It all started because of Yannis Petridis, the man who inspired us with the best music our living years. Top40 Charts exists thanks to the initial influence deriving from him, thus his outstanding knowledge regarding music and his programs that we've been listening to the Greek state radio.

Yannis Petridis is the Host/Dj/Producer of a daily Radio Program (from Monday to Friday) broadcasting on the same radio station and at the same time (16:00 local time - 15:00 CET) since 1975. It is obvious that Yannis is a living myth and can appear at the Guinness World Book of the Records. Since 1975 he has been pioneering our "radio days". When in Greek radio environment (which was limited only to state radio stations) you could only listen to Greek or "easy-listening" music, he was the first one who dared to compose a daily music program covering Pop, Rock, Soul, Ethnic, Country, Jazz or even Film music. Thanks to Manos Hadjidakis (the most significant Greek composer of the 20th century) who was the director of the Greek State Radio in the middle 70s, Greeks had the opportunity to discover the foreign music. Manos brought Yannis to the state radio and entrusted him the task of establishing the one and only radio show for non-Greek music.

His first program (1975) was called "Rock Club" and "Pop Club". During the 80s and for a short period of time, his program stopped from being broadcasted daily and it was named "Mera Para Mera" ("Day after Day"). Fortunately, this didn't last for long and Yannis came back to the radio on daily basis and "Apo tis 4 stis 5" ("From 4 to 5") was born.
Click and listen 'From 4 to 5' Live (Yannis Petridis, 15:00 CET)

Many people consider Yannis a "living" Pop & Rock Encyclopedia and we are no exception to the rule. Only a few people in the world know so many facts about the history of music (at least) for the last 50 years, and Yannis is one of them. His exceptional knowledge (and of course his enormous record & cd collection) permits him to "compose" his famous music lists which he has been presenting on his radio program for more than 26 years now. He is the owner of one of the biggest private records collections in the world (more than 100.000 records!) and he is the manager of "Virgin" records in Greece. For 20 years (1978-1998) he was the Chief Editor of the Greek music magazine "Pop & Rock". He is also one of the two Greeks who have the right to vote for the "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame" (the famous museum about rock music).

The co-owners have been listening to Yannis almost everyday since 1983 (20 years)! Thanks to him, we have discovered music and even more got involved with the media industry. You see, music is a very important part of our lives, so Yannis, in a way, is a part of our lives too. You can call him as our "Music Guru" :-)

Following, there is a list compiled by MarkG and Paris. Yannis provided us the music stimulants and shaped the way we think about music. Certainly, he is aware of the fact that he influenced and raised many generations through his radio programs. So, here we are; if Top 40 Charts was one of his famous lists (as a concept) we believe that he would have chosen the following songs (all these songs have been heard on his show within the last 20 year and are a nice example to understand a part of the motives that led to the creation of Top 40 Charts)!

Enjoy!

MarkG and Paris,
August 2001

1. Creep - Radiohead 2. One More Cup Of Coffee Before I Go - Bob Dylan 3. My Way - Frank Sinatra 4. Mover - Keiko Matsui & Graig Walker 5. Relaxin' With Cherry - Kid Loco 6. Follow Me - Demmis Roussos 7. Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward 8. Lost In You - Western Flyer 9. Because The Night - Patti Smith & Bruce Springsteen 10. A Song for Whoever - Beautiful South 11. Changes Are - Bob Seger & Martina McBride 12. La Sagrada Familia - Alan Parsons Project 13. Building A Mystery - Sarah McLachlan 14. Am Fenster - City 15. The One I Love - REM 16. Niagara Falls - Chicago 17. Silent Lucidity - Queensryche 18. Rock 'n' Roll Dreams Comes Through - Jim Steinman 19. Just My Imagination - Cranberries 20. Respect - Aretha Franklin 21. Boy Who Cried Wolf - Style Council 22. Dancing In The Dark - Dianna Krall 23. Music - John Miles 24. Fly Me To The Moon - Julie London 25. Fuoco - Adriano Celentano 26. I Know You're out There Somewhere - Moody Blues 27. Bittersweet Symphony - Verve 28. Remind Me - Royksopp 29. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd 30. Don't Think Of Me - Dido 31. When I Fall - Steve Earl 32. The River - Bruce Springsteen 33. Hey Mr. DJ - Van Morrison 34. Start Me Up - Rolling Stones 35. Angel Eyes - Jeff Healy Band 36. How Do I Live - LeAnn Rimes 37. You Do Something To Me - Paul Weller 38. My Funny Valentine - Michelle Pfeiffer 39. Love Theme From Barton Fink - Carter Burwell 40. The Show Goes On - Bruce Horbsny

"Take my hand And we'll find the land Beyond the shining sea Follow me..." From 'Follow Me' By Demis Rroussos 1982