3AW creates a chart (1959)

Earlier, I wrote about radio station charts in the 50s-60s-70s when sales figures were randomly or casually collected, and stations were free to favour songs from their own playlists or, well, whatever they reckoned. (See my Toppermost of the poppermost: the charts.)

The chart from Melbourne's 3AW for 28 June 1959 gives us a neat insight into the workings of both radio station charts and the retrospectively compiled charts we use for big cities or the whole country.

Denis Gibbons, a highly regarded folk singer-guitarist-composer, recorded several albums, mainly of Australian folk songs, some of them intended for use in schools, and he also released some singles. 

Here is Denis with two records on 3AW's Top 30. Not bad for someone who was never a big star, certainly not a teen idol, and probably more at the square end of the music market, as we might have said back then.

But as well as being a folk-singer, Denis Gibbons was an announcer at 3AW, where he'd landed a big city job after starting out on 3SR in Shepparton. 

I think it's fair to say that Denis did well on the charts at 3AW, but not so well at the stations where he didn't work. 

One of his 3AW hits, at #5, is a cover of the Everly Brothers' Take A Message to Mary which was still on the charts at other stations and doing well. Gavin Ryan's Melbourne chart book has the Everlys peaking at #1, with no mention of Denis's 3AW hit. 

When we say #1 in Melbourne in 1959, we are referring to a retrospective chart, in this case compiled by Gavin using radio charts available to him at some later time. In his Melbourne chart book for this period Gavin used charts from 3UZ and 3DB. Although I don't have those charts we can infer that the Everlys reached #1 or nearby at both stations, and it seems unlikely that Denis's record was even played on 3UZ and 3DB.

I'm no statistician but I believe that if Gavin had included 3AW's chart, Denis's #5 single would've earned a placing in his retrospective chart, maybe even in the Top 20. 

Because the 3AW chart so obviously boosts Denis's records, it might be a good thing that it was omitted from Gavin's calculations, whether through editorial judgment or unavailability. 

As I typed earlier, though, radio station surveys reflected station playlists. It's not surprising that Denis's records might be played on his employer's station, and the 3AW chart reflects that. 

A few weeks earlier, Denis's colleague at 3AW Ralphe Rickman made a prediction: Take A Message To Mary - Denis Gibbons. 

Ralphe sure could pick those hits!

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Further reading:
1. 3AW charts at ARSA.
2. Gavin Ryan's chart books are out of print and hard to find. The State Library of Victoria has a copy of his Melbourne Chart Book 1956-2002 on site and members can order a digital copy.
3. Denis Gibbons: Kimbo's Australian Music History,  Discogs.com and Wikipedia.

Thanks to Terry Stacey for spotting the chart and Denis Gibbons.