Since when have the BRAVO music charts existed?

Since when have the BRAVO music charts existed?

The first hit list in BRAVO appeared in issue 11 of November 4, 1956. The "BRAVO Music Box" (subtitled "Schlagerfavoriten") comprised ten positions. The first top spot was the Austrian-born, Hamburg-based Freddy Quinn (*1931) with the song "Heimweh." Freddy Quinn also took second place with the song "Rosalie."

After that, the BRAVO readers' list appeared almost regularly in every issue. Between 1956 and 1959, there were a few interruptions, as BRAVO felt that publication was unnecessary due to insufficient changes in the rankings. The list was only printed if there were significant changes in the rankings. In later years, the charts were never published when the annual results were listed instead.

Over the course of its 58 years of publication, the BRAVO reader chart has undergone several facelifts. Initially only about ten centimeters high with just as many positions and designed like a real jukebox , from mid-1965 it appeared as a full-page spread, displaying 20 positions. In later years, as many as 40 or 50 songs were listed. To ensure sufficient space for selected international rankings and, in some cases, to also display the German sales and/or video charts, BRAVO occasionally printed the charts on a double page.

In its early years, the order of the hits was determined by BRAVO editors. They looked at various other music parades, compared sales figures and international charts, and eventually, somehow, arrived at a decision. In the mid-1960s—at least, according to BRAVO —3,000 voting cards were sent to subscribers weekly, and the corresponding positions were determined from the responses. Later—thanks to the internet—they switched to online voting.

A total of 6,642 hits made it into the BRAVO reader lists , of which approximately ten percent—657 songs—reached the top spot. The most successful song in the 58 years was " If You Go Away " by the New Kids On The Block, which was listed for 109 weeks between 1992 and 1994. But more on that later.

In 2013, the BRAVO readers' hit list was discontinued, although it had always been a barometer of the current hits and artists.