ZapatootheTiger

Don't know how it worked in the States, but here in the U.K. the charts were (at least partly) based on sales in a number of so-called "chart return" shops, spread across the land, where sales of singles were assiduously and correctly recorded. If records sold shedloads in non-chart return shops, they probably didn't make it into the charts at all. Full stop. This was typical of sales of Reggae tunes and Soul too, I suspect. However, once momentum over a tune gathered the generally radio-friendliness of Northern Soul / Soul tunes might eventually get airplay and subsequent chart placing...a number of good examples listed above.

...and Trojan, of course!!! https://www.trojanrecords.co.uk/forum/index.php

This is probably the best Ska CD I ever bought (so far ) - allegedly not legit, but not confirmed, i picked mine up in "Saturn" in Cologne in about 1999:

I have this tune (as well as on the Black Swan 12) on a variety of CDs and am sure at least 1 is a later re-recording...

Yes, this idea only started out in the Pama forum round about last May or June - with Geoff (Villa Boy) only getting the site up a few weeks later. To have covered such a high %-age of the tunes in such a short time is a great achievement, especially given all the wrong information, lack of availabilty of tunes, duplication, re-releases, JA vs UK versions etc.

A 1976 U.K. Black Swan 12" - BS7 I seem to recall this received some radio play back then and was unashamedly aimed at the Pop charts - Marley not long having broken through...