Five Year Trends in the Pop Charts Over 30 Years

30 years of Pop Music U.K Chart Analysis 

The Pop charts have always been frowned upon and scorned by observers in some way or another. From jumped up journalists, to moody DJ record producer types who pretend they dont care about commercial music, but would never refuse a place in the top 40 had they got the chance. 

But like it or not, the Pop charts have always given us a view of the current state of musical trends here in the U.K Sometimes the charts are dominated by homegrown acts, then other times they are invaded by overseas artists who usually either have a worldwide hit or are from a current genre of music that is sweeping the globe such as Hip Hop or Grunge for example. 

So it struck me that to look at how the charts evolve and how musical genres come and go and develop and reinvent themselves, one must look at the charts over a five year period from the last thirty years during the Summer month of August. This is generally and historically a fine time for anthems and big pop chart songs for the Summer holiday season. 

Generally sales of music are at a lower level in the Summer as opposed to Winter as the market slows down, so you have to sell less units to get a high position in the charts as you would at Christmas time where all the big guns and the novelty acts fight it out for an Xmas day number one single.
However as the years have past and we have evolved from physical sales to downloads to streams, the charts have continued to play a massive part in popular culture.

So I began to delve into the past starting in August 1988 when I was only 12 years old, and started to work forward until the present day to see how chart behaviour evolves, but also to see if there were any acts that still survive in each five year time period. Unfortunately I have timed it to a thirty year period, so that means that certain musical explosions have been and gone in the intervening years such as Rave, Grunge and Britpop. So I apologise for missing out pivotal moments in British chart history,but it just worked out that way. Below are my findings and opinions on the U.K Pop charts, and how recording technology also played its role in the evolving music business from 1988-2018

AUGUST 1988

The late 80's were a time of great change in the U.K musical landscape. Acid House and British Indie bands were sweeping the nations youth into a new world of illegal substances and all night parties, whilst in the safe world of the Pop charts, the likes of Stock Aitken and Waterman were beginning to dominate the top 40 like a tyrant government, leaving little space for competition. 

Yazz is at the top spot with her Acid House Pop crossover hit.  Followed by Kylie Minogues follow up from her debut. This time with a cover of an early 1960's hit, but glossed over with the SAW production that had all the elements for a sure fire hit. S-Express are in there also, showing that the House music explosion was starting to appear as more and more DJ's began to emerge in the fledgling U.K House music scene, by producing records mostly in their bedrooms. Iron Maiden are there at number 5 as they were one of the leading U.K Metal bands during this time, and they still continue to perform and record to this day.

So for this top ten, we have two Dance tracks, one R&B track from the group B.V.S.M.P. Three standard Pop group hits from Kim Wilde, Brother Beyond yet another SAW production and Breathe. A Heavy Metal song and two guitar Folk styled hits with Fairground Attraction and to add an even bigger twist to it all, All About Eve had a top ten hit with their song Martha's Harbour, which is as acoustic and moody as you could ever ask for. 

So all in all the top ten of this year during mid August shows as followed. Generic Pop i.e manufactured acts from major record labels were ruling the top ten with four acts.

    AUGUST 1993

Five years later, and we have had in between those years, Acid house, Manchester Indie bands, Hardcore Techno/Rave and the Grunge genres all invade the U.K charts. But now we are at a point where those genres have seen their day come and go and its now at a plateau where the charts are ready for a new explosion. Change is in the air but not quite yet. Here are the charts for the 18th August 1993.

Freddie Mercury has been dead for almost two years but has had posthumous releases reaching the top spots in album and singles sales alike. Take That have finally established themselves as the countries top boy band after years of hard work. An unusual Rock hit is there with 4 Non Blondes and their smash hit "Whats Up" Billy Joel is still getting hits as too is Madonna. Gabrielle was number one with her debut track Dreams, which is a Pop/Soul crossover hit. But the overall feeling in the charts is Reggae. 

Apache Indian is a Pop/Reggae styled track called  Boom Shak-a-Lak from his Nuff-Vibes e.p. Bitty Mclean is in there and so is the enormous hit from Chaka Demus & Pliers, with their Tease Me track. There is only one Club/Dance track which is number two by Urban Cookie Collective called The Key The Secret, which was a Euro style Pop track. Even though club music was quite dominant in the charts during this era. But overall Reggae is the king in the Summer of 1993 for the U.K charts.

AUGUST 1998

Princess Diana has left us, and the glory days of Britpop are well and truly gone. Its 1998 and the dream is over. Where once bands such as Oasis and Blur offered the nation hope from the boredom of everyday life, all seem to have gone underground to recover or they have simply vanished into thin air. The manufactured boy/girl band seem to have replaced the laddish Britpop bands as Boyzone are at number one with there ballad which will remain there for a little while longer. Cleopatra are at number four and the almighty Spice Girls are there also, showing no signs of slowing down just yet. The biggest club record of the entire year is straight in at number two. Produced by one half of Daft Punk, Mr Thomas Bangalter and Alan Braxe under the name Stardust. The only other club track is by the more Euro sounding Sash.

Savage Garden, Simply Red keep everything flowing in the Pop scene also, whilst Puff Daddy meets Led Zeppelin in his Rap/Rock crossover hit for the Godzilla soundtrack, and Pras Michel and SweetBox keep things swinging in the Hip Hop R&B world. Pop has returned to its default setting for the time being with the record labels playing it quite safely as the manufactured bands reign supreme. Club music by this point was hitting the charts regularly and so was Hip Hop, but its Generic Pop and R&B that rules Summer 1998.

August 2003

A new century and a new wave of artists and bands have arrived to join the parade as the digital era begins to evolve. Reality T.V shows are becoming the next thing for wannabe pop stars to make it big. You-Tube is still to be born and CD is still the number one choice of format. But mp3 is beginning to make its mark in the music world, aswell as illegal downloads which will have a huge impact on the industry over the coming decade. However the charts of this year for the month of August look like this below.

R&B is the dominant force in this new era. A genre that has always been steadily flowing along over the decades but here in this year it has become a major player now. It has finally reached its full potential with the crossing of Rap artists joining in on the act, giving it both a mass appeal to Hip Hop fans and R&B fans alike. Blu Cantrell is number one with Sean Paul on guest vocals, which is a nice R&B track with a Reggae/Rap alongside it. Euro dance act Ultra Beat are sitting at number two with Pretty Green Eyes. A hard stomping dance track. 

The Cheeky Girls are at 3 with a novelty holiday record, showing that reality T.V has began to give exposure to anyone with the desire to be famous. Take That members Mark Owen and Robbie Williams are in there with solo projects along with Daniel Bedingfield performing generic Pop tunes to give a balance to the top ten. 

Pharrell and Jay Z are here too with a very good R&B hit called Frontin. So is Lumindee and her collaboration with Busta Rhymes. Beyonce is still in there with her anthem Crazy In Love. Jason Nevins has a slight pop House record with Im in Heaven which sampled Michael Jackson's classic Human Nature. Pop music is still running a tight and steady ship but overall R&B is the absolute driving force for the charts in this year, even though the figures are the same as 1998.

August 2008

As we push towards the end of another decade, trends in music are pretty much the same. There is unrest within the music industry as illegal file sharing and downloads have hit the business hard. Itunes and Napster are fighting back with subscriptions and the industry is having to find new ways to reinvent itself. Major labels have folded and only a few remain during this era. But the charts are still a port of call for those who wish to hear the latest songs, even if there is now You-Tube and other websites that offer alternative sounds.  Below we see the August top ten for 2008.

Katy Perry is the all innocent pop star who dabbles in being bad with her number one single I kissed a Girl. Kid Rock has a Summer hit with a Country Rock anthem. We have a fair slice of R&B tracks, plus we still have the Rock contingency with Coldplay who are by now chart veterans. Noah and the Whale are on that Pop/Folk tip which sits very oddly in this top ten as there isnt anything else of that ilk here. Also the Verve are still churning out the odd hit. Calvin Harris and Dizzee Rascal were on a high with Dance With Me, which is the only club track amongst the top ten. 

So we see a steady flow of R&B with four songs, Pop only has two, whilst Rock oriented music seems to be having a comeback. Coldplay and The Verve clearly have good material out at this point. Dance music only has one which was unusual, and once again we see a consistency with R&B which has continued to keep on rolling.

August 2013

Into another decade the music industry has finally sorted itself out in many ways. The new digital era has been legislated somewhat and various new laws have passed on copyright, file sharing and other details that existed in the old music industry model. This is a new world now and one in which major record labels are not needed for many artists in ways of promotion and touring. However many musicians still seek a big deal to take them far. Summer 2013 looks like this below. This is now the You-Tube generation where video hits are the new currency for popularity, but the official pop chart still remains as strong as ever for exposure.

Miley Cyrus peaks at the top with a thrashy Pop hit.There are a couple of Dance club crossover records here with Avicii  and John Newman. They have dance oriented productions but are very Pop in their sound. R&B has a few contenders with Jay-Z and Robin Thickes huge hit Blurred Lines which was a controversial record that had Marvin Gayes lawyers rubbing their hands with the sound of money. Icona Pop have a huge Pop hit this Summer too with the only song in the top ten with a Rock feel to it. The U.K Grime scene is coming to fruition with Tinie Tempah. Although it will be a few more years yet before the genre gains serious recognition. 

Calvin Harris is now a force to be reckoned with and has a very nice Summer Dance track. The only other Pop track in there is One Direction who are the millennial Take That. So Its really Dance Music that rules this chart, but its no longer an underground scene. The very foundations of Dance music have since been watered down and purified for a safer audience. But they are still Dance records never the less.  Rock has all but gone for now and Dance Pop crossover records are the top dogs in 2013.

August 2018

The charts have changed dramatically since I first started this project with the year 1988. Since then all the fads and fashions have been and gone and even some of the worlds biggest record labels and artists have either passed away or just simply retired from music altogether. Below is the chart for August 2018.

So at number one is George Ezra with his track entitled Shotgun. The worlds biggest R&B star Drake is at number two, Benny Blanco has another R&B styled hit. Calvin Harris is still pulling in the hits after over 10 years and at the time of writing has broken the world record for the only solo artist with the most hits. DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber are in there and Tyga also with the R&B tracks. 

Ariana Grande has two singles in the chart. This is showing the state of the modern charts as its now all based on streaming and so any artist could potentially rule the top ten if they had enough plays. This was something that Ed Sheeran achieved recently. However Maroon 5 are the only band in here which speaks volumes, even though they went from being a kind of alternative Rock band to a full on EDM influenced band over the past decade. There are alot of solo artists these days as you rarely see any bands in the top ten.

So the hottest Summer on record for decades, the U.K charts surely had some scorching hits out there for the masses. Dance music is still huge for many artists both underground and commercial. The amount of sub-genres that have been created in the thirty year we have been reviewing is immense. So many names and bands have been and gone, some we thought would live forever have even been put to sleep. Disposable Pop stars are even easier to come by these days with the internet providing us with a mass of wannabe stars to choose from.

Record labels now tend to give an artist one or two singles to prove their worth or they are simply dropped. The days of nurturing talent are very limited as opposed to thirty years ago, where label's had big money to play around with. The streaming of music has become common place, and vinyl has made a miraculous return to the stores giving hope to a tangible format. Even cassettes have made a return to certain underground scenes which is a healthy thing to see.

Artists can also benefit from running their own labels and empires selling merchandise and tours via their own website, cutting out the major labels, which has been done by alot of Hip Hop artists. House music is a global industry, and the festival and live gig circuit is now as healthy as ever before giving old and new artists fresh income as many younger people are listening to 80's and 90's bands that their parents were into. So we have an abundance of choice for those acts that are still willing to deliver their work to the fans. 

CONCLUSION

With 30 years of chart trends it seems to be that generic Pop and R&B have remained the dominant force across the top ten of each August week that was analysed. Both those genres came up with having the highest numbers against the other genres. With all of the musical fads and genres that have been and gone, the charts always seem to return to the default setting before a new style comes along. The Pop charts have remained a part of the very fabric of British culture and whilst physical sales no longer exist, they still have a place in our world. Maybe its down to the fact that historically, the charts during the Summer months are usually focused on anthems and big holiday records? Either way they are ultimately standard Pop oriented.

However there is argument that the new model is not all that fair, so if a major act such as Ed Sheeran comes out with a new album, his entire album could be in the top ten that week. Which does not do the charts justice and nor does it give an entire picture of what the nation is listening to other than that Sheeran album. 

The charts are a symbol of success for artists and also a place where we can get the dreaded ear worms from with catchy sweet melodies, that no matter how much we love or hate them, we can not escape them. Why would you want to?

Please leave any comments below thanks.