OK it's almost 50 years ago, my family had just moved to RAF Swinderby for a third occasion and we were there until the summer of 76. I was doing A levels and had already missed 3 months of the syllabus due to moving to a different region - in those days there was a lot of variation in what was on the syllabus and when it was taught, so effectively I'd already lost a big chunk of the courses relative to everyone else, and I was already a year behind due to a similar situation in 1974 on my O level GCE's, I couldnt do A levels without getting more O levels first.

My grandma at this time lived with her partner in Liverpool, and the family house (all of us bar my dad were born in it) in mansfield had been rented out to a "needy" family who eventually claimed they couldnt pay the rent, so my grandma being a trusting and kind-hearted soul let them stay on. At which point after some years the bast*rds decided to put a claim on the house as squatters with no rental agreement. Long story short the only way we could keep the house was to sign the deeds over to mum and dad and make ourselves homeless by leaving RAF Married quarters and serving an eviction notice and moving to Mansfield. Dad meanwhile commuted to RAF Swinderby, so I commuted with him and caught the bus to school in North Hykeham every day from there. It was the only way I could avoid losing another year of school. My brother, having left school ended up working in the coalmines, the main employer in Mansfield at that time. This meant all my school friends lived in Lincoln, and I lived in mansfield, so I had a lot of time to myself. So I made my own entertainment in the holidays.

So one day, I decided it might be fun to use a school graph book to record a graph of blocks for every record I owned, one block for every play I gave it, or heard on the radio. I did this into 1977 before it got a bit silly (sillier!) - I came across it while putting my Dec 1975 charts onto spreadsheets yesterday and it struck me that this was essentially my "streaming" records for every track I bought bits of round plastic for and stuck on turntables with a needle.

So this is 1976, minus the first few months (or else Mamma Mia and Bo Rap would be way higher, plus tracks from Beatles 1967-70) but it's easy to see which albums I bought (Beach Boys 20 Golden Greats, most obviously) and posting this at least finally gives me some justification for being so self-indulgent in 1976! As I say, I had no social life outside school!

It's real mixed bag of results and lots of trends and these are the final most-played/heard positions...

1

DANCING QUEEN ABBA

2

IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW Chicago

3

FERNANDO ABBA

4

MONEY MONEY MONEY ABBA

5

BACK IN THE USSR The Beatles

6

LEADER OF THE PACK The Shangri-Las

7

SHOW ME THE WAY Peter Frampton

8

FOREVER AND EVER Demis Roussos

9

ELEANOR RIGBY The Beatles

10

MAMMA MIA ABBA

HEY JUDE The Beatles

12

NATHAN JONES The Supremes

13

GET BACK The Beatles

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

15

STONED LOVE The Supremes

16

THIS OLD HEART OF MINE The isley Brothers

GOOD VIBRATIONS The Beach Boys

BARBARA ANN The Beach Boys

19

BREAK AWAY The Beach Boys

GOD ONLY KNOWS The Beach Boys

I’M STILL WAITING Diana Ross

THAT’S ME ABBA

YELLOW SUBMARINE The Beatles

24

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT Manfred Mann’s Earthband

DARLIN’ The Beach Boys

I’M MANDY FLY ME 10CC

27

BEACH BABY The First Class

DO IT AGAIN The Beach Boys

DECEMBER ’63 (OH WHAT A NIGHT) The Four Seasons

I FEEL FINE The Beatles

LET YOUR LOVE FLOW The Bellamy Brothers

ON HORSEBACK Mike Oldfield

SLOOP JOHN B The Beach Boys

THEN I KISSED HER The Beach Boys

35

BEHIND A PAINTED SMILE The isley Brothers

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon & Garfunkel

EL CONDOR PASA Simon & Garfunkel

GOODNIGHT MIDNIGHT Clodagh Rodgers

ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces

QUEEN OF CLUBS KC & The Sunshine Band

RAIN Status Quo

WOULDN’T IT BE NICE The Beach Boys

I GET AROUND The Beach Boys

I DO I DO I DO I DO I DO ABBA

I WANT MORE Can

46

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (LP) Simon & Garfunkel

CALIFORNIA GIRLS The Beach Boys

DON’T WORRY BABY The Beach Boys

GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie

THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu

SHAKE IT DOWN Mud

I CAN HEAR MUSIC The Beach Boys

BEST DISCO IN TOWN The Ritchie Family

54

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE The Beatles

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen

BENNIE & THE JETS Elton John

BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer Fife & Drum Corps

DAYDREAM BELIEVER The Monkees

FUN FUN FUN The Beach Boys

IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield

JEEPSTER T.Rex

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY Slade

ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation

THEME FROM SHAFT Isaac Hayes

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE TO REMIND ME Sandie Shaw

SPACE ODDITY David Bowie

67

THE CONTINENTAL Maureen McGovern

DON’T TAKE AWAY THE MUSIC Tavares

HELP ME RHONDA The Beach Boys

HEROES AND VILLAINS The Beach Boys

LOVE HANGOVER Diana Ross

MOVIE STAR Harpo

PINBALL WIZARD Elton John

RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell

SANCTUS Missa Luba

WICHITA LINEMAN Glen Campbell

WHITE HORSES Jackie

WHEN I GROW UP The Beach Boys

I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake

80

SURFIN’ USA The Beach Boys

10538 OVERTURE ELO

WATERLOO ABBA

WITHOUT YOU Nilsson

I CLOSE MY EYES AND COUNT TO TEN Dusty Springfield

I LOVE TO LOVE Tina Charles

(IF PARADISE IS) HALF AS NICE Amen Corner

LITTLE DEUCE COUPE The Beach Boys

87

ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson

AMOUREUSE Kiki Dee

BLACK AND WHITE Greyhound

CAN’T BUY ME LOVE The Beatles

I’M NOT IN LOVE 10CC

JACKIE BLUE Ozark Mountain Daredevils

LOCOMOTIVE Roy Wood

MONDAY MONDAY The Mamas & The Papas

MY RESISTANCE IS LOW Robin Sarstedt

MISS CLARKE & THE COMPUTER Roy Wood

NEW YORK CITY T.Rex

PENNY LANE The Beatles

ROCK ME ABBA

WHEN GRANDMA PLAYED THE BANJO Roy Wood

YOU’RE THE REASON WHY The Rubettes

20 GOLDEN GREATS (LP) Glen Campbell

SILVER STAR The Four Seasons

SONGS OF PRAISE Roy Wood

LITTLE DRUMMER BOY The Pipes & Drums of The Royal Dragoons Guard Band

John, I'm happy to see my SOTY of 1977 (ABBA - That's Me).

Where is Eurovision winner (Brotherhood of Man) ?

Glasd you like That's Me on the list, I played it a lot as a B side of Dancing Queen before I bought the Arrival album in 1977. 🙂I'm afraid I didnt buy any Brotherhood Of Man records in 1976 - the first one I bought was Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In) in 1977, and then Angelo, and that was it I'm afraid! I have got Save Your Kisses For Me on a Eurovision CD now, and I downloaded Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby a few years back, but I don't own any other BOM tracks oops!