Asha
Jul 31, 2006, 07:12 AM
This was in the papers over the weekend. Quite interesting actually! Got it from a friend in the UK who typed it out from her physical paper, so I don't have a link. Sorry!
How George's No. 1 got Lost in The Post
Beatle robbed of glory as 1971 strike played havoc with charts.
An investigation has at last revealed the truth behind the release of
George's debut album.
It was spring 1971 and Britain's postal workers were on strike for a 13 per
cent pay rise. The action cost the post office 25 million in lost revenue and
the nation was without post for for almost eight weeks but no-one at the
time connected the strike with the conundrum of why the most successful solo Beatle's debut album never made it to number 1.
On Boxing Day 1970, George released All Things Must Pass, a triple album
that included the classic My Sweet Lord and is considered to be the best of the post Beatles albums from the Fab Four. It was certainly the first, recorded
just months after the band's break up in 1970. It spent seven weeks at no 1 in the U.S - but went only as high as No. 4 here, meaning George never had a
solo UK No 1 album.
As the album chart celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, investigators
at The Official U.K Charts Company, which compiles the album and singles
charts, have found that George was robbed. Not only did All Things Must Pass
actually reach No 1 in the U.K but it stayed there for 8 weeks and the records
are now being changed to reflect that.
When she was told the news by the Sunday Express last night, George's widow Olivia said, "He'd be thrilled. He'd love that it reached No 1 in the country in which he lived." The official Guiness Book of British Hit Singles and
Albums has already surrepticiously changed its entry.
During the eight weeks between February 6th and March 27th, 1971, Simon and Garfunkel were placed No 1 with Bridge Over Troubled Water. It was the
best-selling album of the seventies and was No 1 for a total of 41 weeks but the strike had played havoc with the figures.
Darren Haynes, of The Official UK Charts Company, explained. "These days,
barcodes and computers are used but in 1971 record shops had to fill in
'diaries' of all sales and send them by post to the chart compiler. For these weeks in 1971, the strike resulted in no official album charts being included in
Recort Retailer, the official music business chart magazine.
Historians let the last valid chart run across the missing weeks, meaning
Simon and Garfunkel were given another eight weeks at the top but now All
Things Must Pass has taken its rightful place as a No 1 album for the full
eight-week period.
How George's No. 1 got Lost in The Post
Beatle robbed of glory as 1971 strike played havoc with charts.
An investigation has at last revealed the truth behind the release of
George's debut album.
It was spring 1971 and Britain's postal workers were on strike for a 13 per
cent pay rise. The action cost the post office 25 million in lost revenue and
the nation was without post for for almost eight weeks but no-one at the
time connected the strike with the conundrum of why the most successful solo Beatle's debut album never made it to number 1.
On Boxing Day 1970, George released All Things Must Pass, a triple album
that included the classic My Sweet Lord and is considered to be the best of the post Beatles albums from the Fab Four. It was certainly the first, recorded
just months after the band's break up in 1970. It spent seven weeks at no 1 in the U.S - but went only as high as No. 4 here, meaning George never had a
solo UK No 1 album.
As the album chart celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, investigators
at The Official U.K Charts Company, which compiles the album and singles
charts, have found that George was robbed. Not only did All Things Must Pass
actually reach No 1 in the U.K but it stayed there for 8 weeks and the records
are now being changed to reflect that.
When she was told the news by the Sunday Express last night, George's widow Olivia said, "He'd be thrilled. He'd love that it reached No 1 in the country in which he lived." The official Guiness Book of British Hit Singles and
Albums has already surrepticiously changed its entry.
During the eight weeks between February 6th and March 27th, 1971, Simon and Garfunkel were placed No 1 with Bridge Over Troubled Water. It was the
best-selling album of the seventies and was No 1 for a total of 41 weeks but the strike had played havoc with the figures.
Darren Haynes, of The Official UK Charts Company, explained. "These days,
barcodes and computers are used but in 1971 record shops had to fill in
'diaries' of all sales and send them by post to the chart compiler. For these weeks in 1971, the strike resulted in no official album charts being included in
Recort Retailer, the official music business chart magazine.
Historians let the last valid chart run across the missing weeks, meaning
Simon and Garfunkel were given another eight weeks at the top but now All
Things Must Pass has taken its rightful place as a No 1 album for the full
eight-week period.