Do you know what is No 1 in the charts this week? In the old days everyone knew when artists like ‘Wet Wet Wet’ or Bryan Adams spent months at the top of the pile. Back then there were fewer radio stations or TV channels which meant those No 1’s were everywhere all the time. Nowadays instead of Radio 1 playing all the pop hits there are literally hundreds of stations playing very specific genres of music. And with the arrival of the internet it is now possible to listen to radio stations from all over the world.
Of course, that’s if people who want music still listen to the radio at all. I was once asked to do a ‘Masterclass’ on broadcasting for a group of students on a media course. My first question was what radio stations they listened to and why. I think one student out of a dozen raised their hand and he only listened to radio because his dad had radio 4 on in the kitchen in the morning over breakfast.
With the streaming services offering all types of music all the time, all done without a DJ talking in between, a whole generation of music lovers feel they don’t need radio at all. That doesn’t mean they don’t have any less passion for music than their parents or grandparents, they just ‘consume’ it in a different way.
Now that’s a loaded term as well, ‘consume’ music? Like it or not whether we considered ourselves avid music fans or not we have all been music consumers. In the ‘olden days’ you would listen to Radio One, or Swansea Sound when they came on board in stereo, and hear the music selected by the programme directors or DJ’s. If you liked a record you would wait patiently at the side of the radio for it to be played again because you could be pretty sure if it made the charts or had been added to a new playlist it would be on a fairly regular rotation.
If you really liked a record you would actually go out and buy it. You would take the money you have saved from birthdays or pocket money, go to a shop, hand over the cash, and then walk out holding a physical object. There was nothing like it, walking out with something really special in your hands. You would take the record home, put it on the turntable, and as it played you would read the record sleeve to either learn the words or to find out who had played or produced the music you loved.
I still remember being at Dynevor School in the middle of Swansea and spending all of my lunchtimes just flicking through the LP’s in Boots, HMV, or Derricks just looking for something special. It was like a treasure hunt. Every so often you would find a gem by an artist outside of the mainstream who you might have heard on The Old Grey Whistle Test or late night John Peel Show on Radio 1.
Now that is the positive side of the old way of consuming music and I’m told by my children that vinyl is on the way back. Annual UK Vinyl sales are back in the millions and growing. That’s great news I think, and I do still have a record player. The trouble is, first of all you have to find the record you want to play and then you have to get up every 20 mins or so to turn it over to play the other side…. how quaint!! Didn’t anyone tell my kids that these days you can talk to your digital device and it will play just about any record you can think of and you don’t even have to get out of your chair.
Anyway, back to the charts. This week ‘Still With Me’ by Mal Pope is Number 1 in the Mike Read Heritage Chart. Over the past 5 years I have actually had a dozen chart placings including 6 number ones.
What, you hadn’t heard that news?
It might surprise you that in recent weeks the Official Pop Charts has had a record breaking Number one by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean called ‘Rein Me In’. At the same time there have been chart toppers in the field so country and gospel, heavy metal…the list goes on.
Mike Read, the legendary Radio and TV presenter, realised that ‘mature’ artists were still making great music but as the radio stations became more focused there were less opportunities for them to get airtime. Older artist were getting lots of plays of their old music but not much interest in the new songs.
Six years ago this week the Heritage Chart was launched, and the chart has gone from strength to strength. What it has also done is encourage Heritage artists to make new records and videos knowing that someone will give them a fair listen.
Heritage Chart 26th July 2026
And before you get to think that this is a chart that takes pity on some old forgotten artists consider this, the 6th Anniversary Chart features artists like The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Ringo Star, Leo Sayer and Marty Wilde. Now to be in that company is pretty mind blowing I can tell you. To be top of that chart is staggering.
Playlist from Boom Radio
It’s not just Heritage Radio that is catering for a generation that still loves listening to the radio. Boom Radio was set up by a group of friends who felt they still had a lot to give. They also happened to be classic radio presenters. They realised that as Radio stations made a bid to capture a younger demographic the older generation who still actually loved radio were being ignored. These days the station boasts the likes of David Hamilton, Simon Bates, Graham Dene and Nicky Horne all broadcasting regularly. They know the music; they know the stories behind the songs, and they know their audience which are considered to be the most loyal radio audience in the country.
That week when I was one place above Bruce Springsteen…I know !!!!
I am grateful that someone still seems to be interested in the music I want to make, and I will raise a glass of champagne knowing that next week in all likely hood someone else will have that coveted top spot. It could be Bruce Springsteen or maybe Owen Paul and in the meantime I will finish mixing my next single called ‘Our Town’ which will be out late summer. There is an audience out there and I think I might just have found it.