TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

A weekly hour-long show devoted to record company provided promo clips aka 'videos'.

Promo clips made to accompany a new single release date back to the days of The Beatles, who decided that they couldn't (or wouldn't) necessarily appear on all the UK's pop TV shows like Top Of The Pops, Ready Steady Go and Thank Your Lucky Stars, so they just sent in a clip instead. Promo clips could also be sent oversees to TV stations, providing free promotion for an act that probably wouldn't be sent abroad due to cost, while Queen's 1975 promo clip for Bohemian Rhapsody had been made quickly and cheaply to cover the fact that the band would be on tour when the single was out, so instead, it would do the promotion for them. In Britain promo clips would be shown weekly on Top Of The Pops, occasionally on The Old Grey Whistle Test and then later in kids' shows like Swap Shop, Get It Together and Tiswas. Promo ciips became a regular feature on TV in the UK, but it wouldn't be an industry, not yet anyway.

In August 1981 MTV debuted and finally America had its own promo clips outlet. Previously Mike Nesmith's 'Pop Clips' gave promos a much needed airing in the US, but that was about it. While in the UK the New Romantic era was well underway with all the major acts having flamboyant promos made showing off their new make up and clothes which of course would completely change by the next single release. Adam Ant became the Promo King with his extravert and highly polished promos featuring guest stars like Diana Dors. New 'videos' became an event, in some cases more so than the record it was promoting. Although it was eventually launched in the UK MTV wasn't really needed as the weekly outlet for clips was so large anyway, beside cable TV never really took off in the UK and when satellite TV overtook cable later in the decade the Golden Age of promos/videos was already over.

The early days of Channel 4 demanded cheap (or cheapish) TV ideas and the idea of an hour's worth of promo clips seemed a no-brainer. Thankfully, the idea was in the hands of people who knew exactly what they were doing, having made about 500 promo clips themselves since the mid-seventies.

The show wouldn't have lasted if just current chart hits were aired, so probably using Britain's weekly music paper charts as a guide they would show indie, goth, metal, soul, rap, stuff that wouldn't necessarily make it to The Pops or Saturday morning TV. Exposure to these other genres made the show a must-watch.

In addition the show would use what they called 'HUD', a grid or frame over the clip which gave information about the artists, although the info was so tightly packed it was difficult to read sometimes. The show reflected the use of home video recorders and used a pause button display before a commercial break, and 'play' to resume afterwards.

Unfortunately for the producers, the show was launched at the wrong time. On the 31st May 1986 the British Phonographic Industry's (BPI) agreement with broadcasters over the payment of use of music in promo clips ended, badly affecting shows which rely on the use of such clips like The Chart Show.

From Music Week 7th June 1986 - 'Record companies are carrying out their threat not to supply video clips to ITV and Channel 4 in a wrangle over payments. But the BBC, including Top Of The Pops, will continue to receive the promo videos while talks continue. The BPI is asking for a screening fee of approximately £500 per clip. The back up threat of action also came from the Musician's Union and Phonographic Performance Limited relating to the music soundtracks.' As a result the 13th June 1986 show only played promos from non-BPI affiliates.

From Music Week 21st June 1986 - 'The Chart Show was putting together (a show) consisting of material from non-BPI members with a few peripheral items such as Queen's Friends Will Be Friends. Queen claim to own the rights to their video, but investigations are understood to be taking place with who hold the rights to the sound recording. IRS had withdrawn its support from the BPI’s stand, but had not resigned over the issue. Island had supplied clips for the 6th June 1986 show and although it supports the BPI action it didn't support the way it had gone about it.’

On 20th June 1986 the series is abandoned due to the dispute over soundtrack payments. The show was blacked by the Musician's Union. The show's producer Keith MacMillan pointed out "I have to ask who's losing this battle? The M.U. have lost payments for members this week, and the record companies have lost sales tomorrow. Is it worth the struggle?" It is replaced with Rewind, a show of clips from the Channel 4 archive, produced by The Chart's Show's Video Visuals.

From Music Week 28th June 1986 - 'While Channel Four's Chart Show has been successfully knocked off the air in the war over payment for use of video clips a settlement between BBC TV and the record industry is said to be "imminent". Rumours of a £75 per clip fee were rejected. The suggestion was forwarded for an annual payment instead.’

On the 8th August 1986 the show is reinstated following an agreement between the show's producers and the BPI. From Music Week 23rd August 1986 - 'TV clip war over. Conditions secret. Producer (of The Chart Show) Jill Sinclair expresses relief. "I'm glad to be in a job still. After six weeks I thought we might be off the air for good. We rather naively thought that shows like ours were being a service to the music industry and it was horrible to find we were Public Enemy Number One." Despite her relief Jill Sinclair would leave The Chart Show in December.

The show continues with the usual round-up of new releases, a bit like a video version of Radio One's Round Table, also broadcast on Friday evenings. In October 1987 WEA start providing rough cuts of forthcoming videos, with the full version played the following week, guaranteeing two plays. Other labels catch on and also start providing rough cuts the following month. While at the end of October the show splits in two, with each part now lasting thirty minutes instead of the one block of forty-five minutes.

The 9th September 1988 sees the show's hundredth edition, but the decision is made to leave Channel 4 and make a move to ITV. The final Channel 4 edition being a two-hour review of the year, shown in January 1989. ITV's answer to Top Of The Pops, The Roxy had flopped the previous year, so a chart-based replacement was needed. The show moves to Saturday mornings on ITV, beginning 7th January 1989.

2nd September 1989 sees a name change to The ITV Chart Show and it would continue on Saturday mornings through the mid-nineties, taking in UK pop, UK soul, Grunge, Britpop and anything the chart would throw at them. However, by the end of the Britpop era promo clips, although still being made, no longer demanded the status they had ten years' before. Personal appearances and live performance were given precedence on shows like Top Of The Pops, where by the mid-nineties, promo clips were only played briefly. It was no longer impressive to hire certain directors, it was now more impressive to prove you could do it live.

The show was elbowed out and replaced by Top Of The Pops lookalike CD:UK which preferred to use performers live in the studio. The show lived on in the satellite age with The Chart Show getting its own channel.

The show had a remarkable thirteen year run and introduced the work of so many inventive and innovative video makers, but the industry was pricing itself out of existence and had all but gone by the turn of the millennium.

THE CHART SHOW / THE ITV CHART SHOW

C4 & ITV / Video Visuals

Channel 4 11th April 1986 - 2nd January 1989

ITV 7th January 1989 - 22nd August 1998