The Oldest Hit Song Ever

[BILL POSTERS]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1429519609' post='2752091']
Anyway, the reason i asked if Henry VIII wrote it was because i looked it up. Although it seems there is a slight chance he did, it seems to be discredited. When someone comes out with things like that, i have to look it up, and find it very interesting. Who wouldv`e thought basschat could be so educational
As for Gallows Pole, by Leadbelly, i also learned something else. It could have been a contempory hit in America, as it was released in 1939, and the hit parade in America started in 1936. So yes, i was wrong about that as well. Charts before that were based on sheet music sales.It seems that the beginning was very genre specific, and only tracked Rythm and Blues, Pop, and Country and Western, by the Billboard Magazine.The jukebox was responsible for the start of record charts. The proper charts as we know it today started in 1961 in America, and 1969 in UK. Before 1969, it seems that NME used to phone 15 shops to find out how many sales were made, and based the charts on this. I found it interesting anyway
[/quote]

I thought music charts in the UK started in 1952. I do remember in the 60s, the charts on Radio Luxembourg on Sunday nights often being different to the BBC one a few hours earlier, which were different again to the music papers. Hard to believe that went on till 1977 when it was finally realised that record companies had been hyping the charts all along.

[timmo]

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1429521301' post='2752123']
I thought music charts in the UK started in 1952. I do remember in the 60s, the charts on Radio Luxembourg on Sunday nights often being different to the BBC one a few hours earlier, which were different again to the music papers. Hard to believe that went on till 1977 when it was finally realised that record companies had been hyping the charts all along.
[/quote]Yes, it did start around then by NME, and loads of other publications, by phoning shops asking for the 10 best sellers. Every chart was different. But then the British Marketing Research Bereau was formed .They started compiling the charts, and had 250 postal returns from record shop sales, which were randomly selected from 6000 (would there be 6000 record shops today?) Obviously it is all computerised today. Apparently, all the data was put onto punch cards and fed into a computer to sort out the data back then. So 1969 is the start of the official charts as we know today.

[BILL POSTERS]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1429522326' post='2752142']
Yes, it did start around then by NME, and loads of other publications, by phoning shops asking for the 10 best sellers. Every chart was different. But then the British Marketing Research Bereau was formed .They started compiling the charts, and had 250 postal returns from record shop sales, which were randomly selected from 6000 (would there be 6000 record shops today?) Obviously it is all computerised today. Apparently, all the data was put onto punch cards and fed into a computer to sort out the data back then. So 1969 is the start of the official charts as we know today.
[/quote]

There was a big change around 1978 following a few scandals. Problem was too many people knew which record shops they were, and buying 20 copies each from a dozen of them would make a huge difference. I think BMRB lost it and Gallup took over, but their system was open to abuse of a different kind.

There were a lot of small electrical shops back then, almost all sold records, and for some reason, so did cycle shops. But most got them on some sort of sale or return deal from larger ones. All Woolworths and Boots branches sold records, so did most of the larger department stores. 6000 doesnt surprise me at all.

Edited April 20, 2015 by BILL POSTERS

[tauzero]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1429476525' post='2751814']
Are you sure Henry VIII wrote it?
[/quote]

Flanders and Swann say he did:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB-zBJykYj8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB-zBJykYj8[/url]