If you’ve read Polly’s blog post today about how royal celebrations coincide with radical, challenging, anarchic and subversive music that somehow doesn’t quite top the charts, you’ll see where my response is coming from.
Polly cited how the Sex Pistols’ record ‘God Save The Queen’ was selling an estimated 150,000 copies a day between late May and early June 1977 and yet somehow failed to make the number 1 slot. Then the Royal Wedding of 1981 managed to take place to the sound of ‘the more upbeat and family friendly “Green Door” by Shakin’ Stevens, which shot to the number one slot just 3 days before the wedding, usurping ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials.’
We know things aren’t all fair and above board, and in the late 70s and early ’80s, all sorts of dodgy practices went on that are only now coming to light. But even in 1980, there was accepted corruption in the world of the pop charts. This fabulous vintage World in Action TV programme goes into the stealth and fiendish world of chart-rigging. Sit back and enjoy.
Oh, and if you’re a woman who fancies working in the music industry, you could be one of the ‘housewives’ employed to buy up lots of copies of the new Shaking Stevens single. How about that then, guys and gals?
1 thought on “Pop Chart Corruption”