point wise it should be 10.										0

[MrTibbs]

Yeah NME data was derived by phone. I too have considered if it was the shops that split the sides with some customers asking for one side and other customers asking for the reverse side. To a degree I think that would play a part because remember the sheet music chart played by Radio Luxembourg was song based so listeners would hear both songs here.

So that would explain Pat Boone and Perry Como for example and would seem consistent with above explanation, but then why not Max Bygraves too if this was the case because both his sides were popular as songs too.

So it is possible it was just down to the NME compilers who without any actual policy or guidance just decided arbitrarily on their own initiative. After all charts at this time were for fun not serious examination and scrutiny.

[braindeadpj]

If I remember correctly wasn't the NME data obtained by phone? If so then it could be dependent on what the shop assistant said and what the caller wrote down - assuming there wasn't a data spreadsheet which they would fill in. Then of course it may depend on who compiled the spreadsheet. Either way, the personal preference/opinion of the record taker (either at NME or the store) could affect what was recorded. After that perhaps the compilers couldn't be bothered or didn't know which songs were on the same disk and so just left as is....

Anyway, we can speculate as much as we like, but unless either a) someone who was involved remembers and can clarify or b) the old records are located - probably unlikely as I expect the NME offices moved a few times so the first thing to go is likely to be 'old' records, it is unlikely we will ever know for sure....
Do the NME still have offices now? I mean they're purely online news now? Presumably the British library have no records apart from maybe old NMEs?

[Robbie]

Even more examples of inconsistency from NME. Whilst it splits the Pat Boone record and Perry Como just left the chart NME is happy to combine Max Bygraves, Everly Brothers and Lonnie Donegan.
Strange or what

It's just a shame that these chart decisions were never explained in the newspaper at the time. It would have made for clarity.

[MrTibbs]

Even more examples of inconsistency from NME. Whilst it splits the Pat Boone record and Perry Como just left the chart NME is happy to combine Max Bygraves, Everly Brothers and Lonnie Donegan.
Strange or what

[MrTibbs]

I presume the asterisk applies to Boone.

Something strange about the BBC chart at 7 8 &9. I thought they did not include Disc, but it seems they did.

Yeah the asterisk was for Pat Boone. The BBC were using Disc in their calculations.

[Splodj]

I presume the asterisk applies to Boone.

Something strange about the BBC chart at 7 8 &9. I thought they did not include Disc, but it seems they did.

[MrTibbs]

Some strange patterns at the upper level of the chart. Elvis is 4 on MM, RM, DISC, yet 11 on NME. Also Vic Damone 8 on MM, 9 ON DISC, 11 ON RM yet 3 on NME. It looks like NME is the big outsider here way out of touch with the others.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending June 7th 1958

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

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending June 7th 1958								NME	MM	DISC	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey					65	25	40	60	Points
Week	Week		The Top 30 Singles Chart				BBC			TOP	30	Scored
1	1	Who's Sorry Now - Connie Francis					1	1	1	1	1	5700
2	2	A Wonderful Time Up There / It's Too Soon To Know - Pat Boone					3	4	2	3	2	5451
4	3	Tom Hark - Elias and The Zig Zag Jive Flutes					2	2	3	2	3	5425
5	4	Lollipop - The Mudlarks					4	5	5	5	6	4880
6	5	Grand Coolie Dam / Nobody Loves Like An Irishman - Lonnie Donegan					6	6	6	7	5	4770
3	6	Wear My Ring Around Your Neck - Elvis Presley					5	11	4	4	4	4675
10	7	On The Street Where You Live - Vic Damone					7	3	8	9	11	4475
9	8	Tulips From Amsterdam / You Need Hands - Max Bygraves					8=	7	7	6	10	4420
12	9	Stairway Of Love - Michael Holliday					8=	8	9	8	7	4405
13	10	Witch Doctor - Don Lang					10	9	11	12	8	4070
14	11	All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette - The Everly Brothers					11	12	15	10	9	3795
8	12	Kewpie Doll - Frankie Vaughan					12	10	14	13	12	3650
7	13	Whole Lotta Woman - Marvin Rainwater					13	15	12	11	13	3395
11	14	Kewpie Doll - Perry Como					14	13	10	16	16	3195
15	15	Witch Doctor - David Seville					15	14	16	15	15	3080
20	16	Twilight Time - The Platters					16	16	13	18	14	2965
18	17	Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Ella Fitzgerald					17	18	19	14	20	2485
27	18	The Army Game - The TV Cast					18	17		19	19	2110
17	19	Stairway Of Love - Terry Dene						22			18	1365
25	20	I May Never Pass This Way Again - Perry Como					19	19		17		1340
NEW	21	Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry					20=				17	840
19	22	I May Never Pass This Way Again - Robert Earl						24	18			780
21	23	Lollipop - The Chordettes						21				650
16	24	Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Ted Heath						28		20		635
NEW	25	I Dig You Baby - Marvin Rainwater						23				520
24	26	On The Street Where You Live - David Whitfield					20=	29	17			480
23	27	To Be Loved - Malcolm Vaughan						25				390
NEW	28	Book Of Love - The Mudlarks						26				325
RE	29	Sweet Little Sixteen - Chuck Berry							20			275
RE	30	I May Never Pass This Way Again - Ronnie Hilton						27				260
		It's Too Soon To Know - Pat Boone						20
28		Teacher Teacher - Johnny Mathis						30				65
22		Magic Moments / Catch A Falling Star - Perry Como										0
26		Crazy Love - Paul Anka										0
29		Tequila - The Champs										0
												0
		* This week the split side disadvantaged the averaged chart position so an average was taken from the other 3 charts and awarded to NME to give a more representative chart position.										0

[kingofskiffle]

Thank you kind sir. Check your email. Albums you say... Come back in 2025...

[RokinRobinOfLocksley]

Thanks Lonnie and all, I'm in, trigger is pulled. Like I said up top somewhere, it's worth it just for the annual/yearly rankings, which I've desired for a long time now, like the Whitburn pop annual book.

All we need now is an album series like this, ha. Onward and upward !!

[Splodj]

Another chart book, mentioned earlier in this thread, asserted that RR had a Friday survey week end. But if the RR magazine itself stated above its chart a week ending of Saturday, which clearly refers to the survey week and not a publication date, isn't this fairly conclusive proof that its survey week end was Saturday?

[kingofskiffle]

Thanks Robbie and no problem

[MrTibbs]

kingofskiffle, it really is an excellent book. I've not yet subscribed but will do when you reach the 1970s.

Robbie / Robin, the whole series of these books are second to none. They are the most comprehensive chart books I have come across anywhere. They are clearly presented, detailed, factual and very, very interesting. The price is a real bargain for these. Even if you weren't around from the start of these in 1952 they are well worth the money just to discover British Chart history from the very beginning.
Lonnie's detailed research has come up with lots of information I wasn't aware of. I would highly recommend these books to every chart enthusiast.

You can tell I'm hooked big time on them.

[Robbie]

kingofskiffle, it really is an excellent book. I've not yet subscribed but will do when you reach the 1970s.

[kingofskiffle]

Alright Robin, just for you. Here is a sample of the 1961 volume.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jn5y9d2v7...ample.pdf?dl=0

[RokinRobinOfLocksley]

Thanks Lonnie. Could I please ask you to give us a few sample pages of 1961 to better see what all is in it? 1961 sounds like it's got a good deal more than the 1953 book, and thus a 1961 sample of pages would better show that to all prospective buyers. And I will be a buyer!

[kingofskiffle]

My 1961 volume includes the RR, NME, MM and Disc singles charts as well as MM EP’s, RR EP’s and Disc bubblers. It comes to 783 pages and has a little section at the back showing how the Top 30 lined up for each of those charts as well as Record Mirror - but RM is not listed elsewhere in the volume. It comes in at 16.6Mb as a file.

[RokinRobinOfLocksley]

And now to relax with kingofskiffle’s new 61 book. Complete charts from all four major charts for the whole year, singles and EPs, even the complete top 50 singles and rankings of artists and hits, again nearly 800 pages. How on Earth does he manage this wealth of info each week?

Kjell, are you saying complete weekly charts (singles and EPs) from all 4 major music papers are included in the 1961 book? As in NME, RM, MM, Disc, RR. Oops, that makes 5 major charts, not counting the BBC. Which one is not included?

Kjell or Lonnie, could you please give us a list of all the weekly charts included in the 1961 book, singles and EPs, and from which music papers? Inquiring minds need to know. Cheers n crisps...