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October 30, 2022 11:26 am  #1


Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

I just noticed this poking around Doug Thompson's always terrific CHUM Tribute Site. And I'm not sure if it ever happened before this or again after it.

For the week of May 2, 1966, there are two separate CHUM Charts listed for the same date. To make things even stranger, each has a different #1 song and the CHUMdingers - the song that made the fastest move up the chart that week - also do not match. Neither do the Top Hot New Hits listings.

In the first one, Johnny Rivers' Secret Agent Man is at the top. In the second, it's Monday Monday by the Mamas and Papas. 

What could possibly have happened to have the station issue two separate charts the same week with such a big difference?

May 2, 1966-a



May 2, 1996-b


 

October 30, 2022 11:38 am  #2


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Scrolling down on the page, I see a note that says they have no idea why this was done, except possibly to take advantage of a Beatles promotion. 

It also says that it happened again on July 28, 1971, again with separate #1s, different covers and no clear explanation of why. 

Very odd. 

July 28, 1971 -a



July 27, 1971- b

     Thread Starter
 

October 30, 2022 1:04 pm  #3


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Probably a printing error and the date wasn't changed the following week.  Doubt that the charts actually came out the same week. There are too many differences and the issue numbers on the two 1971 charts aren't the same.   I worked at newspapers that had the wrong date on the front page a few times, it can happen.  Maybe Mr. Thompson knows?   

 

October 30, 2022 1:16 pm  #4


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

I wondered that, too, but no, there was an official chart published May 9th, exactly a week afterwards. So the mystery of the double chart remains. 

     Thread Starter
 

October 30, 2022 1:25 pm  #5


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

paterson1 wrote:

Probably a printing error and the date wasn't changed the following week.  Doubt that the charts actually came out the same week. There are too many differences and the issue numbers on the two 1971 charts aren't the same.   I worked at newspapers that had the wrong date on the front page a few times, it can happen.  Maybe Mr. Thompson knows?   

on both the dates the # for last week matches the first chart so that part is correct and I think the new 1966 chart just posted is a continuation of the second one in terms of progress from the previous week. However the date duplication is a mystery.
 

Last edited by Fitz (October 30, 2022 1:26 pm)


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October 30, 2022 1:29 pm  #6


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

The cheque from the record company cleared at the last second?


Madness takes its toll.  Please have exact change.
 
 

October 30, 2022 2:02 pm  #7


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

It's odd how the second May 1966 chart doesn't have the same format or CHUM logos as the other charts before and after.   Even the font for the chart is different. Could the second chart have been placed  inside the first and they were together?  Maybe the 1966 duplication was part of some Beatles or other promotion as mentioned.  I wonder if the jocks at the station talked about this on air back in 1966 and 1971.  Did many listeners or chart collectors call or write in about the discrepancies?   Have any of the various CHUM Chart books ever talked about the duplicate charts?  Somebody out there knows!! 

 

October 30, 2022 2:14 pm  #8


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

A couple more interesting anomalies. This Oct. 19, 1969 chart marks the first (and perhaps only?) time in the history of its publishing that there was a tie for #1.


And if you really want something odd, Mr. Thompson's site reproduces this chart from 1974, that contains the sole "correction" in its history.  I can only surmise they printed them all, didn't want to scrap them, so they went back and put in a rare swap for two songs in two positions. But again, just a guess. We may never know. 


Thanks to Doug Thompson for allowing the reproduction of these charts on SOWNY. You can see every CHUM Chart ever printed on his site here. 

     Thread Starter
 

October 30, 2022 2:25 pm  #9


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

RadioActive wrote:

A couple more interesting anomalies. This Oct. 19, 1969 chart marks the first (and perhaps only?) time in the history of its publishing that there was a tie for #1.


And if you really want something odd, Mr. Thompson's site reproduces this chart from 1974, that contains the sole "correction" in its history.  I can only surmise they printed them all, didn't want to scrap them, so they went back and put in a rare swap for two songs in two positions. But again, just a guess. We may never know. 


Thanks to Doug Thompson for allowing the reproduction of these charts on SOWNY. You can see every CHUM Chart ever printed on his site here. 

That first chart is from 1968 and not 69. I remember that one and I think I have it and by 1969 the 1910 Fruitgum Co had pretty much disappeared from the charts.
 


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October 30, 2022 4:19 pm  #10


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Fitz wrote:

[That first chart is from 1968 and not 69. I remember that one and I think I have it and by 1969 the 1910 Fruitgum Co had pretty much disappeared from the charts.

Thanks for finding that typo. I missed it. In a way, there's actually a three way tie. Mary Hopkin is one, and The Beatles double sided hit, Hey Jude & Revolution also hit the top of the chart. That just makes it even more significant. 

I also love the fact that "Shape of Things" by Max Frost and the Troopers is #2. That's from the movie "Wild In The Streets," one of the all time 60s favourites. It has a great soundtrack and an even more very generational plot - teenagers at 14 and over are given the right to vote, and elect a rock star as president. He eventually sends anyone over 30 to "LSD" retraining camps. In order to get that law passed, they spike the water supply to the Senate with acid, get them so stoned, they'll vote for anything, and it becomes the law of the land. 

That scene itself is worth seeing the movie, which sounds like a terrible exploitation film, but has a great cast, including Hal Holbrook, Ed Begley Sr., Shelley Winters and a very young Richard Pryor. Oh, and the last scene before the end credits is great. 

It's on YouTube here if you've never seen it. The soundtrack, including the big hit, is terrific.

     Thread Starter
 

October 30, 2022 5:01 pm  #11


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

I was at CHUM for both the 1966 chart and the 1971 one, but have no idea how this happened.  In '66, Bob McAdorey was Music Director, but he left CHUM in 1968 and the '71 chart was under the J. Robert Wood era. It's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.  Don't think even Ron Hall knows how it happened...only that it did.                   

 

October 30, 2022 5:03 pm  #12


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Thanks for checking in Doug. I'm not sure the people who truly know are still with us. So I guess it will remain just one of those weird parts of the CHUM legacy, unless someone someday turns up who can fill in the blanks.

     Thread Starter
 

October 30, 2022 5:20 pm  #13


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Fitz wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

A couple more interesting anomalies. This Oct. 19, 1969 chart marks the first (and perhaps only?) time in the history of its publishing that there was a tie for #1.


And if you really want something odd, Mr. Thompson's site reproduces this chart from 1974, that contains the sole "correction" in its history.  I can only surmise they printed them all, didn't want to scrap them, so they went back and put in a rare swap for two songs in two positions. But again, just a guess. We may never know. 


Thanks to Doug Thompson for allowing the reproduction of these charts on SOWNY. You can see every CHUM Chart ever printed on his site here. 

That first chart is from 1968 and not 69. I remember that one and I think I have it and by 1969 the 1910 Fruitgum Co had pretty much disappeared from the charts.
 

Another anomaly is that "Hey Jude/Revolution" and "Those Were The Days" actually tied for first two weeks in a row, October 19, 1968 and October 26, 1968. Now how is that possible?


 


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

October 30, 2022 6:07 pm  #14


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

I love quirky things like that, having three number one songs for two weeks.  That's what made the CHUM chart so cool and the fact it evolved through the years.  Also I thought it was great that some tunes did so well in Toronto and Southern Ontario but not so much elsewhere.  I always thought musically CHUM's chart was more interesting and daring than Billboard and often weeks ahead with top thirty songs.  Wonder if the rumours of  Dick Clark, Mike Myers, Gordon Lightfoot, and Dave Thomas all having collections of CHUM charts are true.   

 

October 30, 2022 6:18 pm  #15


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Some other observations about the 1968 chart with the two number one's.

Fire by the Five by Five is a cover of the Jimi Hendrix tune and not of Fire by Arthur Brown which happens to be on the very same chart. I don't actually ever remember hearing the song on CHUM but I found a copy of the 45 in the 80's.

The cover of the West Coast Pop Art Band's "Smell of Incense" by the Southwest FOB I do actually remember hearing on CHUM and I bought the 45 much later at Kops. Surprised that it made the top 30 in Toronto.

Baby Let's Wait by the Royal Guardsmen is not in the Snoopy mold and I think it was actually recorded in 1966. Another one I don't remember hearing back in the day but did get much later.

Did not realize that the Stampeders were on the radio in 1968.

Finally I seemed to remember another chart with two artists sharing the same number. I remembered Wayne Newton as of of the artists and after digging around a bit I found the CHUM CHART from Oct 1967

Two artists but the same song and at the same # and the same thing happened with Kenny O'Dell and Bobby Vee with the song Beatiful People in Nov 1967.

Last edited by Fitz (October 30, 2022 6:39 pm)


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October 30, 2022 10:37 pm  #16


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Another CHUM Chart anomaly is the one for July 29, 1963. It features a "tear-out" section of the Memory Music Top 100. I don't recalll CHUM ever doing that again.

http://chumtribute.com/63-07-29-cover.jpg
http://chumtribute.com/63-07-29-chart.jpg

Also, the chart of January 22, 1968 brought us the first and only tie for the CHUMdinger.

http://chumtribute.com/68-01-22-chart.jpg


 

Last edited by Dale Patterson (October 30, 2022 10:46 pm)


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

October 30, 2022 11:32 pm  #17


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

If you look at the charts posted, there's some strange guesses at what would be "Hot New Hits." I wonder how these were chosen. Some of them never made a dent on the charts and I don't remember hearing any of them on the radio. (I've included links to each in case you're curious. A few aren't bad, but some were never destined to be hits, Hot, New or Otherwise.)

"Marble Breaks & Iron Bends" by Drafi

"C'mon Let's Go" by the McCoys. (They had a number of hits but I don't think this was one of them. It's remake of a Richie Valens song from the 50s.)

"Peter Rabbit" by Dee Jay & The Runaways

"Come Running Back" by Dean Martin

"My Kinda Guy" by the Willows (A rare Canadian all girl group)

"Homburg" from Procul Harum and

"Wake Up, Wake Up", The Grass Roots

Were any of these songs ever heard of on CHUM again?

     Thread Starter
 

October 31, 2022 1:08 am  #18


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

The CHUM Chart Book shows that four of the songs you listed did make the CHUM Chart ... here are the peak positions and weeks on the chart for them.
"C'mon Let's Go" by the McCoys - #8 (8)
"Come Running Back" by Dean Martin - #16 (8)
"My Kinda Guy" by the Willows - #17 (8); I heard it recently on a rebroadcast of a Roger Ashby Oldies Show from last year
"Homburg" from Procul Harum - #37 (3)

And all of the songs you listed made the Billboard Hot 100 except for My Kinda Guy, so that could have contributed to CHUM choosing them as Hot New Hits. As for The Willows, while they didn't make the Hot 100, Billboard did mention them in the Toronto section of their Music Capitals of the World report on Jan. 15 1966.

 

October 31, 2022 6:01 am  #19


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Homburg was the follow up to Whiter Shade of Pale and a look at Wiki shows that it did better on Billboard and nationally in Canada than in Toronto. The song has this rather memorable opening line which I saw quoted in a magazine in the 70's. I also remember hearing the song on FM in the 70's a fair bit:

Your multilingual business friend
Has packed her bags and fled

I first heard and taped Come On Lets Go by the McCoys around 1978/9 on an American FM station and later bought the single and still have it. A great record !


 


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October 31, 2022 5:57 pm  #20


Re: Why Were There 2 CHUM Charts With 2 Different #1s The Same Week?

Speaking of anomalies, how about the CHUM "Star" Chart of May 1970? It lasted exactly three issues.

http://chumtribute.com/70-05-02-cover.jpg

http://chumtribute.com/70-05-09-cover.jpg

http://chumtribute.com/70-05-16-cover.jpg

 


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram