Jeff

Going back to how the BBC complied their charts pre-69, interesting how in the infamous week of the 3 way tie that they'd put the Bee Gees at joint 1 before it reached number 1 in any of the music papers charts, effectively anticipating it - if only it hadn't made it, there would have been a case of the averaging producing a number 1 from a record not actually rated number 1 anywhere!

Just to add though often new entries in the bottom half of the Top 20 were faded early . eg Trammps's Disco Inferno faded just beofre that record's third tune!

The detailed info on the 50's and 60's is absolutely incredible Trevs - is some of this from memory? (I know what you've said on the 70's is spot on!!) V interesting to me that Mrs Robinson ep would have had one more week in the 20 had the chart basis not changed when it did. For about 6 months, the BMRB top 40 had at laest one tie position in it, they should have applied tie-breaking by looking at sales movement (as was done before and after). When was the chart of the year first done properly using sales (albeit with a 3 week early cut-off - was it 1970?) The points systems ones I've seen for the 60's are dreadful - because Can't By Me Love, 1964's top seller, sold like hotcakes over a very short period of time, it didn't even make the Top 20! (I'm a Tom Browne fan - see my site at listen.to/uktopforty)