The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 (and, until August 1968, the top 50) songs on Toronto, Canada, radio station CHUM 1050 AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station. In the early 2000s, sister station 104.5 CHUM FM, which airs a hot adult contemporary format, revived the CHUM Chart name for a new countdown show.
The CHUM Chart also aired as a television program on Citytv every Saturday at 2:00 p.m until January 2008 when the show was discontinued after Rogers Communications gained control of the Citytv stations. The program aired a list of the most popular songs in the countdown, starting from #30, playing approximately half of them.
History
The chart debuted on May 27, 1957, under the name CHUM's Weekly Hit Parade. The CHUM Chart name was adopted in 1961.
The chart was published for 1,512 consecutive weeks, and had 694 different #1 songs over the course of its original run. Its first #1 single was Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up", and its final #1 was Madonna's "Live to Tell".
From its inception until 1975, each week's CHUM Chart was published in a brochure format, with additional features promoting the station and its personalities. It was distributed to record stores and music venues across the city. In 1975, the brochure was discontinued, and each week's chart was instead published in the entertainment section of the Toronto Star. Mike Myers, Gordon Lightfoot, Dick Clark and Dave Thomas all reportedly own collections of CHUM Charts.
For the first 26 weeks in 1957, the chart published full information only for the top 10, listing only song titles for the remainder of the chart. On November 25, 1957, however, the chart began publishing information on all listed songs. Three minor hits from 1957, "I'm Gettin' the Message Alright", "Lonesome Heart" and "Teenage Heart", are still listed in the CHUM Chart archives as "Unknown Artist" as of 2007.
In 1959, the chart briefly added a Top 10 albums list, which was discontinued in 1960, revived in 1963 and discontinued again in 1967.
Author Ron Hall published The CHUM chart book (ISBN 0920325157) in 1983, listing every song that had appeared in the CHUM Charts to that point. Following the discontinuation of the chart, he published an updated edition in 1990 listing every charted song and profiling the history of the chart. The final chart, for the week of June 14, 1986, was never published until Hall's 1990 book. A commemorative list of all the chart's number one songs was also published in poster format by CHUM in 2007 to commemorate the station's 50th anniversary.
EULOGY
Born: October 28, 1945, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
After a few reincarnations 1050 CHUM quietly passed away on March 26, 2009
1050 CHUM was a legendary Top 40 powerhouse from the late 1950s through to the early 1980s.
The station had a formula no other station has been able to duplicate.
Through the formative ‘50s, the unforgettable ‘60s and the interesting ‘70s, 1050 CHUM played a major role in shaping the radio landscape in Toronto. Recording acts from Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Guess Who, Elton John, The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers and Bob Seger not only graced the airwaves but walked the halls of 1050 CHUM.
The radio station was famous for the CHUM Chart. From 1957 to 1986, 1,512 consecutive weekly charts were published, making it the longest-running chart of its kind in the world.
Also, 1050 CHUM was noteworthy for hosting many famous rock concerts including, among others, visits to Maple Leaf Gardens by Elvis Presley (1957) and The Beatles (1964, '65, and '66).
Chart #1 - Monday, May 27, 1957 - TOP 50
CHART NUMBER 1 |
Monday, May 27, 1957 |
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