As the blog has now completed all the Record Mirror Boystown/HI-NRG charts up to the end of 1983, it’s time to have a look at what was happening in other countries to compare how the music was regarded elsewhere.
Radio Stad Den Haag in the Netherlands produced their own charts from 1982 – 1987. Most of the tracks that have appeared in the Record Mirror charts also appear in the RSDH charts. However, there was much more interest in Italodisco in the Netherlands than there was in the UK at the time. Independent Dutch record labels like Ram’s Horn, Injection, High Fashion and Break would import Italian, American and Canadian disco on licence and make it available to a much wider audience, unlike the UK where very little was imported or released. So it’s interesting to compare the differences in popularity of the songs in the UK and in Holland.
RSDH began as a pirate radio station in the 1970s and merged with several other pirate radio stations in 1982. The main aim of the RSDH DJs was to let young people hear music that wasn’t played on national radio. The RSDH charts show a huge interest in dance music from all over Europe, as well as Canada and the USA.
In 1988 the Dutch government stopped RSDH from broadcasting. Although RSDH tried to return to the airwaves legally, it stopped broadcasting altogether in 1990.
In 1999 Eddy Mi Ami took the initiative to start RSDH again as an on-line radio station, to re-create the atmosphere of the 80s. RSDH broadcasts through its website, with DJs from Holland and the UK and other countries presenting very popular shows of 80s music and “New Generation” Hi-NRG and Italodisco. RSDH has a show at 5pm (Central European Time) on Sundays revisiting all the RSDH charts from 1982 – 1987. Click the link below to the RSDH website to tune in to their shows, and enjoy the music. Their shows are live streamed from the studio, and it’s great fun to become involved in the chat rooms during the live shows.
Once I have posted all the RSDH charts for 1983 to bring all the tracks into their historical context, I’ll resume posting the Record Mirror charts from 1984.
With special thanks to everyone at RSDH for permission to publish these charts
Radio Stad Den Haag Top 50 Charts January – March 1983
80s Hi-NRG & Eurobeat 