141-626: The Velvelettes were an American singing girl group , signed to Motown in the 1960s. Their biggest chart success occurred in 1964, when Norman Whitfield produced "Needle in a Haystack", which peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 , and number 27 in Canada . The group was founded in 1961 by Bertha Barbee-McNeal (June 12, 1940 – December 15, 2022) and Mildred Gill Arbor, students at Western Michigan University . Mildred recruited her younger sister Carolyn (also known as Cal or Caldin), who
282-469: A "Next 25" in addition to the Top 75), with the full Top 200 being available to people within the industry. Gallup also began the introduction of computerised compilers, automating the data-collection process. Later in the year, the rules about the kind of free gifts that could come with singles were tightened, as the chart compilers came to the conclusion that a lot of consumers were buying certain releases for
423-486: A CD single. On 1 July 1998, BARD and BPI took over management of the chart from CIN (a Miller Freeman and BPI venture) with new company Music Industry Chart Services (Mics); in August they decided to return to compiling the charts under the name CIN. In the late 1990s, the singles chart became more "frontloaded", with many releases peaking in the first couple of weeks on chart. This helped Irish girl group B*Witched become
564-640: A Kind Love Affair", originally recorded by the Spinners . The other CD featured Jean Carne , Bunny Sigler and Jimmy Ellis . In 2007, the Velvelettes provided backing vocals on 7 of the 11 tracks for Danish pop duo Junior Senior 's second album Hey Hey My My Yo Yo , including a rap by Bertha Barbee-McNeal on "Itch U Can't Skratch". Founding member Bertha Barbee-McNeal died of colon cancer in hospice in Kalamazoo, Michigan , on December 15, 2022, at
705-558: A Top 20 in October 1955 and NME ' s becoming a Top 30 in April 1956. Another rival publication, Melody Maker , began compiling its own chart; it telephoned 19 stores to produce a Top 20 for 7 April 1956. It was also the first chart to include Northern Ireland in its sample. Record Mirror began running a Top 5 album chart in July 1956; from November 1958 onward Melody Maker printed
846-619: A Top 200. Hit Music ceased publication in May 2001 with issue number 439. In February 1997, CIN and BARD agreed to a new 18-month deal for the charts. In 1998 the CSC agreed to new rules reducing the number of tracks on a single from four to three, playing time from 25 minutes to 20 and the compact disc single minimum dealer price to £1.79. This particularly affected the dance music industry which had previously released CDs full of remixes, with some labels editing or fading out remixes early to fit them on
987-465: A Top-40 show in 1978. Bates was succeeded by Tony Blackburn , who presented the show for two-and-a-half years; Tommy Vance , who presented for two years, Bates returned in January 1984 and presented the show until September that year, then Richard Skinner for eighteen months. Bruno Brookes took over in 1986 and, in October 1987, automated data collection allowed the countdown to be announced on
1128-530: A crush or lover, and heartache. Some songs sounded upbeat or cheerful and sang about falling in love, whereas others took a decidedly more melancholic turn. Groups like the Shangri-Las , with the song " I Can Never Go Home Anymore " sang about the darker side of being in love. An especially prevalent theme was adolescence. Since most of the girl groups were composed of young singers, often still in high school, songs mentioned parents in many cases. Adolescence
1269-666: A female group, and a film, the Spice Girls became the most commercially successful British group since the Beatles . Unlike their predecessors who were marketed at male record buyers, the Spice Girls redefined the girl group concept by going after a young female fanbase instead. The cultural movement started by the Spice Girls produced a glut of other similar acts, which include the British-Canadian outfit All Saints , Irish girl group B*Witched , Atomic Kitten and
1410-573: A lead artist eligible for entry in the top 100 would be limited to three. The streams-to-sales ratio for tracks whose sales (including streams) have declined for three consecutive weeks and have charted for at least ten weeks is changed to 300:1 to accelerate removal of older songs. The BBC aired Pick of the Pops on its Light Programme radio station on 4 October 1955. Initially airing popular songs, it developed an aggregated chart in March 1958. Using
1551-438: A lead artist eligible for entry limited to three. Also the idea of Standard Chart Ratios (SCR) and Accelerated Chart Ratios (ACR) were introduced, with ACR halving streaming points for records that have been in the charts for a while (which includes most catalogue tracks, excepting certain cases), the effect being that a number of hits have plummeted out of the top ten with drops of around 20 places one week only to level off again
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#17327759987051692-492: A minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, with digital downloads being incorporated in 2005 and streaming in July 2014. The OCC website contains the Top 100 chart. Some media outlets only list the Top 40 (such as the BBC, with their Radio 1 show following the lead of Casey Kasem 's American Top 40 in the 1970s) or the Top 75 (such as Music Week magazine, with all records in
1833-573: A more potent sound allowed girl groups to sing powerfully and in different styles than earlier generations. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller would likewise foster the Exciters , the Dixie Cups , and the Shangri-Las . The Shangri-Las' hit single, " Leader of the Pack ", exemplified the "' death disc ' genre" adopted by some girl groups. These songs usually told the story of teenage love cut short by
1974-430: A poll commissioned to celebrate this Christmas Number 1 race. LadBaby secured their fifth Christmas No.1 in a row on 23 December 2022 with " Food Aid ", officially surpassing the Beatles when it came to overall Christmas Number 1s. On 7 January 2022, after it had returned to number one for an additional week, "Merry Christmas" became the first record with SCR streaming status (Standard Chart Ratio) to completely drop out of
2115-508: A row with " Sausage Rolls for Everyone ", a comedy version of the preceding number one " Merry Christmas " by Ed Sheeran and Elton John (as they were credited by the OCC on the LadBaby version, Sheeran and John happened to be in positions 1 and 2, with these singles acquiring sales of 226,953 between 17 and 23 December 2021). It was the fourth time since 1952 that the number one had been replaced at
2256-434: A rule introduced in 2017 to push down a number of long-running 'recent' hits but applied to all catalogue recordings over three years old, saw all totals for Bush's streaming data halved, so that she got one sale for every 200 plays from her 7,470,792 premium audio stream total and one sale from every 1,200 plays of her 1,029,666 ad-funded audio stream total. Added to premium video streams and digital downloads she ended up with
2397-556: A sample of 250 stores to provide a consistency with the charts of the early 1980s). In January 1991, the CIN became a joint venture between Link House Magazines (formerly Spotlight Publications, later Miller Freeman, Inc. ) and the BPI; they shared the revenue and costs (reportedly between £750,000 and £1 million). During this time, other retailers (such as Woolworths and John Menzies ) began submitting data using EPoS terminals. In late 1991,
2538-474: A second newsletter was created: Hit Music , a sister publication of Music Week featuring (among other charts) the singles Top 75 and a revived "Next 25". In November 1994, Charts Plus ceased publication; Hit Music expanded its chart coverage to an uncompressed (without special rules) Top 200 Singles, Top 150 Artists Albums and Top 50 Compilations. In November 1996, the Artist Albums chart extended to
2679-505: A single vinyl 7 inch EP and all singles needing to be under 20 minutes in length, as releases longer than 20 minutes would be classed as an album (with most longer EPs falling into the budget albums category). In July 1987, Gallup signed a new agreement with the BPI, increasing the sample size to approximately 500 stores and introducing barcode scanners to read data. The chart was based entirely on sales of vinyl single records from retail outlets and announced on Tuesday until October 1987, when
2820-568: A support act. In September 1964, Betty Kelly officially left the group to join Martha and the Vandellas , and the quintet became a quartet. The Velvelettes continued performing, with various members leaving and rejoining, as family matters dictated. By 1967, Gill, Norma and Bertha Barbee-McNeal had decided to devote all of their time to raising their families. Cal recruited two new members for concert performances: future Vandella Sandra Tilley (who
2961-589: A total of 20 million copies in Japan within three years, with Variety calling them "Japan's top girl group", while Max still hold the record for girl group with the second most consecutive top 10 singles in Japan. Throughout the 2010s, AKB48 sister groups have been launched or will be launched in Indonesia, China, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Several new Japanese idol groups appeared in
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#17327759987053102-559: A year cost". From 1 July 1990, the Chart Information Network (CIN) was formed by Spotlight Publications (publisher of Music Week ), in cooperation with the BBC and the British Association of Record Dealers (BARD) – representing retailers, including WHSmith, Woolworths , HMV and Virgin – who agreed to exclusively supply sales data to the CIN. A Chart Supervisory Committee (CSC) represented
3243-645: Is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the OCC as either a "single bundle" having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with
3384-805: The Pick of the Pops chart. The Official Charts Company and their various Hit Singles books (whether published by Guinness/HiT Entertainment or Virgin), use as sources for the unofficial period, the NME before 10 March 1960 and Record Retailer until 1969. Until 1969 the Record Retailer chart was mainly seen by people working in the industry. The most widely circulated chart was the NME one, as used by Radio Luxembourg 's Sunday night Top 20 show, as well as by ABC TV's Thank Your Lucky Stars , which had an audience of up to six million on ITV . Before 1969 there
3525-532: The British Invasion . All-female bands , in which members also play instruments, are usually considered a separate phenomenon. These groups are sometimes called "girl bands" to differentiate, although this terminology is not universally followed. With the advent of the music industry and radio broadcasting, a number of girl groups emerged, such as the Andrews Sisters . The late 1950s saw
3666-595: The High Street . It also complained that including singles not available physically would confuse customers and create gaps in stores' sale racks. It agreed to the new rules provided that digital sales were only included to a single's sales tally if there was a physical equivalent sold in shops at the time. Since there was no rule governing a minimum number of pressings, Gorillaz released only 300 vinyl copies of their single " Feel Good Inc. " on 12 April 2005 (a month before its general release). This allowed it to debut in
3807-550: The Hitsville USA studio and "There He Goes" and "That's The Reason Why", produced by William Stevenson , was released as a single via the IPG Records label (Independent Producers Group). The recordings included a young Stevie Wonder playing harmonica. While the group awaited their chance at stardom, they recorded for many producers, some of which were re-recorded by other artists including fellow labelmates Martha and
3948-612: The Honeyz , who all achieved varying levels of success during the decade. Throughout the 2000s, girl groups from the UK remained popular, with Girls Aloud 's " Sound of the Underground " and Sugababes ' " Round Round " having been called "two huge groundbreaking hits" credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Despite her being a solo artist, Amy Winehouse's 2006 album Back to Black contained heavy influence from 1960s girl groups and garnered Winehouse comparisons to
4089-429: The NME , Melody Maker , Disc and Record Mirror charts, the BBC averaged them by totalling points gained on the four charts (one point for a number one, two for a number two, etc.) to give a chart average; this method was prone to tied positions. Record Retailer was included in the average on 31 March 1962, after Record Mirror ceased compiling its chart. David Jacobs and Alan Freeman both had stints presenting
4230-734: The Official Singles Chart , with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry , listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom , based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming . The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and formerly MTV (Official UK Top 40),
4371-467: The Pick of the Pops chart. Freeman took Pick of the Pops to its regular Sunday afternoon slot in early 1962. Freeman (along with Pete Murray , David Jacobs and Jimmy Savile ) was one of the four original presenters on Top of the Pops , which first aired 1 January 1964 on BBC One (then known as BBC TV). Top of the Pops , like Pick of the Pops , used a combination of predominant periodicals until
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4512-547: The Three X Sisters . The band was together from 1923 until the early 1940s, and known for their close harmonies, as well as barbershop style or novelty tunes, and utilized their 1930s radio success. The Three X Sisters were also especially a notable addition to the music scene, and predicted later girl group success by maintaining their popularity throughout the Great Depression . The Boswell Sisters , who became one of
4653-582: The disco craze and beyond, female acts included First Choice , Silver Convention , Hot , the Emotions , High Inergy , Odyssey , Sister Sledge , Mary Jane Girls , Belle Epoque , Frantique , Luv' , and Baccara . Groups of the 1980s like the Pointer Sisters , Exposé , and Bananarama updated the concept. In Latin America, there were a number of dance-oriented popular girl groups during
4794-462: The interim order was rejected. In June 1995 the case was dropped, after the clause allowing BARD retailers to supply sales information to other chart compilers was deleted; because CIN retained the copyright, other compilers could not use (or sell) the information. On 2 April 1995, the number of eligible formats was reduced from four to three. The decision came after nine months of negotiations with BARD, which objected that it would adversely affect
4935-491: The "first significant download retailer". Legal downloading was initially small, with MyCokeMusic selling over 100,000 downloads during its first three months. In June the iTunes Store was launched in the UK, and more than 450,000 songs were downloaded during the first week. In early September the UK Official Download Chart was launched, and a new live recording of Westlife 's " Flying Without Wings "
5076-544: The 1950s era would also give advice to other girls, or sing about the advice their mothers gave to them, which was a similarity to some male musical groups of the time (for example, the Miracles ' " Shop Around "). Adolescence was also important (especially starting in the 1950s) from the other end: the consumers were "teenagers [with] disposable income, ready access to automobiles, and consolidated high schools that exposed them to large numbers of other teens. Mass teen culture
5217-487: The 1982 chart record set by Captain Sensible's "Happy Talk" for biggest Top 40 jump to number one, when "So What" vaulted from 38 to 1 (a statistic which was matched in 2022 by Adele). The first number-one song never released physically was " Run " by Leona Lewis , the 11th song in total to reach number one on downloads alone. Unlike the previous 10, it did not receive a physical release in subsequent weeks (although it
5358-599: The 2010s and created a fiercely competitive situation in the music industry, which has been referred to as the "Idol sengoku jidai " (アイドル戦国時代; lit. Age of the Idol Warring States). Since 2009, Hallyu (Korean wave) and K-pop became increasingly significant in the entertainment industry. Its influence spread across Asia and began to reach the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the Americas. At
5499-611: The 2010s, the K-pop phenomenon led to the rise of successful girl groups including Girls' Generation , Twice and Blackpink . One of the first major all-female groups was the Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce , an American trio who successfully toured England and parts of Europe in 1927, recorded and appeared on BBC radio – they toured the US variety and big-time theaters extensively, and later changed their stage name to
5640-496: The 2010s. Japan has the music industry's second largest market overall and the largest physical music market in the world, with the physical sales Oricon Singles Chart being dominated by J-pop idol girl groups. In the late 1990s, vocal/dance girl bands Speed and Max gained prominence in Asia, and paved the way for succeeding Japanese girl groups, such as Morning Musume , AKB48 , Perfume , and Momoiro Clover Z . Speed sold
5781-522: The BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and Top of the Pops before 1969 are not listed as chart-toppers according to the legacy criteria of the Charts Company. The first number one on the UK singles chart was " Here in My Heart " by Al Martino for the week ending 14 November 1952. As of
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5922-478: The BBC, CIN and retailers. The BPI were reluctant to join and "consider[ed] the option of launching a rival chart" but in September, an agreement was reached, and it joined the CSC. For this period, the chart was produced by Gallup and owned by CIN and Music Week (who later sold it to the BBC and BPI), with around 900 shops providing the data from point of sale machines (though the data was distilled back down to
6063-671: The BMRB singles chart was expanded from a Top 50 to a Top 75, while abolishing the system where some falling records were excluded from the 41-50 section, as well as abandoning the additional list of 10 "Breakers". Earlier that year, the Daily Mirror and the BBC's Nationwide television programme both investigated chart hyping, where record company representatives allegedly purchased records from chart return shops. A World in Action documentary exposé in 1980 also revealed corruption within
6204-510: The Beatles , who had four Christmas number ones over five years between 1963 - 1967, with the Liverpudlian group missing out in 1966 (The Spice Girls also had three consecutively in the 1990s). " Sausage Rolls for Everyone " was also credited as the 70th Official Christmas Number 1 by the OCC, who had also announced that "Killing In The Name" by Rage Against The Machine had been named as the 'UK's Favourite Christmas Number 1 of All Time' in
6345-650: The Bonnie Sisters with "Cry Baby" and the Teen Queens with " Eddie My Love " showed early promise for a departure from traditional pop harmonies. With " Mr. Lee ", the Bobbettes lasted for 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 months on the charts in 1957, building momentum and gaining further acceptance of all-female, all- black vocal groups. However, it was the Chantels ' 1958 song " Maybe " that became "arguably,
6486-497: The Chantels and others was followed by an enormous rise in girl groups with varying skills and experience, with the music industry's typical racially segregated genre labels of R&B and pop slowly breaking apart. This rise also allowed a semblance of class mobility to groups of people who often could not otherwise gain such success, and "forming vocal groups together and cutting records gave them access to other opportunities toward professional advancement and personal growth, expanding
6627-616: The Hand" on their V.I.P. imprint. Both singles did not reach the same chart levels as their predecessors. The Velvelettes continued to record new material until September 1967, with the Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson song "Bring Back The Sunshine", which was retitled "Dark Side of the World" when Diana Ross later released a version of the song. The final Velvelettes single release (after an internal label change to Motown's Soul subsidiary)
6768-605: The Internet, following the example of Beggars Banquet and Liquid Audio (who made 2,000 tracks available for digital download in the US). On the Official Singles Chart for 22 September 2001, DJ Otzi's " Hey Baby " became the first single ever to jump to number one from outside the Top 40 when it went from number 45 to number one. "Hey Baby" had charted for seven weeks outside the Top 40 due to imported copies from
6909-480: The Korean wave's globalization accelerated. These newer girl groups gradually shifted towards more "girl crush" concepts and it became more common for members to be involved in writing or production. Popular South Korean girl groups include Blackpink , Twice , Aespa , NewJeans , IVE and Red Velvet amongst others. Girl groups have a wide array of subject matter in their songs, depending on time and place and who
7050-625: The Murmaids took David Gates ' " Popsicles and Icicles " to the top 3 in January, the Carefrees ' " We Love You Beatles " scraped the top 40 in April, and the Jewels ' "Opportunity" was a small hit in December. Over 750 girl groups were able to chart a song between 1960 and 1966 in the US and UK, although the genre's reach was not as strongly felt in the music industries of other regions. As
7191-607: The Official Charts Company website is still missing much of the data on regards to records in positions 76 to 100 from 13 April 1991 to 5 February 1994.) The growth of dance music culture in the late 1980s had resulted in records with many remixes, though with a single only officially running to 20 minutes this meant that many of the European-style maxi-singles could not be included. Therefore, in June 1991,
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#17327759987057332-639: The Republic of Ireland being available in UK chart shops and the fact that the officially released UK single had the same catalogue number as the Irish import, meaning that the CIN (Chart Information Network) did not list the two versions as separate versions, as they had done with ATB's " 9 PM (Till I Come) ", which had charted as five separate entries before the official release reached number one. In November 2001, CIN changed its name to " The Official UK Charts Company ". In January 2004, MyCoke Music launched as
7473-519: The Ronettes. UK girl group continued to have success in the 2000s and 2010s, with acts such as Mis-Teeq , the Saturdays , StooShe and Little Mix , one of the successful acts to come from the British version of The X Factor . Although the emergence of dance-pop focused acts in Asia paralleled their British counterparts in the 1990s, girl groups in Asia sustained as a successful format through
7614-466: The Sales Chart that week, "Thinking Out Loud" was streamed 1.6 million times in the same week, resulting in an overall lead of 13,000 chart sales. On 10 March 2017, Ed Sheeran claimed 9 of the top 10 positions in the chart when his album ÷ was released. The large number of tracks from the album on the singles chart, 16 in the top 20, led to a change in how the chart is compiled with tracks from
7755-545: The Stream" with Rob Brydon , Ruth Jones and Robin Gibb. She also replaced Cher at the top of the list of oldest female artist chart-toppers at 63 years and 11 months, compared to the 52 years that Cher was when "Believe" topped the chart in 1998. Jones and Bush are also on the Top 10 list of oldest artists to score a UK Number 1 single with Bush placed fifth. The last record Bush broke was the one held by Wham!'s "Last Christmas", for
7896-488: The Sunday chart show (instead of on Tuesdays). In 1990, Brookes was replaced as presenter by Mark Goodier , but returned 18 months later. Goodier took over from Brookes once more in 1995 and continued presenting the show until 2002. In February 2003 Wes Butters hosted the chart show; two years later his contract was not renewed, and he was replaced by JK and Joel . The duo were made redundant by Radio 1 in September 2007; Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates replaced them at
8037-429: The T-shirts that came with them and not the actual record (stickers were also banned). Bands like Frankie Goes to Hollywood were still able to release their singles over a wide range of formats, including picture discs and various remixes, with ZTT Records putting out " Two Tribes " over eight formats in 1984. In June 1987, double pack singles were banned as a format with four-track singles having to be released as
8178-518: The Three Degrees (which had roots in the 1960s and in 1970, like the Chantels in 1958, began their top 40 pop career with "Maybe"). Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles was a US 1960s girl group whose image Vicki Wickham , their manager, helped remake in the early 1970s, renaming the group Labelle and pushing them in the direction of glam rock . Labelle were the first girl group to eschew matching outfits and identical choreography, instead wearing extravagant spacesuits and feathered headdresses. During
8319-400: The Top 10 albums. In March 1960, Record Retailer began compiling an EP chart and had a Top 50 singles chart. Although NME had the largest circulation of charts in the 1960s and was widely followed, in March 1962, Record Mirror stopped compiling its own chart and published Record Retailer ' s instead. Retailer began independent auditing in January 1963, and is now used by
8460-518: The Top 100 from number one, exiting at the same time as "Sausage Rolls For Everyone". The chart published on 7 January 2022 also saw the first instance when the entire previous week's Top 10 singles (actually the Top 13 singles) had exited the chart. It was not only the Top 10 singles that had disappeared from the chart, but a record breaking 54 singles which had disappeared from the UK Top 75 (including 52 Christmas-themed tracks). This week's chart saw those songs replaced by 12 new entries and 42 re-entries,
8601-572: The Top 40 was revealed each Sunday (due to the new, automated process). The 1980s also saw the introduction of the cassette single (or "cassingle") alongside the 7-inch and 12-inch record formats; in 1987, major record labels developed a common format for the compact disc single, which was allowed to count as a chart format from December 1987. In May 1989, chart regulations kept Kylie Minogue 's song " Hand on Your Heart " from entering at number one because sales from cassette singles were not included (they were sold for £1.99 – cheaper than allowed at
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#17327759987058742-449: The Top 75 described as 'hits') of this list. The chart week runs from 00:01 Friday to midnight Thursday. The Top 40 chart is first issued on Fridays by BBC Radio 1 as The Official Chart from 16:00 to 17:45, before the full Official Singles Chart Top 100 is posted on the Official Charts Company's website. A rival chart show, The Official Big Top 40 , is broadcast on Sundays from 16:00 to 19:00 on Capital and Heart stations across
8883-606: The Toys and the Sweet Inspirations , the only girl groups with any significant chart presence from the beginning of the British Invasion through 1970 were Motown girl groups with the Supremes being the only girl group to score number one hits. The distinct girl group sound would not re-emerge until the 21st century, where it would influence modern-day English-speaking pop-soul soloists who have been met with international success, such as Amy Winehouse , Adele , Duffy and Melanie Fiona among others. In addition to influencing individual singers, this generation of girl groups cemented
9024-405: The UK charts at the time was Eternal , but even they "remained largely faceless". Amidst the American domination of the girl group format, the Second British Invasion saw the UK's Spice Girls turn the tide in the mid-1990s, achieving ten number 1 singles in the UK and US. With sold-out concerts, advertisements, merchandise, 86 million worldwide record sales, the best-selling album of all time by
9165-487: The UK singles chart (positions 76–100, with special rules) ceased to be printed in the trade magazine Music Week , who decided to focus on records in the charts described as hits. In April 1991, Record Mirror ceased publication, along with the "Next 25". At this point, Gallup was compiling a Top 200 singles chart and Top 150 albums chart for industry insiders, with the data accessed by subscribing to Music Week 's spin-off newsletter Charts Plus . (Note: As of June 2024,
9306-440: The UK singles chart as the source for number-ones from the week ending 12 March 1960 onward. The choice of Record Retailer as the source has been criticised, but the chart was unique in listing close to 50 positions for the whole decade. With available lists of which record shops were sampled to compile the charts, some shops were subjected to " hyping " but, with Record Retailer being less widely followed than some charts, it
9447-546: The US and UK quickly recognized the potential of this new approach and recruited existing acts (or, in some cases, created new ones) to record their songs in a girl group style. Phil Spector recruited the Crystals , the Blossoms , and the Ronettes , while Goffin and King penned two hit songs for the Cookies . Phil Spector made a huge impact on the ubiquity of the girl group, as well as bringing fame and notoriety to new heights for many girl groups. Phil Spector's so-called Wall of Sound , which used layers of instruments to create
9588-412: The United Kingdom. The final number one on the UK Singles Chart to be based on sales alone was " Gecko (Overdrive) " by Oliver Heldens featuring Becky Hill . On Sunday 6 July 2014, the Official Charts Company announced that Ariana Grande had earned a place in UK chart history when her single " Problem " featuring Iggy Azalea became the first number-one single based on sales and streaming data. On
9729-417: The United Kingdom. The Official Big Top 40 is based on Apple data only, (Apple Music streams and iTunes downloads) plus commercial radio airplay across the Global radio network. The UK singles chart began to be compiled in 1952. According to the Official Charts Company's statistics, as of 1 July 2012, 1,200 singles had topped the Official Singles Chart. The precise number of chart-toppers is debatable due to
9870-482: The Vandellas and The Supremes . The Velvelettes got their break chartwise in the spring of 1964 thanks to young producer Norman Whitfield , who produced "Needle in a Haystack" as a single for the group, on Motown's VIP Records imprint. "Needle in a Haystack" peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid 1964. The group recorded its follow-up, " He Was Really Sayin' Somethin' ", with Whitfield again producing, and spent time on various Motown-sponsored tours as
10011-445: The age of 82. Girl group A girl group is a music act featuring three or more female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of whom were influenced by doo-wop and which flourished in the late 1950s and early 1960s between the decline of early rock and roll and start of
10152-532: The beginning, girl groups such as Girls' Generation , 2NE1 and Wonder Girls were among the leaders of this "Hallyu" wave. The influence of the original girl groups of the United States was not lost on this era of artists, as many adopted visual influences through their "retro" concepts, such as the international 2008 hit " Nobody " by Wonder Girls. From the second half of the 2010s, new generations of Korean girl groups emerged and enjoyed great success as
10293-479: The best-selling album by a girl group in the United States (Diamond certification), while selling over 14 million copies worldwide. Destiny's Child emerged in the late 1990s and sold more than 60 million records. In the mid-to-late-2000s, there was a revival of girl groups. American girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls achieved worldwide success with their singles. Danity Kane also became
10434-545: The chart at number 22 (eventually reaching number 2), and remain in the Top 40 for a longer period. After pressure from elsewhere in the music industry a second compromise was reached in 2006, which now allowed singles to chart on downloads the week before their physical release. The first song to make the Top 40 on downloads alone was " Pump It " by the Black Eyed Peas , which charted at number 16 on 12 March 2006. Three weeks later, " Crazy " by Gnarls Barkley became
10575-425: The chart of 16 August 2014, Nico & Vinz's "Am I Wrong" jumped from number 52 to number 1 in its sixth week, after the streaming hit (the first single ever to chart in the Top 75 on streams alone) became available to purchase. On 7 December 2014, Ed Sheeran 's " Thinking Out Loud " became the first single to reach number one as a direct result of streaming inclusion. Despite Union J 's " You Got It All " topping
10716-507: The charts on 1 February 1994, increasing the sample size; by the end of the month, each shop sampled used a barcode scanner linking via an Epson terminal with a modem to a central computer (called "Eric"), which logged data from more than 2,500 stores. Gallup attempted to block Millward Brown's new chart by complaining to the Office of Fair Trading about the contractual clause in which BARD retailers exclusively supplied sales data to CIN, but
10857-471: The charts. Groups in these genres, such as SWV , Xscape , 702 , Total , Zhane , Blaque , and 3LW , managed to have songs chart on both the U.S. Hot 100 and the U.S. R&B charts. However, TLC achieved the most success for a girl group in an era where contemporary R&B would become global mainstream acceptance. TLC remains the best-selling American girl group with 65 million records sold, and their second studio album, CrazySexyCool (1994), remains
10998-484: The close of trade on Saturday. The sales diaries were translated into punch cards so the data could be interpreted by a computer. A computer then compiled the chart on Monday, and the BBC were informed of the Top 50 on Tuesday in time for it to be announced on Johnnie Walker's afternoon show . The charts were also published in Record Retailer (rebranded Record & Tape Retailer in 1971 and Music Week in 1972) and Record Mirror . The BMRB often struggled to have
11139-621: The death of one of the young lovers. The Paris Sisters had success from 1961 to 1964, especially with " I Love How You Love Me ". The Chiffons , the Angels , and the Orlons were also prominent in the early 1960s. In early fall 1963 one-hit wonder the Jaynetts ' " Sally Go 'Round the Roses " achieved a mysterious sound quite unlike that of any other girl group. In 1964, the one-hit wonder group
11280-604: The emergence of all-female singing groups as a major force, with 750 distinct girl groups releasing songs that reached US and UK music charts from 1960 to 1966. The Supremes alone held 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 during the height of the wave and throughout most of the British Invasion rivaled the Beatles in popularity. In later eras, the girl group template would be applied to disco , contemporary R&B , and country -based formats, as well as pop . A more globalized music industry gave rise to
11421-461: The era, including the Flans , Pandora and Fandango. In Japan, all-female idol groups Candies and Pink Lady made a series of hits during the 1970s and 1980s as well. The Japanese music program Music Station listed Candies and Pink Lady in their Top 50 Idols of All Time (compiled in 2011), placing them at number 32 and number 15, with sales exceeding 5 and 13 million in Japan, respectively. With
11562-543: The fifth time in a row. Influenced by John Otway's 50th birthday hit single fan campaign, which saw Otway's " Disco Inferno "-sampling single "Bunsen Burner" reach number 9 in 2002 without being stocked by Entertainment UK-associated retailers like Woolworths , the Morters encouraged people on Facebook to download the song the week before Christmas. When "Killing in the Name" hit the top spot on 20 December 2009, it became
11703-604: The first act to get their first three hits at number one, an achievement not matched for another twenty years. Before February 1969 – when the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) chart was established – there was no official chart or universally accepted source. Readers followed the charts in various periodicals and, during this time, the BBC used aggregated results of charts from the NME , Melody Maker , Disc and (later) Record Mirror to compile
11844-554: The first chart incorporating sales figures on 20 July 1940. Record charts in the UK began in 1952, when Percy Dickins of the New Musical Express ( NME ) gathered a pool of 52 stores willing to report sales figures. For the first British chart Dickins telephoned approximately 20 shops, asking for a list of the 10 best-selling songs. These results were then aggregated into a Top 12 chart published in NME on 14 November 1952, with Al Martino 's " Here in My Heart " awarded
11985-528: The first download-only single to become the UK Christmas number one and received a Guinness World Record for "Fastest-selling digital track in the UK" after selling 502,672 units in its first week. It was announced in June 2014 that as of Sunday, 29 June, audio streams from services such as Spotify , Deezer , Napster , O2 Tracks, Xbox Music , Sony Unlimited, and rara would count for the Official Singles Chart, to reflect changing music consumption in
12126-628: The first girl group in Billboard history to have two consecutive number-one albums, as their self-titled debut album (2006) and their second album Welcome to the Dollhouse (2008) both topped the U.S. Billboard 200 . Girl groups have now been more popular compared to the early 2000s. Girl groups continued their success in the 2010s. Miami -based girl group Fifth Harmony formed in 2012 on The X Factor USA . They reached international success with their debut album Reflection , which featured
12267-478: The first pop band to debut at the top with each of their first four releases (with the group's singles found at number one in the period between June 1998 to March 1999). Between 1963 and the 1990s, only a few acts had reached number one with their first three chart hits. In the late 1990s, the Spice Girls and current record holders Westlife also outperformed this feat, with the former getting six and
12408-401: The first song to top the charts on download sales alone. As part of the revised rules, singles would be removed from the chart two weeks after the deletion of their physical formats; "Crazy" left the chart 11 weeks later from number 5. This was in addition to the existing rule that to be eligible for the chart, the physical single had to have been released within the last twelve months, supporting
12549-414: The first true glimmering of the girl group sound". The "mixture of black doo-wop, rock and roll, and white pop" was appealing to a teenage audience and grew from scandals involving payola and the perceived social effects of rock music . However, early groups such as the Chantels started developing their groups' musical capacities traditionally, through mediums like Latin and choir music. The success of
12690-584: The formation of the BMRB chart in 1969. From 30 September 1967 BBC Radio 1 was launched along with BBC Radio 2 , succeeding the Light Programme, and the Top-20 Pick of the Pops chart was simulcast on both stations. Freeman continued to present the show until September 1972, and was succeeded by Tom Browne who presented the chart, also on Sundays, from October 1972 to March 1978. Simon Bates took over from Browne, and under Bates it became
12831-491: The full sample of sales figures returned by post. The 1971 postal strike meant data had to be collected by telephone (and that the chart was reduced to a Top 40 during this period), but this was deemed inadequate for a national chart; by 1973, the BMRB was using motorcycle couriers to collect sales figures. In March 1978, two record industry publications, Radio & Record News and Record Business both started publishing Top 100 singles charts, so in response, in May 1978,
12972-421: The general view that the chart reflected the top-selling "current" releases. On 1 January 2007, the integration of downloaded music into the charts became complete when all downloads – with or without a physical equivalent – became eligible to chart, redefining the UK singles chart by turning it into a "songs" chart. " Chasing Cars " by Snow Patrol returned at a Top 10 position (number 9, just three places below
13113-562: The girl group form and sentiment and provided inspiration for many future groups. Entering the 1970s, the Supremes had continued success with top 10 hits " Up the Ladder to the Roof " and " Stoned Love " along with six other singles charting on Billboard's top 40. Only two other girl groups made top 10 chartings through 1974 with " Want Ads " by Honey Cone and " When Will I See You Again " by
13254-509: The helm of the chart show. Cotton left in September 2009, and until 2012 the chart show was hosted by Yates. Yates left Radio 1 at the end of 2012, because he wanted to spend more time with his family, as well as focusing more on television. Jameela Jamil took over from him in January 2013, becoming the first woman to host, alone, the BBC Chart show before being replaced by Clara Amfo . On 10 July 2015, Greg James took over from Amfo, when
13395-461: The hit " Worth It ". " Work from Home ", the lead single from their second studio album , became the first top-five single in the U.S by a girl group in a decade, following the September 2006 peak of " Buttons " by The Pussycat Dolls at number three. "Worth It" and "Work from Home" remain the most-viewed girl group music videos on YouTube . In the early 1990s, the British music scene was dominated by boy bands. The only girl group making an impact on
13536-542: The home) so Gill decided to break up the group and it disbanded. Tilley retired from show business in the late 1970s, got married, and died in 1983 from a brain aneurysm. In 1971, "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You" became a hit in the United Kingdom, number 34 on the UK Singles Chart . Despite the new success, the group did not reunite until 1984, following a rare concert appearance by the cousins and
13677-769: The idea of girlhood as an identity across race and class lines." The group often considered to have achieved the first sustained success in girl group genre is the Shirelles , who first reached the Top 40 with " Tonight's the Night ", and in 1961, became the first girl group to reach number one on the Hot 100 with " Will You Love Me Tomorrow ", written by songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King at 1650 Broadway . The Shirelles solidified their success with five more top 10 hits, most particularly 1962's number one hit " Soldier Boy ", over
13818-555: The industry; stores' chart-returns dealers would frequently be offered bribes to falsify sales logs. From 1983 to 1990, the chart was financed by the British Phonographic Industry (50 percent), Music Week (38 percent) and the BBC (12 percent). On 4 January 1983, the chart compilation was assumed by the Gallup Organization , which expanded the public/ Music Week chart to a Top 100 (with
13959-576: The largest amount in chart history. In June 2022, the Netflix show Stranger Things used " Running Up That Hill " by Kate Bush in their fourth season, which resulted in the record (which had previously charted in 1985 via EMI and in 2012 via Kate Bush's Fish People record label) re-enter the charts at number 8. On the Official Singles Chart Top 100 of 10 June 2022 to 16 June 2022, the record climbed to number two, even though it
14100-414: The latter seven number ones from the start of their careers. In 1999, Millward Brown began "re-chipping" some retailers' machines, in anticipation of the millennium bug . Some independent retailers lost access to the record-label-funded Electronic Record Ordering System (Eros); it was "too costly to make it Year 2000 compliant ". Toward the end of the 1990s companies anticipated distributing singles over
14241-432: The most popular singing groups from 1930 to 1936, had over twenty hits. The Andrews Sisters started in 1937 as a Boswell tribute band and continued recording and performing through the 1940s into the late-1960s, achieving more record sales, more Billboard hits, more million-sellers, and more movie appearances than any other girl group to date. The Andrews Sisters had musical hits across multiple genres, which contributed to
14382-471: The next two and a half years. " Please Mr. Postman " by the Marvelettes became a major indication of the racial integration of popular music, as it was the first number one song in the US for African-American owned label, Motown Records . Motown would mastermind several major girl groups, including Martha and the Vandellas , the Velvelettes , and the Supremes . Other songwriters and producers in
14523-728: The next. Due to these factors, on 20 July 2018, " Three Lions " by the Lightning Seeds , Frank Skinner , and David Baddiel beat the Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir record for number one chart fall and got the Guinness World Records' award for "largest chart drop from number one on the UK singles chart" by going from number one to number 97. In 2018, Future (publisher of "Louder Sound" publications such as Metal Hammer and Classic Rock magazine ) acquired Music Week publisher NewBay Media. Future ran
14664-469: The number-one position. The chart became a successful feature of the periodical; it expanded into a Top 20 format on 1 October 1954, and rival publications began compiling their own charts in 1955. Record Mirror compiled its own Top 10 chart for 22 January 1955; it was based on postal returns from record stores (which were financed by the newspaper). The NME chart was based on a telephone poll. Both charts expanded in size, with Mirror ' s becoming
14805-501: The peak it had reached the previous September), while " Honey to the Bee " by Billie Piper (following a tongue-in-cheek promotional push by Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles to test the new chart rules) reappeared at number 17 (nearly eight years after its original appearance on the charts). . This date also saw the reintroduction of maxi physical formats being allowed to have 4 unique tracks and 25 minute running times. In October 2008, P!nk broke
14946-402: The popularity of dance-oriented pop music led by major record labels. This emergence, led by the US, UK, South Korea and Japan, produced popular acts, with eight groups debuting after 1990 having sold more than 15 million physical copies of their albums . With the Spice Girls , the 1990s also saw the target market for girl groups shift from a male audience to an increasingly female one. In
15087-870: The prevalence and popularity of the girl group form. As the rock era began, close harmony acts like the Chordettes , the Fontane Sisters , the McGuire Sisters and the DeCastro Sisters remained popular, with the first three acts topping the pop charts and the last reaching number two, at the end of 1954 to the beginning of 1955. Also, the Lennon Sisters were a mainstay on the Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 on. In early 1956, doo-wop one-hit wonder acts like
15228-626: The profusion of competing charts from the 1950s to the 1980s, but the usual list used is that endorsed by the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and subsequently adopted by the Official Charts Company. The company regards a select period of the New Musical Express chart (only from 1952 to 1960) and the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period up to 11 February 1969, where multiples of competing charts (none official) coexisted side by side. For example,
15369-507: The publication monthly from March 2021, so a bespoke monthly Official Singles Chart Top 75 started to be published from this date alongside monthly albums charts and specialist/genre charts. On 1 January 2021, "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" by LadBaby dropped down the Official Chart Company's singles chart to number 78 and so became the first new track to drop out of the Top 75 ("hit parade") from number one. In doing so it broke
15510-655: The record for shortest stay in the hit parade for a number one single (as in The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles list of Top 75 singles chart records) with only one week in the Top 75. A week later, "Last Christmas" by Wham! became the first record to disappear completely from number one spot, exiting the Official Charts Company Top 100 chart with no placing on the chart (week ending 14 January 2021). As "Last Christmas" replaced "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" by LadBaby , which had dropped down
15651-526: The research contract for the chart was put out to tender , with a new four-year contract beginning 1 February 1994 offered. Millward Brown, Research International and Nielsen Market Research were approached, and Gallup were invited to re-apply. In May 1993, it was announced that Millward Brown had been accepted as the next chart compilers, signing a £1-million-a-year contract. Virgin installed JDA EPoS terminals in September 1993, and began providing sales data to Gallup. Millward Brown took over compiling
15792-430: The rights holders). On 17 June 2022, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" reached number one on the UK chart and not only did Bush get a second number one, but also the OCC revealed that she had broken three of their chart records. With the gap of 44 years she eclipses Tom Jones's 42-year gap between " Green Green Grass of Home " going to number one and Jones being one of the acts on Comic Relief's "(Barry) Islands in
15933-455: The rules were amended to include maxi-singles with versions/remixes of one song lasting 40 minutes, standard four track/four song releases getting an extra five minutes playing time, and now four formats contributing to the chart position. Due to this ruling, ambient duo the Orb were able to have a Top Ten hit with "Blue Room" , a song that was three seconds short of 40 minutes. In February 1993,
16074-405: The sample consisted of 500 stores scanning barcodes of all record sales into an Epson PX-4 computer, and 650 other stores providing sales data through their own EPoS computerised tills . These computers were to be telephoned six times a week, providing the data to Gallup. In June 1991, the BPI reduced the number of eligible formats from five to four. In November 1990, the "Next 25" section of
16215-668: The single " Kiss in the Dark ", Pink Lady was also one of only two Japanese artists to have reached the Billboard Top 40 . With their 1990 eponymous debut album , the trio Wilson Phillips sold over 5 million copies worldwide and reached five major US hit singles, four of which cracked the Top 10, with three peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 . After the rise of new jack swing , contemporary R&B and hip hop , American girl groups such as En Vogue , Exposé and Sweet Sensation all had singles which hit number one on
16356-473: The singles chart to number 78 on 1 January, it was the first time in chart history that two back-to-back number ones had disappeared not only from the BBC Radio 1 Top 40, but the Top 75 as well (though as "Last Christmas" didn't have a chart placing, "Three Lions" is still credited with the record-breaking fall at Guinness World Records ). On 24 December 2021, LadBaby secured their fourth Christmas No.1 in
16497-519: The sisters at the request of Barbee-McNeal. Together the Gill sisters and Barbee cousins then went on to re-record their original hits and some new songs for the album One Door Closes for Motorcity Records . The group continues to tour today. Three decades after the group left Motown, the company released a CD, The Very Best of the Velvelettes , featuring 15 tracks, including four previously unreleased selections. A 19-track CD The Velvelettes: The Best Of
16638-576: The three eligible formats, and at number 71 from sales in a fourth (12-inch) format. Subsequently, CIN sought to develop new marketing opportunities and sponsorship deals; these included premium-rate fax and telephone services and the chart newsletters Charts Plus (published from May 1991 to November 1994) and Hit Music (published from September 1992 to May 2001). Beginning in May 1991 Charts Plus featured singles charts with positions 76–200 (plus artist albums positions 76–150, Top 50 compilations, and several genre and format charts). In September 1992,
16779-411: The time). Following this, the BPI reduced the minimum price for cassette singles to influence sales figures. In September 1989, WHSmith began to send sales data to Gallup directly through electronic point of sale (EPoS) terminals. In January 1990, the BPI gave notice to Gallup, BBC and Music Week ; on 30 June 1990, it terminated its contract with them because it "could no longer afford the £600,000
16920-498: The top by another version of the same song, with two versions of "Answer Me" in 1953, two versions of "Singing The Blues" alternating at the top in 1957, and one-hit wonder Frankee having an answer record to the number one by Eamon in 2004. " Sausage Rolls for Everyone " made LadBaby join B*Witched as an act who managed to get their first four singles at number one (with LadBaby having no other hits in their discography), and beat
17061-604: The total of 44,739 sales rather than the 83,613 she would have done with an SCR listing. On 14 June 2022, it was revealed that the Chart Supervisory Committee (CSC) had given the record an exemption from the ACR accelerated decline rule, with the record now on an SCR listing, giving Kate Bush the chance to get another number one, more than 44 years after "Wuthering Heights" and the first number one for her own record label, Fish People (as EMI-Universal are no longer
17202-755: The track that has taken the longest time to reach Number 1 with "Running Up That Hill" first entering the chart in August 1985 and getting to the top 37 years later, beating Wham! by a year. The full regulations may be downloaded from the Official Charts Company website. To qualify for inclusion in the UK singles chart, a single must be available in one or more of the following eligible formats: There are minimum sales prices for all formats apart from on demand digital streams which may be from subscription or advertising funded providers. The streams were initially counted at 100 streams equivalent to one paid download or physical sale, but changed to 150 to 1 in January 2017. Starting with charts published 7 July 2017, tracks by
17343-543: The vinyl record industry. Although record labels were not prohibited from releasing singles in more than three formats, they were required to identify the three eligible formats. This resulted in a reduction in the number of singles released in 7-inch format; the most common three formats were 12-inch single , cassette and CD , or a cassette and two CD versions. The ruling resulted in the Oasis single " Some Might Say " charting twice in one week – at number 1 with sales from
17484-416: The week ending 28 November 2024, the UK singles chart has had 1,433 different number one hits. The current number one single is " That's So True " by Gracie Abrams . Before the compilation of sales of records, the music market measured a song's popularity by sales of sheet music . The idea of compiling a chart based on sales originated in the United States, where the music-trade paper Billboard compiled
17625-480: The years. In the 1990s through the present, with the prevalence of such groups as the Spice Girls, there has been a strong emphasis on women's independence and a sort of feminism. At the very least, the music is more assertive lyrically and relies less on innuendo. This more recent wave of girl groups is more sexually provocative as well, which makes sense within pop music within this time frame as well. UK Singles Chart The UK singles chart (currently titled
17766-480: The youngest female solo artist to top the chart with her single "You Don't Know". As of 14 January 2022, she is one of nine female solo artists to have topped the chart before their 18th birthday (though none of these nine acts wrote their number one hit single-handedly, with that honour falling to 19-year-old Kate Bush with "Wuthering Heights" in 1978). In 1963, Merseybeat band Gerry and the Pacemakers became
17907-529: The youth culture of western Continental Europe was deeply immersed in Yé-yé , recording artists of East Asia mostly varied from traditional singers, government-sponsored chorus, or multi-cultural soloists and bands, while bossa nova was trendy in Latin America. Beat music 's global influence eventually pushed out girl groups as a genre and, except for a small number of the foregoing groups and possibly
18048-532: Was " These Things Will Keep Me Loving You ", which made number 43 on the US R&;B Charts . Carolyn Gill began dating Richard Street , lead singer of The Monitors , who later joined The Temptations . Sandra Tilley joined Martha Reeves and the Vandellas , replacing Rosalind Ashford . Gill married Street in November 1969 and he dissuaded her from continuing with the Velvelettes (preferring that his wife care for
18189-518: Was also a popular subject because of an emerging audience of young girls listening to and buying records. Adolescence was also reinforced by girl groups in cultivation of a youthful image, since "an unprecedented instance of teenage girls occupying center stage of mainstream commercial culture". An example of this youth branding might be Baby Spice from the Spice Girls . This was shown through flourishes like typically matching outfits for mid-century girl groups and youthful content in songs. Girl groups of
18330-529: Was born." As the girl group structure persisted through further generations, popular cultural sentiments were incorporated into the music. The appearance of " girl power " and feminism was also added, even though beginning groups were very structured in their femininity. It would be simplistic to imply that girl groups only sang about being in love; on the contrary, many groups expressed complex sentiments in their songs. There were songs of support, songs that were gossipy, etc.; like any other musical movement, there
18471-496: Was in 9th grade, and Cal's friend Betty Kelly , a junior in high school. Bertha recruited her cousin Norma Barbee, a freshman at Flint Junior College . Cal was chosen as the group's lead singer. A classmate at Western Michigan University, Robert Bullock, was Berry Gordy 's nephew, and he encouraged the group to audition for Motown. The group signed to Motown in late 1962 and started recording in January 1963. They recorded at
18612-516: Was introduced by her friend Abdul Fakir of The Four Tops ), and Annette McMillan. With a song on the charts and a place on several concert tours, an album project was started using songs already recorded. However, with the growing success of other Motown groups such as The Supremes , Motown's attention was diverted and the project was left unfinished. The LP was scheduled for release on Motown's V.I.P. label, as V.I.P 401. Motown released two additional singles, "Lonely Lonely Girl Am I" and "A Bird in
18753-514: Was much variation in what was being sung. A prominent theme was often teaching "what it meant to be a woman". Girl groups would exhibit what womanhood looked like from the clothes they were wearing to the actual lyrics in their songs. Of course this changed over the years (what the Supremes were wearing was different from the Spice Girls), but girl groups still served as beacons and examples of certain types of identities to their audiences through
18894-411: Was no official singles chart. Record Retailer and the BBC commissioned the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) to compile charts, beginning 15 February 1969. The BMRB compiled its first chart from postal returns of sales logs from 250 record shops. The sampling cost approximately £ 52,000; shops were randomly chosen from a pool of approximately 6,000, and submitted figures for sales taken up to
19035-541: Was producing. Songs also had a penchant for reflecting the political and cultural climate around them. For instance, songs with abusive undertones were somewhat common during the 1950s–1970s. One notable example was the song " He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss) " by the Crystals . During the "golden age of girl groups", lyrics were disparate, ranging from songs about mean dogs to underage pregnancy. However, common sentiments were also found in ideas like new love, pining after
19176-410: Was released in the UK in 2001. The 2004 The Velvelettes: The Motown Anthology is a double album with 48 tracks. In 2006, the Velvelettes contributed to the double CD Masters of Funk, Soul and Blues Present a Soulful Tale of Two Cities . Lamont Dozier , Freda Payne , George Clinton and Bobby Taylor recorded remakes of songs from Philadelphia International Records . The Velvelettes sang "One Of
19317-638: Was released physically overseas, such as in Germany where the price of a record counted toward the chart position and not just number of units sold). In 2009, " Killing in the Name " by Rage Against the Machine became the Christmas Number One after English DJ Jon Morter and his wife Tracy launched a campaign to make sure that an act from the ITV talent show The X Factor was not number one for
19458-400: Was revealed to be the most popular track of the week in the United Kingdom and even though all versions (regardless of it being an album track, live version or remix) now counted to its chart position. Sales for the week had the number one record, Harry Styles' "As It Was", on an SCR total of 55,768 sales, compared to Kate Bush's number two on an ACR sales total of 44,739. Encumbered with ACR,
19599-448: Was said (by BBC Radio 1 presenters JK and Joel on 17 April 2005) that the incorporation of download sales resulted in an approximate doubling of singles sales for this week, but the impact of this doubling was not readily apparent at the top of the chart, although a few singles in the middle positions benefited. Initially, the British Association of Record Dealers was concerned that the popularity of downloading would siphon business from
19740-576: Was subject to less hyping. Additionally, Retailer was set up by independent record shops and had no funding or affiliation with record companies, but it had a significantly smaller sample size than some rival charts and had all the EPs taken out the listings between March 1960 - December 1967 (the data for the now 'Official' 1960s EP chart can be found in The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles ). On 12 August 1961, 14-year-old Helen Shapiro became
19881-421: Was the first number-one. In 2005, the BBC Radio 1 chart show was rebranded for the chart week ending 16 April, with the first singles chart now combining physical-release sales with legal downloads. Several test charts (and a download-sales chart) were published in 2004; this combination (within the official singles chart) reflected a changing era in which sales of physical singles fell and download sales rose. It
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