The Ultimate Averaged Chart - The BBC Chart Re-Imagined

[Splodj]

One obvious difference is that the BBC is only counting NMEs top 20. For example, Connie Francis is given only 21 points for NME instead of 26. But neither way is ideal; you really need all 4 inputting Top 30s or more for a robust Top 20 output.

[MrTibbs]

Yet another calculation/transcript error on the BBC chart again this week.

I think by now it is blatantly obvious that the level of errors in calculation on the BBC chart far exceeds the level previously thought to be the case. This has only been brought to light because the UAC compilation has initiated a level of scrutiny on the BBC figures previously not undertaken. Until this the figures have been totally accepted and taken at face value.

At the onset my goal was to produce an averaged music paper chart that aside from averaging out simple chart positions, as done by the BBC chart, would also be made more robust by factoring in approximate numbers of shop dealer returns as well as not all charts were equal in that respect. This 'extra level' was designed to eradicate the large number of ties that existed in the BBC chart and to correct the few known errors that were already known to exist within the BBC chart.

But now we know differently following this exercise. The BBC chart can no longer be accepted as a robust, accurate, or viable chart for reference purposes as it seriously flawed both in compilation and authority.
Furthermore I have just pointed out the obvious errors that jumped out of the page at me when transferring the figures to the spreadsheet for the UAC. There are obviously lots more if you look even closer as David (braindeadpj) discovered and mentions above.

So, for those of us who like me believe an averaged chart best represents this time period before actual shop sales figures were used by the BMRB I'd like to think I have offered a suitable alternative by introducing the UAC. The BBC principle was correct but too simplistic and poorly executed. The UAC is far from perfect after all it's based on imperfect data from a points system in dealer returns to music papers. Human error would play a part in these returns, manipulation, flawed information downright untruths at times even. But that was the times and these are our only historical records of what was passing across counters at the time.

That is why I believe the averaging process provides the most robust chart. At least if one paper gets it wrong, and they do, just look at any of the chart comparisons on the UAC page and you will see just how often that happens that one is out of sync with the others but the other papers help smooth this out to provide a more balanced chart.

At least I'm satisfied that the UAC is as accurate as possible to the data provided. Being human and in dealing with multiple figures I too have made some errors along the way, some I noticed and corrected as I went along and others you picked up on and I corrected.
I'm therefore satisfied the goal is being met the BBC has been not only been 're-imagined' but restructured as well.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending February 7th 1959

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

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending February 7th 1959								NME	MM	DISC	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey					75	25	40	60	Points
Week	Week		The Top 30 Singles Chart				BBC			TOP	30	Scored
1	1	I Got Stung / One Night - Elvis Presley					1	1	1	1	1	6000
3	2	To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears *					3	2	2	3	3	5700
2	3	Baby Face - Little Richard *					2	3	3	2	2	5700
5	4	Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me - Shirley Bassey					4	3	5	4	4	5450
8	5	As I Love You - Shirley Bassey					5	3	4	8	6	5195
7	6	Problems - The Everly Brothers					6=	6	8	6	5	5010
9	7	Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Platters					6=	7	6	5	7	4905
4	8	The Day The Rains Came - Jane Morgan					8	7	7	9	8	4660
6	9	It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty					9	10	9	7	9	4405
NEW	10	Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour - Lonnie Donegan					10=	9	11	17	12	3850
17	11	High School Confidential - Jerry Lee Lewis					10=	14	15	10	10	3775
12	12	Tea For Two Cha-Cha - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra					12	11	14	18	11	3645
14	13	Hoots Mon - Lord Rockingham's XI					13=	15	13	13	15	3330
11	14	Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio					13=	18	12	12	14	3230
10	15	Tom Dooley - Lonnie Donegan					16	13	17	15	19	3060
19	16	(All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings - Paul Anka					13=	12	10		13	3030
15	17	Chantilly Lace - The Big Bopper					17	17		14	18	2510
23	18	I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time - Rosemary June					18=	16	19		17	2265
NEW	19	Wee Tom - Lord Rockingham's XI						21	18		16	1975
18	20	You Always Hurt The One You Love - Connie Francis					18=	26		11	20	1835
13	21	Love Makes The World Go 'Round / Mandolins In The Moonlight - Perry Como					20	24	16	16		1500
26	22	A Pub With No Beer - Slim Dusty						20		19		1305
21	23	The World Outside - Ronnie Hilton						18				975
28	24	Livin' Lovin' Doll - Cliff Richard						25		20		890
30	25	The World Outside - The Four Aces						23	20			875
20	26	I'll Remember Tonight - Pat Boone						21				750
16	27	Come On Let's Go - Tommy Steele						28				225
NEW	27	That's My Doll - Frankie Vaughan						28				225
22	29	You're The Top Cha - Al Saxon						30				75
		Mandolins In The Moonlight - Perry Como (B)						27
24		Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You) - Ricky Nelson
25		There Must Be A Way - Joni James
27		High Class Baby - Cliff Richard
29		Cannonball - Duane Eddy
30		Last Night On The Back Porch - Alma Cogan
		* Either the BBC or the manuscipt is wrong again as it lists a #2 and #3 but the points clearly indicate a tie.

[MrTibbs]

Also Pat Boone's I'll Remember The Night is a re-entry on the 31st January chart from the 17th January (when it was at 28).

Yip, now corrected.

[MrTibbs]

Like Sinatra before, difficult to see how this could be an honest mistake.

Yeah Splodj and David, some mistakes, no, correction lots of mistakes, are miscalculations but some other chart positions given by the BBC are just inexplicable.

[Splodj]

BTW, The BBC chart no. 19 on the 31st should be Slim Dusty.

Like Sinatra before, difficult to see how this could be an honest mistake.

[braindeadpj]

Also Pat Boone's I'll Remember The Night is a re-entry on the 31st January chart from the 17th January (when it was at 28).

[braindeadpj]

BTW, The BBC chart no. 19 on the 31st should be Slim Dusty.
Also both Tom Dooley tracks should be equal 10 on points so they miscalculated here.

[braindeadpj]

So if Disc had been more on the ball and placed Elvis 5 or higher (rather than 9), he'd have been no.1 overall the week of the 24th. The average of the other charts suggest it should have been in at 2.... Wonder why they were so far off.

[MrTibbs]

I think you're right here because both of last weeks #1's on the other three charts tumble from the top right out of the top three so it is highly probable that RM called it correct. For my money I Got Stung was by far the stronger side, a cracking good fast paced rocker.

[Splodj]

The unanimity at the top adds credence to the view that last week RM got it right. MM and Disc may have been suffering from the difficulty that points charts tend to be too slow in identifying a 'bullet' top seller, as demonstrated later by BMRB and Gallup, and NME was having another of its highly maverick moments with their no. 1 which had fallen in position elsewhere.

In trying to determine from the entrails what really was happening these transitional weeks are the most difficult to call.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending January 31st 1959

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

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending January 31st 1959								NME	MM	DISC	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey					75	25	40	60	Points
Week	Week		The Top 30 Singles Chart				BBC			TOP	30	Scored
5	1	I Got Stung / One Night - Elvis Presley					1	1	1	1	1	6000
4	2	Baby Face - Little Richard					2	3	2	2	2	5725
2	3	To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears					3	2	3	3	3	5675
1	4	The Day The Rains Came - Jane Morgan					4	4	5	5	4	5335
6	5	Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me - Shirley Bassey					5=	4	7	6	5	5185
3	6	It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty					5=	7	4	4	7	4995
18	7	Problems - The Everly Brothers					7=	8	9	7	6	4735
12	8	As I Love You - Shirley Bassey					7=	6	6	8	10	4680
13	9	Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Platters					9	9	8	12	8	4365
10	10	Tom Dooley - Lonnie Donegan					11	10	10	10	12	4080
8	11	Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio					10	13	11	9	9	4050
9	12	Tea For Two Cha-Cha - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra					12=	11	17	14	11	3730
11	13	Love Makes The World Go Round (A) - Perry Como *					14=	19	13	11	15	3560
7	14	Hoots Mon - Lord Rockingham's XI					12=	14	12	13	14	3490
14	15	Chantilly Lace - The Big Bopper					14=	12	15	15	16	3365
16	16	Come On Let's Go - Tommy Steele					16	16	14	17	18	2890
19	17	High School Confidential - Jerry Lee Lewis					17	18	20	18	13	2850
17	18	You Always Hurt The One You Love - Connie Francis					18	17		16	17	2490
NEW	19	(All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings - Paul Anka					20	20			19	1545
RE	20	I'll Remember Tonight - Pat Boone								20	20	1100
23	21	The World Outside - Ronnie Hilton						20				825
21	22	You're The Top Cha - Al Saxon						22				675
29	23	I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time - Rosemary June						26	19			675
22	24	Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You) - Ricky Nelson						23				600
NEW	25	There Must Be A Way - Joni James					19	24				525
27	26	A Pub With No Beer - Slim Dusty						29	16			525
15	27	High Class Baby - Cliff Richard								19		480
NEW	28	Livin' Lovin' Doll - Cliff Richard						25				450
20	29	Cannonball - Duane Eddy							18			325
NEW	30	Last Night On The Back Porch - Alma Cogan						27				300
30	30	The World Outside - The Four Aces						27				300
		Mandolins In The Moonlight - Perry Como (B)						15
		That's My Doll - Frankie Vaughan						30				75
24		Woman From Liberia - Jimmie Rodgers
25		The World Outside - Russ Conway
26		My Ulelele - Max Bygraves
28		It's All In The Game - Tommy Edwards
		* 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.

[Splodj]

A contested 'straight in at number one' that I missed off my list. My hunch is that RM got this one right.

[Robbie]

I'm not keen on the number 1. It's an old fashioned sounding song even for the era in which it was released.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending January 24th 1959

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

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending January 24th 1959								NME	MM	DISC	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey					75	25	40	60	Points
Week	Week		The Top 30 Singles Chart				BBC			TOP	30	Scored
2	1	The Day The Rains Came - Jane Morgan					2=	1	3	3	5	5630
4	2	To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears					2=	4	4	2	2	5600
1	3	It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty					1	5	1	1	3	5580
7	4	Baby Face - Little Richard					4=	2	5	4	4	5525
NEW	5	I Got Stung / One Night - Elvis Presley					4=	3	2	9	1	5505
11	6	Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me - Shirley Bassey					6=	6	7	8	7	4835
3	7	Hoots Mon - Lord Rockingham's XI					6=	8	6	6	8	4730
9	8	Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio					8	10	11	7	6	4535
8	9	Tea For Two Cha-Cha - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra					9	7	9	11	9	4470
5	10	Tom Dooley - Lonnie Donegan					10=	11	12	10	11	4015
6	11	Love Makes The World Go 'Round - Perry Como (A)					10=	12	15	5	12	4005
15	12	As I Love You - Shirley Bassey					10=	9	8	14	13	3985
17	13	Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Platters					13	14	13	15	10	3625
14	14	Chantilly Lace - The Big Bopper					15	16	14	16	14	3170
10	15	High Class Baby - Cliff Richard					14	18	10	12	16	3160
12	16	Come On Let's Go - Tommy Steele					16	13		13	15	3030
13	17	You Always Hurt The One You Love - Connie Francis					17	15	16	19	18	2835
NEW	18	Problems - The Everly Brothers					18	18	17		19	2045
NEW	19	High School Confidential - Jerry Lee Lewis					19	22	19		17	1815
18	20	Cannonball - Duane Eddy						22		20	20	1775
25	21	You're The Top Cha - Al Saxon					20	17	20			1325
19	22	Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You) - Ricky Nelson						26		17		935
29	23	The World Outside - Ronnie Hilton						21				750
21	24	Woman From Liberia - Jimmie Rodgers						30		18		595
NEW	25	The World Outside - Russ Conway						24				525
16	26	My Ukelele - Max Bygraves						25				450
NEW	27	A Pub With No Beer - Slim Dusty							18			325
20	28	It's All In The Game - Tommy Edwards						27				300
NEW	29	I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time - Rosemary June						28				225
NEW	30	The World Outside - The Four Aces						29				150
		Mandolins In The Moonlight - Perry Como (B)						18
		Last Night On The Back Porch - Alma Cogan						30				75
22		Queen Of The Hop - Bobby Darin
23		More Than Ever - Malcolm Vaughan
24		Real Love - Ruby Murray
26		Am I Wasting My Time On You - Frankie Vaughan
27		A Certain Smile - Johnny Mathis
28		I'll Remember Tonight - Pat Boone
30		Heartbeat - Buddy Holly

[Splodj]

I thought the flip was at least as good - 'Well Alright'. Difficult to say any of his were overrated when they performed so badly - even worse in the USA.

Cousin Brucie had Sonny Curtis on his show recently and asked him if he remembered what he was doing when he heard of Holly's death. He replied he was staying with Jerry Allison and felt he had to go into his bedroom and wake up 'JA' and Peggy Sue to tell them the news.

(Incidentally he said he had never really fought the law, it was just imagined!)

[kingofskiffle]

RE 30 Heartbeat - Buddy Holly

This should have been a much greater hit. Sadly Buddy was mainly ignored in the UK until after his death.

Yes a wonderful song. In fact all of his that chart in my opinion where wonderful. Any of his that people would suggest are overrated or not that good? (Genuine question as interested in the opinions).

[MrTibbs]

RE 30 Heartbeat - Buddy Holly

This should have been a much greater hit. Sadly Buddy was mainly ignored in the UK until after his death.

Brian I totally agree it was an injustice when Nick Berry could score a major hit with this in a version that was practically a carbon copy and Buddy's was relegated to the low twenties. Similarly True Love Ways should have been massive in 1960 but was all but ignored.
My father was a massive fan and had all these early hits. In the late fifties he had nearly all Lonnie Donegan's stuff whom he also admired and Buddy's.

In the year above Buddy is about to go massive with It Doesn't Matter Anymore. The Flip Raining In My Heart was also a class tune and should have been held back as it had the potential to be a big follow up hit in its own right.

[brian05]

RE 30 Heartbeat - Buddy Holly

This should have been a much greater hit. Sadly Buddy was mainly ignored in the UK until after his death.

[MrTibbs]

Suddenly Jane Morgan takes off into the top three. I just didn't like Little Richard's Baby Face it just didn't seem to suit his rock'n'roll usual style.
After the festive break though the chart is now settling down.

[MrTibbs]

Greetings Pop Pickers

Here is the next Ultimate Averaged Chart for Week Ending January 17th 1959

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

The Ultimate Averaged Chart - Week Ending January 17th 1959								NME	MM	DISC	RM	Total
Last	This		The Sound Survey					75	25	40	60	Points
Week	Week		The Top 30 Singles Chart				BBC			TOP	30	Scored
1	1	It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty					1	1	1	1	1	6000
7	2	The Day The Rains Came - Jane Morgan					2	2	2	2	5	5620
2	3	Hoots Mon - Lord Rockingham's XI					3	3	3	4	2	5620
9	4	To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears					4	5	4	3	4	5365
3	5	Tom Dooley - Lonnie Donegan					5	4	5	7	3	5315
6	6	Love Makes The World Go 'Round - Perry Como (A)					6	8	6	5	7	4830
12	7	Baby Face - Little Richard					7=	7	10	8	6	4745
4	8	Tea For Two Cha-Cha - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra					7=	6	8	10	9	4610
5	9	Tom Dooley - The Kingston Trio					9	12	9	6	8	4355
8	10	High Class Baby - Cliff Richard					10	10	7	9	10	4315
15	11	Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me - Shirley Bassey					11	9	11	12	11	4110
10	12	Come On Let's Go - Tommy Steele					12	10	19	11	13	3755
17	13	You Always Hurt The One You Love - Connie Francis					13	13	15	19	12	3370
25	14	Chantilly Lace - The Big Bopper					14=	18	14	15	18	2820
23	15	As I Love You - Shirley Bassey					16	16	13	17	20	2795
18	16	My Ukelele - Max Bygraves					17	20	17	14	16	2755
NEW	17	Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Platters					14=	17	12		15	2485
16	18	Cannonball - Duane Eddy					18	22		16	14	2295
13	19	Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You) - Ricky Nelson					19=	21		13	19	2190
11	20	It's All In The Game - Tommy Edwards					19=	15			17	2040
24	21	Woman From Liberia - Jimmie Rodgers						18		20		1415
29	22	Queen Of The Hop - Bobby Darin						24		18		1045
14	23	More Than Ever - Malcolm Vaughan						23	16			975
22	24	Real Love - Ruby Murray						26	18			700
NEW	25	You're The Top Cha - Al Saxon						24				525
28	26	Am I Wasting My Time On You - Frankie Vaughan						27				300
20	27	A Certain Smile - Johnny Mathis							20			275
NEW	28	I'll Remember Tonight - Pat Boone						28				225
30	29	The World Outside - Ronnie Hilton						29				150
RE	30	Heartbeat - Buddy Holly						30				75
		Mandolins In The Moonlight - Perry Como (B)						13
19		King Creole - Elvis Presley
21		More Party Pops - Russ Conway
26		Mary's Boy Child - Harry Belafonte
27		Come Prima / Volare - Marino Marini
		* Again either the BBC compilation is wrong or a typing error is as the manuscript lists both TD and LR at 7= but the points don't correspond with this.

[MrTibbs]

I just noticed that the NME stores has increased to 75 for 1959. Anymore increases planned this year?

No David that was the last store adjustment of the fifties for NME to maintain the gradual store increase into 1960. MM and Disc though will increase a bit later in the year and RM will remain the same.

[braindeadpj]

I just noticed that the NME stores has increased to 75 for 1959. Anymore increases planned this year?

[MrTibbs]

Kjell it is knowing that guys like you and every other loyal follower of this thread enjoy it and follow every chart that has made all the work blood sweat and tears in compiling it worthwhile. I genuinely thank you all

[kjell]

I’ve noticed that both my favourite reads, this thread and kingofskiffle’s «70 years of UK singles charts» share a delicate and claryfying colouring.