List of Fab 40 number-one singles

The USS Density (later renamed to MV Galaxy) was the vessel used to broadcast the pirate radio station Big L.

The Fab 40 (or Fab Forty) was the playlist for the station Wonderful Radio London. Also known as Big L,[1] Wonderful Radio London was a pirate radio station that operated from the MV Galaxy about three-and-a-half miles out from the coast of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex.[2] It was founded by American Don Pierson with a backing of around £500,000, and first "BROADCAST" shortly before Christmas 1964.[1][2][3] The station is credited with introducing to Britain the contemporary hit radio style seen in the United States and the Fab 40 chart is said by Music Week to have been "influential".[4][5] During its tenure, it had disc jockeys such as John Peel, Tony Blackburn and Kenny Everett.[4][6] Based on airplay (not physical music sales)[7] the chart was broadcast on Sunday afternoons.[8] The station closed on 14 August 1967 when the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 came into effect,[2][6] with the last Fab 40 chart show presented the previous week by Tommy Vance.[9][10] Later, when an official chart had been established, rival charts would factor airplay into their charts.[11]

The Fab 40 had a significantly higher turnover of singles than the Record Retailer chart; it had 118 different singles top the chart between 23 January 1965 and 12 August 1967 (by comparison Record Retailer had 53).[12] Additionally, only one single spent three weeks at number one – The Beatles double A-side "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out" – while on the Record Retailer chart, 23 singles spent at least three weeks at the top of the chart in the same period.[12] On the Fab 40, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones each had eight number-ones and the Hollies had seven (six of which did not top the Retailer chart).

  1. ^ a b Miller, Lisa (16 November 2009). "Pirate Radio – The Winds of Change". Imperial Valley News. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "When pirates ruled the waves". St Albans & Harpenden Review. Newsquest. 19 July 2004. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  3. ^ "Wonderful Radio London takes to the air again (but not the sea)". Goliath Business News. Pro Sound News Europe. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2010. (subscription required)
  4. ^ a b Payne, Mary. "It was time to introduce American Top 40-style radio to the UK". Radio London Ltd. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  5. ^ "Akon scores double top". Music Week. 8 May 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  6. ^ a b "John Peel Biography" (PDF). BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  7. ^ "Radio London – Big L Fab Forty 65 – 24th Jan 1965". Radio London Ltd. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  8. ^ "Big L Fab Forty 1965, Gert and Machteld". Radio London Ltd. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Aug12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Tommy Vance". The Times. 7 March 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2010.[dead link‍]
  11. ^ Marketing Week (9 January 2003). "Stations vie for pole chart show position". Marketing Week. Goliath Business News. Retrieved 10 September 2010. (subscription required)
  12. ^ a b "Number 1 Singles – 1960s". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010.