UK Singles Chart - Year by Year Review

As I mentioned in the intro on this blog, one thing I intend to do is a year by year review of the UK singles chart.

I'm doing this for a couple of reasons. First of all I find it interesting to see how the singles chart has evolved over the years. Secondly, I've learnt about the history of music all my life, but have found that when the years I've lived through feature it can be quite inaccurate.

One example that sticks in my mind was several years ago I was watching a show on one of the music channels which had a top 10 songs of 1991. This was the year that Bryan Adams spent 16 weeks at number one, Chesney Hawkes had his moment of glory, Bohemian Rhapsody which tops many lists was rereleased and was Christmas number one. However, the number one song was Marc Cohn - Walking in Memphis. This was a song which reached number 22 and never got much attention until the following year when Shut up and Dance illegally sampled it for Raving I'm Raving. To me the top 10 of 1991 should be 10 songs which were big in 1991, not the 10 songs from 1991 you are likely to still get on music channels today.

The site I'm using to review each year is everyhit. Obviously I don't know every UK single there has ever been and I'm not going to have time to listen to every tune I don't know. I should know enough of the popular records of each year to give an accurate review though.

Another thing to bear in mind is that it is a review of the singles chart, not the music industry as a whole. Therefore album bands such as Pink Floyd or Genesis won't get much of a mention in the 70s even though they were no doubt popular bands at the time.

Finally I will pick my tune of the year for each year. This is obviously my opinion and many of you won't agree with my choice. For some of you though it could remind you of a forgotten gem or introduce you to a tune you never knew but end up liking. It is purely based on quality though, so it may be a number 1 or a number 40.

I'll begin with 1952 next week and then try to do it every two weeks. It may change to once a week if I find I have enough time to do that.