If you’re anything like me – born in the UK at the end of the 70s/start of the 80s and a music nerd – then you more than likely spend a lot of Saturday mornings watching The Chart Show.
For those who don’t know the show, it was a music video show; a sort of anti-Top of the Pops. No presenters, no live performances, just videos of acts in the various charts (more of that in a mo) that week. The standout features in the presentation as far as I can remember was the idea that the whole show was coming from some kind of sentient computer/VHS recorder. On screen graphics would tell you if you were going to get the whole video (PLAY!) or if it was just going to be a short clip; during the videos information windows would pop up to tell you indispensable facts about the act you were currently watching and then as if the show had got bored it would fast forward the last few seconds of the video.
As with all music shows, especially ones that are chart based, you’d have to sit through the dross in the hope that something you’ll like is going to be on next; but The Chart Show had something other shows didn’t: different specialist charts. As well as the main chart run-down, every week on rotation would also have The Indie Chart, The Dance Chart or The Rock Chart; so there was always a chance you were going to get five or ten minutes of music you really liked.
Anyway, this isn’t just a Peter Kay style ramble into nostalgia; I thought I’d write this entry to share a YouTube channel that I stumbled across. David Bryant has collected lots of these weekly charts on his channel so you can relive the shock of seeing Kylie at number one in the Indie Chart because Stock Atkin and Waterman were technically an indie label. Damn you Pete Waterman.
There are around a hundred videos on there, but if you’re prone to procrastination, be warned, it’ll steal a morning from you. Here’s a great one to get you started, the Indie Chart from May 1995,
Featuring:
Teenage Fanclub – Sparky’s Dream
The Charlatans – Just Lookin’
(Don’t you wished it had played the Salad track though? Oh Marijne…)