An interesting final group of the year with no fewer than 4 instrumental hits, all of which are nice and some of which are beautiful. There’s no doubt about the classic coming out on top though.

 

9 America A Horse With No Name Only Top 40 for this English-American folk trio and a US #1: it's a beautiful sultry song with wistful lyrics about escaping

8 Johnny Pearson Orchestra Sleepy Shores He also had a big hit with Sounds Orchestral and this beautiful piece with piano and strings was the theme to "Owen, M. D."

8 John Barry Theme From 'The Persuaders' Last hit for this composer with a crime drama tune: I love the metallic sound to the main tune and it has an air of intrigue

7 Faces Stay With Me 1st hit for them written by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, and a strong classic song that has been covered numerous times

7 Middle Of The Road Soley Soley Written by a Spanish composer and my favourite of theirs and their last big hit, this is catchy and has a real sweetness to it

6 Ronnie Dyson When You Get Right Down To It Only hit for this US singer with a Delfonics cover: he has a beautiful voice and this is done in a very soulful and classy way

6 Val Doonican Morning A cover but one of Val's better hits here with dramatic chanted multi-tracked verses and very effective use of the violins

5 San Remo Strings Festival Time Only hit for this US instrumental group comprising a whole orchestra: it's a very jolly and catchy number with a festival feel

5 The New Seekers I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) 308th #1 conceived as a Coca-Cola advert jingle and then turned into a full song: it's a sweet albeit an unchallenging track

4 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Theme From 'The Onedin Line' The piece is by composer Khachaturian used as a BBC drama theme: it's good but I don't love classical music out of context

3 New World Kara Kara A similar style to "Tom-Tom Turnaround" with a catchy chorus that could be sung round a campfire, but not that interesting

3 Cat Stevens Morning Has Broken Originally a 1931 Christian hymn here tuned into an international hit: not really my cup of tea of Yusuf does do a nice job

2 Melanie Brand New Key Her biggest hit and a US #1 that will be parodied as "Combine Harvester"; a good tune but these original lyrics are very naff

2 Neil Reid Mother Of Mine Only Top 40 for this "Opportunity Knocks" child star who also had a #1 album; he can certainly sing but this is quite shrill

 

 

America were US forces kids living in the UK who got Neil Young's dad to compliment him on his best record when he heard it on the radio - oops! It's classic though, love it still and America went over to the USA and the UK turned their back on them chart-wise despite a series of great singles right into the 80's. 10/10 Under-rated here. Owen MD had the playground joke that appealed to kids at the time: Janet (the elderly house-keeper, in Scottish accent): "Dr Finlay, Dr Finlay, I've got heart-burn!" Dr. Finlay: "Janet, it's not heart-burn, get your t*t out of my soup". I'm sure kids dont have jokes that bad these days.... :teresa: This melody is lovely though, I like it even more than I did at the time. 7/10

 

The Persuaders TV show had the fab Tony Curtis and suave Roger Moore as a big-star draw for a UK comedy-crime romp aimed at the US market with big backing and filmed in colour on film, ITV - the BBC didnt have the cash for that! The John Barry theme remains brilliant, as does almost everything he did. TBH it was better than the TV show, much as I adored Tony Curtis. 9/10. The Faces was a good rocker in contrast to Rod's ballad solo stuff. 7/10. Soley Soley was Middle Of The Road's loveliest single, great tune, and Soley was my grandma's adopted surname in her later years - though not legally, it was just frowned on to live in "sin" in those days but she had already been widowed twice at a young age and wasn't doing that again. 9/10.

 

Ronnie Dyson's cover was a great song, nice singer 7/10. Val's Morning was his last good record, quite unusual, 5/10, Festival Time is one I never heard on the radio at the time (must have been a TV or Radio 2 track), and it didn't impress me in 2021 apparently, either. The New Seekers was a huge tune, and a second chart-topper for The New Seekers for me, but time has not been kind - 7/10. The advert remains iconic and ahead of it's time as all adverts now follow the template laid down 53 years ago with a multi-ethnic "cast".

 

Mum loved The Onedin Line and most historical dramas, and the theme tune was mildly pleasant but un-memorable. 4/10. Kara Kara sounded like a traditional camp-fire singalong but it wasn't. Quite catchy though. 6/10. Morning Has Broken, a school assembly tune made acceptable from a pop star that switched from one religion to another and gave up his career to do so. Before accepting that popular music was pretty positive PR for one getting a bad name thanks to fundamentalists. I can't get past the school assemblies though 4/10.

 

Brand New Key was quirky and catchy and an instant chart-topper for me at the time, but again time hasnt been as kind thanks to the bloody Wurzels, though Melanie had better songs. Still like it though 8/10. Mother Of Mine just made me cringe as a 14-year-old. And as a 64-year-old. 2/10.

Average score for 1971 was 5.31 which must be the lowest for a while. I suspect the next few years won’t have huge average scores either.

 

Gold medal for year: Your Song - Elton John

Silver medal for year: Have You Ever Seen The Rain? - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Bronze medal for year: Get It On - T.Rex

 

Also scoring 9s:

Riders On the Storm - The Doors

My Sweet Lord - George Harrison

Back Street Luv - Curved Air

A Horse With No Name - America

Theme From ‘Shaft’ - Isaac Heyes

Double Barrel - Dave And Ansil Collins

Hot Love - T Rex

It’s Too Late / I Can Feel The Earth Move - Carole King

Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield

He’s Gonna Step On You Again - John Kongos

Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms) - The Newbeats

 

Worst hit of the year: Ray Stevens is very close but just pipped by Good Old Arsenal - The Arsenal 1st Team Squad.

1972 Group 1:

 

#3874 08/01/1972 Sly And The Family Stone Family Affair 15 39-30-22-23-{15}-19-18-31->8

#3875 08/01/1972 Al Green Let's Stay Together 7 41-29-17-10-9-{7}-10-12-20-26-31-41->12

#3876 08/01/1972 Martha Reeves And The Vandellas Bless You 33 47-39-{33}-40-42->5

#3877 08/01/1972 Donnie Elbert Where Did Our Love Go 8 49-28-16-{8}-8-12-19-22-31-44->10

#3878 08/01/1972 Greyhound Moon River 12 50-33-24-15-{12}-14-12-23-27-40-44->11

#3879 15/01/1972 Barry Ryan Can't Let You Go 32 34-34-{32}-40-43->5

#3880 15/01/1972 Bread Baby I'm A-Want You 14 38-28-20-{14}-18-15-25-29-39-48->10

#3881 15/01/1972 The Chi-Lites Have You Seen Her 3 40-27-17-7-5-{3}-6-6-14-24-29-45->12

#3882 15/01/1972 The Pioneers Give And Take 35 41-{35}-36-37-42-47->6

#3883 15/01/1972 Sonny And Cher All I Ever Need Is You 8 42-30-19-16-10-{8}-11-18-24-28-48-38->12

#3884 15/01/1972 Shirley Bassey Diamonds Are Forever 38 49-46-43-39-{38}-44->6

#3885 22/01/1972 Stevie Wonder If You Really Love Me 20 37-25-22-22-{20}-20-43->7

#3886 22/01/1972 Don McLean American Pie 2 49-27-17-15-6-3-{2}-2-2-3-4-7-16-22-37-37->16

#3887 29/01/1972 T.Rex Telegram Sam 1 3-{1}-1-2-2-14-18-25-36-44-48-47->12

#3888 29/01/1972 Chicory Tip Son Of My Father 1 30-11-2-{1}-1-1-3-4-12-16-25-30-32->13

We’re back here after 9 months! We’ll see how 1972 pans out but this is in fact an excellent 1st group where most of the top half with quite a lot of songs that are classics of their genre.

9	Don McLean	American Pie	1st hit for this US artist and a fabulous 8 minute  folk crossover hit with wonderful storytelling and captivating lyrics
9	Al Green	Let's Stay Together	His 1st hit was oddly bigger than this follow up here, but this was a US #1 and it's a magical, beautifully delivered soul song
8	T.Rex	Telegram Sam	309th #1: their 5th straight Top 2, very much in the "Get It On" style but also excellent with its own intriguing poetic story
8	Sly And The Family Stone	Family Affair	A US #1 and a pioneering funk soul record with electronica gently bubbling alongside Sly's deep and rich mournful vocals
8	Shirley Bassey	Diamonds Are Forever	From the Bond film of the same name, this is great and Shirley excels with this kind of high drama show tune style track
7	Chicory Tip	Son Of My Father	310th#1: 1st hit for this UK band with a track originally in German; the 1st #1 to use a synthesiser and a lovely vibrant song
7	The Chi-Lites	Have You Seen Her	1st big hit for them and a soul classic: the sung parts and harmonies are gorgeous and the hopeless spoken part works well
6	Barry Ryan	Can't Let You Go	His last hit: a bouncy piano led number with a strong tune very well delivered, and an enjoyable saxophone interlude
6	Stevie Wonder	If You Really Love Me	An interesting track with a slowed down verse and upbeat chorus: not his best but Stevie brings a lot of character to it
6	Sonny And Cher	All I Ever Need Is You	Their last hit as a duo with a Ray Charles song: a very sweet version of this ballad though it's clear who has the star quality
5	Greyhound	Moon River	A nice cover here that I much prefer to "Black And White": a more upbeat soul style take on the song with sweet harmonies
5	Bread	Baby I'm A-Want You	Another hit in their easy listening style with a falsetto heavy chorus: it's fine but sounds rather like a Bee Gees throwaway
4	Donnie Elbert	Where Did Our Love Go	1st hit for this US soul singer: it's a fairly inessential cover although I do like the performance and his falsetto is strong
3	Martha Reeves And The Vandellas	Bless You	Last hit for Martha and group in a Jackson 5 style: they give it a soulful performance but the song isn't strong enough
3	The Pioneers	Give And Take	Their last Top 40: there's nothing unpleasant about this happy go lucky song about compromise but it's pretty forgettable

1972 Group 2:

#3889	29/01/1972	The Fortunes	Storm In A Teacup	7	35-23-16-9-{7}-8-11-14-22-30-44->11
#3890	29/01/1972	Bee Gees	My World	16	38-26-20-17-{16}-16-20-29-38->9
#3891	29/01/1972	Badfinger	Day After Day	10	45-28-17-13-{10}-10-13-16-23-49-50->11
#3892	05/02/1972	Slade	Look Wot You Dun	4	25-9-{4}-4-4-8-13-18-28-38->10
#3893	05/02/1972	The Sweet	Poppa Joe	11	46-30-26-14-{11}-12-12-17-22-28-38-41->12
#3894	05/02/1972	The Temptations	Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)	32	47-36-{32}-38-46->5
#3895	05/02/1972	Holly Sherwood	Day By Day (Godspell Medley)	29	48-31-{29}-29-30-34-39->7
#3896	05/02/1972	Jonathan King	Flirt	22	49-37-34-30-26-{22}-23-27-46->9
#3897	05/02/1972	Nilsson	Without You	1	50-27-16-5-3-{1}-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-10-15-26-30-36-49-41->20
#3898	12/02/1972	Michael Jackson	Got To Be There	5	39-22-8-{5}-6-7-8-10-22-27-33->11
#3899	12/02/1972	Colin Blunstone	Say You Don't Mind	15	47-31-28-17-17-{15}-30-36-46->9
#3900	12/02/1972	Jimi Hendrix	Johnny B. Goode	35	50-39-{35}-42-45->5
#3901	19/02/1972	Paul Simon	Mother And Child Reunion	5	28-17-7-7-{5}-6-8-14-22-30-48-46->12
#3902	19/02/1972	Peter Straker And The Hands Of Dr Teleny	The Spirit Is Willing	40	41-43-{40}-48->4
#3903	19/02/1972	Les Crane	Desiderata	7	49-50-37-23-20-9-{7}-9-9-12-19-30-37-44->14

'American Pie', 'Let's Stay Together' and 'Telegram Sam' all great so good top picks from that week. 'Diamonds Are Forever' is a classic too. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of 'Have You Seen Her' though.

Great start to 1972, especially 'American Pie' and 'Family Affair' - when I listened to the former for the first time, it was unlike anything I'd previously heard with its many verses and references to popular musical history. The latter is a classic of soul that may have influenced Prince's vocal styling.

Ah, I was 14 in 1972 so a key music year for me as I started to branch out into stuff outside the UK chart, plus an endless supply of 60's hit for me to re/discover amongst the Glam and Singer-Songwriter and Rock, soul, reggae, pop, MOR.

American Pie I first heard on TOTP and didnt catch the title so it was known as The Day The Music Died till I found out. A classic, obv and I learned all the words to it, reckon I could do a karaoke version in a week on holiday if I fancy emptying the pub :) 9/10. Let's Stay Together is top Al Green and 10/10 classic soul. If I did karaoke I would like to sound like Al. Telegram Sam was my least-fave T.Rex single to date, to mark his move to EMI but still a 9/10.

The late great Sly Stone's masterpiece for me, Family Affair, so good Madonna covered it, and it was a 90's re-issue for Family Stone 10/10. I was also there, as I may have mentioned before, at their final UK concert, about as disastrous an event as a live gig could be. Hysterically bad for several reasons. Diamonds Are Forever classic John Barry/Shirl Bond 9/10, loved the film at the cinema when I saw it. Had two fun gay baddies who weren't camp, that was a cultural revelation.

Chicory Tip debut Moroder and synthpop as a big thing, it sounded futuristic, now it just sounds bubblegum fun 9/10. The Chi-Lites is another soul classic, accept no covers, from the fab Chi-Lites 10/10, love Eugene Record songs and productions and vocals. I'm reading Bob Stanley's excellent book on The Bee Gees who quite rightly points out that early Bee Gees stuff was dark and lush, almost soul or prog rock, The Chi-Lites were in the same sort of mood/vibe as Robin Gibb's songs. Can't Let You Go another big fave of mine 8/10, and Stevie's indeed was a bit schizophrenic but scrapes an 8/10.

All I Ever Need Is You was Sonny & Cher's welcome comeback on the back of their hit variety show and had a melody to die for. It had (a live version of) I Got You Babe on the B side, which persuaded me to buy it instead of DC comics or Donnie Elbert's single. I learned the disappointing truth when I got home, but still loved the A side 9/10. Love Moon River and anything Henry Mancini, and this is my fave version of the song - but the single version. There is an album version which is not as good. Greyhound have been wiped from collective memory but they were great on Top Of The Pops. 9/10.

Bread are another Easy Listening band I love, Baby I'm A Want You is sweetly sad, and typically tuneful. Bee Gees were moving more towards MOR ballads at this time (Barry's songs by and large) but this is as good as How Can You Mend A Broken Heart (not a UK hit) for me 10/10. Donnie Elbert's version is the first version of Where Did Our Love Go I knew well, and loved. It has more welly than The Supremes, but I love them both, and his falsetto is great 10/10

Bless You was passable, not one I taped off the radio at the time and played to death so I dont have the same affection for it as I obv do for the rest, 5/10. That applies to The Pioneers hit too, but I still rate their upbeat singalong pop reggae run of (mostly flop) singles 7/10.

As expected the excellence didn’t last, but this Colin Blunstone song is a lovely discovery.

8	Colin Blunstone	Say You Don't Mind	He was the lead singer of The Zombies, but this is a gorgeous and rather quaint solo hit with a masterful vocal performance
8	Slade	Look Wot You Dun	This will be followed by 10 straight Top 3s and was only a #4 for them, but it's great: I love the stompy blues style feel to it
7	Badfinger	Day After Day	Their last Top 40: another that sounds like mid period Beatles and indeed it was produced by George; it's very lovely though
7	Nilsson	Without You	311th #1: he'll have no more Top 40s; hard to imagine this in a world without overblown covers but a lovely emotive piece
6	Holly Sherwood	Day By Day (Godspell Medley)	Only hit for this US singer with a cover from the "Godspell" musical: this is an interesting track with different sections
6	The Fortunes	Storm In A Teacup	Last of their 5 hits: it's a very nice bright and breezy song and much better than the grating "Freedom Come, Freedom Go"
5	Paul Simon	Mother And Child Reunion	His 1st solo hit that will be his 2nd highest peaking in a reggae style: it's enjoyable with interesting lyrics but not essential
5	Jimi Hendrix	Johnny B. Goode	Chuck Berry's 1958 original was never a UK hit: this version isn't needed but unsurprisingly has  excellent guitar playing
4	The Temptations	Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)	This is attacking their former band mates David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks: it's a fine but unremarkable track of its style
4	Peter Straker And The Hands Of Dr Teleny	The Spirit Is Willing	Only hit for this British Jamaican based on Bach's "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring": interesting but not sure it entirely works
3	Michael Jackson	Got To Be There	His 1st solo hit aged only 13, and it's a technically strong performance but vocally slightly piercing and not that enjoyable
3	Bee Gees	My World	Quite a repetitive song which maybe is meant to evoke the turning of the world, but I don't find the vocals so pleasant
2	The Sweet	Poppa Joe	Bubblegum pop with a Caribbean feel and instruments such as steel drums, but I find the song lightweight and grating
2	Jonathan King	Flirt	A cover of a French song "Pour Un Flirt": the "teasin' teasin'…" and melody are a little irritating and the lyrics slightly silly
1	Les Crane	Desiderata	Only hit for this US broadcaster reading from a 1927 poem: I find this very cloying, especially the gospel style chorus

1972 Group 3:

#3904	19/02/1972	Pagliaro	Loving You Ain't Easy	31	50-42-36-{31}-36-40->6
#3905	26/02/1972	Chelsea Football Team	Blue Is The Colour	5	15-9-{5}-8-11-12-19-23-25-32-40-48->12
#3906	26/02/1972	Lindisfarne	Meet Me On The Corner	5	36-22-10-9-{5}-6-6-13-24-30-39->11
#3907	26/02/1972	Donnie Elbert	I Can't Help Myself	11	39-19-16-{11}-13-13-29-31-38-50->10
#3908	26/02/1972	The Hollies	The Baby	26	40-32-29-27-{26}-43->6
#3909	26/02/1972	The Partridge Family	It's One Of Those Nights	11	47-33-25-19-14-{11}-12-15-21-24-38->11
#3910	26/02/1972	Wings	Give Ireland Back To The Irish	16	49-21-19-17-{16}-27-45-46->8
#3911	04/03/1972	The New Seekers	Beg, Steal Or Borrow	2	12-4-3-{2}-2-2-3-6-12-26-28-37-48->13
#3912	04/03/1972	Gilbert O'Sullivan	Alone Again (Naturally)	3	23-9-6-4-{3}-4-8-10-21-29-40-48->12
#3913	04/03/1972	Argent	Hold Your Head Up	5	44-30-21-7-{5}-5-6-8-16-17-41-50->12
#3914	04/03/1972	Engelbert Humperdinck	Too Beautiful To Last	14	47-37-26-19-{14}-17-20-29-36-46->10
#3915	04/03/1972	C.C.S.	Brother	25	49-38-32-28-{25}-26-32-47->8
#3916	04/03/1972	The Supremes	Floy Joy	9	50-27-18-10-{9}-10-14-16-42-50->10
#3917	11/03/1972	Cliff Richard	Jesus	35	{35}-38-37->3
	11/03/1972	The Four Tops	Bernadette {1972}	23	46-41-31-40-{23}-35-39->7
#3918	11/03/1972	Olivia Newton-John	What Is Life	16	47-34-21-20-{16}-18-17-41->8

Say You Don't Mind I went mad on right off the bat, bought it, topped my chart - it helped that I already knew the Denny Laine original from Singapore radio, but Colin's version was that amazing voice plus a sparse string arrangement that sounded like nothing else around 9/10. I saw Colin on a Zombies/Argent (Rod)/solo Greatest Hits tour a few years back, fab. Look Wot You Dun remains one of Slade's best for me, menacing stomp with a swish of violin/fiddle 9/10. Day After Day capturing that sad Badfinger sound for a last hit, still a great song 8/10.

Without You a 10/10 epic masterpiece for me, Nilsson could emote convincingly and raised this sad Badfinger song to another level. Given songwriters Pete Ham & Tom Evans both died young from suicide, and hard-drinker Harry died not that old around the time Mariah Carey ruined the song, they dont get any more tragic than this. Day By Day is a great gospel musical cut, 8/10. Storm In A Teacup another classic chart-topper for me, loved The Fortunes 60's hits and their US hit in 1971 Here Comes That rainy day Feeling Again, so this Lynsey De Paul song was a cert fave for me. What a tune, love the vocals 10/10. I came top in Art that year lead by my literal giant teacup with a storm inside.

Paul Simon another chart-topper for me, though the reggae vibe sounded fresher at the time as he kicked off a solo career with a statement of intent to be unpredictable musically. About a dinner with egg and chicken allegedly. 9/10. Jimi's Johnny got no airplay and a bit of barrel-scraping going on from his record company 4/10, Superstar I also never got to tape, but I did like it 7/10. The Spirit Is Willing was played on Radio Luxembourg, my new cool radio station of choice in the evening hissing in and out from Europe on Medium Wave. 6/10.

Got To Be There, Michael on full-on mode before his voice breaks, I love the song and emotion he puts into it, 10/10. Psychedelic/prog/tortured-era Bee Gees were struggling to remain relevant when Glam hit, so resorted to a Country ballad mood which was mildly pleasant outside of the chorus 7/10. Loved the Caribbean Poppa Joe at the time, but hasnt dated as well as the glam stuff from Sweet but fond of it still 8/10. Flirt another fave of the time that hasnt aged well, it's not that different from the original version and a bit cheerful and twee 7/10. Desiderata you need to be in a melancholy mood to listen to, and if not in that mood it can sound sickly and preachy. 5/10.

I think it’s the relentless rhythm on “Hold Your Head Up” that I really love. I doubt many of Chelsea Football Club’s songs will be coming as high as 3rd from bottom.

9	Argent	Hold Your Head Up	An incredibly striking and captivating progressive rock record with a bracing, stompy rhythm and a great electric guitar solo
8	The Partridge Family	It's One Of Those Nights	I was expecting more bubblegum from this sitcom band, but this is an incredibly lovely, tender and sincerely performed track
8	Lindisfarne	Meet Me On The Corner	Lovely 1st hit for this UK folk rock band complete with harmonica and warm harmonies: it reminds me of Marmalade's style
7	Pagliaro	Loving You Ain't Easy	Only hit for this French Canadian singer and it's a great soft rock song with warm production that could be a Beatles track
7	C.C.S.	Brother	Another interesting instrumental led hit from this jazzy group: really enjoy this and the lead vocalist sounds like Bowie
6	The Supremes	Floy Joy	A Smokey Robinson penned Top 10 hit for them: it's nice and has a somewhat vintage sound that harks back to their early hits
6	The Hollies	The Baby	An interesting late hit for them that's quite stark and hard hitting, about an unwanted pregnancy, but I do think it works
5	Gilbert O'Sullivan	Alone Again (Naturally)	His 1st Top 3 hit: this has his usual mundane conversational style and has a charm to it without being musically remarkable
5	Olivia Newton-John	What Is Life	A George Harrison cover: it is mostly the same as his but she does sing it very nicely and brings the song a different colour
4	Donnie Elbert	I Can't Help Myself	A Four Tops cover this time: once again his vocals are exemplary but all in all there isn't much about this version that's new
3	The New Seekers	Beg, Steal Or Borrow	2nd in Eurovision for this and a 3rd straight Top 2 hit: a catchy breezy bubblegum track but it slightly grates after a few plays
2	Engelbert Humperdinck	Too Beautiful To Last	His last Top 20: it's quite restrained and not unpleasant but very much in the crooner style and with no memorable features
2	Chelsea Football Team	Blue Is The Colour	They'll have a few hits but this is the only pre 1990 one: it's raucously sung but the tune has stuck and is still heard today
1	Cliff Richard	Jesus	An evangelical Christian track which I might not mind in itself but it's quite preachy and a rather limp and plodding track
1	Wings	Give Ireland Back To The Irish	I rarely enjoy explicitly political songs unless they're art first and message second: I don't get any musical enjoyment from this

1972 Group 4:

#3919	11/03/1972	Neil Young	Heart Of Gold	10	49-33-25-17-11-{10}-11-17-25-38-47->11
#3920	18/03/1972	Buffy Sainte-Marie	I'm Gonna Be A Country Girl Again	34	46-{34}-39-42-49->5
#3921	18/03/1972	Blue Haze	Smoke Gets In Your Eyes	32	47-{32}-32-32-43-50->6
	18/03/1972	The Chiffons	Sweet Talkin’ Guy {1972}	4	50-24-15-8-5-{4}-4-5-10-11-24-28-39-47->14
#3922	25/03/1972	Labi Siffre	Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying	11	33-23-20-{11}-13-15-18-43-45->9
	25/03/1972	The Drifters	At The Club/Saturday Night At The Movies {1972}	3	39-41R(2)-41-40-28-20-19-8-8-{3}-6-4-5-10-23-21-31-32-35-47->20
#3923	25/03/1972	Ray Stevens	Turn Your Radio On	33	43-37-{33}-36->4
#3924	25/03/1972	Greyhound	I Am What I Am	20	45-33-37-25-27-{20}-22-27-46->9
#3925	25/03/1972	Jo Jo Gunne	Run Run Run	6	46-29-21-17-9-8-{6}-8-10-17-33-35->12
#3926	25/03/1972	Middle Of The Road	Sacramento (A Wonderful Town)	23	49-36R(2)-28-{23}-25-33-49->7
#3927	25/03/1972	The Osmonds	Down By The Lazy River	40	50-47-{40}-40-46->5
#3928	01/04/1972	Ringo Starr	Back Off Boogaloo	2	18-15-4-3-{2}-2-11-12-28-41->10
#3929	01/04/1972	Tom Jones	The Young New Mexican Puppeteer	6	19-13-7-7-{6}-11-13-25-37-43-38-50->12
#3930	01/04/1972	Elvis Presley	Until It's Time For You To Go	5	26-18-19-{5}-10-13-16-36-41->9
#3931	01/04/1972	The Pipes And Drums And The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards	Amazing Grace	1	31-3-{1}-1-1-1-1-2-3-8-11-18-23-26-28-32-28-30-31-37-42-39-41-43-42R(15)-42-42->27
#3932	01/04/1972	The Potters	We'll Be With You	34	{34}-34->2
#3933	01/04/1972	Deep Purple	Never Before	35	{35}-47-42-37-35-41->6

Ooh yes, Hold Your Head Up is a monster forgotten rock gem 10/10. Loved it from the moment I heard on Alan Freeman's show as an album track in late 1971. Taped it off the radio and all! Great that Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone both in the charts for some Zombies action. Ooh lovely to see It's One Of Those Nights so high 9/10 from me and another I bought and topped my charts of the time. Songwriter Tony Romeo could knock out great tunes. Met Me On The Corner is singalong folk that sounds good but is another thats been forgotten 8/10 - Ken Bruce played the follow-up on TV Popmaster and none of them knew it, which was sad! Lindisfarne were pretty popular in the 70's.

Loving You Ain't Easy is a great Beatles-ey track, early Fabs at that, 8/10, deserves a rediscovery just out of interest if nothing else. C.C.S. brass sections are epic and Brother is great, the intro was later used on the top 20 rundown countdown summary, DJ Alexis Korner was the gruff voice, he turned up on Hot Chocolate's Brother Louie in 1973 too! Floy Joy remains sweet, nice they all got a turn on lead vocal, Supremes Mk 2 much more democratic than Mk 1. 8/10. The new Swedish lead vocalist just wasnt Allan Clarke for me, but he'd be back in The Hollies later in the year with a classic. 6/10 for The Baby.

Alone Again a huge US hit, I still find it too sad and maudlin, but it's good 8/10. Olivia's cover was the first version I heard, What Is Life is good too 7/10. Donnie elbert, again this is the first version I heard and loved, 9/10, anything Northern Soul-ish and I'm sold. Beg Steal Or Borrow went mad on for a couple of weeks, topped my charts, then rated it as one of the best UK entries to Eurovision of the 70s, but I'm not quite as fussed these days 8/10. Too Beautiful To Last, Engelbert in pleasant mode 5/10, Blue Is The Colour a Daniel Boone song and the best footie song of all time until 1990. Not a high bar, of course 5/10. Jesus was a mis-step for cliff, his next one is better 3/10. Wings, Oh dear oh dear, they couldnt even read out the title on the chart rundown at the time let alone play it. When I did get to hear it years later, it was an aural mess 2/10. Paul reacted with an extreme about-face release next time out, followed by a double A of both sides of Wings after that.

"Give Ireland Back To The Irish" is great, it's my second favourite track, only behind Beg, Steal Or Borrow (predictable # 1 in my chart).