what date did Simon Bates take back over the chart show? I have the entire top 40 show from 15/01/84 on tape (blimey, nearly 25 years ago now!) and was wondering if that was one of his first after his return?

what date did Simon Bates take back over the chart show? I have the entire top 40 show from 15/01/84 on tape (blimey, nearly 25 years ago now!) and was wondering if that was one of his first after his return?

He took over on the 8th Jan..On that one he uses the old jingle stream. On the 15th, he had a new lot. The new ones were a bit silly I thought, and rather tacky. Although he wasn`t such a good presenter, he did manage to get a lot more music in. During 1984, he made a couple of slips. He told us to put our clocks on, on a Sunday! Most of the time, Simon pre-recorded the programme on a Saturday.

 

One Sunday Summer Evening, the tape played the same track twice...Michael Jackson featured at 6, but was also played at 22! The show over ran until 7.05pm!

Never knew the chart had EVER been pre-recorded Dave.

Never knew the chart had EVER been pre-recorded Dave.

Many times, Chris. For Instance David Jacobs used to record POTP on a Friday, as did Alan Freeman until 1967. A lot of Tom Browne`s shows were recorded on Saturdays. The early Simon Bates programmes were live 78-79. Tony Blackburn was live, but he recorded the opening of his show...it was the same every week! One evening in 1981, the show started twice!! Tommy Vance was always live, or he had a stand-in...during 1982 he spent some time in the Falkland Islands.

 

Like I say Simon was recorded a lot in 1984. Richard Skinner was always live, along with the March 86 arrival of Bruno Brookes. Richard Skinner broke his contract to go for a higher paid job, at Capital Radio!

I didn't realise he pre-recorded the programme. That was probabky quite a rare thing to do back then I would imagine.

 

I didn't really rate TV on the Top 40 but liked Simon Bates even less. His voice has always grated on me. I was happy when I read that John Peel apparently couldn't stand him and they had words more than once or twice, including at the 1979 Radio 1 Christmas party...

I didn't realise he pre-recorded the programme. That was probabky quite a rare thing to do back then I would imagine.

 

I didn't really rate TV on the Top 40 but liked Simon Bates even less. His voice has always grated on me. I was happy when I read that John Peel apparently couldn't stand him and they had words more than once or twice, including at the 1979 Radio 1 Christmas party...

People used to say Simon was a bit snobby. He always arranged to take time off, so he didn`t do the Radio One Roadshow. Personally (as I worked with him), I found him quite a clever chap, but never got the real reason why he worked for Radio One.

 

Originally he started on Radio 4, then moved to Radio 2`s early show in 1974.

 

Tony Blackburn used to not even bother to acknowledge him. This was maybe due to the fact that Simon, was given Tony`s old mornng show in 1979, following the break-up of Tony`s marriage to Tessa Wyatt...widely covered at the time. Remember Richard O`Sullivan, and Robin`s Nest? I don`t think Tony would appreciate a re-run of the sitcom!

Many times, Chris. For Instance David Jacobs used to record POTP on a Friday, as did Alan Freeman until 1967. A lot of Tom Browne`s shows were recorded on Saturdays. The early Simon Bates programmes were live 78-79. Tony Blackburn was live, but he recorded the opening of his show...it was the same every week! One evening in 1981, the show started twice!! Tommy Vance was always live, or he had a stand-in...during 1982 he spent some time in the Falkland Islands.

 

Like I say Simon was recorded a lot in 1984. Richard Skinner was always live, along with the March 86 arrival of Bruno Brookes. Richard Skinner broke his contract to go for a higher paid job, at Capital Radio!

 

 

I know this is slightly off-topic but a Radio 2 POTP went disastrously wrong a few years ago. After the 3pm news the show came back with the top 10 from a different chart than the one he'd started!!

People used to say Simon was a bit snobby. He always arranged to take time off, so he didn`t do the Radio One Roadshow. Personally (as I worked with him), I found him quite a clever chap, but never got the real reason why he worked for Radio One.

 

Originally he started on Radio 4, then moved to Radio 2`s early show in 1974.

 

Tony Blackburn used to not even bother to acknowledge him. This was maybe due to the fact that Simon, was given Tony`s old mornng show in 1979, following the break-up of Tony`s marriage to Tessa Wyatt...widely covered at the time. Remember Richard O`Sullivan, and Robin`s Nest? I don`t think Tony would appreciate a re-run of the sitcom!

Robin's Nest is re-running on Paramount 2 at this moment! Yup, I remember the headlines when Tessa Wyatt left Tony Blackburn for Richard O'Sullivan and I can remember Tony Blackburn's response on Radio 1, playing love songs dedicated to her and slagging off RoS. All quite embarrassing really. Tony Blackburn has since admitted that he spent that whole period after his break-up on valium and copious amounts of alcohol which is not a good combination...

 

Full story is here for anyone interested...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-...obiography.html

 

"Through him, Tessa would secure the role that would make her a household name. It was here, too, that she met and fell in love with actor Richard O'Sullivan - the man she left Tony for, and to whom she is still married.

 

It's all rather comical now, but at the time - and with a child, their son Simon, in the equation - it was anything but. When they finally parted, Tony first hit the Valium, then the airwaves, embarking on a period of intense public moping, as he played song after song of heartbreak.

 

"I bored the country stupid with it. I just lost the plot for a while."

 

They were a desperate few years. "I was floating through life. I washed down painkillers with booze. I liked the woozy effects. It was like a pre-med in hospital, giving me a space to lose myself in.

 

"I remember once almost getting run over outside Broadcasting House because I was so relaxed I'd become virtually comatose."

 

Is Young Turks the lowest-peaking song that was predicted to be #1 by Radio Luxembourg (or its equivalent)?

So, are these the Charts that Radio Luxembourg used to count down each Week?

 

I found them to be rather 'fast'. Many Hits did not stay around for very long. I'm sure

that in 1978, they had 'Summer Nights', by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, entering at

No.3, & then dropping several places - out of the Top 10 - the next Week. Rather an odd way to treat a Single that was No.1 for 7 Weeks in the BMRB Chart, & No.1 in 'Melody Maker' &

'NME' too. I sent them a letter about that. I said it made the RL Chart look silly. After that

it was very hard for me to take the RL Chart seriously. I just saw it as a Chart that was made at the whim of the DJ's - based on guess-work, rather than what was truly No.1 etc.

Edited December 30, 200816 yr by zeus555

So, are these the Charts that Radio Luxembourg used to count down each Week?

 

I found them to be rather 'fast'. Many Hits did not stay around for very long. I'm sure

that in 1978, they had 'Summer Nights', by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, entering at

No.3, & then dropping several places - out of the Top 10 - the next Week. Rather an odd way to treat a Single that was No.1 for 7 Weeks in the BMRB Chart, & No.1 in 'Melody Maker' &

'NME' too. I sent them a letter about that. I said it made the RL Chart look silly. After that

it was very hard for me to take the RL Chart seriously. I just saw it as a Chart that was made at the whim of the DJ's - based on guess-work, rather than what was truly No.1 etc.

RL didn't seem to like John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John at all, not only did Summer Nights enter at #3 and then fall to #12 on their chart but You're The One That I Want also failed to reach #1 despite being #1 on the official chart for 9 weeks.

 

The RL chart was just made up, it was meant to be a projection of what the BBC top 30 / top 40 would look like the following week but that just meant guessing what a record would do. I got the impression the chart compiler just sat down with a copy of the new top 50 / top 75 chart and a blank piece of paper and coming up with a chart...

 

I know this is slightly off-topic but a Radio 2 POTP went disastrously wrong a few years ago. After the 3pm news the show came back with the top 10 from a different chart than the one he'd started!!

Absolutely. Like I said before Dale Winton`s programme is not even that. He just tapes the links...the music is put in by computer afterrwards. They call it voice-tracking. Many Local stations do it too. From The Bottom To The Top (Capital Productions) is also done that way.

 

In the old days programmes were recorded as "live". Jimmy Savile`s shows for instance. Noteably when the top 40 was pre-recorded, they even gave time checks!

RL didn't seem to like John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John at all, not only did Summer Nights enter at #3 and then fall to #12 on their chart but You're The One That I Want also failed to reach #1 despite being #1 on the official chart for 9 weeks.

 

The RL chart was just made up, it was meant to be a projection of what the BBC top 30 / top 40 would look like the following week but that just meant guessing what a record would do. I got the impression the chart compiler just sat down with a copy of the new top 50 / top 75 chart and a blank piece of paper and coming up with a chart...

That was pretty much it, Robbie! There was slightly more proper sales taken in latter years. Again though guess work was the major function of the chart, based around what was popular on the station!

 

John And Olivia were put in the "teen" sector, and others in the "too old/easy" sector. Stuart Gillies "Amanda" was not allowed in the Luxembourg chart, at all for that. And if you were Judge Dread, no way! Luxembourg aiming at the 30-40 age group.

 

By the way Robbie...Richard O`Sullivan now resides at that place, where Alan Freeman spent his final years, due to serious health problems. Whether he is still married to Tessa Wyatt is open to question. Didn`t she divorce him too?

wow 29 for Sugas. Must be selling hell of a lot of physicals