Robbie

It did in both 1981 and 1982. Plus 1983 as well! I'll be posting the 1983 chart shortly and it charts then too though outside of the top 75.

The above singles chart was the last singles chart to be compiled by BMRB. No chart was compiled for the week ending 1 January 1983 (sales week 20 December to 25 December 1982). Gallup took over chart compilation duties from the chart dated 8 January 1983. I'll post the first Gallup Christmas chart (24 December 1983) later today - and it's a top 200!

25 December 1982: Bubbling Under Christmas On 45 Holly And The Ivy's Classic Rock Classics The London Symphony Orchestra Disco Christmas The Nuptown Corporation Band Down Under Men At Work Emotion Explosion Art School & The Mighty Motor Gang Fatman / Moya The Southern Death Cult For You The Anti-Nowhere League Have Yourself A Merry Christmas David Grant with The Wallace Fields Middle School Choir Heavy Vibes Montana Sextet Hold Me Tighter In The Rain Billy Griffin I Have The Touch Peter Gabriel In The Bleak Midwinter Nevada In The Name Of Love Sharon Redd Five Tracks Of Laughter The Hysterics Old And Wise The Alan Parsons Project Past, Present And Future Cindy & The Saffrons Shadows Of The Night Pat Benatar Silent Night Prelude So Close To Me Julio Iglesias Soul Makossa Nairobi Steppin' Out Joe Jackson Symptom Of The Universe Ozzy Osbourne The Look Of Love ABC The More I See (The Less I Believe) The Fun Boy Three War Crimes (The War Crime Remains The Same) The Special AKA Wonderful You Are Sleeping Lions The above was listed below the top 75 in Music Week. Listed in alphabetical order. Excludes records that have been in the top 75 in the previous 4 weeks. No sales data held.

25 December 1982 Twk Lwk Wks Panel Market Title Artist 1 1 9 10438 120,037 Save Your Love Renee And Renato 2 4 3 6700 77,050 The Shakin Stevens EP Shakin' Stevens 3 10 5 6524 75,026 Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy David Bowie And Bing Crosby 4 3 5 5974 68,701 Time (Clock Of The Heart) Culture Club 5 5 5 5571 64,067 Our House Madness 6 17 4 5140 59,110 You Can't Hurry Love Phil Collins 7 30 3 4746 54,579 A Winter s Tale David Essex 8 9 7 4138 47,587 Best Years Of Our Lives Modern Romance 9 6 6 4059 46,679 Truly Lionel Richie 10 2 4 3851 44,287 Beat Surrender Jam 11 21 4 3631 41,757 Little Town Cliff Richard 12 7 6 3463 39,825 Mirror Man Human League 13 8 11 3380 38,870 Young Guns (Go For It) Wham! 14 27 3 3320 38,180 All The Love In The World Dionne Warwick 15 12 5 3233 37,180 Friends Shalamar 16 13 5 3192 36,708 Hymn Ultravox 17 18 4 3045 35,018 Let's Get This Straight (From The Start) / Old Kevin Rowland And Dexys Midnight Runners 18 19 4 3027 34,811 Buffalo Gals Malcolm McLaren And The World's Famous Supreme Team 19 28 3 2960 34,040 Singalong-A-Santa Santa Claus And The Christmas Trees 20 20 5 2930 33,695 If You Can't Stand The Heat Bucks Fizz 21 14 7 2838 32,637 Rio Duran Duran 22 11 9 2663 30,625 Living On The Ceiling Blancmange 23 22 4 2578 29,647 I Feel Love Donna Summer 24 15 8 2448 28,152 Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) A Flock Of Seagulls 25 16 6 2425 27,888 The Other Side Of Love Yazoo 26 31 3 2274 26,151 Under Attack Abba 27 24 4 1904 21,896 Where The Heart Is Soft Cell 28 39 4 1875 21,563 Cacharpaya (Andes Pumpsa Desi) Incantation 29 34 3 1757 20,206 Dear Addy Kid Creole And The Coconuts 30 25 11 1686 19,389 I Don't Wanna Dance Eddy Grant 31 26 9 1542 17,733 It's Raining Again Supertramp 32 29 4 1538 17,687 Hi De Hi, Hi De Ho Kool And The Gang 33 55 2 1515 17,423 Orville s Song Keith Harris And Orville 34 48 2 1365 15,698 Theme From 'ET (The Extra Terrestrial)' John Williams 35 32 11 1308 15,042 Talk Talk Talk Talk 36 40 4 1255 14,433 I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter Barry Manilow 37 33 9 1205 13,858 (Sexual) Healing Marvin Gaye 38 23 6 1167 13,421 Youth of Today Musical Youth 39 43 3 1106 12,719 Heartache Avenue Maisonettes 40 35 6 1038 11,937 Night Porter Japan 41 37 10 1031 11,857 Heartbreaker Dionne Warwick 42 59 2 977 11,236 Baa Baa Black Sheep Singing Sheep 43 45 3 910 10,465 Changes Imagination 44 74 2 892 10,258 Xmas Party Snowmen 45 NE 1 881 10,132 Christmas Wrapping Waitresses 46 42 8 832 9,568 Here I Go Again / Bloody Luxury Whitesnake 47 38 13 815 9,373 Mad World Tears For Fears 48 49 3 798 9,177 Party Party Elvis Costello And The Attractions 49 67 2 789 9,074 Christmas Rapping Dizzy Heights 50 46 4 781 8,982 Cheers Then Bananarama 51 66 2 769 8,844 Gloria Laura Branigan 52 50 3 763 8,775 Mannequin Kids From 'Fame' 53 44 8 744 8,556 Theme From 'Harry's Game' Clannad 54 36 8 730 8,395 State Of Independence Donna Summer 55 68 24 729 8,384 The Birdie Song (Birdie Dance) Tweets 56 RE 24 688 7,912 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) John And Yoko And The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir 57 65 4 668 7,682 Loopzilla George Clinton 58 51 4 648 7,452 In And Out Willie Hutch 59 NE 1 610 7,015 The Story Of The Blues Wah 60 69 2 599 6,889 Oh Diane Fleetwood Mac 61 53 9 594 6,831 Maneater Daryl Hall And John Oates 62 54 6 559 6,429 Love John Lennon 63 47 5 538 6,187 I'm Alright Young Steve And The Afternoon Boys 64 56 5 532 6,118 (And Now: The Waltz) C'Est La Vie Slade 65 57 5 514 5,911 Desperate But Not Too Serious Adam Ant 66 64 6 512 5,888 Heartlight Neil Diamond 67 RE 16 498 5,727 Merry Xmas Everybody Slade 68 58 15 460 5,290 Do You Really Want To Hurt Me Culture Club 69 NE 1 457 5,256 The Smurf Tyrone Brunson 70 RE 9 444 5,106 Postman Pat Ken Barrie 71 62 8 443 5,095 The Girl Is Mine Michael Jackson And Paul McCartney 72 RE 8 437 5,026 I Believe In Father Christmas Greg Lake 73 NE 1 433 4,980 Magic's Wand Whodini 74 52 4 430 4,945 Melt / Il Est Ne Le Devin Enfant Siouxsie And The Banshees 75 61 5 411 4,727 Thank You Pale Fountains the multiplier used to calculate estimated market sales from panel sales is 11.5

I also think it started in 1973. Or at least, that was the year when labels really concentrated on getting a record to number 1 at Christmas and so pulled out all the stops. The Slade single was advertised on TV in the days leading up to its release, something that was seen as exceptional at the time. The record also apparently shipped 500,000 copies in its first week, a sign that the label were pulling out all the stops to ensure it was Christmas number 1.

BMRB, the then chart compilers, were aiming more to ensure that the chart reflected how records were selling relative to each other across the UK and realised that the further down the chart you go the less accurate it will be as records are selling almost the same as other records around them. BMRB had undertaken a special exercise in 1975 and 1976 to determine how accurate the cumulative panel sales figures were for individual titles by asking record labels to provide sales figures (shipments less returns) across the life of a number of singles. The conclusion was that they did, on the whole, reflect how singles had sold over time. This special exercise was enough for the BPI to provide estimated total sales for the top 100 best selling singles of 1976 by multiplying the total panel sales for records by almost 17. Over the next few years BMRB attempted to make the chart even more accurate although it was Gallup who would fine tune the chart panel sales calculation process to ensure it reflected national sales as closely as possible. Basing a chart on sales data provided by a few hundred record shops means that it is never going to be fully accurate. My guess is that sales are probably overestimated because using a multiplier to convert panel sales into total market sales is a crude way of doing this. The only way to use the panel sales and multiplier method with any accuracy would be to ensure that the shops chosen each week to provide sales data match as closely as possible the characteristics of all records shops in the UK.

Bubbling Under Chart 26 December 1981 Christmas Carousel The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra And David Arnold Christmas Crackers The Public Bar Supporters Club Christmas Dream Isla St Clair with The Choir Of the German School, Richmond Christmas Wrapping The Waitresses Closer To The Heart Rush Don't Let 'Em Grind You Down The Exploited / Anti-Pasti Drowning In Berlin Mobiles Falling In Love Again Techno Twins Fool If You Think It's Over Elkie Brooks I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You) Alton Edwards If Everyday Was Like Christmas Elvis Presley Let's Celebrate New York Skyy Little Miss Prissy The Stray Cats Matte Kudasai King Crimson Memory Elaine Paige Pub Crawl Brendan Shine Run With The Fox Chris Squire & Alan White Streets Of London Anti-Nowhere League Tainted Love Soft Cell Tenderness Diana Ross The Theme From Hill Street Blues Mike Post featuring Larry Carlton There's A Party Going On Racey Ticket To The Moon ELO Time To Let Go Eddy Grant Wrack My Brain Ringo Starr The above was listed below the top 75 in Music Week. Listed in alphabetical order. Excludes records that have been in the top 75 in the previous 4 weeks. No sales data held.

26 December 1981 Twk Lwk Wks Panel Est. Sales Title Artist 1 1 4 11880 142,560 Don't You Want Me Human League 2 2 6 10339 124,068 Daddy's Home Cliff Richard 3 3 3 9386 112,632 One Of Us Abba 4 4 3 7810 93,720 Ant Rap Adam And The Ants 5 10 5 7527 90,324 The Land of Make Believe Bucks Fizz 6 5 4 7432 89,184 It Must Be Love Madness 7 8 6 4919 59,028 Wedding Bells Godley And Crème 8 12 5 4528 54,336 Rock n' Roll Status Quo 9 19 7 4374 52,488 Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour) Dollar 10 26 3 4258 51,096 I'll Find My Way Home Jon And Vangelis 11 23 3 3898 46,776 Young Turks Rod Stewart 12 13 3 3854 46,248 Spirits In The Material World Police 13 7 8 3547 42,564 Why Do Fools Fall In Love? Diana Ross 14 6 10 3486 41,832 Begin the Beguine (Volver A Empezar) Julio Iglesias 15 14 5 3469 41,628 My Own Way Duran Duran 16 9 7 3377 40,524 Bedsitter Soft Cell 17 15 7 3108 37,296 Cambodia Kim Wilde 18 40 3 2667 32,004 Hokey Cokey Snowmen 19 30 3 2625 31,500 Waiting For A Girl Like You Foreigner 20 29 3 2592 31,104 I Could Be Happy Altered Images 21 36 3 2560 30,720 Stars Over 45 Chas And Dave 22 28 16 2557 30,684 The Birdie Song (Birdie Dance) Tweets 23 18 7 2500 30,000 Flashback Imagination 24 27 5 2362 28,344 Wild Is The Wind David Bowie 25 11 8 2137 25,644 Let's Groove Earth Wind And Fire 26 52 2 2121 25,452 Get Down On It Kool And The Gang 27 20 8 2068 24,816 The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum) Fun Boy Three 28 63 20 1972 23,664 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) John And Yoko 29 22 5 1945 23,340 Four More From Toyah Toyah 30 31 5 1540 18,480 Dead Ringer For Love Meat Loaf 31 38 5 1443 17,316 Footsteps Showaddywaddy 32 56 13 1442 17,304 Merry Xmas Everybody Slade 33 64 3 1364 16,368 I Wanna Be A Winner Brown Sauce 34 17 7 1332 15,984 I Go To Sleep Pretenders 35 16 7 1330 15,960 Under Pressure Queen And David Bowie 36 35 12 1252 15,024 Physical Olivia Newton-John 37 58 2 1245 14,940 Don't Walk Away Four Tops 38 21 8 1208 14,496 Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey Modern Romance 39 34 6 1194 14,328 Buona Sera (Don't Be Angry) Bad Manners 40 66 2 1164 13,968 Christmas On 45 Holly And The Ivys 41 61 2 1146 13,752 I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday Wizzard 42 33 9 1105 13,260 Yes Tonight Josephine Jets 43 24 9 1070 12,840 Steppin' Out Kool And The Gang 44 44 3 1007 12,084 Jingle Bells (Laughing All The Way) Hysterics 45 45 3 949 11,388 Sweet Dreams Elvis Costello 46 59 3 942 11,304 Perhaps Love Placido Domingo With John Denver 47 RE 4 939 11,268 Yellow Pearl Phil Lynott 48 39 10 902 10,824 Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) Haircut 100 49 37 7 902 10,824 Turn Your Love Around George Benson 50 RE 9 879 10,548 The Model / Computer Love Kraftwerk 51 42 6 876 10,512 Easier Said Than Done Shakatak 52 48 3 856 10,272 The Old Songs Barry Manilow 53 25 8 849 10,188 The Voice Ultravox 54 50 3 803 9,636 Waiting On A Friend Rolling Stones 55 47 4 796 9,552 Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing Tweets 56 41 10 790 9,480 Joan Of Arc Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark 57 NE 1 781 9,372 Hold My Hand Ken Dodd 58 43 4 740 8,880 Love Needs No Disguise Gary Numan And Dramatis 59 75 2 734 8,808 Trini Trax Trini Lopez 60 NE 1 711 8,532 Brideshead Theme Geoffrey Burgon 61 57 4 698 8,376 Blackboard Jumble Barron Knights 62 65 3 651 7,812 I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do) Lulu 63 46 5 617 7,404 I Can't Say Goodbye To You Helen Reddy 64 53 4 610 7,320 Help Get Me Some Help Ottawan 65 49 4 599 7,188 All That Glitters Gary Glitter 66 51 11 583 6,996 Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me) Rod Stewart 67 55 4 537 6,444 Should I Do It Pointer Sisters 68 NE 1 531 6,372 One Nine For Santa Fogwell Flax And Ankle Biters From Freehold Junior School 69 74 8 516 6,192 Visions Of China Japan 70 62 3 507 6,084 Never In A Million Years Boomtown Rats 71 54 10 499 5,988 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic Police 72 68 5 497 5,964 This Is Radio Clash Clash 73 73 6 488 5,856 A Wonderful Time Up There Alvin Stardust 74 NE 1 482 5,784 When A Child Is Born Johnny Mathis And Gladys Knight 75 72 14 479 5,748 Happy Birthday Altered Images the multiplier used to calculate estimated market sales from panel sales is 12

Very close indeed. It's likely that the deciding factor was Saturday sales (on 20 December 1980) for St Winifred's School Choir in the likes of Woolworths. With no midweeks back then it's guesswork trying to work out which single would have been ahead during the chart sales week.

Hopefully the above chart displays without a problem. Unfortunately I've not been able to obtain the weekly sales for all the records in the 27 December 1980 chart. It's the only one of the 1980s charts which is incomplete. St Winifred's School Choir score their second number 1 hit in under 3 years. Their first was as backing vocalists (with a different line-up) on 'Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs' by Brian and Michael, a number 1 record in April 1978.

27 December 1980 Twk Lwk Wks Panel Market Title Artist 1 2 6 12745 159,313 There's No One Quite Like Grandma St Winifred's School Choir 2 1 8 12645 158,063 (Just Like) Starting Over John Lennon 3 3 5 9696 121,200 Stop The Cavalry Jona Lewie 4 45 11 7893 98,663 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) John And Yoko And The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir 5 4 7 5469 68,363 Super Trouper Abba 6 5 3 5320 66,500 De Do Do Do De Da Da Da Police 7 10 4 5029 62,863 Antmusic Adam And The Ants 8 6 6 4703 58,788 Embarrassment Madness 9 NE 12 0 Imagine John Lennon 10 9 5 3973 49,663 Runaway Boys Stray Cats 11 7 6 3638 45,475 Banana Republic Boomtown Rats 12 15 4 3408 42,600 Lies / Don't Drive My Car Status Quo 13 18 5 3361 42,013 Rabbit Chas And Dave 14 13 7 3224 40,300 Lady Kenny Rogers 15 12 4 3208 40,100 Flash Queen 16 8 7 3189 39,863 To Cut A Long Story Short Spandau Ballet 17 27 4 3039 37,988 Never Mind The Presents Barron Knights 18 19 7 2769 34,613 Love On The Rocks Neil Diamond 19 24 5 2676 33,450 Over The Rainbow / You Belong To Me Matchbox 20 14 8 2641 33,013 The Tide Is High Blondie 21 11 7 2458 30,725 Do You Feel My Love Eddy Grant 22 25 8 2397 29,963 Lonely Together Barry Manilow 23 31 3 2219 27,738 Too Nice To Talk To Beat 24 34 3 2062 25,775 Do Nothing / Maggie's Farm Specials Featuring Rico With The Ice Rink String Sounds 25 16 9 1857 23,213 Celebration Kool And The Gang 26 23 6 1805 22,563 Don't Walk Away Electric Light Orchestra 27 17 5 1720 21,500 Rock 'N' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution AC/DC 28 35 2 0 This Wreckage Gary Numan 29 36 7 1639 20,488 It's Hard To Be Humble Mac Davis 30 26 10 0 I Could Be So Good For You Dennis Waterman 31 39 4 1521 19,013 Who's Gonna Rock You Nolans 32 30 4 1516 18,950 December Will Be Magic Again Kate Bush 33 33 6 1462 18,275 Looking For Clues Robert Palmer 34 32 5 1422 17,775 Blue Moon Showaddywaddy 35 21 7 1370 17,125 I'm Coming Out Diana Ross 36 38 4 1296 16,200 Lorraine Bad Manners 37 40 5 1262 15,775 If I Could Only Make You Care Mike Berry 38 22 9 1226 15,325 The Earth Dies Screaming / Dream A Lie UB40 39 20 11 1212 15,150 Never Knew Love Like This Before Stephanie Mills 40 61 2 1119 13,988 Runaround Sue Racey 41 57 2 1058 13,225 My Girl Rod Stewart 42 37 9 1028 12,850 Ace Of Spades Motorhead 43 59 2 906 11,325 I Am The Beat Look 44 28 9 841 10,513 I Like (What You're Doing To Me) Young And Co 45 29 8 802 10,025 Passion Rod Stewart 46 41 4 799 9,988 Santa Claus Is Back In Town Elvis Presley 47 44 3 759 9,488 Heartbreak Hotel Jacksons 48 43 13 751 9,388 Woman In Love Barbra Streisand 49 47 4 0 Guilty Barbra Streisand And Barry Gibb 50 NE 1 0 Don't Stop The Music Yarborough And Peoples 51 NE 1 692 8,650 Burn Rubber On Me Gap Band 52 NE 1 667 8,338 White Christmas / Too Risky Jim Davidson 53 68 2 651 8,138 Fade To Grey Visage 54 46 4 636 7,950 Die Young Black Sabbath 55 NE 1 618 7,725 I Ain't Gonna Stand For It Stevie Wonder 56 42 9 599 7,488 Fashion David Bowie 57 54 4 564 7,050 Boom Boom Black Slate 58 48 4 562 7,025 Israel Siouxsie And The Banshees 59 55 5 530 6,625 Sh-Boom / White Christmas Darts 60 53 4 520 6,500 What A Fool Believes Aretha Franklin 61 50 3 501 6,263 Love Me To Sleep Hot Chocolate 62 56 3 480 6,000 You're OK Ottawan 63 75 2 471 5,888 Back On The Road Earth Wind And Fire 64 60 2 471 5,888 Clubland Elvis Costello 65 51 13 466 5,825 Enola Gay Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark 66 69 2 455 5,688 I'm In Love Again Sad Café 67 70 16 446 5,575 Baggy Trousers Madness 68 58 4 425 5,313 Your Cassette Pet Bow Wow Wow 69 49 4 413 5,163 The Call Up Clash 70 NE 10 411 5,138 Merry Xmas Everybody Slade 71 52 7 409 5,113 Kiss On My List Daryl Hall And John Oates 72 63 12 405 5,063 Dog Eat Dog Adam And The Ants 73 74 16 374 4,675 DISCO Ottawan 74 64 6 375 4,688 Whip It Devo 75 NE 1 354 4,425 Young Parisians Adam And The Ants the multiplier used to convert panel sales to total market sales for the above chart is 12.5

I thought I'd post this thread at BuzzJack, not so much to gauge whether there would be much interest on charts from the 1980s but to provide a nice festive look at the Christmas charts of the 1980s! If anyone here also posts at Haven and UKMIx you'll probably know that I've been posting the BMRB and Gallup charts of the 1980s, along with the panel sales information that the two chart compilers included with their sales reports. BMRB were the British Market Research Bureau, a market research agency which had been awarded the contract to compile the UK music industry charts in 1969. The organisation compiled the charts until the end of 1982 and were succeeded by Gallup, another polling company who compiled the charts until February 1994. The contarct then passed to Millward Brown (now Kantar) who continue to compile the charts to this day. A couple of years ago I started to post the weekly Gallup charts from 1983 onwards and so far have reached the end of 1989. In addition I have recently been posting the BMRB charts from 1980 to 1982. Unlike the Gallup charts, which have been the weekly full top 200 charts - along with sales - the BMRB charts have been the monthly, not weekly, top 200 charts. I'm currently up to August 1982 with those charts. The chart information has kindly been provided to me by ukmix poster kobyhadrian. Thanks also go to BuzzJack poster kingofskiffle for collating this information and making it available for me to post. kobyhadrian has very kindly also provided me with the Christmas week charts from 1980 to 1982. I had already posted the Christmas charts from 1983 to 1989 in their respective yearly thread. As we are approaching Christmas I thought it would be a good chance to pull them all together into the one thread. A word on how these sales were put together. Unlike now, where nearly all sales are captured by Kantar, back in the 1980s it was a lot different. The charts compiled by BMRB were compiled from sales diaries which were sent to dealers each week to complete. When a customer bought a record the catalogue number of the record would be noted in the sales diary. At the end of each week, on a saturday evening, these diaries were posted back to BMRB who would then collate all the sales information from the diaries. It was quite a labour intensive job as all catalogue numbers had to be entered manually into the computer. This was done on a Monday with a chart being produced on a Tuesday morning. Radio 1 would then announce the new chart on a Tuesday at 12.45pm. When Gallup took over chart compilation duties, they modernised the sales collection process. Instead of catalogue numbers being written in a diary, the record shop staff would type the number into a "dataport" machine. The information would then be sent electronically to Gallup HQ. Gradually datports were phased out and replaced by barcode readers and these in turn would be replaced by Electronic Point Of sale equipment that we have today. One drawback of the data collection system under BMRB and gallup is that it was impossible to colect sales from every record store in the UK. The data collection process was too slow and expensive. Collecting sales data from every store that sold records was a pipe dream. Instead both BMRB and Gallup would limit how many stores each organisation used when conpiling the charts. By the time BMRB stopped compiling the charts this was only 750 stores. For Gallup, it about 2,000 stores by 1994. However, the purpose of the chart was to capture and reflect sales in the UK as a whole. In simple terms this was done by BMRB and Gallup using market research techniques to attempt to capture the make up of all UK sales in a much smaller universe of shops. Instead of sampling 4,000+ shops, both organisations attempted to capture national trends by using a smaller amount of shops and then reflecting sales in what were called "panel sales figures". These were sales in a set number of shops each week. When the charts were first compiled by BMRB in 1969 this set number of shops was 250. It was a hypothetical amount of shops but sales in those 250 shops were meant to reflect sales in the UK as a whole. While it wasn't possible to calculate actual UK sales, it was possible to calculate estimated market sales by using the panel sales figures that BMRB and Gallup compiled each week. Gallup estimated that its panel sales figures reflected sales in one seventeenth of all shops in the UK. To get an estimated market sales figure using Gallup panel sales, it suggested multiplying its weekly panel sales figures by 17. So, for example, a panel sale of 10,000 would produce an estimated market sale of 170,000. BMRB were less consistent in the figure that could be used to estimate market sales. In 1976, a BMRB special exercise to check the validity of its panel sales suggested that a 17 multiplier figure was about correct. However, from the late 1970s this figure decreases as more shops began to provide sales figures. In 1980 it appears the multiplier figure should be about 12.5. In 1981 it drops to 12 and in 1982 it seems to be about 11.5. As soon as gallup took over, using a different way of calculating its own panel sales, the figure rose back to 17. The above isn't easy to explain and while I hope it provides a backdrop to how I've calculated estimated market sales for each chart, I wouldn't worry too much about how the panel sales figures were arrived at. For 1983 to 1989 they fall in with the way the industry estimated sales figures. For 1980 to 1982 they are my own take on what the estimated market sales should be. Without any delay, I'll post the 27 December 1980 chart. The 26 December 1981 chart will appear tomorrow and then the charts will appear twice a day with the 30 December 1989 chart being posted on Friday afternoon or evening. if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. In the meantime, get reading and enjoy these charts!

I'd imagine they'd get their money back if no single is released.

The first 4 had decent week 1 sales, the 5th is terrible. All 5 had dreadful week 2 sales. Edit: reading the article, the first had first week sales of just 75,000, which is poor.

It coincides with when George Michael died but it's probably also partly due to when streaming took over from download sales, again around 2016. 'Last Christmas' is usually placed higher than 'Fairytale Of New York' on Christmas playlists.

The format rules for singles were introduced to reduce pressure on labels to have to fill multiple formats of singles with extra tracks, at cost to record labels when singles were largely loss leaders. Some labels also complained that other labels and acts had an advantage in being able to release multiple formats of singles as they could afford it. This unfair advantage was believed to be reflected in higher chart positions as fans bought all formats of a release. These rules were drawn up in the physical sales age but have continued to this day. The albums market wasn't seen to have problems in quite the same way though chart rules did at one time restrict how albums could have sales combined. Live versions of albums, remix album and deluxe versions all had times when sales couldn't be combined with the original (live albums continue to have this restriction). But multiple formats of the same basic album were allowed because at one time they would normally be sold at full price and not discounted in week one as singles were. The problems that existed with singles could be said to now apply to albums but given how poor physical album sales are I doubt the OCC would seek to have restrictions imposed on how many formats could be released.

They are chart ineligible. The rules were changed after Oasis and later Blur ('Country House'), occupied two chart places with the same record in 1995. The chart rules state:

She's 2 years younger than Mick Jagger and 3 years younger than Paul McCartney!

BiB: correct. For the physical release, only 3 variants will be chart eligible. As mentioned above, there's also a CD single release so that means there are 7 variants of which only 3 are chart eligible.

Oh yes, I'd (thankfully) forgotten about that one.

Isn't 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' just on 4 (not 5) stints at the top?

As Ladbaby has had 5 consecutive Christmas number 1s in a row, a record that will surely never be beaten, perhaps now is the time to call it quits rather than try for a 6th and fail miserably. Plus they no longer seem to attract (positive) media attention so would probably just encourage even more of a backlash. Don't Amazon normally reveal their exclusives around mid to late November? I think most people look back to their own Xmas era and wish for something similar to that. I still look back fondly on the Christmas 1984 chart and have happy memories of that time. The chart that year was a good mix of old Christmas classics, records that were then new Christmas songs and which have gone on to be Christmas classics, silly seasonal songs referencing frogs and elephants (in the top 5 too!). And non-seasonal songs that have gone on to be 1980s classics. Just perfect.

It was #4 and prevented Ed Sheeran from having 4 of the top 5 best sellers of the year: 1 :: Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You :: 3,265k 2 :: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft Justin Bieber - Despacito :: 2,265k 3 :: Ed Sheeran - Castle On The Hill :: 1,850k 4 :: French Montana ft Swae Lee - Unforgettable :: 1,400k 5 :: Ed Sheeran - Galway Girl :: 1,370k 6 :: Ed Sheeran - Perfect :: 1,325k 7 :: Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson - Symphony :: 1,265k 8 :: Rag'n'Bone Man - Human :: 1,130k 9 :: Chainsmokers & Coldplay - Something Just Like This :: 1,100k 10 :: Jax Jones & Raye - You Don't Know Me :: 1,050k

It's probably just a coincidence as the launch date of Spotify in the UK was 7 October 2008 https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/spot...s-europe/851655

Mr Brightside revealed as UK's most streamed song in Spotify history by Andre Paine To mark its 15th anniversary this month, Spotify has revealed the biggest artists and songs during that period in the UK. Following its launch in October 2008, streaming has gone on to become dominant in terms of music consumption with Spotify as market leader. The Swedish streaming platform was first available on an invite-only basis and became fully accessible to the public in 2009 as both an ad-funded and subscription service. According to UK data, Mr Brightside by The Killers is the most streamed song on Spotify in the UK during the past 15 years (October 2008 to August 2023). The single was first released 20 years ago (September 29, 2003) and has become a true perennial. Two decades since its release, Mr Brightside was No.27 in the biggest singles of the year (Official Charts Company) up to the end of Q3 in 2023. Although it is not the biggest hit in terms of chart position for The Killers (No.10 on debut in May 2004 – its only week inside the Top 20), Mr Brightside has had incredible staying power with 382 weeks in the Top 100, which is more than seven years. It has spent six weeks in the Top 40 and 130 weeks in the Top 75. In 2021, Mr Brightside reached five years (260 non-consecutive weeks) in the Top 100, a record-breaking result which has since been consolidated thanks to consistent streaming consumption. Mr Brightside (Vertigo/EMI) has chart sales to date of 5,146,333 (Official Charts Company), including 4,083,702 from sales-equivalent streams, 1,040,115 downloads and 22,516 physical copies. It was the lead single from The Killers’ 2004 debut album, Hot Fuss, which peaked at No.1 and has sales to date of 2,460,124. Spotify doesn’t reveal the UK-only streams for Mr Brightside, which has a global Spotify streaming count of 1,881,261,446 (as of October 9, 2023). According to OCC data, The Killers’ single has 446,450,174 audio streams across all DSPs in the UK. That puts it at No.4 in terms of the most streamed tracks ever in the UK, behind Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved at No.1 (547,203,306 audio streams), Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You at No.2 (539,804,486) and Sheeran’s Perfect at No.3 (475,746,011). However, the Official Charts Company only began counting streams as part of its charts calculations in June 2014, so Mr Brightside had several years to establish its lead on Spotify. Its main streaming rivals are more recent singles by Capaldi (2018) and Sheeran (2017). Speaking to Music Week in late 2017, The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers pondered whether the track would have made as big of a splash had it been released in the current era. “I just don’t think it would be as certain of a home run as it was,” said Brandon Flowers. “There’s not a home for traditional rock music - guitar, bass, drums and vocals - and I see a lot of people catering to a certain listener to try and get on the radio. “A lot of rock is getting enthused with hip-hop and urban sentiments, feelings and tones, and so I don’t know that [Mr Brightside] would have been as easily taken into people’s hearts as it was.” Even five years ago, the power of Mr Brightside on DSPs was undeniable. “The band talk about Mr Brightside taking a life of its own,” the band’s manager Robert Reynolds, of Reynolds Management, told Music Week at the time. “Mr Brightside has become an anthem for a generation and you kind of surrender a little bit of ownership and let that song do what it does. We’re all happy to have it in the catalogue.” Spotify’s 15th anniversary streaming charts While many of the most streamed Spotify songs of the last 15 years are long-running No.1 singles, there are others tracks – like Mr Brightside – which have earned their place thanks to long-term, consistent consumption over years rather than a high chart placing. Riptide by Vance Joy is the sixth biggest song in Spotify history in the UK (No.10 chart peak in January 2014 – 3,475,431 sales to date), while Arctic Monkeys’ Do I Wanna Know? didn’t even need to breach the Top 10 of the singles chart to make Spotify’s anniversary rundown at No.7. It peaked at No.11 on the weekly chart in June 2013 and has sales to date of 3,043,054. Ed Sheeran is the most streamed UK artist globally on Spotify over the last 15 years and he’s the holder of the most streamed UK track globally with Shape of You, ahead of Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved and Glass Animals’ Heat Waves. According to Spotify’s 15th birthday data drop, Dua Lipa is the most streamed female artist from the UK on Spotify. Two of her songs – Don’t Start Now and New Rules – make the Top 15 tracks by UK artists of all time on the platform. Linkin Park’s Shadow Of The Day was the most streamed track on launch day in 2008, while Coldplay became the first UK artist to reach one million monthly streams in January 2009. Spotify Top 15 Artists from the UK by global streams: 1 Ed Sheeran 2 Coldplay 3 Dua Lipa 4 Calvin Harris 5 Queen 6 Sam Smith 7 Harry Styles 8 One Direction 9 Adele 10 The Beatles 11 Arctic Monkeys 12 Elton John 13 Ellie Goulding 14 James Arthur 15 Lewis Capaldi The biggest tracks on Spotify by UK artists from the past 15 years by global streams: 1 Ed Sheeran - Shape of You 2 Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved 3 Glass Animals - Heat Waves 4 Harry Styles - As It Was 5 Ed Sheeran - Perfect 6 James Arthur - Say You Won't Let Go 7 Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar 8 Dua Lipa - Don’t Start Now 9 Ed Sheeran - Thinking out Loud 10 Ed Sheeran - Photograph 11 Coldplay, The Chainsmokers - Something Just Like This 12 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - Remastered 2011 13 Passenger - Let Her Go 14 Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa - One Kiss 15 Dua Lipa - New Rules The UK's 15 most streamed songs of the past 15 years on Spotify: 1 The Killers - Mr Brightside 2 Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved 3 Ed Sheeran - Shape of You 4 Drake, Kyla, Wizkid - One Dance 5 The Weeknd - Blinding Lights 6 Vance Joy - Riptide 7 Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? 8 James Arthur - Say You Won't Let Go 9 Ed Sheeran - Thinking out Loud 10 21 Savage, Post Malone - Rockstar 11 Hozier - Take Me To Church 12 Burna Boy, Dave - Location 13 Oasis - Wonderwall 14 George Ezra - Shotgun 15 French Montana, Swae Lee - Unforgettable from musicweek.com