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Tio i topp was the first real music chart in Sweden, launched by Swedish Broadcasting
(Sveriges Radio), on October 14, 1961.
It started partly as a competition with "Radio Nord", an offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 8 March 1961 to 30 June 1962 outside Sweden.
"Radio Nord"
presented a "Top 20" chart list once a week and the program was very popular.
At the same time, Swedish Broadcasting had started a new channel, P3, and wanted to attract a younger audience.
Pop and rock music were seldom heard on Swedish Radio in those days, and Tio i Topp became one of few radio shows for younger people.
The first host for Tio i Topp was the Swedish singer Lill Lindfors. She had little radio experience and the first
aired show was a disaster But the program quickly evolved to its true form and became extremely popular during the sixties.
Perhaps even more popular than anybody could imagine at that time.
The radio show also had a great influence on Swedish pop music. Getting a hit on the charts became a must for any
Swedish artist. And some artists went to any length to achieve just that. In the mid-sixties the group Science Poption was
banned from the list when it was discovered that they had wrongfully influenced the jury.
Tio i Topp was compiled through the votes of one or two studio audiences. The basic set up was to have one
audience in Stockholm and one in another city in Sweden, which sometimes account for local artists reaching a
position one week, but disappear from the chart list the next.
The last show was aired on June 29, 1974. The board of Swedish Broadcasting decided that the program
preserved young people's musical taste in favor of imperialistic interests.
Reference to imperialism during the these years, no matter how realistic, was
almost always a sign that the person was on the left side of the political spectrum.
This was most certainly true about Swedish Broadcasting in 1974.
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