About my "Gražios Dainos" chart

"Gražios Dainos" ("Beautiful songs" on Lithuanian) is a retrospective music chart with my favourite songs on each week. For 1970-1998 years "Gražios Dainos" is Top 20 for each week. From 1999-2003 years my retro weekly chart was expanded and became Top 30. After it's top 20 again.

On this moment of time I finished 10 years (1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) and 617 weekly charts.

Current work : 1983, 1989, 1994 and 2004.

Somewhere in my dreams I wish to compile all charts from the first week of 1970 to summer 2012. My all-time # 1 song was released in 2012, so it's nice idea to stop it with the best song ever on the top.

How do you do a retrospective chart? What about your rules?

My main sources :

1. 13 national singles charts (United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark)

2. Eurovision + 15 national pre-selections (United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Iceland)

Also I try to check the discographies (usually on 45cat, sometimes on Discogs and/or Rate Your Music) for the acts, which I like and had many flopped singles (Best sample is Twiggy, who is my favourite singer of 70s decade https://www.45cat.com/artist/twiggy).

Only singles or songs with the official videos were included (for sample - ABBA - When I Kissed A Teacher), but I will do the exception for Lithuania in 2004-2012 (I'm a big fan of Lithuanian girl groups). This country didn't have singles market and official videos were rare thing too, so Lithuanian songs with radio / TV airplay were added in my chart.

When do you decide that a song enter to the charts, because sometimes the release date is unavailable ?

UK chart always was the most important chart for me. So for international releases a debut in my chart for any single have the same date with UK chart. Other songs debuted on the first week in national chart of that country. For non-charting songs (45cat have good database for old singles, which where released in UK).

Let's watch on Twiggy again, who had only one hit in UK chart (Here I Go Again). In 45cat database we can find that she released 12 different singles from 1970 to 1989.

Zoo De Zoo Zong - 28 May 1971

A Room In Bloomsbury - 21 Jan 1972

Here I Go Again - 9 Jul 1976

Vanilla Olay - 22 Oct 1976

Please Get My Name Right - 11 Feb 1977

I Hope We Get To Love In Time - Apr 1977

A Woman In Love - 3 Jun 1977

Tomorrow Is Another Day - 4 Nov 1977

Falling Angel - 21 Apr 1978

Feel Emotion - 27 Sep 1985

Diamond - Mar 1986

Winter Wonderland - there is no correct date, but it's easy to guess that it's Christmas release.

Also she had one non-UK (German) single (Rings) and official video for her duet with Bryan Ferry (Wonderful World). Both performances are available on Youtube with date. The month of release is enough for me. In this situation I added the song in chart on the last week of that month.

Yes, sadly sometimes it's impossible to find the release date or a song was in chart, but not available on Youtube, so I can't listen and rate it.

Do you also add personal taste for songs that never entered to official charts?

Yes,

• Lithuanian pop

• Most songs from Eurovision national pre-selections

• Non-singles with the official videos (Marina and the Diamonds - Seventeen, two ABBA songs, Liene Candy's cover version of Dragostea Din Tei e.t.c).

• Flopped singles of personal favourites, which had big hits in my chart before (Brotherhood of Man, Twiggy, Lynsey De Paul, Kirsty Maccoll and many others).

How can a song that you really like go down to the charts? Do you have a periode of time when the track fall down?

Usually

For unknown acts/songs - not high start with a potential climbing.

For personal favourites and/or well-known (for me) songs - high debut (peak position on the first week is very often thing, like real UK chart in 1999-2003), after it slow falling.

In summary my chart is slower than UK sales chart, but faster than any official national hitlist from streaming era.

If we talk about # 1 songs sometimes there is a thing, when big hit already had 4 or more weeks on the top and was dethroned by very good, but weaker song. It's like a "Sales effect" in real chart, many peoples already bought it, so it's hard to milk additional sales. Same situation with the veterans of chart, who already spent 10-15-20 weeks in chart. Fresh single can "sell" enough to beat big hit on one or some weeks.

Edited May 18May 18 by Last Dreamer