1976 in music charts

Posted by: Sloop John B on 08 April 2011

I have just finished watching some of the 1976 TOTP coverage on BBC4. Mentioned was a preponderance of Beatles tracks in the Top 30. How did this come about at the time? As an 11 year old my only memory from the time is hearing a DJ saying you'd think the Beatles would give young bands a chance.

Were the singles rereleased by EMI or what caused this chart attack by the fab 4 in 1976?

Posted on: 08 April 2011 by TomK

I saw that programme and was surprised to hear about the Beatles in the charts that year. I was such a musical snob at the time that the charts meant nothing to me, or perhaps it was more to do with that being the year I got married so maybe had other things on my mind.

Had the Red and Blue albums not appeared shortly before so perhaps some sort of legal stuff had been resolved at that time.

Posted on: 08 April 2011 by Nick Lees

I can't say definitively, but EMI re-released the singles as picture discs (shocking quality sound). Maybe that was the cause?.

Posted on: 09 April 2011 by Redmires

EMI released all the singles again in 1976 when the recording contract expired. Included was a version of Yesterday, which had never been on a single before in the UK. All 23 singles were in the Top 100 in April 1976, no mean feat at a time when singles still sold in considerable numbers. More info here

http://www.jpgr.co.uk/r6013.html

EMI World Records division released it as a box set a couple of years later, which I have somewhere in my collection.

The picture disc singles were first released in 1982, following the 20th Anniversary of Love Me Do. Each release mirroring the 20th anniversary of the single, up to 1990 with Let It Be.

By the way, wasn't the "Hey Jude" clip on the show in dreadful quality.