37 (26) ROCKET MAN - Elton John

One of Elton John's iconic records, Rocket Man fit in with a batch of space/sci-fi themed hits in 1972 (see The Kinks, David Bowie, Lou Reed and others) but this one was on the darker, moodier side. Isolation and loneliness the order of the day, and Elon Musk should listen to the lyrics and stop being insane, there's only one planet we will ever be able to live on, the rest is hyperbole and self-promotion. Bernie Taupin's lyric works beautifully with Elton's composition, sprawling and haunting. Kate Bush did a cover in the early 90's and I can see the influence on her work. Your Song never really made it over to Singapore in 1971, so this was my first introduction to Elton in 1972, I pretty much became an instant fan from then on, and Rocket Man peaked at 2 in my own charts - as in the UK's charts - and a long chart run helped it to a year-end top 30 spot. Considering the extra competition 50 years later from stuff that wasn't a UK hit single at the time, Rocket Man has pretty much held it's ground in my affection. I bought Elton's 1977 EP Four From Four Eyes, which had Rocket Man as the key track, so that was its' first resurgence of many - it still remains widely-popular in Elton's enormously popular back-catalogue, and has weathered much better than the single that topped my charts at the time: Crocodile Rock! (see 162)

36 (34) ALL THE YOUNG DUDES - Mott The Hoople featuring David Bowie

It's another David Bowie gift to a band he admired, Mott The Hoople were struggling to maintain a career, so in rides David with a gift of a song in All The Young Dudes, capturing the zeitgeist of 1972, the language and attitude of what it felt to be young with the older generation not happy with long-hair, glitter, androgyny and anything else up for grabs as seen on Top Of The Pops - as tends to be the case with all generations moaning about each other for time immemorable, and usually for the same reasons. Dudes is basically a David Bowie song with Ian Hunter singing the lead vocal - the backing vocal is clearly David Bowie, which is why I insist on the retrospective credits. These days you get a feature credit for accidentally blowing your nose in the background in the studio, so credit where it's due. This is more a David Bowie record than a Mott The Hoople record and in 2025 would be listed as David Bowie featuring Mott The Hoople, and it worked beautifully for both parties. Mott, and Ian Hunter on lead vocal or solo, had a great run of singles through to 1975, and Ian Hunter had a bit of career moving to the USA and getting his song Cleveland Rocks placed as the theme to sitcom The Drew Carey Show in the 90's. Bet he made more money from that than his entire Mott career! The song All The Young Dudes? It's great, loved it at the time, love it still, bit of an anthem of the time that isn't as well-known these days as it should be. Rating: drops barely 2 places, so that should count as going up really.

35 (81) WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - Lou Reed featuring Thunderthighs

Speaking of Herbie Flowers' famous bassline (see Blue Mink, 46) and Transformer (see 40) here's Lou Reed's ground-breaking single, an actual UK hit single in 1973, and not banned because the powers-that-be at the BBC didn't actually know what some of the lyrics meant, given the current jive-talk US lingo, notably "giving head". I have to admit I didn't know it was quite rude either at the time, but I do now! Regardless, the Andy Warhol-scene-related images and names are iconic now, and at least 10 years ahead of their time, some might argue 30 years. The "coloured girls" reference is of it's time - but that time was the 60's, by 1972 the polite term was "Black". Ironically it was British white girl group Thunderthighs that did the back-up vocals, soon to be on actual Top Of The Pops with Mott The Hoople in 1973, with a then-school-playground iconic hand-wave on Roll Away The Stone, and their own hit record in 1974, with Lynsey De Paul's Central Park Arrest. They also have one of the greatest obscure Halloween anthems, Dracula's Daughter, which really ought to be played each year along with Monster Mash, Ghostbusters and Thriller. Anyways, that's why they have a credit (vocals) and Bowie, Mick Ronson and Herbie Flowers don't (producers/instruments). The track itself was quite ground-breaking, singing at a minimum, more talking in tune than anything, and the Sax riffs are also great, from Ronnie Ross. As the entire record usually didn't played on the chart show then, when I recorded it onto reel-to-reel and cut off the DJ, then started recording Snoopy Vs The Red Baron immediately afterwards, a reggae version of the Royal Guardsmen 60's novelty hit by The Hotshots. I still expect it to come in before the end of the song! Bizarre...! My 81st-fave track of 1973, and slipped into 1972 here at 35, it's grown in stature with time, but not as much as the B side, Perfect Day, which would would go on to sell a million and top the UK charts in 1997 courtesy of a Children In Need BBC-created charity genre-hopping all-star ensemble led by Lou the Man himself, not to mention other hit covers. That track ends up at 148, somewhat lower than the two top 40 Lou Reed tracks here, but if I'm honest I still prefer the 1997 version.

34 (NEW) THE NIGHT - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

Motown released this classic Northern Soul anthem in 1972 under it's MoWest label and it sank without trace even though Frankie Valli hit in 1971 with another (old) Northern Soul song, You're Ready Now. The Wigan dancefloors kept it alive, though, and it got a proper release release in 1975 to grab a cool, dark, throbbing UK dance hit ahead of their forthcoming huge comeback in the USA and UK that year. The Night remains fabulous, Soft Cell being just one of the acts to cover it in recent-ish years. The Four Seasons by 1972 were at a low commercial ebb generally, following a decade of huge hits and pop standards. How great? The long-running Jersey Boys hits musical and movie should give a clue. Numerous songs were hits for other artists across the decades, main man Bob Gaudio is the talent behind virtually all their hits, as songwriter and band member, and Frankie is the flawless singer frontman with the amazing vocal range, falsetto to ballads, not to mention a solo career outside the band. I saw him when he was in his 70's, still fabulous. Their history makes for a great show, mobsters, bankruptcy, tragedy, and this is one of their key tracks for me, huge kudos to the British Northern Soul scene keeping obscure gems alive and kicking, and making them hits. Even in 1975, The Night didn't crack my top 100 of the year though, so it's great to see longevity of this one-off for this period of their career as 34th best of 1972.

33 (23) SUGAR ME - Lynsey De Paul

Lynsey was at this point the most successful female British pop songwriter, usually with writing partners like Barry Blue, and she peaked early in 1972 writing a fabulous song still to come, and hitting the charts herself with Sugar Me in the autumn setting up her pop career. Sugar-sweet added violin and percussive-sounds are the standout hooks as this catchy pop gem topped my chart as 23rd fave of the time, and the racy follow-up Getting A Drag (lyrically ahead of its time) pulls in at 177 for the year. More hit singles followed over the next 3 years both as songwriter for other acts and herself, followed by a Eurovision runner-up near-win in 1977 and then that was pretty much it for Lynsey. Which is a shame, as she isn't that well remembered these days with no record labels pushing her back catalogue of songs since she passed away in 2014. This is still her best record, but it's not her best song, her voice was always pleasant but not powerful like, say Thunderthighs' cover of her brilliant Central Park Arrest - see Lou Reed #35 - and that may have affected collective memory somewhat, which is a shame as pretty much nothing she was involved in has become radio regulars, just the occasional play on old chart countdowns. I still rate the songs though, quality pop, and I'm still fond of Sugar Me, that violin riffing really works for me, so only marginally down on the time.

32 (55) DO IT AGAIN - Steely Dan

Steely Dan debuted in 1972 with a classy jazzy brand of impeccably-produced folkish-rock which stayed throughout the band career and solo careers of main men Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The albums were rated critically, and were always laid-back pleasant grooves, and occasionally they dropped a classic single along the way too. Like Do It Again, a complete flop in the UK, hit in the USA, though it did grab some radio play, enough for me to really like what I heard and believe it should have been a hit. By 1975 Steely Dan had had quite a few radio play singles and were quite well-known without having anything close to a hit, so this track was put out again for a proper push at the chart in shorter single-edit form and this time they made the UK charts, albeit a lesser hit. It made my top 10 though and ended that year 55th fave, a cool fave that has stayed with me pretty much ever since, though Steely Dan have always been firmly in the "pleasant" category for me. Never bad, great for late evening listening or lazy hot summer days when extended jazzing goes down better than it might at a club. This track has been covered as a mash-up, but it still is more of a cult oldie than a regular staple. The single edit is best for me, I don't need the extended middle instrumental grooves, I prefer my singles to get to the point, pretty much. From top 60 in 1975 to top 40 back in the 1972 year it should be in.

31 (24) OH GIRL - The Chi-Lites

My favourite American soul band of the early 70's? Yeah, probably the Chi-Lites, loved their sweet, cool, emotional ballads, and to a lesser extent their political singles, this one topped my chart in the late summer of 1972 along with some other key soul track still to come. I love the plaintive harmonica and Eugene Record's lead-vocal was always as appealing to me as his songs, right from his early hits writing with Barbara Acklin in 1969 - such as the instrumental or hit versions of Am I The Same Girl - Dusty Springfield covered that one - the sample Beyonce nicked for Crazy In Love, or the many 80's cover versions of their 70's hits. Eugene Record is under-rated these days, again as with many 70's acts probably not helped by passing away, 20 years ago for Eugene, but the band tended to have more success in the UK than the USA from around 1974 onwards, the big hits carried on until 1976 here, but faded earlier in the USA, and hit lower chart positions there or weren't released at all in favour of lesser singles. Oh Girl I was big on for a couple of decades, then I went off it a bit for a couple of decades in comparison to other hits and flops they had, it just seemed a bit slow and sentimental when that was out of fashion, but this review got me back on board with it, playing a lot over a period of 3 months or so got me back into what I initially saw in it. Charming, sweetly-sad, sincere, subtle. And so down a mere 7 slots 50 years on.

Before Sarah Harding my most painful celebrity death (in real time) was Lynsey De Paul. 66 is no age for ladies.

On 27/03/2025 at 15:43, Last Dreamer said:

Before Sarah Harding my most painful celebrity death (in real time) was Lynsey De Paul. 66 is no age for ladies.

I was sad for Lynsey too, she never really got to sort her back catalogue out for the modern world and get some sort of appreciation as a good pop songwriter, I would like her to have seen a bit of that in later life.

30 (77) VIRGINIA PLAIN - Roxy Music

Well, this one was an actual "WTF is that?" moment on Top Of The Pops, sci-fi-Glam, no singing, no chorus, synth in there and lyrically descriptive and unusual. Bryan Ferry came over like a sort of modern Noel Coward in extravagant clothes. This song broke all the pop hit rules, but was inventiveness personified, not least the long instrumental section just before the final lead in to the abrupt sudden stop as the title finally gets mentioned. No-one's ever going to dance to this at a wedding, but it was impactful and re-issued again in 1977 as a single with second hit Pyjamarama on the other side. I bought it, it topped my charts in 1977 and ended the year in 9th position. First time round it "only" managed 77, but 50 years on it settles somewhere in between at a comfortable 30th-best-record of 1972. Early Roxy was great.

29 (91) SCHOOL'S OUT - Alice Cooper

Another WTF moment on Top Of The Pops in 1972 as Horror-Rock hits the UK, and fits snugly in with the Glam Rock scene, Alice Cooper the band being the only American act to manage that, at least until Suzi Quatro and Sparks came along. Alice the man (aka Vince Furnier) has remained pretty iconic thanks to this teen anthem which has passed down the generations. My friend Graham bought over his latest record - the single of School's Out - which I duly copied onto my reel-to-reel, and then that pretty much was it for us, I'd known him since 1968, but when I returned to RAF Swinderby in 1971 he was in with the bad lads and I was branded a swot, the term in those days for geek or nerd, someone who's mild and smart as opposed to being a bullying troglodyte. So for me School being out was a relief, and I quickly learned that people are basically sheep. They don't want to be targeted so they keep a low profile while others get punched and kicked and ridiculed, friendship doesn't count for sh1t. That's how fascism works, because it understands human nature perfectly well. Anyway, I digress, School's Out sounds even better to me than it did at the time, 91st to 29th! Not even a concert in the 80's with mates, where the decibels were cranked up to 11, so loud it was physically painful, has put me off this track - though once Alice sang this one I was outta there if only to save my hearing as much as I could. I'm a bit deaf in one ear these days, and I can't hear things kids can easily hear: "it's too loud!" they say when I have the TV on. C'est la vie!

28 (NEW) THE TALK OF ALL THE U.S.A. - Middle Of The Road

Middle Of The Road arrived as a global sensation (Outside the Americas) in 1971 with Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep, a slice of catchy bubblegum adored by kids, and hated by just as many older music fans. I was the former for all of their hits, as they had a hat-trick of chart-toppers in my charts of the time. This track was a single hit in some European countries in 1972 but was held back until 1973 in the UK, by which time the bubble had burst, and it struggled to get airplay. I loved it immediately but never really paid attention to the lyrics, and neither did Junior's Choice, the only radio show that played it on Radio One. 50 years on and it sounds VERY different: it's a story song where the bloke falls for a hot young media celebrity woman, who turns out to be what would these days be called a transwoman. In which case I can see why it wasn't played on UK radio at the time, though it's not intended as a rights or moral commenting issue, it's just a jolly pop song with a great hook with a lyrical twist - The Kinks had already gone this road with Lola, except in this case the potential romance didn't continue once it became obvious. These days it's probably not going to get radio play ever again due to complaints that "genitals shouldn't matter" from people who find both sets perfectly acceptable to them, which is a pity as I clearly still like this a lot! It's also the only Middle Of The Road hit single that didn't have Sally Carr on lead vocal, as the song is told from a man's point of view.

27 (NEW) IT MIGHT AS WELL RAIN UNTIL SEPTEMBER - Carole King

I loved this record in the 60's, a big UK hit for Carole in an era when she and hubby Gerry Goffin were writing hit after classic pop hit for hosts of other acts, and that lasted until the divorce, at which point she morphed out of being a Brill Building jobbing songwriter and moved into folk-gospel-tinged singer-songwriting, and using her own life as a basis for personal lyrics (she had previously composed the music) which culminated in the global monster that is the Tapestry album in 1971. Cue a reminder she had been around 10 years earlier and a re-issued UK hit to follow-up It's Too Late where the other singles off the album had failed to chart. Indeed, this was amazingly Carole's first and last UK hit as an artist, though the US hits kept on coming for years in the ballad-friendly radio environment. I have loved this record my whole life, and this reminded me that I'd forgotten it and floods of nostalgia washed over me, one I definitely bought as a full-price oldie as soon as I was flush with a bit more money around 1978. I rate Carole King as the greatest female songwriter of the 60's, and at least the most-important one - no other woman has had a musical show based around their life-story (Beautiful) using their own songs. September sounded very out of place in Glam 1972, but as I have not ventured into the 1960-66 period in reviews, I'm making sure some oldies from that period get covered if they are hits in later years. A gem.

26 (95) SUPERSTITION - Stevie Wonder

In a long career of classics, starting in the early 1960's to the mid 1980's, Stevie was unstoppable as he grew from pre-teen Motown sensation to Funk-pioneer in the 1970's, so amongst a back catalogue of gem after gem this one stands out as the jewel in the crown half a century on. I mean generally - it's not my top fave Stevie record, but there's no denying its status at the pinnacle. Synths start in funk proper with the Talking Book album, as Stevie moved away from being a singles act into an albums superstar. This one hit in 1973 but came out at the tail-end of 1972 so sneaks back a year into this countdown. Play loud, still funky, still popular and like School's Out a few places lower it has increased in my esteem from one of the best 100 of the year to one of the 30 best of the year. Compare this with If You Really Love Me, a hit in the UK at the start of 1972, and they seem worlds apart, one is in the 60's Motown tradition, and this one stomps out loud 'n' funk-proud state of the art of record-producing. The giant shadow it casts can still be heard in the 21st century in mega-hits like Uptown Funk.

25 (22) ROCK AND ROLL PART II - Gary Glitter & The Glitter Band

This Glam anthem and sporting event anthem, stompalongly fab, has of course had its reputation tarnished by Mr Gadd and his prison sentences. One can't play it or show a clip of the man in the UK anymore, he has been erased from cultural memory except for those of us who enjoyed his string of huge glam rock hits in the UK. It took a while for this news to make it through to the USA, where this instrumental (mostly) had been a sporting staple for decades after hitting the US charts in 1972. The irony is, most of the record is just Glitter posturing as a frontman to The Glitter Band pounding away on tribal drums and electric guitars, and the mainman behind the track is writer/producer Mike Leander, who had by 1972 Beatles credentials (the She's Leaving Home arrangement) not to mention working with pop stars like ooh Ben E King, Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney, Marc Bolan and many many others, while coming off working on the Jesus Christ Superstar album. So he was hot and donated a career to long-time wannabe Gadd. Which is why I choose not to pretend Gary Glitter never existed, I don't see why other acts should suffer for the sins of Glitter, when this is still a classic record, as used powerfully in Joker t'other year. A masterstroke statement I thought, marking the point at which a sad man morphs into a mad man with evil intent in the film. Liking the record does not constitute an endorsement of the man still enjoying a long spell at His Majesty's Pleasure, and as the rating shows, Rock & Roll is as good now as it was then.

24 (14) LEADER OF THE PACK - The Shangri-Las

Another 1960's classic back bigger than ever in the UK charts of 1972 - hitting number 3 where it had peaked outside the top 10 in 1965, due to lack of airplay - songs about death were a bit frowned on by the BBC. The rebel motif running through this track wouldn't have helped, but the Shadow Morton production was genius, motorbike sounds, crashing, teen girl tears and emotion convincing, spoken intro great, this is a genuine all-time classic. The Shangri-Las managed to sound a lot cooler than many of their girl-group rivals because they captured teen angst perfectly, lead vocalist Mary Weiss was a cut above, and other tracks like Past, Present & Future and Remember (Walking In The Sand) are also very good period teen trauma golden oldies. And they don't come any more traumatic that your boyfriend getting killed in a motorbike crash. So good, in fact, that it hit the top 5 in the UK in 1976 again! For it to sell bucketloads in 1972 and then another bucketload four years later was a little unusual, even in those days - though some other tracks did do that - but to chart in 3 years in a space of 11 years is quite rare! But then it was a classic I'd never heard before in 1972 - and rated 14th fave of the year even though it was over 7 years old and sounded older, production notwithstanding, such had been the advances in studio recording over that short period of time.

23 (8) LEAN ON ME - Bill Withers

Soul classic, emotionally uplifting, and Bill Withers in his absolute prime, Lean On Me was a huge favourite in early autumn of 1972 along with a cover of one of his other classic songs still pending on this list. I love the song, it's so great it can tolerate any number of covers (In the UK, Mud had a big hit in 1976, and a decade later Club Nouveau had a very 80's sounding upbeat dance cover) but none of them beat Bill's original vocal and arrangement, a bit orchestral, a bit soul, a bit gospel, sincere, warm and positive but also with tinges of sadness to it. What better message can there be in life than to have friends who will be there for you no matter what? I especially love Bill as he came to success later in his life, in his 30's after serving in the US military, and remained humble and grounded his entire life, giving up his career to stay with his family and community in the smalltown West Virginia he came from. A lovely man and great songwriter. Down marginally from one of my top 10 faves to just outside the top 20.

22 (105) STARMAN - David Bowie

Cultural memory has Ziggy Stardust debuting on Top Of The Pops with Starman, and coming on like an alien glammed-up to upset mum and dad, but this kid had already met Ziggy on Lift-Off With Ayshea, a kid's pre-news Pop music show hosted by sci-fi show U.F.O.'s (appropriately) Ayshea Brough. I definitely remember that, but sadly along with most Top Of The Pops and Lift Off shows of 1972, all are merely memories these days, as the tapes were all scrubbed, the likes of David Bowie not assessed as measuring up in importance compared to Dad's Army or Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. I had missed out on Space Oddity entirely, being out of the country, and hadn't really noticed Changes, the previous single, so Starman was Bowie ground zero for me and I immediately liked it, but not quite enough to make the top 100 of the year (by 5 places, though excluding oldies it would be comfortably inside). Bowie is now gone and his career is iconic for almost 50 years of quality mixed with bouts of missing-the-mark, but the Ziggy album spearheaded by this single remains essential and timeless. We've already had Bowie in this list at 90 (Changes), 40 (Satellite Of Love), 42 (John I'm Only Dancing), 47 (The Jean Genie), and 36 (All The Young Dudes) but this one takes the highest slot. It's not a stretch to state that Bowie was the act of 1972, and there won't be many critics to argue otherwise.

21 (NEW) PAPA WAS A ROLLIN' STONE - The Temptations

This soul masterpiece is a sprawling novel of a story-song, masterminded by Norman Whitfield, who took on the mantle of Motown's top writer-producer after Holland-Dozier-Holland went off to form their own label. Whitfield had guided The Temptations, then Motown's top male group, away from classy ballad classics like My Girl and 60's Motown dance bangers like Get Ready, and steered them into Psychedelic Soul-funk like Cloud Nine, I Can't Get Next To You and message-ballads like earlier 1972 single Take A Look Around (104 on my list) and Phase 2 as original members like David Ruffin and Paul Williams went solo, with Eddie Kendricks next to take the off-ramp. Papa Was A Rolling Stone is the highlight of this period, a social-commentary funk-orchestral creation that usually got chopped off on the radio about a minute or two after the extended instrumental intro - and it really needs the build to work properly, bearing in mind the album version was still twice as long as the long single version. It really was a case of hitting their peak though, and all of the shuffling membership issues took a toll, as did Whitfield leaving to form his own label too, and spearheading new stars and song-productions for acts like Rose Royce. That left The Temptations rudderless, and that was that for the most part as far as new hit records were concerned, though touring continues to today with surviving member Otis Williams. I caught them around 1989, still with a sizeable original member contingent, but it was an 80's dance remix of Papa that sort of made me reassess this record. It sounded great funked up a bit, and though I'd liked the original, it had never been a massive fave as it took so long to get going. I was wrong, it's brilliant and new at 21, just missing the top 20, doh!

20 (82) YOU'LL ALWAYS BE A FRIEND - Hot Chocolate

In the early days of Hot Chocolate co-songwriter Tony Wilson was the lead vocalist, and singles like Love Is Life and I Believe (In Love) bring back gushing waves of love and nostalgia for me, I absolutely-bloody-loved Hot Chocolate (and this stayed throughout their recording career), and a lot of that is down to the songs with co-writer and future frontman Errol Brown, who gave the band a winning focus as they moved more into soul and funk and hit the heights in the USA, bald-head and moustache and all. For me, though, I find Tony Wilson's vocals effortlessly emotive and sweetly-sad. You'll Always Be A Friend was supposedly written for a band member saying goodbye - as Tony Wilson ironically would in 1975, having been sidelined by producer Mickie Most as frontman just ahead of the monster hit that is You Sexy Thing - and I always found it touching. The percussive shuffle was essentially Love Is Life part 3, I Believe In Love being part 2, in terms of sound and mood, and all 3 remain huge faves - notably obvious here as it was my 82nd fave hit at the time, and I love it all the more these days as I get increasingly more sentimental with age. I wish Tony Wilson had stayed with Hot Chocolate, much as I loved some later hits as much as these, if only for the odd chance of more vocals from Tony and more royalties for him as co-writer, and me not liking to see people fall out and leave bands.

19 (15) SOLID GOLD EASY ACTION - T.Rex

Marc Bolan had been the top singles popstar for 2 years as this gem of Glamrock single popped out just before Christmas of 1972. My family had just moved house - down the road at RAF Swinderby from a 2-bedroom house to a 3-bedroom as one became available, so I didnt have to share with my brother anymore and Marc Bolan helped get the family record-player into my bedroom as Solid Gold Easy Action was too much for my dad to sit through, along with The Jean Genie (Bowie). Mum told me to take it upstairs to avoid arguments. Result! I actually bought this at the same time as I bought Happy Xmas (War Is Over) from John Lennon & Yoko Ono, and I was gutted that I had had to deal with the loss of 2 pop heroes within 8 years, and I have bizarrely found myself at the scene of both of their deaths years later, both of them unplanned - Marc's in Putney, a suburb in London where some comic-book-store owner friends ran a comic shop I visited frequently, and John's at the Dakota Building where 2 friends of mine and I were just walking to Central Park. I crossed the road, I think, to avoid it as much as I could. Back to the record, though, I hadnt loved Children Of The Revolution and Telegram Sam quite as much as previous T.Rex singles (58 and 109 respectively on this list) but this one I raved on, exciting and manic, Hey! Hey! Hey! Clap, clap, clap and rousing guitar, chanting, Bolan at his best again. Annoyingly, Kimmy Osmond kept this from hitting the number one spot, I feel deprived! But there's one more T.Rex still to come in 1972...