Here’s an interesting curio I stumbled across – a 1980 World in Action investigation into Record Hyping. It all seems charmingly low rent compared to the marketing strategies of today. And it seems Brass in Pocket may not have been a legit chart topper…
Chartbusters
Cheers, looks interesting, will give it a watch. And god, that World In Action theme tune is still a classic, I need this as my phone ringtone. Shawn Phillips, great tune.
I don’t doubt the claims are true. It must’ve been going on for years. The bigger the record company, the more money to spend on hyping.
Interesting to hear The Police (Sting’s troop,) be implicated. I remember there was a story that one of The Stranglers albums that missed out on a higher position or even number one as sales figures were wrongly attributed to a Police album. Tsk! Sting was a hyped superstar.
It was “giving away Earth, Wind and Fire albums for favours” that tickled me. Not sure that’s a currency that would carry much weight today!