Record Mirror

Record Mirror

Categories	Music, show business
Frequency	Weekly
Founder	Isidore Green
First issue	17 June 1954
Final issue	6 April 1991
Company	United Newspapers
Country	United Kingdom
Based in	London
Language	English
ISSN	0144-5804
OCLC	6459252

Record Mirrorwas a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after theNME,it never attained the circulation of its rival. The firstUK album chartwas published inRecord Mirrorin 1956, and during the 1980s it was the only consumer music paper to carry the officialUK singlesand UK albums charts used by the BBC forRadio 1andTop of the Pops,as well as the USBillboardcharts.

The title ceased to be a stand-alone publication in April 1991 whenUnited Newspapersclosed or sold most of their consumer magazines, includingRecord Mirrorand its sister music magazineSounds,to concentrate on trade papers likeMusic Week.In 2010Giovanni di Stefanobought the nameRecord Mirrorand relaunched it as an online music gossip website in 2011. The website became inactive in 2013 following di Stefano's jailing for fraud.

Early years, 1954–1963

Record Mirrorwas founded by formerWeekly Sporting Revieweditor Isidore Green,who encouraged the same combative journalism asNME.Staff writers included Dick Tatham, Peter Jonesand Ian Dove.Green's background was in show business and he emphasisedmusic hall,a dying tradition. He published articles and interviews connected with theatre and musical personalities.

On 22 January 1955Record Mirrorbecame the second music paper afterNMEto publish a singles chart. The chart was a Top 10, from postal returns from 24 stores. On 8 October, the chart expanded to a Top 20, and by 1956, more than 60 stores were being sampled. In April 1961, increased postage costs affected funding of the returns, and on 24 March 1962 the paper abandoned its charts and began using those ofRecord Retailer,which had begun in March 1960.

The first album charts in the UK were published inRecord Mirroron 28 July 1956.

For two months in 1959,Record Mirrorfailed to appear due to a national printing strike. On its return, Green renamed itRecord and Show Mirror,the majority of space devoted to show business. By the end of 1960 circulation had fallen to 18,000 andDecca Records,the main shareholder, became uneasy. In March 1961, Decca replaced Green with Jimmy Watson, a former Decca press officer. Watson changed the title toNew Record Mirrorand eliminated show business. Circulation rose, aided by an editorial team ofPeter Jones,Ian Dove and Norman Jopling. He brought in freelance columnists James Asman,Benny Greenand DJDavid Gellto implement a chart coverage including jazz, country andpop music.This eventually included the official UK Top 50 singles, Top 30LPsand Top 10EPs,as compiled byRecord Retailer.The paper also listed the USA Top 50 singles, compiled byCash Box,and charts such as the Top 20 singles of five years ago andR&Breleases.

Features such as Ian Dove's "Rhythm & Blues Round Up", Peter Jones's "New Faces" and Norman Jopling's "Fallen Idols and Great Unknowns", combined withNew Record Mirror's music coverage, helped circulation rise to nearly 70,000.New Record Mirrorwas the first national publication to publish an article onthe Beatles,and the first to featurethe Rolling Stones,the Searchers,the Who,andthe Kinks.Bill Harry,founder and editor of theLiverpoolpublicationMersey Beat,wrote a column on Liverpool music. Other columnists reported onBirmingham,Manchester,SheffieldandNewcastle.New Record Mirrortook an interest in black AmericanR&Bartists. The paper maintained articles on old-stylerock and roll.

1963–1982

During 1963 Decca Records' chairmanEdward Lewissold a substantial share of Decca's interest toJohn Junor,editor of theSunday Express.Junor was looking for a paper to print by four-colour printing developed byWoodrow WyattinBanbury,before printing theSunday Expressin colour. Junor movedSunday Expressproduction toShaftesbury AvenueandNew Record Mirrorbecame more mainstream. In November 1963, the paper returned to the nameRecord Mirror,and featured a colour picture of the Beatles on the cover, the first music paper in full colour. Although the first run of 120,000 sold out, the following issue fell to 60,000. Junor replaced Jimmy Watson by Peter Jones. Circulation recovered and the paper successfully continued with the same format throughout the 1960s. Following acquisition in 1962 ofNMEbyOdhams,Record Mirrorwas the only independent popular music newspaper.

During 1969,Record Mirrorwas acquired byRecord Retailerand incorporated intoRecord Retaileroffices inCarnaby Street.The acquisition saw the magazine change printers, drop full colour pin-ups and increase its size to a largertabloid format.Jones continued as editor, supported by Valerie Mabbs, Lon Goddard, Rob Partridge, Bill McAllister (the first music journalist to heraldElton JohnandRod Stewart), and broadcast-specialist Rodney Collins, who had moved fromRecord Retailer.Collins's links withpirate radiogaveRecord Mirrora continental circulation and a Dutch supplement was frequently included. Terry Chappell resumed as production editor and Bob Houston supervised the change in format. Group editorial managerMike Hennesseycontributed the first interview withJohn Lennon.TheRecord Mirrorphotographic studio became independent, underDezo Hoffmann.

In a studioouttakeof a recording of "Sally Simpson" on the 2003 release of the deluxe edition of the Who's 1969 albumTommy,Pete Townshendsaid, "I've read theRecord Mirror".WhenKeith Moonpresses him to tell what he read in theRecord Mirror,Pete says, to the rest of the band's laughter, that the paper said that he was known by the other members of the Who as "Bone".

In 1975Discwas incorporated intoRecord Mirror– among the items brought toRecord MirrorwasJ Edward Oliver's cartoon, which had been running inDiscfor five years, and which continued for a two years inRecord Mirror.By 1977Record Retailerhad becomeMusic WeekandRecord Mirrorwas included in a sale byBillboardmagazine to the Morgan-Grampian Group. Both offices moved toCovent Garden.Morgan-Grampian moved toGreater London House,north London in 1981.

1982–1991

In 1982, the paper changed from tabloid to glossy magazine. During the next nine years it had a more pop-orientated slant and containing features and a tone of voice that was one part Smash Hits, one part the NME. Part ofRecord Mirrorwas devoted over to comic articles as a rival to the NME's Thrills section (infamous for Stuart Maconie's Believe It Or Not column which claimed thatBob Holnesswas the saxophonist on Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street).Features in this section ofRecord Mirrorincluded:

• Great Pop Things,a weekly comic strip by Colin B. Morton andChuck Deathwhich began in 1987 and continued inNMEafterRecord Mirror's closure
• Star-spotting gossip pages, written by Johnny Dee, which also featured comedy articles
• Lip– gossip column written by Nancy Culp, and later Lisa Tilston
• "Spot the Imposter" – photoquiz with a misplaced face in the crowd
• "Phil's World of Wigs" – each week a picture ofPhil Collinsappeared with new novelty haircuts, the artwork being created by art director Ian Middleton in response to readers' suggestions
• "Pete's Poems" – a weekly poem by record producerPete Waterman(as edited by Neil Wilson)
• "Sonia's Best Buys" – value for money purchases apparently made by late 1980s singerSonia
• "The Stone Roses New Line-Up" – each week a new photo of agurningcelebrity would be added to a photo of theStone Roses1989 line-up, for exampleHarry Enfieldas his character "Loadsamoney"
• "B's Cheeseboard" – various types of cheese apparently reviewed bySoul II SoulstarJazzie B
• "Star Scene" – pop stars answering questions about items in the news
• "Tanita and Guy's Psychic Joke Hut" – pictures of the heads ofThe House Of LovesingerGuy Chadwickand singer-songwriterTanita Tikaramtelling each other jokes: both were famed for their serious natures in real life
• "Disco column" – a disco review section fromJames Hamilton

1991–2013

In 1987, Morgan-Grampian was acquired by United Newspapers (nowUBM). On 2 April 1991,Record Mirrorclosed as a stand-alone title on the same day as its United Newspapers sister publicationSoundsclosed, with the last issue dated 6 April 1991. The final cover featuredTransvision Vamp.Eleanor Levy, the final editor, believed the decision to close the magazine was "taken by accountants rather than people who understand music. When I explained to one of the management team that our strength was dance music, he thought I meantJive Bunny."

As United Newspapers decided to focus on trade papers,Record Mirrorwas incorporated intoMusic Weekas a pull-out supplement with the title concentrating on dance music and with the Cool Cuts, Club Chart and James Hamilton'sBPMcolumn continuing to be published.Hamilton continued to review records for theRecord Mirror Dance Updateuntil two weeks before his death on 17 June 1996, with the supplement running an obituary in the 29 June issue with tributes from Pete Tong, Graham Gold and Les 'L.A. Mix' Adams.

By the 21st century, theRecord Mirror Dance Updatehad been abandoned with the dance charts incorporated intoMusic Week(with the Music Week Upfront Club and Cool Cuts still being published in 2020 byFuture plc,though this may change in 2021 when the publication goes monthly).However, in 2011 Record Mirror was re-launched as an online music gossip website but became inactive two years later following trademark owner Giovanni di Stefano's jailing for fraud.

Music charts

History of the charts

Record Mirrorbecame the second magazine to compile and publish a record chart on 22 January 1955. Unlike theNew Musical Expresswho conducted a phone poll of retailers for a chart,Record Mirrorarranged for its pool of retailers to send in a list of best sellers by post. The paper would finance the costs of this survey and by 1957 over 60 shops would be regularly contributing from a rotating pool of over 80. The chart was a top 10 until 8 October 1955. It then became a top 20; which it stayed at until being replaced by theRecord Retailertop 50. It also inaugurated the countries first Long Player chart, which commenced as a top five on 28 July 1956.

By March 1962,Record Mirroradopted publication ofRecord Retailer's top 50 from 24 March 1962. After 21 April 1966,Record Mirrorpublished a "Bubbling Under List" right under the main chart (at the time, the Singles Top 50, the Albums Top 30 and the EP Top 10). "The Breakers", as it was called later in the year, were 10 to 15 records (for the singles chart) which had not made the top 50 that week, but were poised to reach the main chart the next week, ranked in sales order, i.e. as if they occupied positions 51 to 64. "The Breakers" list was ceased when BMRB took over chart compilation in February 1969, but by September 1970, it was re-instated (for singles only) appearing off and on under the main chart, up until May 1978 (when the top 75 was introduced). In the years 1974 and 1975, the list even expanded to 30 titles, of which the first 10 were called "Star Breakers" and given in order of sales, with the other 20 listed alphabetically.

In January 1983, when Gallup took over chart compilation, the singles chart extended to a Top 100, with positions 76–100 as 'The Next 25' – excluding singles dropping out of the Top 75 or with significantly reduced sales. 'The Next 25' was discontinued byMusic Weekin November 1990 who decided to only include records that were hits (that is, inside the Top 75).Record Mirrorcontinued printing the Top 100 until it became part of the trade paper in April 1991, withMusic Weekcontinuing to print the hits, though the full Top 200 singles chart and Top 150 albums chart could be accessed by subscribing toMusic Week's spin-off newsletterCharts Plusand also toHit Musicwhich superseded it. (Note: As of December 2020 the Official Charts Company website is still missing a lot of the data on regards to records in positions 76 to 100 from 1991 to 12 February 1994)

In addition to the Gallup charts (the future Official Charts Company Top 100),Record Mirrorwas the only magazine during the 1980s to print the weekly US singles and album charts, with analysis by chart statistician Alan Jones.

Music charts included

• UK Top 100 Singles Chart
• UK Top 75 Albums and Compilation Albums Charts
• Vintage chart from a bygone year
• USBillboardSingles Chart
• USBillboardAlbums Chart
• USBillboardBlack Singles Chart
• Music Video Chart
• 12-inch singlesTop 20 Chart
• Compact Disc Top 20 Chart
• ReggaeChart (dropped in 1987)

James Hamilton

In June 1975, DJJames Hamilton(1942–1996) started writing a weekly "disco" column, which in 1980s expanded into a general dance music section known asBPM.Later, Hamilton introduced theDJ Directory,including theBeats and Piecesnews section and four charts: "Club Chart", "Cool Cuts", "Pop Dance", andHi-NRGChart.

Hamilton had started DJing in London in the early 1960s, and had been writing about US soul and R&B forRecord Mirrorsince 1964, originally as Dr Soul.After a visit to theParadise Garagein the 1970s to seeLarry Levanplay, he came back to the UK a convert to mixing records, unknown at the time. To promote his views, he developed hisonomatopoeicstyle of describing a record, and from 1979 he started timing and including thebeats per minuteof records he reviewed.

Employees

1950s and 1960s

Journalists

• Norman Jopling
• Graeme Andrews
• Derek Boltwood
• Roy Burden
• Terry Chappell
• Rodney Collins
• Lon Goddard
• David Griffiths
• Tony Hall
• Peter Jones
• Bill McAllister
• Valerie Mabbs
• Ian Middleton
• Barry May
• Alan Stinton

Photographic department

• Dezo Hoffmann
• David Louis [Louis Levy]
• Bill Williams
• Eileen Mallory
• Alan Messer
• Feri Lukas
• David Magnus
• Keith Hammett

Production Editor

• Colin Brown

1970s

Journalists

• Barry Cain
• Ronnie Gurr
• Mike Gardner
• Jan Iles
• David Hancock
• Peter Harvey
• Tim Lott
• Alf Martin
• Mike Nicholls
• Sheila Prophet
• Rosalind Russell
• John Shearlaw
• Daniela Soave
• Penny Valentine
• Chris Westwood
• Paula Yates– wrote a column in the papertitled "Natural Blonde"

Photographic department

• Andy Phillips
• Paul Slattery

Cartoonist

Jack Edward Oliver,1970–1977

Advertisement production

Mick Hitch

1980s and 1990s

Business team

• Mike Sharman – Publisher
• Steve Bush-Harris
• Carole Norvell-Read
• Tracey Rogers
• Geof Todd
• Jo Embleton

Journalists

• Stuart Bailie – now a DJ onBBC Radio Ulster
• Tony Beard
• Edwin J Bernard – later became a writer and policy consultant for the human rights of HIV-affected people
• Graham Black
• Lysette Cohen
• Nancy Culp (real name Gill Smith, 1957–2009) – formerly a press officer forRough Trade Recordsbefore moving into journalism: it wasMorrissey(of Rough Trade artistsThe Smiths) who affectionately nicknamed her afterThe Beverley HillbilliesactressNancy Kulp.Culp was also responsible forRecord Mirror's gossip columnLipfor much of the latter half of the 1980s before moving to theNME.She died from cancer on 6 April 2009.
• Johnny Dee
• Charlie Dick
• Ian Dickson
• Alan Entwistle
• Tony Farsides – later became editor of theRecord Mirrorsupplement inMusic Week
• Malu Halasa
• James Hamilton – he also worked for Jocks magazine (which became DJ Magazine).
• Tim Jeffries – became editor ofJocksand oversaw the transformation toDJ Mag
• Alan Jones – continues to write chart-based columns for "Music Week"
• Eleanor Levy– editor, 1989–1991. WhenRecord Mirrorclosed down she and Andy Strickland (both keen football fans) co-founded the now-defunct football magazine90 Minutes
• Vie Marshall
• Roger Morton – became manager of the bandRazorlight
• Lesley O'Toole
• Betty Page (real name Beverley Glick) – editor, 1986–1989. Started her career as the secretary toSounds'editor in 1977 before graduating to interviewing musicians for the paper, moving toRecord Mirrorin the early 1980s. It was at this time that she became a well-known face on the London club scene and began calling herself "Betty Page" after the 1950s modelBettie Page– she and her friend Nancy Culp were known as the "Rubber Goddesses" as they often dressed infetish outfits,and both appeared as models on the front cover of the second issue of the fetish magazineSkin Twoin 1984.At the end of the decade she moved on first to theNME,and then left the music business altogether to write forThe ObserverandThe Sunday Express.She now runs her own business as alife coachfor women.
• Pete Paisley
• Robin Smith
• Andy Strickland – combined journalism with his other job as guitarist forindie rockbandsThe Loftand laterThe Caretaker Race.Later edited the online music magazineDotmusic.
• Lisa Tilston
• Chris Twomey
• David Whitelock – Later on managed indie/punk-funk band APB and others. Partner in Voice studios in 1989–92, Music Industry Consultant for government for four years, programmer at Lemon Tree in Aberdeen in 1999. Founded Vibraphonic (festival) in 2003 and radio station of same name in 2004, station now morphed into PhonicFM in 2007. Headed up Festivals and Event teams for both City Of Exeter and Bristol 2003–08. Now lives in Canada.
• Jane Wilkes – wrote for RM between 1986 and 1988 before going into P.R. at Polydor Records. Formed own company, Monkey Business P.R. with Pippa Hall in 1997.

Photographers

• Kevin Murphy
• Parker (aka Stephen Parker, now a DJ under the name Spoonful Sound System)
• Joe Shutter

See also

• UK Singles Chart
• Hit Music
• Music Week