VR Robbie

About Robbie

Robert Williams — Robbie to everyone who knows him — was born 30 August 1965. He's a music collector with tens of thousands of tapes, CDs, and vinyl. Every Guinness Book of Hit Singles from 1977 onwards, plus hundreds of reference books.

An oracle. He can tell you every song, every chart position, every radio DJ. He doesn't get things wrong. Ask him about Bryan Adams "Summer of '69" — it only reached #42. He'll tell you that without looking it up.

Mention a local DJ called Kenny Stuart once — Robbie got up, went to his bedroom, 10 seconds later produced a signed photo. That's the kind of memory we're talking about.

Robbie sleeps in a chair in his living room because his bedroom is full of music. Disabled, waiting on a hip operation, carers four times a day. Mark visits twice a week — they sit and go through the week's charts, what's new. Robbie tests Mark's knowledge with questions Mark has no clue about.

This site exists because of Robbie. The records, the knowledge, the obsession. He's the reason UK Music Archive has 70+ years of chart data.