List of number-one singles on Tio i Topp
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Tio i Topp was a radio show that first broadcast in 1961 and was the first official Swedish music chart. Initially broadcast through Sveriges Radio P2, it switched to Sveriges Radio P3 in 1964.[2] Sveriges Radio started the chart in response to criticism from the public, who felt that there wasn't enough material oriented towards a young audience on their radio stations, but also as a way to combat music charts from pirate radio stations Radio Nord and Radio Syd, who had started compiling charts during the late 1950s.[3] The idea behind the show was coined by Carl-Eiwar Carlsson and Klas Burling, who both had history of working in record shops and as such knew what records most teenagers and young adults were buying and consuming and thus wanted to lead a radio show based on this.[4]
Unlike contemporary record charts, who often compiled lists based on record sales, Tio i Topp based their list on audience reaction; each week a jury consisting of about 200 people were placed in front of a mentometer upon which 15 songs are played through speakers, after which they'd vote on the song they liked most.[2] Ten of these went to the finals while the remaining five had a chance the following show.[5] New songs were introduced to the program each week which all weren't singles; several songs that reached number one on Tio i Topp were either not released as singles or were album tracks.[6] An example of this is "Very Last Day" by the Hollies, which had been featured on their eponymous 1965 album and wasn't released as a single in most of the world; it reached number one in June 1966.[7]
This way of compiling charts also attracted criticism, who thought that records that sold well didn't get the chance.[8] This led to Sveriges Radio starting Kvällstoppen, which compiled a weekly chart based on sales rather than an audience response during the summer of 1962.[9] Both charts competed with each other throughout the 1960s and early 1970s before Tio i Topp ceased broadcasting during the summer of 1974; the growing progg grew distain for commercialism which Tio i Topp was considered a Swedish milestone in.[5] The first song to reach number one on the chart was "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door" by Eddie Hodges on 14 October 1961.[1] The last number one was "Sugar Baby Love" by the Rubettes on 29 June 1974.[10]