Disco Charts: Were They Fixed? (Billboard, Record Mirror...)

[markydefad]

And I wouldn't put much stock in any charts after 1977. Especially Billboard. Considering the gentleman responsible for those charts, for 2 decades, got indicted for embezzlement, or something equally distasteful, in the mid-80's, by influencing the charts.

Now you can't drop that little bombshell and not elaborate. Who are you referring to????? Who went to jail? :icon_eek::icon_question::icon_exclaim:

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Now you can't drop that little bombshell and not elaborate. Who are you referring to????? Who went to jail? :icon_eek::icon_question::icon_exclaim:

I wrote that last piece while I was at work. And damned if I didn't hit the "submit reply" button, when I thought: "This is about the guy who started the Disco charts. I gotta get home to my books and fact-check, before Marky reads this!":icon_lol:

Here's the deal... It's a bit more complicated than I remembered, but I'll try to keep the explanation simple.

Bill Wardlow aka "The Father of Disco" was remembered in his 2002 obituary as such:
"Willis "Bill" Wardlow, former associate publisher and director of charts for Billboard, died Dec. 29 in L.A. He was 80.
Wardlow helped launch Billboard's monitoring of disco-a precursor to the current Club Play and Maxi-Singles Sales charts. "He propelled disco into the phenomenon that it became," says Marvin Deane, a former promoter who worked with Wardlow in the '60s and '70s. Wardlow's 55-year career also included stints at Columbia and Capitol."

He was fired from Billboard in April of 1983. "The magazine was apparently unhappy with his handling of the charts." Tom Noonan/Billboard - 1987

more later... I have to go eat dinner...:icon_twisted:

Okay... Back with 2 computers, 2 books and a full stomach. Now, where was I?

Al Coury was brought in by Robert Stigwood, to manage RSO Records. - "There are those who believe Al Coury was the greatest promotion man of all time. He inspired more fear than any human being in the industry. The quintessential Al Coury anecdote also said a great deal about the making of the Billboard charts in the Disco era." By April of 1978 RSO had racked-up 5 consecutive Billboard No. 1's, between the BEE GEEs and (after insane promotion work) Andy Gibb. But, for love nor (a whole lot of) money, they couldn't get the Yvonne Elliman record to No. 1.

There was a Billboard conference in Venice, Italy. Coury was asked to be on a panel, but resisted. Until he heard that Bill Wardlow, who did the magazine's charts, would attend. He arrived on the same flight as Bill. And RSO's International person, the late Michael Hutson, took them to the most expensive hotel. A trip around Venice in a Gondola. And on their way back to the hotel, after a hugely expensive dinner, Al told Michael "I'm finished here. I'm taking him home." Michael asked "What's going on? Who is this guy?" Al said, "This is Bill Wardlow. It's about my f*%*ing Yvonne Elliman record! I've GOT to get it to No. 1 somehow!" The next week, Yvonne Elliman was No. 1

And if you think this was simply about pushing his artists, consider this: When "If I Can't Have You" hit No. 1 on Billboard, it established 3 Records:
1. It was the fourth number one single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the only motion picture to produce that many chart-topping 45s.

2. It was the fourth consecutive number one single to be written by Barry Gibb, breaking the record set by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who penned three consecutive number ones in 1964.

3. It was the sixth consecutive number one single for RSO Records. No other label until that time had ever had more than two consecutive 45s reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100. RSO dominated the chart summit for 21 weeks in a row, and would log another 10 weeks at one before the last day of 1978.

Having Yvonne, herself, get a No. 1, was probably the least of their reasons. (You didn't see promotion like that again for her, did you?) RSO had so much more than that riding on this particular No. 1 slot, in May of 1978.

The most influential promoters of Disco became the roots of "The Network". (A group of Promoters, the most powerful being Joe Isigro, who each controlled particular "regions" of the country's radio airplay.) "The Network took root in about 1978, the peak year of Disco. Disco created the climate that made The Network possible. More important, the Disco phenomenon was fueled by hype, by the belief that hits are bought, not born." It would take the record industry a long time to find out this was not a profitable way of doing things. And when the labels tried to boycott The Network, it backfired and gave The Network more power to actually STOP hits! -- Fast forward -- 11/30/89 The Payola Grand Jury indicted Isigro on 51 counts. (Including drug-trafficking, for sending a package of Cocaine to a radio DJ, via Federal Express.)

After all the Grand Jury dust cleared, so many people had "talked", to get out of going to prison, that The Network members were tracked all the way back to RSO in 1977.

PHEW! And that was the SHORT version!!! If y'all want to know any more, you can start reading and doing your own research.

[kdavid13]

Reminds me of when RECORD MIRROR stopped publishing the Hi-NRG chart because of a situation with Ian Levine...

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Reminds me of when RECORD MIRROR stopped publishing the Hi-NRG chart because of a situation with Ian Levine...

I was on the Hi-NRG Panel, at The Winter Music Conference, for a few years. I recall the distributors coming up to the open-mike, and being merciless about Ian Levine. But that's another thread.

[Cdnbob]

I was on the Hi-NRG Panel, at The Winter Music Conference, for a few years. I recall the distributors coming up to the open-mike, and being merciless about Ian Levine. But that's another thread.

Gee, has Ian been a s**t disturber again. Kind of interesting to hear this as he also doesn't have a great reptuation in Doctor Who circles either which is where I first came to know of him.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Gee, has Ian been a s**t disturber again. Kind of interesting to hear this as he also doesn't have a great reptuation in Doctor Who circles either which is where I first came to know of him.

My recollection from the WMC Hi-NRG Panel is from the early 90's. Nothing recent.

[drlove]

re: Stephen Freeman's comment of:

Here's the deal... It's a bit more complicated than I remembered, but I'll try to keep the explanation simple.

* * * * *

Thanks, Stephen, for sharing those details and recollections and research findings. My discomusic.com profile lists RSO as one of my fave all-time disco labels (I even have one of the giant inflatable promotional "cows" pictured on the label), so I greatly appreciated some background scoop on the promotional tactics that helped RSO virtually have a complete lock on the charts throughout 1978 (thanks to Saturday Night Fever, the various Gibb brothers, and the release of Grease).

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Thanks, Stephen, for sharing those details and recollections and research findings. My discomusic.com profile lists RSO as one of my fave all-time disco labels (I even have one of the giant inflatable promotional "cows" pictured on the label), so I greatly appreciated some background scoop on the promotional tactics that helped RSO virtually have a complete lock on the charts throughout 1978 (thanks to Saturday Night Fever, the various Gibb brothers, and the release of Grease).

My pleasure!:icon_mrgreen:

Although Disco was the splashiest, gaudiest and (at times) the most decadent branch of Pop Music... The Recording Business, overall, is fascinating in every direction imaginable!

RSO and Casablanca (where my heart is) were both financed by Polygram. In a move that Polygram (one of the 3 largest Music Corporations in the world, at that time...) mishandled, almost to the point of bankruptcy. (It's estimated that Casablanca, alone, by 1980 had put them in-the-red, somewhere in the "high tens of millions" of dollars. Translate that into today money...) Polygram didn't return to profitability until 1985.

There was a rivalry between RSO and Casablanca. (Though it didn't last too long. Because Casablanca, eventually, blew right past RSO.) And Polygram's German, home-based, head-honchos had no problem fanning the flames between them.:icon_twisted:

If you really want to learn some incredibly fascinating stuff about the labels and the people who ran them (Stuff that makes, even the most infamous Artist/Producer drama, look like a Saturday morning cartoon!), read books about the Record Industry. As opposed to books about Disco.

Here's 2 GREAT books to start with, that will have you freakin' glued-to-the-page...

"Hit Men : Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business" Amazon-U.S. | Amazon-U.K.
by Frederic Dannen - 1991 Knopf Publishing Group
and
"Stiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia" Amazon-U.S. | Amazon-U.K.
by William Knoedelseder - 1993 HarperCollins Publishers

P.S. Hold onto that Cow!!! It's worth a small fortune.

[Bernie]

For those coming in late on this thread: The above posts were originally part of a thread on the Village People. I split these posts off from the original thread and created this new one here as it deserves more attention.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

For those coming in late on this thread: The above posts were originally part of a thread on the Village People. I split these posts off from the original thread and created this new one here as it deserves more attention.

Thanks, Bernie.:icon_smile:

Although only intending, at first, to make a side-bar comment...
I jumped at the chance to squint through indexes, dog-ear book pages, lose myself in google-land, and slide into full-throttle Historian mode.

I just LOVE this stuff! The business of music has intrigued me, since I was a kid. It's truth is infinitely more interesting than fiction.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Reminds me of when RECORD MIRROR stopped publishing the Hi-NRG chart because of a situation with Ian Levine...

I honestly know very little about this story. (I was one of Dean Furgeson's Hi-NRG Reporters, for Dance Music Report aka Dance Music Authority. So I didn't really pay attention to other Hi-NRG charts.) And I was fairly good professional-amigos with Ian.

Bring me up-to-speed?:icon_mrgreen:

[Adrian Scott]

I remmember that back at the height of the jazz funk boom James Hamilton reviewed a non existant record in Record Mirror and sure enough it appeared on a load of chart returns the following week! Charts should be taken with a pinch of salt.

[disco-disc]

Well Adrian, You open up a whole can of worms there, what with the 'London Mafia' DJ's when they tried to make 'Jazz Funk' take over from Disco. This was a bad period for me, as the music just wasn't my scene, and became too 'nice'

But well done Stephen for this insight, and the RSO facts.....although Barry L (RIP) did always pride himself, and Tom, for being honest with their chart reporting,he did mention that there were 'Weightings' applied by 'someone' to the chart reporting system.

[onthebeat]

Here's the deal... It's a bit more complicated than I remembered, but I'll try to keep the explanation simple....

Very interesting in deed... thanks for all the information.

Lets also remember that at this time Payola was in full swing as well. Payola is were the radio stations would get payed for playing songs... More exposure... More Sales... Bigger place on the charts. For the most part this was happening in major market stations, but helped the record company's sell lots of records. just my .02...

Kindest Regards,

Jerry

[disco-disc]

This sort of thing goes on in ALL businesses, to one degree or another by the way....:icon_cry:
But it would be interesting to know which side of the fence Billy Smith fell, he was 20th Century guy, and gets LOTS of mentions back in the day. I will give him the benfit and say he was an active proponent of Disco music but did anyone know or have dealings with ?

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

...although Barry L (RIP) did always pride himself, and Tom, for being honest with their chart reporting,he did mention that there were 'Weightings' applied by 'someone' to the chart reporting system.

I must add that the RSO situation was within the HOT 100 SINGLES chart. And I agree that, for the most part, the charts were calculated properly. But, at some point, no one is immune to money. And there was LOTS of it being thrown around, towards anyone with radio/chart influence.

Considering Wardlow created the Disco Chart, I can't see that he wouldn't treat his baby, any less hands-on (or, hands-in), than the established charts. (Remember that he oversaw them all.) I'd venture to say that, by mid-1977, the Top 5 of either chart was suspect to some manipulation.

[markydefad]

In Dayna's interview with Tom Moulton [which I cannot open here for some reason--but I read Tom's quote yesterday at work] Moulton said the disco charts were on the up and up during the time he was writing his column. He also says he visited the retailers on a weekly basis and carefully compiled the data in the early years...what happened after that he can't vouch for...which implies that they weren't so clean later on :icon_eek: That's a paraphrase. If someone else wants to get the quote that would be great.

[update: God bless the child that adds his own:

9-(Dayna)-Do you know how the Billboard charts were calculated, who actually did this? And which cities charts were given more weight in the calculation besides the obvious New York and L.A.?

(Tom Moulton)- The Disco charts when I was doing them were compiled from DJs playlists and sales. I was doing them in the beginning and like everything else that becomes successful people will always try to corrupt it and ruin it. I went to all the stores and knew what they were asking for and buying. I knew what the clubs were playing. That was in the beginning. I can't say what happened after I left. Honest people and the music business are always at odds. People seem to like the sugarcoated Bullshit more then the truth where as the truth a lot of the time is just boring.

[Since Bernie did the updates I can't open the record vault files either...]

Anyway, Barry Lederer, who succeeded Moulton in writing the "Disco Mix" column for Billboard gives some information about how the charts were compiled in his interview with Hotdiscomix from Germany...from Hotdiscomix's website:

hotdiscomix :: Barry Lederer :: Interview

When and how did Billboard’s disco section start?
Barry Lederer: Both myself, Tom Moulton, and Mel Cheren introduced Bill Wardlow, then editor of Billboard, to put a disco section in the magazine. After visiting the clubs in New York and at the Island, he was more than impressed with the influence and excitement of disco. Some weeks later, Tom Moulton started a Disco Mix column, that I took over after several years.


hotdiscomix: In what period of time did you write for the Billboard magazine, especially the “Disco Mix” column?
Barry Lederer: From 1976-1982 — 6 years that were a great time to write as disco was at its peak, and during which I met so many people, both artists and DJs. Though there was always someone who wanted to be treated special, I never gave in. I felt that once it gets around that you take favors, your respect is lost. I mostly tried to expose the audience to new music that was great for the dance floor and keep my column up-tempo and positive. However, if a group that was known failed, I felt it necessary to mention it, as it was news also.

[Markydefad: I have a question about the timeline since the "Disco Mix" column byline is credited to Tom Moulton into 1977...was Barry Lederer actually writing the columns?...I've got columns into early 1977 and they all say "by Tom Moulton.' Anyone know?..Or was he a reporter for Billboard starting in 1976 and only taking over the "Disco Mix" column later in time?] :icon_question::icon_question::icon_question:


The format of the disco column included: first, a review of new disco releases; second, a compilation of the sales charts from important record shops. The column also had club play charts, at first from New York DJs and, with time, from DJs all around the U.S.A.

As Tom Moulton can attest, this column was read by all in the music business. The DJs looked to them to discover what was hot. The column, just like a New York Times theatre review, could make or break it for an artist. I must say that both Tom and I never abused this privilege, though it was set before us so many times. Once you give into temptation, you are listed. I did what I had to do, sometimes giving the smaller label a little more of a review. My point of view was that if it was a record I would play, I would give it a heads up. If it was from an established group and didn’t live up to expectations, I would say so.

Two other publications at this time were Cashbox and Record World, that eventually ceased publication due to Billboard’s success. The magazine kept up with the times and included charts in Hip Hop, videos and video games. It is considered a standard in the industry and has its own award show each year with honors going to groups that were on the charts the longest.


hotdiscomix: Were you involved in the drawing up of the weekly Billboard Disco Charts?
Barry Lederer: No. That was done by my boss. However, he did offer some interesting insight into the Disco charts. There was a specific number of Billboard reporters across the country. It was an honor to be one of these, and I was lucky to have this recognition when I played at Fire Island. Each DJ was given a number from one to ten according to how influential his club was. When each DJ turned in his Top 10 or Top 25, [markydefad: the correct number is 15--at least that's what was printed] each song was then rated by Billboard. If you were a ten, then your songs were given that number. As for sales, it was initially based on several major outlets in New York City. It eventually expanded across the country. Now sales are based on SoundScan.

[ Markydefad: Having plowed through the minutia of the first 2 years of Billboard charts, I can see the influence of certain cities--especially New York--as getting preference on the Billboard city charts. If anything charts in the New York city chart Top 15--it usually gets mentioned in the Top 40... from my perspective, LA, SF, Boston, Baltimore-DC, Miami, and Chicago would appear to be the other "favored" chart cities... their opinion appears to be valued more than the charts from the likes of Denver and Seattle...and with good reason, if you've been paying attention!!!] :icon_lol:


I have no doubt that payola from record company promo people was a factor in getting airplay and chart position jockeying. That's pretty well documented. As Stephen mentioned, the Hot 100 Pop chart was the golden ring that most were reaching for--#1 on the POP chart was the goal in most cases. That was the biggest prize...thus far, I don't see a whole lotta of "tampering" in the disco chart...the numbers at the top of the chart usually add up to how Billboard city charts compile them...of course, "tampering" could have taken place on that level also...but I think the disco charts were not the main emphasis of the payola scandal. For the record, the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack never achieved #1 on the Disco chart--it peaked at #3...so RSO didn't get their way in that area.

[Bernie]

In Dayna's interview [which I cannot open here for some reason--but I read his quote yesterday at work]

[Since Bernie did the updates I can't open the record vault files either...]

Don't understand why you can't see these pages. Please send me a detailed PM giving me your operating system+version, browser+version and what you mean by "can't open" them. Thanks.

For those that want to read the complete interview with Barry Lederer please click on the following link: Barry Lederer of Graebar Sound () | Disco Music.com

and the complete interview with Tom Moulton by our very own Dayna: http://www.discomusic.com/people-more/12494_0_11_0_C/

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

#1 on the POP chart was the goal in most cases. That was the biggest prize...thus far, I don't see a whole lotta of "tampering" in the disco chart...the numbers at the top of the chart usually add up to how Billboard city charts compile them...of course, "tampering" could have taken place on that level also...but I think the disco charts were not the main emphasis of the payola scandal.

Agreed, completely...thus far

And I can't see Tom, or Barry, as dishonest, in any way. But, as Barry said: he didn't put the actual charts together. Wardlow did. (At least, until 1983, when Noonan took over.) The real promotional-push wasn't on the columnists. It was directed at the charts themselves. In all I've read from Tom and Barry, they can only attest to the credibility of the Disco Mix column.

Payola was geared more towards radio play than anything else. But, by 1978 - 1979, Disco had one of, if not the largest share of the market. In the end, execs weren't terribly concerned with what people said about a release. Just how it fared against the competition. That comes from my own experience with releases I've been connected to. I remember Duncan Finlayson, of Loading Bay Records, telling me, when I was concerned about less-than-kind reviews of my first production: "Who cares about reviews? The numbers are great. F*#k the reviews!" (He also managed to stiff me on any royalties. I produced a track that went Top 3. Yet I managed to lose $3000 - $4000 in the process! It can be an ugly business, on any level.) On the flip-side: I once received a nasty review on one of my Hot Tracks projects. I didn't deserve it and the mix didn't deserve it. (As they say: "Those who can, do. And those who can't, critique." And this queen was out-to-get-me!) Hot Tracks was a big advertiser for the magazine, so my boss called-up and asked the to have the song re-reviewed by someone else. They did and it was positive. My point being, if this stuff happens on the Remix-Service and Import 12" levels, you can best believe it happened / happens on the National level. (The level of integrity within the industry, certainly doesn't rise, with the level of notoriety.)

And, as you said Marky, "the numbers at the top of the chart usually add up to how Billboard city charts compile them...of course, "tampering" could have taken place on that level also..." The Billboard Reporting DJs, especially when Disco was the big sell for the major labels, were constantly flooded with free-crap and favors from promoters, to push particular records. In Miami I saw it all the time with the guys I knew, who were reporters, from 1980, through the early 90's. With an obvious slow-down, in the late 80's, after the indictments. (For awhile there, you were lucky if a promoter gave you colored vinyl, or a custom slip-mat!:icon_lol: We did custom, picture-frame clocks for Donna's "Another Place & Time" LP.)

I'm not saying the Disco Charts were bogus. In the beginning? Far from it. But I can't believe that, from late 1977 thru 1979, with the industry flooding the market with Disco product, that the Disco Chart, itself, was immune from promotional influence. It ceased to be that little 1-page column, and, by 1978, grew into an entire section of the magazine. With complete issues devoted, solely to Disco. And the creation of the Billboard Disco Forums, and Awards. Billboard's Disco Chart grew worthy of considerably more industry attention than any other chart, besides the Pop Hot 100. And, as much as we all love and appreciate it, like it or not, Disco was seen and cultivated by the industry as a hype-driven genre. Not a talent-driven one.

Taking into context the painstaking, meticulous work you've put into re-creating these charts (I've said it before... you amaze me with this!!!)... And the site's membership following along, behind you, posting comments and inquiries, on subjects like The Supreme's demise on the chart...when "Love In C-Minor" will show-up...who had the first "Daylight"...the first Hijack" etc. Remember that our collective industry-focused microscope is still set upon the salad-days of Disco. Following that step-by-step course, we have another year to go, before the whole thing explodes, worldwide. It becomes about so much more than the music.

[markydefad]

I agree with your points, Stephen.

When disco had those two back to back #1 hits in the summer of 1974, "Rock The Boat" and "Rock Your Baby"--record companies thought disco was their new "cash cow." 1975 continued the trend of crossing KC The Sunshine Band, Silver Convention, Donna Summer, etc. over to the top of the Pop charts. But since that heady rush, a lot of 1976 was spent complaining in Billboard about how the disco records were NOT crossing over...to the point where some insiders were wondering if disco was dead!!! I have an article from Billboard celebrating their 2nd anniversary of disco in July, 1976--calculated from the dates those two "Rock" records hit #1--that documents this train of thought. It is transcribed in full within the July, 1976 chart thread.

However, the "cash cow" is down the road...so by the time 1978 rolls around...as Stephen stated, "disco" becomes a major player in the music industry in terms of mainstream sales and airplay and much more subject to manipulation and corruption from the record companies seeking bragging rights and $$$$$$$$$ from #1 hits and airplay. :icon_mad::icon_mad::icon_mad:

Interesting side note. to me anyways....the guy who took over computing the charts from Wardlow, as Stephen mentioned, was Tom Noonan. The talent agency I work at represented his daughter as an actress back in the early days I worked there. Her name was Kerry Noonan...and I believe she's probably married with children and doing something else now...but she was a sweet girl. I always wanted to ask her about what her dad did--but now I don't recall whether that subject ever came up. :icon_redface::icon_rolleyes: By the late Eighties, I was less interested in music and more interested in movies and TV. Now its flipped again. :icon_rolleyes:

[markydefad]

did a Google on Tom Noonan..

Tom Noonan Dead At 78

By Kevin Carter
Publication: Radio Monitor
Date: Tuesday, October 31 2006

R&R is saddened to report the passing of industry vet Tom Noonan after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 78.

Noonan is best known for his many years at Billboard, where, in late 1955, he created three Top 100 charts to track sales, sheet music and jukeboxes.

In July 1957 they were combined into the Hot 100 we know today.

During his storied career, Noonan also enjoyed two tours of duty at Columbia Records, including senior VP of promotion under Goddard Lieberson and, later, Clive Davis. He was later VP of marketing at Motown, and president of Metromedia Records. Tom came home to Billboard in the mid-'70s as head of sales and later reclaimed his old job as head of charts until his departure in 1990. Shortly thereafter, Noonan and his pal Johnny Barbis formed New Marketing; he later started The Charts with R&R's own Steve Resnik, a close friend of Tom for many years.

Noonan is survived by two daughters, Kerry and Kristie.

[disco-disc]

Good thread, and interesting :icon_biggrin:...
and by the way I CAN'T OPEN THE DISCO VAULT EITHER..if your listening Bernie :icon_question:

[JOL]

Bernie,
I'm having the same problem also since you updated the look of the site. I'd pm you but that dosen't seem to work either for me. The only pages I can access is the forums. If I click on anything on the front page ie interview, sign in, contact etc. when the page opens there is nothing there except for hot buttons to the links. I'm using window xp home and I'm still using the old version of IE 6 because I hate the changes they did to 7. Help please.

[quote=Bernie;142638]Don't understand why you can't see these pages. Please send me a detailed PM giving me your operating system+version, browser+version and what you mean by "can't open" them. Thanks.

[kdavid13]

I honestly know very little about this story. (I was one of Dean Furgeson's Hi-NRG Reporters, for Dance Music Report aka Dance Music Authority. So I didn't really pay attention to other Hi-NRG charts.) And I was fairly good professional-amigos with Ian.

Bring me up-to-speed?:icon_mrgreen:

As a longtime fan [as in fanatic rather than casual... ] ; I've always been fascinated by Hi-NRG music. The synths,the flashy beats,the divas,the gay overtones...name it...That music spoke to me.

So I've also been collecting magazines DMR,DMA,Canada's STREETSOUND,the UK's RECORD MIRROR etc...and pretty much collected the Hi-NRG pages and glued them all in regular note books.So I'm left with tons of articles from those magazines.

BTW just went through one of those set of clippings and the first thing see is..."The panelists,including producer Steve Schani,DJs Stephen Freeman and Chuck Davis..." or "Chris Cox is along with Stephen L. Freeman,one of the resident geniuses at the Award-winning HOT TRACKS remix service..." [You legend,you !!! ]

So I'm certain I will be able to find the originating article...sometime soon.

What I remember is that one week ; RECORD MIRROR's NRG chart was yanked off and they pretty much accused "a certain DJ" of tooting his own horn and praising only his own records...and since they pointed out that he was responsible for 14 titles off the top 20 ; it wasn't hard to figure out who they were talking about !!

As a longtime fan of Ian's work [ever since I've heard and bought JAMES WELLS' "My Claim To Fame" in 1978 - All I can say is : True Love Is My Destiny - WOW !!!] , I didn't mind his domineering presence !! Heck his name on a record was a sure sign that I would enjoy the hook-filled ditties...

I will try and find the article [as well as the fascinating one regarding the aborted RUMOR HAS IT cover done by Ernest Kohl].

Wonderful summer reading...:icon_cool:

[emadex]

I remmember that back at the height of the jazz funk boom James Hamilton reviewed a non existant record in Record Mirror and sure enough it appeared on a load of chart returns the following week! Charts should be taken with a pinch of salt.

I remember this one so well!
James Hamilton reviewed a non-existant Japanese jazz-funk import and the whole review and artist name were full of hidden phallic references.
It was by 'Kanu Sukalagwun' which of course is simply 'Can You Suck A Large One'. The best track was supposed to be a remake of the Isaac Hayes track "Shaft" - which James described as a "...slippery spurting track..."
DJ Chris Dinnis from Boxes in Exeter was one of the first to be claiming to play it and when asked where he got it he claimed to have bought it from an obscure jazz-funk store off the Champs-Élysées (yeah right!)

James exposed the hoax when it was reported that white labelled albums were being sold as the non-existant Kanu Sukalagwun album for megabucks in London. James told me that he did the hoax to show that many DJs did indeed just list the "hip tracks" on their playlists/returns to increase their cool factor.
James also reckoned that a lot of DJs were pressured to list certain new releases on their returns due to pressure by record companies - DJs feared getting taken off the record companies mailing lists. WEA were allegedly notorious for this (anyone remember Fred Dove?)