The One Week Wonders - Episode 123

 

We start this episode with the Henry Mancini theme tune to the western crime drama series Cade's County, which was airing on ITV on Wednesdays, immediately after Coronation Street. It picked up UK viewing audience of around 6 to 7 million homes, and the highest rated one I can find (I have a lot, though not all, TV ratings charts of the 70s) was on Wednesday 26th April 1972, which had an audience of 7.4m homes (about 16.3 million people probably). Henry's theme was at #42 on w/e 25th March 1972, and he wouldn't chart again until the Main Theme from the Thorn Birds got him back in the charts in February 1984.

 

A few places lower in the same week, at #47 were Christie with their 3rd and final charting single Iron Horse.

 

At this point we skip over another Carpenters' single, I Won't Last A Day Without You, which initially charted for one week at #49 on w/e 29th September 1972, but due to the quirk that the chart listed only it for one week of the disc's overall run, and only the other side, Goodbye To Love, for the other 15 weeks of the disc's run. In any case I Won't Last A Day Without You was eventually reissued in 1974 reaching #32, hence why we are skipping it.

 

The final single for this episode is Millie Jackson's debut on the UK charts with My Man, A Sweet Man, which was at #50 on w/e 18th November 1972. Millie would have to wait until March 1984 to chart again, with I Feel Like Walkin' In The Rain.

 

The One Week Wonders - Episode 124

 

We start with New World's 5th and final UK charting single, Rooftop Singing, which was at #50 on w/e 12th May 1973.

 

Next is another single released to tie in with an FA Cup Final. This time the 1975 final, a London derby between West Ham and Fulham. In the run up to match Tony Rees and The Cottagers released Viva El Fulham, a version of Sylvia's Y Viva Espana with new lyrics referencing the club's manager and player's. The claim 'this year we're gonna win the cup' within the lyrics proved wrong though, and nearly million people watched on 3rd May 1975, split between the two main channels, as West Ham beat Fulham 2-0. They may not have won the match, but they did at least get the single to #46 for w/e 10th May 1975, and it's probably no suprise it didn't make a second week.

 

And we then move forward a whole year to another Cup final single. This time the match was between Manchester United and Southampton and about 23 million people watched it across both main channels on 1st May 1976. The single was by Manchester United Footbal Club and called Manchester United, which does make it rather tricky to search for in the online era, but would I suppose have sufficed in the seventies. It's the work of Tony Hiller, who co-wrote Brotherhood of Man's singles, though I'm not entirely sure if he wrote this, or just produced it, as he claims (double) writing credit for it on his website, but in the description for this video, uploaded by him, he says that Martin Buchan wrote it and he produced it, so even the man himself seems to be contradictory about it. The single reached #50 on w/e 8th May 1976. The match would end in a shock upset, as second division Southampton beat Manchester United, so again it's no surprise that single only got one week on chart. Perhaps the moral here should be to spend less energy on the official single, and more time planning for the actual match...

Edited March 3, 20205 yr by DanChartFan

The One Week Wonders - Episode 125

 

The first single for this episode is the only week of UK chart action for Liverpudlian band Buster, who were at #49 on w/e 19th June 1976 with Sunday. They had several more hits in Japan though.

 

Next up Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes are Reaching For The World, which was at #48 on w/e 2nd April 1977. It was another 7 years, in April 1984, when they charted again, with Don't Give Me Up.

 

Finally for this episode we have the only week of chart action for Garnet Mimms and Truckin' Company, with What It Is, which was at #44 on w/e 25th June 1977.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 126

 

First up is Southern Comfort by Opportunity Knocks winner Berni Flint, whose first single, I Don't Want To Put A Hold On You, had reached #3 earlier in 1977. Despite Tony Blackburn's enthusiastic prediction in the intro of the video below, Southern Comfort managed one week at #48 on w/e 23rd July 1977, and was the last time he reached the charts. Here's a TOTP performance, but as that would have been re-recorded with the TOTP orchestra (as per the shows rules in that era) I also have put a link underneath to a rip from the original record, albeit taken from a rather scratched copy apparently.

 

Next is the second and last charting single for Delegation, who were at #49 on w/e 20th August 1977, with You've Been Doing Me Wrong. Again here's a TOTP performance, and link underneath for the original single.

 

Finally for today is the fourth and final charting single by Joe Dolan, I Need You, which reached #43 on w/e 17th September 1977. His biggest single was his first, Make Me An Island, which reached #3.

 

Finally we have a bit of a two for one with our last single of this episode. The musical Jesus Christ Superstar debuted in 1970 as a concept album, and Murray Head, as Judas, sang Superstar, a track that was initially released as a single in late 1969, ahead of the album, but didn't chart here. By 1972 a 4 track 'maxi-single' was released of tracks from the album, and the chart chose to list two of them together, by different artists. So alongside Murray Head's Superstar was Yvonne Elliman, as Mary Magdalene, singing I Don't Know How To Love Him. The maxi-single was at #47 on w/e 29th January 1972.

 

Petula Clark also had a version of I Don't Know How To Love Him in the chart at the same time (also peaking at #47 but managing 2 weeks).

 

There seems to be a bit of theme in these last few posts of artists who would not chart again until 1984 - Murray Head is another, reaching #12 in that year with One Night In Bangkok.

 

One thing that has surprised me about this thread is how few tracks there are with only 1 week on the chart (obviously there will be a lot more in the 1990s and 2000s).

Even with the chart rules that existed at the time, I would never have guessed there were as few as 4 one-week hits in the whole of 1973-1976, and 2 of those were FA Cup songs!

One thing that has surprised me about this thread is how few tracks there are with only 1 week on the chart (obviously there will be a lot more in the 1990s and 2000s).

 

Even with the chart rules that existed at the time, I would never have guessed there were as few as 4 one-week hits in the whole of 1973-1976, and 2 of those were FA Cup songs!

 

I found it truly amazing how few there were during the mid 70s when I did the original research. I think that around late 1972 or early 1973 might be the time when Woolworths was added to the panel of record shops used for the chart (or was it WHSmiths?), which slowed the chart down and led to a new rule that stipulated some exclusions in the 41-50 section right up until the Top 75 was instigated in 1978. I'd guess that some records that otherwise would have been sub 50 in second and subsequent weeks, (or maybe in week one if it took a week for word of mouth to spread and the single to peak) benefitted from the number of singles being excluded in the 41-50 section and were thus pulled upwards into the chart on at least one more week than they otherwise would have got, thus not being a one week wonder, when on a strictly sales-based chart they may have been.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 127

 

We start this episode with a punk group called Jet Bronx and The Forbidden, who had their only week of UK chart action at #49 on w/e 17th December 1977 with Ain't Doin' Nothin'. The band's guitarist was (and also is, in its current incarnation, The New Forbidden) TV presenter Loyd Grossman.

 

The week after was the Xmas chart, and was then followed by a week when no new chart was compiled, so it is standard chartology practice to repeat the previous week's chart. The first new chart compiled thereafter, for week ending 7th January 1978 was restricted to a Top 30, with the Top 50 being resumed the week after. On the OCC website however there is a full top 50 in the week when only a Top 30 was compiled, which has been achieved by identifying the records from the previous week's chart that were not in the new 30 and slotting them in in the order they appeared (though not necessarily at the position they appeared) on that previous week's chart. My initial feeling was that this was misleading and essentially the bottom 20 positions were 'wrong', but then when I though about it a bit more I realised that the only difference between the choice to repeat the xmas Top 50 to fill the gap when there was no new year chart, and the choice to flesh out the restricted Top 30 by inserting the drop out from the previous week, is that the former has been seen as standard practice in chart books since at least 1978, before my birth, and the latter hasn't. I mean essentially they are both a form of 'making up' chart positions, albeit with some form of method that is informed by other exisiting chart data. It's left me wondering if I was wrong to exclude from the my 'official' one week wonder list the 'two week wonders' and 'three week wonders' caused by repeated charts. Anyway I mention all this because the chart situation over christmas and new year 77-78 does cause a three week wonder from one week of sales, in the form of Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life, which is thus a bonus song for this episode.

 

Next up we have another punk-influenced single, albeit by an act that somewhat predates the late 70s punk explosion, having had their first single (well EP technically) Big Six on chart in 1972. The band is Judge Dread, and the single is a double A-side of Up With The Cock and Big Punk which was at #49 on w/e 14th January 1978. [NB I Can censor one of the words in that first title if Mods want me to, and change the first video from embedded to a ordinary link, so the title can't be seen that way either, but I'm hoping that in the historical context of this thread, and given the song's lyrics are written in the form of an innocent story using phrases that could be taken to mean more adult things, that this title will be OK as is.]

 

Finally for this episode is the third and final charting single by the Biddu Orchestra, led by Indian-born producer Biddu Appaiah. Journey To The Moon was at #41 on w/e 11th Febuary 1978.

Edited March 3, 20205 yr by DanChartFan

As we're now close to the start of the top 75 chart era it'll be interesting to see if the Biddu Orchestra, at #41, achieve the highest placed "one week wonder" chart position for the period where exclusion rules applied to the 41-50 part of the top 50 chart (12 July 1975 to 6 May 1978).

That's an interesting combination of Indian instruments and a disco production on the Biddu Orchestra record. The two Judge Dread songs made me smile. :P

The One Week Wonders - Episode 128

 

We start today with the only week of UK single's chart action for Sidney Devine, whose Scotland Forever EP was at #48 on w/e 1st April 1978. The EP's lead track was Scotland Forever, but there were also three other tracks, Scots Wha' Hae, Flowers Of Scotland and Scottish Trilogy, the latter of which was a medley of Auld Lang Syne, Loch Lomond and Amazing Grace.

 

Next up we have the second of three charting singles for Stargard. Love Is So Easy was at #45 on w/e 15th April 1978.

 

At this point we see another big change to the chart as on w/e 13th May 1978 it became a Top 75, and therefore the majority of one week wonders from this point on will chart even lower, and be even more obscure than thus far. And to answer Robbie's question, yes Biddu Orchestra was the highest placed one week wonder during the era when exclusion rules were applied to the 41-50 section. In fact you have to go back to 1971 to find one at that position or higher.

 

Our final single today is Hold Your Horses, Babe by Celi Bee and The Buzzy Bunch, which was at #72 on w/e 17th June 1978. It was Celie Bee and The Buzzy Bunch's only week of UK chart action. In the US Celi, real name Celida Ines Comacho, had had a #3 hit in 1977 with Superman, from the film of the same name, and had several other hits.

 

 

A definite surprise to see 'You Light Up My Life' here, considering its monstrous success in the US with 10 weeks at #1!

 

As we're now close to the start of the top 75 chart era it'll be interesting to see if the Biddu Orchestra, at #41, achieve the highest placed "one week wonder" chart position for the period where exclusion rules applied to the 41-50 part of the top 50 chart (12 July 1975 to 6 May 1978).

Apologies if I missed an earlier explanation, but what was the exclusion rule you're referring to here?

A definite surprise to see 'You Light Up My Life' here, considering its monstrous success in the US with 10 weeks at #1!

 

Apologies if I missed an earlier explanation, but what was the exclusion rule you're referring to here?

 

You Light Up My Life is an odd one, it has one genuine week on chart, then that chart is repeated to cover the week when no chart was compiled, then when a new chart is compiled it is a Top 30 only for one week, so a false 31-50 has been created on the OCC site, using the ordering of the repeated chart, so the OCC shows it as 3 weeks on chart. It's hard to say whether it would have got a least one more genuine week had full charts been compiled for those weeks, but still a marked contrast, as you say, to its performance in the US.

 

I'm writing this from memory, having seen it discussed either here or on digitalspy some time ago, so I could be remembering wrong but somewhere in the early 1970s Woolworths started supplying their sales data to the BMRB to be included in the charts. They sold a lot of singles, including, I presume, holding stock of older singles after the smaller record shops had sold through, so the inclusion of their data had the effect of slowing the chart down, and of causing bigger and more middle of the road singles to stay in the charts longer, at the expense of smaller and more niche hits who would struggle to even break into the Top 50. The BMRB eventually decided to apply an exclusion rule to the 41-50 positions by striking out (i.e. listing without a numbered position) any single that was below the pure sales Top 40 and had dropped in sales for, I think, three weeks. This effectively makes the 41-50 a bit like a Breakers section in that era. I believe this exclusion rule wasn't publically acknowledged at the time (the BBC only using the Top 40 anyway, and Record Retailer and Record Mirror presumably never mentioned it), so it only emerged in the internet era that it had happened.

It was actually mentioned on the chart. See the scan below. It’s on very small text at the bottom right hand side of the chart.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tjs8ivt8hyc8lt6/1...20Week.jpg?dl=0

 

Singles previously listed between positions 41-50 are excluded if sales and position have declined for two consecutive weeks.”

It was actually mentioned on the chart. See the scan below. It’s on very small text at the bottom right hand side of the chart.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tjs8ivt8hyc8lt6/1...20Week.jpg?dl=0

 

Singles previously listed between positions 41-50 are excluded if sales and position have declined for two consecutive weeks.”

 

That's interesting, but I notice two things that have me wondering about it. One is that it mentions singles 'previously listed' between 41-50, and the other is that the small print is shown under the heading 'Star Breakers see page 4', which creates the impression to me that the rule applies to the Star Breakers section, and that any records that had previously been in the 41-50 section were excluded from reappearing in the star breakers, though that rule would then beg the question of if there was a different rule for anything that had previously made the Top 40, or at least for anything that fell directly from the Top 40 to below 50. But then I guess 'previously listed' could instead refer to previous chart practice rather than individual singles which had already been on chart, and the reference to Star Breakers may not have been intended to be a heading. I checked a scan of Record Mirror from the same week, http://scans.chartarchive.org/UK/1975/28%2...es%20Albums.jpg , which has no equivalant note, but does show the Star Breakers list, which oddly enough was topped by Ricky Valance's Tell Laura I Love Her.

Sorry for the wait since the last episode. Gonna try to catch up again.

 

The One Week Wonders - Episode 129

 

First up is Devo, who were at #71 on w/e 12th August 1978.

 

One week later and the Patti Smith Group were at #72 with Privilege (Set Me Free).

 

Finally for this episode is the only week of UK chart action for Platinum Hook, with Standing On The Verge (Of Getting It On), which was at #72 on w/e 2nd September 1978.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 130

 

All three of this episode's acts were experiencing their only week of UK chart action. First up we have Sarr Band and Magic Mandrake, which was at #68 on w/e 16th September 1978.

 

Then we have Cirrus and Rollin' On, which was at #62 on w/e 30th September 1978. This song had been used in a Yorkie advert, with some lyrics changed, and was released at this time on chocolate brown vinyl for that reason.

or as it sounded on the advert.

 

Finally we have Aquarian Dream with You're A Star, which was at #67 on 24th February 1979.

The One Week Wonders - Episode 131

 

We start by skipping over Karen Young's Hot Shot, which had a week at #75 on 24th February 1979, as this was a reissue of a single that had charted the previous year. We also skip over two candidates for the list from w/e 14th April 1979. The first, at #64 was a reissue of Bobby Darin's 1959 charttoppers Dream Lover and Mack The Knife as a double a-side. The other, at #66, was another double a-side, pairing up the 1958/9 #2 hit To Know Him Is To Love Him by The Teddy Bears with Jody Reynold's Endless Sleep, the latter of which was a million selling #5 hit in the US, but had never charted in this country previously. Endless Sleep was the forerunner to a run of other 'death songs' in the years that followed, and was Jody's only week of Uk chart action in 1979, albeit probably with more than a little help from the much better know other side of the disc, so I include it here as a bonus.

 

Our three true one week wonders in this episode are from w/e 9th June 1979. The first, at #72 is Out In The Dark/Cyanide by The Lurkers.

 

Next, at #73, is Women In Uniform, which is the only week of chart action for Skyhooks.

 

And finally tied at #74 was J Geils Band with One Last Kiss. This was their first time on chart, and the next time they reached the singles chart was in February 1982, with Centrefold, which got as far as #3.

Edited March 11, 20205 yr by DanChartFan

That's interesting, but I notice two things that have me wondering about it. One is that it mentions singles 'previously listed' between 41-50, and the other is that the small print is shown under the heading 'Star Breakers see page 4', which creates the impression to me that the rule applies to the Star Breakers section, and that any records that had previously been in the 41-50 section were excluded from reappearing in the star breakers, though that rule would then beg the question of if there was a different rule for anything that had previously made the Top 40, or at least for anything that fell directly from the Top 40 to below 50. But then I guess 'previously listed' could instead refer to previous chart practice rather than individual singles which had already been on chart, and the reference to Star Breakers may not have been intended to be a heading. I checked a scan of Record Mirror from the same week, http://scans.chartarchive.org/UK/1975/28%2...es%20Albums.jpg , which has no equivalant note, but does show the Star Breakers list, which oddly enough was topped by Ricky Valance's Tell Laura I Love Her.

The rule was aimed at records that otherwise would have been placed between numbers 41 to 50. The wording in Music Week is a bit ambiguous but at the point the rule was introduced (from the chart dated 12 July 1975) the chart compiler BMRB issued an announcement:

It has been decided by the BPI that in order to stimulate activity at the lower end of the chart for new records, those titles between positions 41-50 which two weeks running show a decline of sales and placing will be dropped from the chart altogether. As a result of the BPI’s decision, it has been agreed to omit the longer list of breakers but to retain the star-breakers section.

I assume this announcement appeared on the actual chart report that was produced each week and which was sent to all music industry subscribers. The Music Week Industry Yearbook 1977-78, published in early 1977, explained how the rule worked:

 

Records between position 41-50 are deleted from the Top 50 singles charts if they decline in both sales and position for two consecutive weeks.

 

There's a thread about this exclusion rule (which ended when the top 50 was expanded to a top 75 on 13 May 1978) at ukmix: https://www.ukmix.org/forum/chart-discussio...d-numbers-41-50

 

Incidentally Radio 1 only used the top 30 part of the chart up to 6 May 1978 rather than the top 40 as you mentioned in your earlier post. When the main chart expanded to a top 75 on Tuesday 9 May 1978 (chart dated 13 May 1978) Radio 1 began to count down the top 40 part of the chart.

Edited March 11, 20205 yr by Robbie

The One Week Wonders - Episode 132

 

First up is Franco-Romanina composer Vladimir Cosma's David's Song, which was the theme to the 1979 HTV co-production of Kidnapped, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel of the same name, which aired between April and June 1979 on ITV, but didn't reached the National Top 20 TV charts. It charted at #64 on w/e 14th July 1979, and was his only week of UK chart action.

 

Staying with the same chart week we have Light Of The World at #72 with Midnight Groovin'.

 

Finally for this episode it's the third and final UK hit for the Rezillos, who had come to fame with the song Top Of The Pops, which criticised the music show on which they were then asked to perform that single. Can't Stand My Baby and I Wanna Be Your Man had actually been the first single they released in 1977, but had missed the charts and was now being reissued. It charted at #71 on w/e 18th August 1979. I Wanna Be Your Man was the Lennon McCartney song that had been a #12 hit for the Rolling Stones in 1963-4.