77 (102) CRYING, LAUGHING, LOVING, LYING - Labi Siffre

Labi Siffre's follow-up to It Must Be Love was a lovely song, that took a theme and developed it, based around 4 words, with increasing emotional power on the variation of the basic song structure. There's no hook, no chorus, no bridge, and it works just fine as it is. The song was selling downloads again a few weeks ago, I'm not quite sure why, probably an ad or TV placement, Labi has been pretty good at controlling his own back catalogue the last decade or so, with his 4 main hits forming the backbone. I have always felt he is under-appreciated, given he was the first black British singer-songwriter to have any success in the folk genre. His voice on these early hits is pure honey.

76 (NEW) I'M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU - Al Green

Al Green was on a roll by the end of 1972, his soul ballads doing great business in the USA, and back-to-back UK top 10's in 1971/early 1972 which left him with lesser hits later in the year and into 1973, but which deserved better than they got. Maybe not so classic as Let's Stay Together and Tired Of Being Alone, but still classy. I don't recall them getting that much radio airplay as a rule, though, which is a shame, as they sound better half a century than they did at the time, what a voice! Oh how I wish I could sing like Al, pure emotion! I'm Still In Love With You kind of passed me by at 14, I liked it enough, but it never registered as a top fave. It's really great though, and totally deserves a Top 100 rating.

75 (NEW) HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN - The Animals

Still famous, still a song buskers might play, and copyright free as nobody knows who wrote this Blues standard. The Animals version, with Eric Burden's passionate vocals, is a cornerstone of 1960's Pop/Rock culture, the rifftastic Alan Price organ supports the story as it unrolls and 8 years later on from topping the charts everywhere there was enough demand for it to chart all over again. As 1964 has never been reviewed by me (yet) as is my wont I include any pre-1967 oldies if they are a hit again and this, if anything, is obviously vastly under-rated here. And yet...I was aware of it as a kid and quite liked it, I knew it was a classic in 1972 and liked it - but I liked newer stuff more and it never made my year-end Top 100 list. 60 years on from release, and I still recognise it's a classic, and yet there are still tracks from both 1964 and 1972 that I rate higher. Put it down to early childhood vibes that it was a bit slow, with no singalong hook!

74 (NEW) HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART - Al Green

Talking of Al Green again, I wasn't even aware this cover of the 1971 Bee Gees Country smash (in the USA) existed in 1972, and indeed I had never heard the Bee Gees song either, not a UK hit. When I discovered it years later I was a huge fan, it's something of an annoyance that it's never listed among the Gibbs best songs, when it clearly is - witness this emotional soulful reading that became a US single and hit, and then became quite well known in the 90's after featuring in the Romcom Notting Hill. And here we are outdoing I'm Still In Love With You by 2 places...

73 (NEW) I BELIEVE IN LOVE - The Pioneers

I missed this one when it came out, if it got radio play it wasn't that much, despite having had a big hit in 1971 with Let Your Yeah Be Yeah The Pioneers, like most reggae acts, tended to be hit or miss with singles. Even the biggest names, Desmond Dekker and Johnny Nash, were never guaranteed a hit. This jolly singalong cropped up on a various artist collection, which started with Arcade and Ronco records cramming chart hits, edited and tinny-sounding compared to singles and full-prices artist albums, 10 per vinyl side. Soon others, like EMI, got into the market too with Greatest Hits collections not far behind as they mined the back catalogues they had rights to. It was more about quantity than sound-quality, but one happy side-effect was stuff like this getting included. Not a hit, but it jolly well should have been, catchy and fun, love the melody, love reggae.

72 (NEW) LADY ELEANORE - Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne had just had a chart breakthrough with the jaunty folk smash Meet Me On The Corner, a singalong anthem along the lines of their more-famous song Fog On The Tyne, very big in the Newcastle area and beyond. Corner just missed the rundown at 115, but I always did prefer this haunting ballad, which always left me with images of a mediaeval England for some reason. Time has been kind to the lovely song, one which just missed my rundown of the time, but now enters at 71 assisted by the folkey instrumental slow fade-out. Quite under-appreciated these days, it's not one that turns up on greatest hits radio, presumably because it's not a happy clappy nostalgia-fest and radio programming in the 21st century has one motto: don't depress the listeners, they might switch-over to a station a bit more upbeat. I liked radio when it would play anything and there was no formatting or target-audience in-depth studies. It was good? On the playlist it goes!

71 (81) KEEPER OF THE CASTLE - The Four Tops

The timeless Four Tops decided to leave Motown in 1972, I'm guessing because their primary classic hit song-writers/producers Holland-Dozier-Holland had left to form Invictus Records, and they were left to try and get hits with covers or lesser songwriters, which left them with less consistency, though still a big name. Signing with ABC-Dunhill, first single Keeper Of The Castle was a social commentary soul song in the vein of 1971's Moody Blues cover Simple Game which I adored, and coming after a reactivated Bernadette caused me to rush out and buy it, with this song making a hat-trick of chart-toppers inside 12 months in my personal charts of the time. Written and produced by Dennis Lambert, it was a good new start which they plugged quite well in the UK at the time - but the main result was no more big hits for the band until the 1981, despite Lambert writing and producing other hit songs and albums for other acts into the late 80's, and one US hit more for The Four Tops. I always rated this record, then went cool on it years later, but I'm back on board again now, playing it a lot again brought back the reasons I loved it in the first place, the message, the vocals, the production...

70 (46) MOTHER AND CHILD REUNION - Paul Simon

Paul Simon's debut solo single after going out on about as high a note as one could with the Simon & Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water album and single, and the Greatest Hits, Mother & Child Reunion perverted expectations right away with its gentle reggae lilt and gospel backing vibes, and a song reputedly inspired by a dish of eggs and chicken. I loved it right away and it topped my charts of the time. 50 years on and I'm not quite as big on it, so there's a marginal drop from 46th fave of the year to 70th, but it's still refreshingly bubbly, melodic and delightful, and outdoes follow-up Me & Julio which fell short of the 100 this time. Contrary to that 80's backlash to his Graceland album, Simon had always genre-hopped, and indeed I always rate artists that don't stick with a formula. All music is there for inspiration, and after 95 years nobody owns it anyway, quite rightly. While it's within copyright, if you credit any obvious lifts or samples then it's all fine. Everybody wins.

69 (NEW) JOURNEY - Duncan Browne

Duncan Browne only had the one minor hit, sadly, but Journey was a real goodie and deserves to be better-known amongst the singer-songwriter folk hits of the 70's - that's where having a body of work gives you a real advantage in the long-term, the one-hit wonders really have to be massive to get a look-in decades later. This still has a charm to it, it's quirky, with touches here and there that give it a modest originality, in production and structure, not least the choral and instrumental run at the end. As it popped in and out of the top 30 fairly rapidly at the time, it never got the chance to feature in my Top 100 of 1972 with a decent run, but that is rectified now as it places slightly ahead of Paul Simon's number for me that year, and ahead of many other chart-toppers that don't sound quite so good half a century on.

68 (10) DONNA - 10cc

Jonathan King signed-up the band mostly-formerly-known as Hotlegs, and containing 60's hitsters Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart and Neanderthal Man co- creators Kevin Godley & Lol Creme, to his new UK Records label in 1972 to what turned out to be not that generous a deal to the Strawberry Studios inventive and quirky combo based in Manchester. The fruits of their early attempts to play with state of the art recording techniques would soon pay dividends for veteran Neil Sedaka, but also for themselves as this pastiche-50's-American harmony singalong hit the UK number 2 and spotlighted their penchant for wit, melody and unusual song structure. They might have a chorus, or they might not, they might repeat a melody or they might divert suddenly into something else, they were in short a cut above the normal pop formula hits, and I was an instant fan. This topped my charts and ended 10th of the year, but it came over as another Neanderthal Man - a novelty hit, albeit a good one, and not one I'd consider as inside their top 20 records together or apart. Not to worry, they had already had a hand in Groovy Kind Of Love, No Milk Today, Bus Stop and other 60's gems so it's fair to assume there is great stuff still to come over the next 13 years and occasionally beyond.

67 (9) POPCORN - Hot Butter

This was the first entirely synth hit record, and for that reason alone it is a cornerstone of pop music, and one that blew my mind when it dropped suddenly in the summer of 1972. We'd had Chicory Tip dabbling with synths to a rock band format, but this instrumental was the sound of the future and it sounded like it. Yes, it came over as a novelty hit record, but it was clearly doing something new, and was way ahead of its time by about 5 years. The Moog was all the rage by now, and the song and Moog version was actually 3 years old (recorded by composer Gershon Kingsley) and contrary to expectations Hot Butter were an American band fronted by keyboard player Stan Free. I always thought they were European, due probably to it becoming a million seller in France - and clearly an influence on future French music acts. I loved it, so catchy, a big number one for me and my 9th biggest hit of the year, though I didnt have the pocket money to buy it on single it popped up later in the year on 22 Dynamic Hits Volume 2, which I happily spent £2 on. 50 years on, it's still an important record, though not necessarily one to get emotionally affected by, not helped in the least by the 2000's hit Crazy Frog version.

66 (NEW) MANANA - Bay City Rollers

Still on Bell Records, the Bay City Rollers had had a fave hit cover of the Gentry's 60's US hit Keep On Dancing, which I bought and loved, and then they stopped having hits for the next 2 and a bit years, but I was still following them on some minor flop gems along the way until they hit the big-time in 1974 with a new lead singer and teenybop audience and increasingly-lowest-common-denominator records. In late 1972 they dropped this forgotten little gem - if it sounds like a lost 1967 Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich record that'll be because Zabadak and Band writer-producers Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley were on board for a one-off single which got a bit of Radio 1 airplay but not enough to break through. Which is a great shame as Howard/Blaikley produced some vastly under-rated widescreen gems in the 60's like Last Night In Soho and Legend Of Xanadu, and Manana (Spanish for "later", as I was unaware at the time, but use a lot on holidays in Spain when I want a lie in in hotels) is fabulous, soaring strings, catchy hooks, a good vocalist who will drop out in late 1973 and a lot of chanting to boot. It's my favourite Rollers record by some distance and I own a copy I found in the 90's.

65 (84) STANDING IN THE ROAD - Blackfoot Sue

This unusual record became a UK hit in the summer of 1972, a driving rock-pop track with hissed Chackachaka-shhhshh noises in appropriate sections of the record, and guitar riffs elsewhere when the singers stop the verse lyrics. There isn't an actual chorus as such, it's all verse with the catchy bits being the instrumental and chakachaka and na na na's. I guess that's why it's all but been forgotten these days, which is something of a travesty, it's as good as any rock hit of the era, unexpected early fade and loud instrumental ending included. It may have a lack of significant lyrics, but the Tom & David Farmer twins in Blackfoot Sue and bandmate Eddie Golga keep the pounding pace up throughout, and as ever with me I rate records that do something different with the regular format of any popular genre. They managed a follow-up minor hit, but sadly later singles didnt catch on. I pretty much like it as much these days as I did at the time.

64 (NEW) TOO LATE TO TURN BACK NOW - Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose

A sweet soul track that passed me by entirely at the time, other than recognising the title and act from US Record Charts in the music press, and a flop in the UK, which is annoying given there is really no reason other than lack of airplay - soul music was pretty popular at the time. Switch to the 1990's and my annual holidays in Orlando listening to radio stations playing new stuff and also a fabulous oldies station playing a wealth of sixties and early seventies gems, many of which I didn't know, including this one. I bought a radio-cassette recorder and recorded key tracks I didnt have, and chunks of the radio stations, and then later on I found CD Billboard compilation albums like Super Hits Of The 70's, and got hold of one with this on. I've been a fan ever since, and the actual brothers and sisters comprising the band turn out to have other tracks that are pretty fine right into 1975.

63 (NEW) VENTURA HIGHWAY - America

America were an American band based in the UK (as Forces kids), so I always felt we had something in common (being an RAF brat) when they took off with a big hit in late 1971, Horse With No Name, at which point they re-located to the States and watched their career take off proper with non-stop hits for a decade. Ventura Highway was the only other chart hit they got in the UK, which is vastly under-rating their career. Their brand of soft-folk-rock might come over as Neil-Young-light on their debut hit, but they had some great melodies along the way, including this one. I always quite liked Ventura Highway without paying it too much attention at the time, though I rated some later singles a lot more. Janet Jackson samples the acoustic guitar riff intro and used it as a backbone to one of her greatest records in 2001, Someone To Call My Lover, which sent me back to the original to re-evaluate it, and I really did under-appreciate it was the conclusion. It's great!

62 (NEW) ZING WENT THE STRINGS OF MY HEART - The Trammps

The Trammps had a number of mid-70's disco hits in the UK, starting with this minor hit in 1974 - but it actually pre-dates the disco explosion of '74 and came out in 1972 in the USA. All disco tick-boxes are here, rhythm, danceability, harmonies, and in this case some 50's doowop-stylee nostalgia as they resurrect the 1935 Broadway song recorded by Judy Garland, The Coasters, The Move, Frank Sinatra and get the only hit version with it. I like the doowop-era vibe mixed with the disco beats, anticipating the Next Big Thing after Glam wound down. The Trammps are mostly remembered for Disco Inferno so it's fairly appropriate that they got a head-start on the genre, and surprisingly they weren't a veteran act who waited for their moment to shine - they formed in 1972 and hit the ground running. I did chart this highly in 1974, and rated it, but it didn't make the year-end 100 of that year so this is effectively a new entry as it gets moved back to the original year of release.

61 (51) I'M ON MY WAY TO A BETTER PLACE - Chairmen Of The Board

Chairmen Of The Board hit the UK and US charts in 1970 with the timeless Give Me Just A Little More Time, lead by main vocalist General Johnson, an under-rated soul singer in my opinion, I loved his passionate range of vocals on tracks masterminded by former-Motown main men Holland-Dozier-Holland on their new Invictus/Hot Wax label. Main songwriter Johnson also hit as writer of Patches for Clarence Carter in 1970, and spearheaded the next 3 years of hits for the band - in the UK! For some reason the funk/gospel vibes of the band barely made it into early 1971 in the Hot 100, but in the UK the hits kept coming, including this gospel-soul gem. Johnson really gives it his all and I love the song, it topped my chart at the start of 1973 in the post-christmas lull as it dropped briefly in-out-back-in-out of the UK top 30 which meant a short chart run and a lowly year-end slot of 51 from me - because it's chart run (based on the UK top 30) was 1-out-1-out, so 2 weeks on top and nothing else. Keeping my charts aligned with the UK charts was starting to have its drawbacks as my fave record for around 4 or 5 weeks under-performed. That means, though, that it only drops slightly as it gets leapfrogged by other late-bloomers.

60 (40) HAPPY XMAS. WAR IS OVER - John & Yoko & The Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir

Note this is the original version with the whispering greetings to Julian & Kyoko, their kids from a previous. I cant be doing with amended updated versions if they change the most-charming bit of the original - which I bought just before Christmas of 1972, Apple Records with a label showing a rainbow of merging faces from John's to Yoko's. This is one of the greatest Christmas records ever made, as important today as it was almost 55 years ago, and the sentiment remains sadly eternal. Most Christmas songs get on your nerves from overplay, but not this one, helped no end by the Harlem Community Choir and John's sincere song. So why is it so low on this chart? It came out in 1971 in the USA, so that is the year it has its big run in my retro charting - this is a second run, and more limited, but even so it's still rated 60, down from 40 in 1972. It only had such a low rating in 1972 due to its short-ish chart run: it peaked at 4 in the UK charts, a year after flopping in the then-not-that-keen-on-Christmas-Records US charts, but it dropped as per normal for post-season hits. there's nothing deader than a Christmas song in January!

59 (NEW) HEART OF GOLD - Neil Young

Neil Young had been around since the 60's, first with Buffalo Springfield and then Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and suddenly he had his commercial breakthrough as a solo act with the Harvest album in 1972 and this song especially. Heart Of Gold was plain, authentic and wistful, no fancy dressing in sight at all, but the few instruments supporting do the job. At the time I found his voice a bit offputting, and the song nice-but-plodding - though I did like it. By the time of the follow-up in mood (1993's Harvest Moon) I was well into Harvest Moon the single and this original fabulous ballad. Given Young's tendency to change style and genre album to album, which in theory I should like, I never really did get into much of his back catalogue, bar the synth-use era a bit, other than the ballads. I do, however, tend to agree with him a lot, not least his view that the sound of CD's was not up that of vinyl, and steadfastfully refusing to release his back catalogue on CD or any other format until he could approve the sound quality. So, this one, I under-rated and have now given it a more realistic year-end position.

58 (44) CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION - T.Rex

Marc Bolan dropped this single after he hit peak glamrock with Metal Guru, and just as he was promoting his Born To Boogie movie, with Ringo Starr on board. It was more ominous/threatening than previous singles, a bit more attitude, and a slower rhythm, maybe that's why it spoilt his (official) run of 4 number ones (though Jeepster hit 2 in between while he was changing from Fly Records to EMI) - or maybe it was just bad timing as Partridge Family man David Cassidy was peaking with teenage girls on a track I rate higher than this. Anyways, a number 2 is still pretty good, and the record still maintained the run of top-notch quality T.Rex singles. That said, I needed a dash of nostalgia 10 years on from Bolan's tragic early death in 1977 and a remix to get it all the way to the top of my charts.