5th January 1976

It's a new year, I turn 18 years old, and I get a 2 brand new notepads to put my personal charts and the BBC charts into. I also change my chart rules to allow B sides right after I buy a few ex-chart singles to go along with my full-price purchases and face myself with a real dilemma as 4 massive classic records all collide at the same time. I'm not going all hyperbole here, 50 years later 2 of them have made the top 75 again, Mamma Mia is a film, show and regular charter and Greg Lake is usually hovering in and around the top 100 each Christmas. My solution? Give them all a number one slot and continue the charts for the rest at 2,3 and so on. So anyway, the full Christmas top 50 was published in Record Mirror and Happy Xmas War Is Over had made the chart, after hitting the breakers in 1974, so qualifies for a new entry for a 3rd chart run and number one. Being sensible, it just looks wrong having 4 records tie, but happily I was very specific about the order they were listed as equal first, so that's how I'm splitting them up for this chart, and I have had to extend the chart to 53 to include all those I listed at the time.

So, ABBA get a 2nd number one in my chart as the video is so fab I try to take black & white photos of it off the telly to develop at school - I had access to the Art darkroom to dabble with my growing hobby as I went back to Art after having to drop it in 1972 - not my choice! Screenprints and photography was my delight, and that would filter through to my Uni course in 1977. Mamma Mia is an amazing pop record, even more famous and beloved than it was at the time - I was besotted with it, and would have had my mind blown had ABBA's hologram live/digital show been decsribed to me at the time, it would have seemed like pure magic. This means that Greg Lake, the greatest christmas song of all time stays at 2, and the 2nd-greatest enters at 3 for John & Yoko, while the most-popular recording of all-time with the general public is down to 4 from 1. Additionally, their B sides all enter: Yoko Ono's sweet Listen The Snow Is Falling is at 21, 5 years ahead of her starkly brilliant solo number one, and ABBA's Tropical Loveland is at 33, off the fab ABBA album and their 8th chart entry not including Sweet Dreams' cover of Honey Honey. Greg Lake's Humbug comments additionally on the over-commerciality of the Festive season at 31, and Queen's raucous I'm In Love With My Guitar is at 53, with A Night At The Opera easily becoming Queen's best album to date (and ever).

Elsewhere, Mike Oldfield gets a third top 10 with In Dulce Jubilo at 9, Gloria Gaynor covers a standard croon song from way back pumping disco stylee, How High The Moon should have been a bigger hit and new at 13, while Al Martino's version of the Eurovision classic starts to chase the Rock Bottom cover, 17 vs 10 for Volare. Glen Campbell's follow-up to his comeback hits in the US and in my chart, albeit not the UK, Country Boy at 27, with re-entries for some tracks I had just bought, Lyin' Eyes back at 37 while the arguably better B side James Dean is new 52 for The Eagles. Austin Roberts' Rocky is back at 38. Much like modern charts where there is a christmas clear-out in the New Year, my charts were already doing that with rebounds for Supertramp at a new peak 42, R & J Stone at 43, and Diana Ross had been getting Radio 1 airplay with her film ballad theme, Mahogany new at 46 for a 9th consecutive year of chart hits.

Ex-Temptations-legend David Ruffin follows Eddie Kendricks into the chart with his fabulous Motown soul track Walk Away From Love, in at 47, and Art Garfunkel debuts a Gallagher & Lyle song Breakaway, not a hit for Art nor for Gallagher & Lyle still unable to grab that elusive chart success. Number 48 while a John Miles B side, There's A Man Behind The Guitar, creeps in at 50, just behind the fab A side.

1 ( 3 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA

2 ( 2 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake

3 ( NEW ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir

4 ( 1 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen

5 ( 6 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC

6 ( 5 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor

7 ( 4 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra

8 ( 7 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie

9 ( 22 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield

10 ( 8 ) VOLARE Rock Bottom

11 ( 18 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson

12 ( 13 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music

13 ( NEW ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor

14 ( 14 ) THE LUMBERJACK SONG Monty Python’s Flying Circus

15 ( 9 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces

16 ( 10 ) LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF A FOOL Roy Wood

17 ( NEW ) VOLARE Al Martino

18 ( 11 ) RENTA SANTA Chris Hill

19 ( 29 ) KING OF THE COPS Billy Howard

20 ( 17 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band

21 ( NEW ) LISTEN THE SNOW IS FALLING Yoko Ono

22 ( 33 ) LITTLE DARLING The Rubettes

23 ( 15 ) LADY LUCK Pilot

24 ( 23 ) ALL AROUND MY HAT Steeleye Span

25 ( 32 ) ANGEL FROM HAMBURGER HEAVEN Alvin Stardust

26 ( 31 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille

27 ( NEW ) COUNTRY BOY (YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.) Glen Campbell

28 ( 25 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe

29 ( 26 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman

30 ( 27 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell

31 ( NEW ) HUMBUG Greg Lake

32 ( 16 ) BLUE MOON The Marcels

33 ( NEW ) TROPICAL LOVELAND ABBA

34 ( 12 ) IT’S GONNA BE A COLD, COLD CHRISTMAS Dana

35 ( 21 ) LET’S TWIST AGAIN John Asher

36 ( 24 ) RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM Maxine Nightingale

37 ( RE ) LYIN’ EYES The Eagles

38 ( RE ) ROCKY Austin Roberts

39 ( 36 ) IMAGINE John Lennon

40 ( 19 ) STEP INTO CHRISTMAS Elton John

41 ( 20 ) MAKE A DAFT NOISE FOR CHRISTMAS The Goodies

42 ( RE ) LADY Supertramp

43 ( RE ) WE DO IT R & J Stone

44 ( 37 ) SPACE ODDITY David Bowie

45 ( 35 ) SKY HIGH Jigsaw

46 ( NEW ) THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO?) Diana Ross

47 ( NEW ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin

48 ( NEW ) BREAKAWAY Art Garfunkel

49 ( 43 ) HIGH FLY John Miles

50 ( NEW ) THERE’S A MAN BEHIND THE GUITAR John Miles

51 ( 44 ) NEW YORK GROOVE Hello

52 ( NEW ) JAMES DEAN The Eagles

53 ( NEW ) I’M IN LOVE WITH MY GUITAR Queen

12th January 1976

It's 2 weeks on top for ABBA as I decided to have another joint number one with Evil Woman (ELO's 3rd, after 10538 Overture and Showdown) but as ties not allowed in these charts I'm going with the order they were put in my chart and ABBA I bought, ELO I didnt, so it really would be a number 2, albeit classic one and one of their greatest records. Duran Duran did a great Halloween version the other year, 2024, I think. Jethro Tull hit my top 3 in 1969, and are back already 7 years on for a second chart go at 9. Gloria Gaynor meanwhile is on her 3rd top 10 as the number of decades-old songs is set to shoot up this year.

Osibisa had been around a few years, and finally grabbed a UK hit with the sweetly-sorta-sad Sunshine Day done in their sorta-African-beats/Caribbean vibes new at 16. Debuting at 24, Barbara Dickson is set to become part of the UK variety show and Musical and live show furniture ever since, with her Frankie Laine cover, way better than the original, it has a lightness and melodic sad appeal that Frankie lacked. Paul Simon had been shooting blanks as far as the UK charts were concerned, though he invariable charts for me, but 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover got him another minor UK hit, it's better than the chart positions might suggest though, it's still a great record.

Baby Face was from the 30's I think, and ever-covered since then from the likes of Little Richard, but the Wing & A Prayer lot gave it a disco make-over which appealed to me at the time, new at 44, though I may have over-rated it a bit as the song had been around since I was a kid in terms of awareness. David Essex changes tack on the very low-key ballad If I Could, my least-fave single to date, though it was setting the stage for his future hits I guess, as a more MOR and less slightly-cutting edge teen-appealing star.

French singer Claude Francois pops in with Tears On The Telephone - I think that'd be a Terry Wogan Radio 2 fave of the time, as it's not a radio 1 track that I recall, but I liked it a bit, and the accent. Finally, Donna Summer, American but based in Germany, makes her first chart with the banned heavy-breathing slow-disco naughty track. This one I did get to hear on Radio Luxembourg though, at least, and it caught on in Europe a while before the UK succumbed to Love To Love You Baby.

1 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA

2 ( 7 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra

3 ( 3 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir

4 ( 2 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake

5 ( 4 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen

6 ( 6 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor

7 ( 5 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC

8 ( 8 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie

9 ( NEW ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull

10 ( 13 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor

11 ( 9 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield

12 ( 11 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson

13 ( 10 ) VOLARE Rock Bottom

14 ( 17 ) VOLARE Al Martino

15 ( 12 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music

16 ( NEW ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa

17 ( 15 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces

18 ( 21 ) LISTEN THE SNOW IS FALLING Yoko Ono

19 ( 20 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band

20 ( 16 ) LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF A FOOL Roy Wood

21 ( 25 ) ANGEL FROM HAMBURGER HEAVEN Alvin Stardust

22 ( 26 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille

23 ( 27 ) COUNTRY BOY (YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.) Glen Campbell

24 ( NEW ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson

25 ( 43 ) WE DO IT R & J Stone

26 ( 24 ) ALL AROUND MY HAT Steeleye Span

27 ( 19 ) KING OF THE COPS Billy Howard

28 ( 31 ) HUMBUG Greg Lake

29 ( 14 ) THE LUMBERJACK SONG Monty Python’s Flying Circus

30 ( 22 ) LITTLE DARLING The Rubettes

31 ( 28 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe

32 ( 29 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman

33 ( 30 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell

34 ( 47 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin

35 ( 46 ) THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO?) Diana Ross

36 ( 23 ) LADY LUCK Pilot

37 ( 18 ) RENTA SANTA Chris Hill

38 ( 42 ) LADY Supertramp

39 ( 37 ) LYIN’ EYES The Eagles

40 ( 38 ) ROCKY Austin Roberts

41 ( 32 ) BLUE MOON The Marcels

42 ( NEW ) 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon

43 ( 48 ) BREAKAWAY Art Garfunkel

44 ( NEW ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps

45 ( 36 ) RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM Maxine Nightingale

46 ( 35 ) LET’S TWIST AGAIN John Asher

47 ( 39 ) IMAGINE John Lennon

48 ( NEW ) IF I COULD David Essex

49 ( NEW ) TEARS ON THE TELEPHONE Claude Francois

50 ( NEW ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer

19th January 1976

It's 3 weeks on top for Mamma Mia as I technically give Jethro Tull an equal number one, but it really wasn't, nostalgia didnt overhaul my love of Mamma Mia, so Living In The Past peaks at a new high of 2 until its 1993 reissue on CD takes it all the way third time lucky. Another 1969 classic is back out in the wake of Andy Fairweather-Low's big solo hit, and Half As Nice bangs in at 10 having topped my chart first time round. The 1976 music scene starts to establish itself post-Christmas with new entries from The Miracles, finally getting a big hit with Smokey Robinson involved, long-gone solo, on the frantic Love Machine at 12.

Meanwhile, the Mike Oldfield double A side single has attention turning to the much better ballad On Horseback, and it gets listed on it's own in my charts away from In Dulce Jubilo, new in at 19. The Sweet drop a new single, The Lies In Your Eyes sounding like a hit record to follow-up Action, but it really wasn't! New at 26 here though, 4 slots above trio Faith, Hope & Charity who tackle an update on The Hollies' Just One Look, and quite good it was too, though I havent heard it in decades (yet).

At 35, Donny & Marie go for a 4th chart hit, with a cover of Deep Purple, the Nino Tempo & April Stevens 60's duet - but Ray Stevens had already done a much better uptempo Country-pop cover on his 1975 album which made my top 20, so this version didnt quite have the same impact, though it had the sweet appeal of the original hit version, but the classic song dates back to the 1920's in line with the many other vintage songs in the chart and on the way as 1976 really goes all the way back in a fashion that the UK singles has at the moment thanks to Christmas and the Stranger Things finale.

Barry White has his best new single in a year with Let The Music Play in at 43, it's among his best records, though the formula had worn a bit thin on me at the time - but it would come back decades later and top my charts, quite rightly. Finally, Ringo Starr has a belated double A single of two lesser tracks from his last 2 albums - both were US singles, but not released in the UK. No No Song, passed me by, but Oh My My sneaks in at 50. I will find it in a bargain bin later in the year, buy it, and sell it in the early 80's when I was long-term unemployed to a Beatles completist friend of a friend. He gave me £5 so I reckon I made 10 times what I paid. I havent sold a vinyl record since, though, I still regret it, hah! Goes for about £30 these days.

1 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA

2 ( 9 ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull

3 ( 2 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra

4 ( 3 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir

5 ( 10 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor

6 ( 5 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen

7 ( 4 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake

8 ( 7 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC

9 ( 6 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor

10 ( NEW ) (IF PARADISE WAS) HALF AS NICE Amen Corner

11 ( 24 ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson

12 ( NEW ) LOVE MACHINE The Miracles

13 ( 19 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band

14 ( 8 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie

15 ( 11 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield

16 ( 16 ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa

17 ( 17 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces

18 ( 15 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music

19 ( NEW ) ON HORSEBACK Mike Oldfield

20 ( 22 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille

21 ( 44 ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps

22 ( 23 ) COUNTRY BOY (YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.) Glen Campbell

23 ( 12 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson

24 ( 25 ) WE DO IT R & J Stone

25 ( 13 ) VOLARE Rock Bottom

26 ( NEW ) THE LIES IN YOUR EYES The Sweet

27 ( 42 ) 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon

28 ( 34 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin

29 ( 35 ) THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO?) Diana Ross

30 ( NEW ) JUST ONE LOOK Faith, Hope & Charity

31 ( 14 ) VOLARE Al Martino

32 ( 26 ) ALL AROUND MY HAT Steeleye Span

33 ( 18 ) LISTEN THE SNOW IS FALLING Yoko Ono

34 ( 20 ) LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF A FOOL Roy Wood

35 ( NEW ) DEEP PURPLE Donny & Marie Osmond

36 ( 31 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe

37 ( 32 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman

38 ( 33 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell

39 ( 50 ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer

40 ( 21 ) ANGEL FROM HAMBURGER HEAVEN Alvin Stardust

41 ( 29 ) THE LUMBERJACK SONG Monty Python’s Flying Circus

42 ( 30 ) LITTLE DARLING The Rubettes

43 ( NEW ) LET THE MUSIC PLAY Barry White

44 ( 48 ) IF I COULD David Essex

45 ( 27 ) KING OF THE COPS Billy Howard

46 ( 37 ) RENTA SANTA Chris Hill

47 ( 49 ) TEARS ON THE TELEPHONE Claude Francois

48 ( 28 ) HUMBUG Greg Lake

49 ( 36 ) LADY LUCK Pilot

50 ( NEW ) OH MY MY Ringo Starr

26th January 1976

It's a 4th week on top for ABBA as Mike Oldfield shoots up to 3 with On Horseback, his third top 3 and 4th top 10, and just ahead of Barbara Dickson getting her first top10 with Answer Me, but not her last. The Miracles have been there before with Smokey Robinson, but now they do it on their todd, Love Machine just ahead of Osibisa's Sunshine Day. The highest new entry at 18 features a young Scottish singer named Midge Ure on a wannabe Bay City Rollers-styled sound, except a bit darker. Forever And Ever will top the UK charts as a song title twice in 1976, but only once in my charts. Not this one, though, Midge has great things ahead in the band after next.

Crispy and Company debut Get It Together with a funky workout that I got in a bargain bin, and then never heard it again outside my record collection I think. New at 27, while Kiki Dee makes it a 4th year in sucession to feature a Kiki Dee track, as Once A Fool opens at 32 - not a hit, and not played on radio since 1976, mostly cos it's laid-back and pleasant but not especially memorable. Smokie, no longer Smokey due to threat of court action from Mr. Robinson, return on a third hit Something's Been Making Me Blue, a lesser UK hit but better than the previous two to me, in at 43.

Jimmy Mack is a 60's Motown classic that had two minor UK chart runs, but I missed both of 'em despite knowing the song quite well, so it finally charts at 45 thirs time lucky for Martha & The Vandellas, with War's gruff Low Rider riding in at 47, funky in a low-key vibe, and at 50 The Walker Brothers have reunited for the first time 1967 or so, and return to the charts with the great No Regrets, Scott on lead getting his first since Lights Of Cincinatti in 1969, but I will shortly be buying a budget Best Of 1968 compilation album which sees me going mad on his Jackie (new to me, being banned at the time) and Dave Dee's Last Night In Soho. Midge Ure, meanwhile, probably shared Top Of The Pops with the 60's gems, as he will have a hit cover of it in 1982, his first solo hit.

1 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA

2 ( 6 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen

3 ( 19 ) ON HORSEBACK Mike Oldfield

4 ( 3 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra

5 ( 11 ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson

6 ( 10 ) (IF PARADISE WAS) HALF AS NICE Amen Corner

7 ( 2 ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull

8 ( 4 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir

9 ( 12 ) LOVE MACHINE The Miracles

10 ( 16 ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa

11 ( 21 ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps

12 ( 23 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson

13 ( 7 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake

14 ( 5 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor

15 ( 9 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor

16 ( 8 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC

17 ( 14 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie

18 ( NEW ) FOREVER AND EVER Slik

19 ( 13 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band

20 ( 28 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin

21 ( 17 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces

22 ( 18 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music

23 ( 15 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield

24 ( 30 ) JUST ONE LOOK Faith, Hope & Charity

25 ( 27 ) 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon

26 ( 26 ) THE LIES IN YOUR EYES The Sweet

27 ( NEW ) GET IT TOGETHER Crispy & Company

28 ( 22 ) COUNTRY BOY (YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.) Glen Campbell

29 ( 20 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille

30 ( 39 ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer

31 ( 29 ) THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO?) Diana Ross

32 ( NEW ) ONCE A FOOL Kiki Dee

33 ( 43 ) LET THE MUSIC PLAY Barry White

34 ( 35 ) DEEP PURPLE Donny & Marie Osmond

35 ( 25 ) VOLARE Rock Bottom

36 ( 31 ) VOLARE Al Martino

37 ( 36 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe

38 ( 37 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman

39 ( 38 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell

40 ( 24 ) WE DO IT R & J Stone

41 ( 32 ) ALL AROUND MY HAT Steeleye Span

42 ( 33 ) LISTEN THE SNOW IS FALLING Yoko Ono

43 ( NEW ) SOMETHING’S BEEN MAKING ME BLUE Smokie

44 ( 42 ) LITTLE DARLING The Rubettes

45 ( NEW ) JIMMY MACK Martha Reeves & The Vandellas

46 ( 50 ) OH MY MY Ringo Starr

47 ( NEW ) LOW RIDER War

48 ( 41 ) THE LUMBERJACK SONG Monty Python’s Flying Circus

49 ( 34 ) LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF A FOOL Roy Wood

50 ( NEW ) NO REGRETS The Walker Brothers

2nd February 1976

It's 5 weeks on top for ABBA as they line-up to knock them off, and all fall short, this week it's the turn of Answer Me at 2, Barbara Dickson's first and biggest in my charts, still sweetly melodic and holding off Amen Corner at 3, and The Miracles at 4. The highest new entry is a severely back-on-form Four Seasons, all modern-sounding on the retro referring December '63, for those who loved Frankie & the gang first time round, at 11 and hot on the heels of Who Loves You.

In at 19, it's another kiddie fave, the Junior's Choice regular for 2 decades on radio, and the very amusing Hello Muddah Hello Faddah, comedian Allan Sherman's 1963 (appropriately) comedy story-song from the point of view of a letter written by a kid sent off to summer camp in the USA, and set to the tune of Dance Of The Hours, from the Ponchielli opera La Gioconda. It's still loveable, and I've never got to the stage where it annoys me from overplay. Loved it aged 6, loved it ever since. The comedy record is a lost artform.

Lower down, Dooley Silverspoon enters at 36 with disco number Let Me Be The Number One, one it's fair to say hasn't troubled radio since 1976 unfortunately, as it was quite pleasant. At 38, another early 60's kiddie fave oldie from the great Henry Mancini, he could knock off a tune when he felt like it, not least nearly topping my charts with Moon River as covered by Greyhound in 1972. This time it's his famous theme tune to the film and TV cartoon show The Pink Panther: Peter Sellers as his famous Inspector Clouseau, and the title sequence panther-wot-is-pink animation that led to the TV series of the same. Unique in being silent, pretty much, just the theme music and sound effects.

Finally Cliff Richard is back after his very first UK chart-flop year, not a single hit, criminally, because his future-cool-synth-pop sound with Alan Tarney (It's Only Me You've Left Behind) should have been big, and wasn't, and he undermined the Country song Honky Tonk Angel himself when he was informed the song was about ladies of the evening. Miss You Nights is on another scale, though - it's a tender, tasteful ballad, with multi-track harmonies and vocals, and his classiest record since....err The Next Time in 1962. In other words, quite probably his best record to date, even though it wasn't necessarily obvious at the time, being so under-stated and all. There are Cliff songs I'm more fond of - The Day I Met Marie, Summer Holiday, f'rinstance - but this is a goodie. I wonder if he'll keep up the quality with the next track off I'm Nearly Famous...?

1 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA
2 ( 5 ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson
3 ( 6 ) (IF PARADISE WAS) HALF AS NICE Amen Corner
4 ( 9 ) LOVE MACHINE The Miracles
5 ( 3 ) ON HORSEBACK Mike Oldfield
6 ( 2 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen
7 ( 4 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra
8 ( 10 ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa
9 ( 11 ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps
10 ( 7 ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull

11 ( NEW ) DECEMBER ’63 (OH WHAT A NIGHT) The Four Seasons featuring
Frankie Valli
12 ( 12 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson
13 ( 20 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin
14 ( 8 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir
15 ( 30 ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer
16 ( 18 ) FOREVER AND EVER Slik
17 ( 24 ) JUST ONE LOOK Faith, Hope & Charity
18 ( 32 ) ONCE A FOOL Kiki Dee
19 ( NEW ) HELLO MUDDAH HELLO FADDAH Allan Sherman
20 ( 26 ) THE LIES IN YOUR EYES The Sweet

21 ( 14 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor
22 ( 34 ) DEEP PURPLE Donny & Marie Osmond
23 ( 29 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille
24 ( 25 ) 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon
25 ( 15 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor
26 ( 16 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC
27 ( 13 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake
28 ( 17 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie
29 ( 22 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music
30 ( 50 ) NO REGRETS The Walker Brothers

31 ( 21 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces
32 ( 23 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield
33 ( 47 ) LOW RIDER War
34 ( 27 ) GET IT TOGETHER Crispy & Company
35 ( 19 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band
36 ( NEW ) LET ME BE THE NUMBER ONE Dooley Silverspoon
37 ( 28 ) COUNTRY BOY (YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.) Glen Campbell
38 ( NEW ) THEME FROM THE PINK PANTHER Henry Mancini
39 ( 33 ) LET THE MUSIC PLAY Barry White
40 ( 31 ) THEME FROM MAHOGANY (DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO?) Diana Ross

41 ( RE ) LADY Supertramp
42 ( 43 ) SOMETHING’S BEEN MAKING ME BLUE Smokie
43 ( 45 ) JIMMY MACK Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
44 ( 37 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe
45 ( 38 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman
46 ( 39 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell
47 ( 35 ) VOLARE Rock Bottom
48 ( 36 ) VOLARE Al Martino
49 ( 42 ) LISTEN THE SNOW IS FALLING Yoko Ono
50 ( NEW ) MISS YOU NIGHTS Cliff Richard

9th February 1976

It's 6 weeks on top for Mamma Mia, holding off Amen Corner from the top spot, as The Four Seasons go top 5 to a new chart peak for both them and Frankie Valli, as 5,000 Volts get 2 new entries: or rather the voice of I'm On Fire enters at 9 with a Biddu disco song and production, Tina Charles on her I Love To Love, instantly catchy at the time, though I'm On Fire sounds better these days. 5,000 Volts meanwhile switch to male-female vocals on Bye Love, a gentle disco-chugger I havent heard in 50 years. It's quite pleasant, there is footage online showing Tina Charles clearly singing the female vocal parts, so I'm assuming Tina would these days get a featuring credit as a solo star just taking off. Sadly not a hit though, unlike I Love To Love.

David Ruffin's fab Walk Away From Love hits 10 for a peak that is too low, it's actually better than Love Machine at 3, as far as Motown acts go. Following It's In His Kiss going top 10, Linda Lewis' first hit Rock A Doodle Do is out again and is back new at 18 for a second top 20 slot 3 years on. Talking of great Motown songs, Yvonne Fair outdoes them all on the show-stopping It Should Have Been Me new at 22. When sings out the title at the wedding of her Ex she sounds like she means every word, talk about passion. Total classic.

One of the themes of the year is nostalgia for the 30's and especially 40's, and so an EP of 3 great Glen Miller instrumentals makes the UK charts and allows the lovely tune that is Moonlight Serenade to enter around 35 years on from release, and almost that long since Glen died in an English Channel wartime plane crash, which makes him the longest-deceased musician to debut on my chart. That record may have been broken since, but no names spring to mind to challenge it. The equivalent in 2026 would be, ooh, Tiffany's I Think We're Alone Now back in the charts or Kylie hitting the charts with new stuff. Oh hang on, they are, Glen started a trend!

Slade return with a bit more of a rocker, Let's Call It Quits not being amongst their great ones though - possibly their least effort since Bangin' Man - new at 40, while Barry Manilow is back with his version I Write The Songs, trying to go where David Cassidy has already been, and more effectively, on the Bruce Johnston song, at 41. Hello are still releasing decent Glam Rock singles, Star Studded Sham at 44, their 4th or 5th charter, but theu didn't get the memo Glam was dead, sadly. It might have been a hit in 1974, though, or at least the chorus might have. That leaves War dropping in with Why Can't We Be Friends, the single before Low Rider, late to the party as that sits at 20 versus 45.

1 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA

2 ( 3 ) (IF PARADISE WAS) HALF AS NICE Amen Corner

3 ( 4 ) LOVE MACHINE The Miracles

4 ( 2 ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson

5 ( 11 ) DECEMBER ’63 (OH WHAT A NIGHT) The Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli

6 ( 5 ) ON HORSEBACK Mike Oldfield

7 ( 7 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra

8 ( 6 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen

9 ( NEW ) I LOVE TO LOVE Tina Charles

10 ( 13 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin

11 ( 15 ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer

12 ( 8 ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa

13 ( 12 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson

14 ( 9 ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps

15 ( 19 ) HELLO MUDDAH HELLO FADDAH Allan Sherman

16 ( 17 ) JUST ONE LOOK Faith, Hope & Charity

17 ( 10 ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull

18 ( NEW ) ROCK A DOODLE DO Linda Lewis

19 ( 22 ) DEEP PURPLE Donny & Marie Osmond

20 ( 33 ) LOW RIDER War

21 ( 18 ) ONCE A FOOL Kiki Dee

22 ( NEW ) IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME Yvonne Fair

23 ( 23 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille

24 ( 24 ) 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon

25 ( 30 ) NO REGRETS The Walker Brothers

26 ( NEW ) MOONLIGHT SERENADE Glen Miller

27 ( 14 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir

28 ( 36 ) LET ME BE THE NUMBER ONE Dooley Silverspoon

29 ( 25 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor

30 ( 31 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces

31 ( 21 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor

32 ( 26 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC

33 ( 27 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake

34 ( 28 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie

35 ( 42 ) SOMETHING’S BEEN MAKING ME BLUE Smokie

36 ( 20 ) THE LIES IN YOUR EYES The Sweet

37 ( 29 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music

38 ( 38 ) THEME FROM THE PINK PANTHER Henry Mancini

39 ( NEW ) BYE LOVE 5,000 Volts

40 ( NEW ) LET’S CALL IT QUITS Slade

41 ( NEW ) I WRITE THE SONGS Barry Manilow

42 ( 32 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield

43 ( 16 ) FOREVER AND EVER Slik

44 ( NEW ) STAR STUDDED SHAM Hello

45 ( NEW ) WHY CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS War

46 ( 34 ) GET IT TOGETHER Crispy & Company

47 ( 35 ) DO THE BUS STOP The Fatback Band

48 ( 44 ) DIZZY Tommy Roe

49 ( 45 ) SOMETHING IN THE AIR Thunderclap Newman

50 ( 46 ) RHINESTONE COWBOY Glen Campbell

16th February 1976

It's 7 weeks for ABBA still holding off Half As Nice from the top spot, but December 63 and I Love To Love look threatening - but then again Nights In White Satin is back out less than 3 years from its' second UK chart run when it went top 3 for me on a first run (I missed it in 1968), so that makes 2 top 5 slots with at least one more run to come before the end of the 70's! The Moody Blues classic just couldn't stay away from the UK charts, forever listed in All-Time Greatest Records rundowns. Yvonne Fair leaps to 8 with her monster drama ballad and Linda Lewis goes top 10 again with Rock A Doodle Do.

New in at 16, it's the novelty CB Radio Trucker song Convoy, by country singer C.W. McCall, it became something of a sensation at the time as TV shows with truckers and CB radio promoted them as sorts of modern-day Robin Hoods - apart from the stealing from the rich and the giving to the poor. It's a good record, actually, in an anti-authority sort of way. Neil Sedaka was on full-comeback by 1976, and did a ballad version of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, the original having already charted on a re-issued Oh Carol! in 1972, following The Partridge Family getting a top 3 cover version. Which makes 2 artists on the chart who owed thanks to David Cassidy. In at 45, Cliff is back with his Miss You Nights for a 2nd week on the chart at 47, and Evelyn Thomas debuts with Northern Soul track Weak Spot. She'll be back bigger in the 80's, but Weak Spot was good, albeit forgotten these days. Finally, La Booga Rooga slips in at 50 for The Surprise Sisters. It's fun, and not a hit.

Geoff Love was a TV orchestra bandleader of note at the time, his name was often on variety shows and TV themes, and backing singers or others in the Easy Listening field. Geoff, though, was also a bit of a ground-breaker in his own way, being Black when that was very much a minority of the company of Kenny Lynch's, Mrs Mills', Shirley Bassey's and many Pop/rock bands in the UK, so it was gratifying that his alter-ego Manuel & The Music Of The Mountains outdid Mantovani and James Last in getting a rather good surprise hit record in Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto D'Aranjuez, classical-ish Spanish guitar music that one Tuesday in February was announced at the new UK number one hit. This was a shocker, out of the blue and the chart seemed to have gone mad, records unpredictably all over the place. The next day it was announced that this was the very first example of a computer error effing up spreadsheet sales. Oops! The real chart-topper was The Four Seasons! Top Of The Pops was not happy. In at 30, here.

1 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA

2 ( 2 ) (IF PARADISE WAS) HALF AS NICE Amen Corner

3 ( 5 ) DECEMBER ’63 (OH WHAT A NIGHT) The Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli

4 ( 9 ) I LOVE TO LOVE Tina Charles

5 ( NEW ) NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN The Moody Blues

6 ( 4 ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson

7 ( 3 ) LOVE MACHINE The Miracles

8 ( 22 ) IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME Yvonne Fair

9 ( 7 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra

10 ( 18 ) ROCK A DOODLE DO Linda Lewis

11 ( 14 ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps

12 ( 8 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen

13 ( 6 ) ON HORSEBACK Mike Oldfield

14 ( 10 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin

15 ( 15 ) HELLO MUDDAH HELLO FADDAH Allan Sherman

16 ( NEW ) CONVOY C.W. McCall

17 ( 13 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson

18 ( 20 ) LOW RIDER War

19 ( 12 ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa

20 ( 11 ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer

21 ( 17 ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull

22 ( 26 ) MOONLIGHT SERENADE Glen Miller

23 ( 30 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces

24 ( 35 ) SOMETHING’S BEEN MAKING ME BLUE Smokie

25 ( 25 ) NO REGRETS The Walker Brothers

26 ( 21 ) ONCE A FOOL Kiki Dee

27 ( 40 ) LET’S CALL IT QUITS Slade

28 ( 28 ) LET ME BE THE NUMBER ONE Dooley Silverspoon

29 ( 29 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor

30 ( NEW ) RODRIGO’S GUITAR CONCERTO D’ARANJUEZ Manuel & The Music Of

The Mountains

31 ( 16 ) JUST ONE LOOK Faith, Hope & Charity

32 ( 27 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir

33 ( 46 ) GET IT TOGETHER Crispy & Company

34 ( 33 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake

35 ( 32 ) ART FOR ART’S SAKE 10CC

36 ( 34 ) GOLDEN YEARS David Bowie

37 ( 19 ) DEEP PURPLE Donny & Marie Osmond

38 ( 39 ) BYE LOVE 5,000 Volts

39 ( 45 ) WHY CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS War

40 ( 41 ) I WRITE THE SONGS Barry Manilow

41 ( 31 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor

42 ( 23 ) THE WAY THAT I WANT TO TOUCH YOU The Captain & Tenille

43 ( 24 ) 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon

44 ( 37 ) BOTH ENDS BURNING Roxy Music

45 ( NEW ) BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO (NEW VERSION) Neil Sedaka

46 ( 38 ) THEME FROM THE PINK PANTHER Henry Mancini

47 ( RE ) MISS YOU NIGHTS Cliff Richard

48 ( NEW ) WEAK SPOT Evelyn Thomas

49 ( 42 ) IN DULCE JUBILO Mike Oldfield

50 ( NEW ) LA BOOGA ROOGA The Surprise Sisters

23rd February 1976

It's all change as the first record to be released in 1976 tops my chart, giving The Four Seasons a first and last chart-topper with new material, but they will do it with classic oldies in later decades, and Frankie Valli will come close in 2 years time. December '63 is a classic and staple of The Jersey Boys musical and touring tribute acts, and Fankie on tour - all of which I've seen. Tina Charles meanwhile is in runners-up slot as The Moody Blues get a second top 3 run for their 1968 classic. C.W. McCall convoys up to 4, mercy sakes alive, and Yvonne Fair's passionate monster is at 5, with a reggae debut for Pluto Shervington (or Pluto as he was known then) with patois-heavy Dat, catchy and fun, but not one that bears overplay, new at 10.

Just missing the top 10 at 11, Quo bang in with their best single since Down Down, and one of their best, Rain. The O'Jays return at 13 after some unfair flops for 3 years, I Love Music giving them a third top 20, and 4th overall, 2 of them number ones. Hot on TV, Manhattan Transfer went down well on TV variety shows in the UK, with their slick 1940's-era-based choice of songs and style, and Tuxedo Junction became a surprise hit, the 1939 being a former Glen Miller hit, joining the man himself in my charts. The Doors also hit again, as Riders Of The Storm hits a higher peak than it did in 1971, in at 17.

New at 40, L.J. Johnson enters the catchy Your Magic Put A Spell On Me, a disco track largely forgotten these days, and Marmalade stage a new entry with new vocalist Sandy Newman, one original member on board, no "The" anymore, and a catchy 60's-flavoured ditty, Fallin' Apart At The Seams - It's basically a Sugababes situation where everyone from the 60's and 70's is largely gone, though. Talking of "The" I just found out 50-years late that Eagles don't have one, in the same way that PInk Floyd, ABBA, Pet Shop Boys and endless other bands don't. Who knew! Best Of My Love is their 3rd chart entry, and the older track of the double A - Take It To The Limit was not a fave and Best Of My Love should have been a hit in 1974.

That leaves Andy Williams still crooning into my charts where all others have fallen by the wayside, The Other Side Of Love at 49, The Glitter Band stick with their non-Glam style on the harmony-vibed People Like You People Like Me at 50, and get the UK top 10 hits that old mucker Gary Glitter can't. I typed "mucker", just to be clear.

1 ( 3 ) DECEMBER ’63 (OH WHAT A NIGHT) The Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli

2 ( 4 ) I LOVE TO LOVE Tina Charles

3 ( 5 ) NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN The Moody Blues

4 ( 16 ) CONVOY C.W. McCall

5 ( 8 ) IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME Yvonne Fair

6 ( 1 ) MAMMA MIA ABBA

7 ( 7 ) LOVE MACHINE The Miracles

8 ( 10 ) ROCK A DOODLE DO Linda Lewis

9 ( 2 ) (IF PARADISE WAS) HALF AS NICE Amen Corner

10 ( NEW ) DAT Pluto Shervington

11 ( NEW ) RAIN Status Quo

12 ( 6 ) ANSWER ME Barbara Dickson

13 ( NEW ) I LOVE MUSIC The O’Jays

14 ( NEW ) TUXEDO JUNCTION Manhattan Transfer

15 ( 24 ) SOMETHING’S BEEN MAKING ME BLUE Smokie

16 ( 27 ) LET’S CALL IT QUITS Slade

17 ( NEW ) RIDERS OF THE STORM The Doors

18 ( 11 ) BABY FACE Wing & A Prayer, Fife & Drum Corps

19 ( 9 ) EVIL WOMAN Electric Light Orchestra

20 ( 48 ) WEAK SPOT Evelyn Thomas

21 ( 14 ) WALK AWAY FROM LOVE David Ruffin

22 ( 18 ) LOW RIDER War

23 ( 25 ) NO REGRETS The Walker Brothers

24 ( 13 ) ON HORSEBACK Mike Oldfield

25 ( 12 ) BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Queen

26 ( 15 ) HELLO MUDDAH HELLO FADDAH Allan Sherman

27 ( 17 ) MIDNIGHT RIDER Paul Davidson

28 ( 47 ) MISS YOU NIGHTS Cliff Richard

29 ( 21 ) LIVING IN THE PAST Jethro Tull

30 ( 30 ) RODRIGO’S GUITAR CONCERTO D’ARANJUEZ Manuel & The Music Of

The Mountains

31 ( 22 ) MOONLIGHT SERENADE Glen Miller

32 ( 26 ) ONCE A FOOL Kiki Dee

33 ( 20 ) LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY Donna Summer

34 ( 29 ) GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE Sailor

35 ( 23 ) ITCHYCOO PARK The Small Faces

36 ( 19 ) SUNSHINE DAY Osibisa

37 ( 50 ) LA BOOGA ROOGA The Surprise Sisters

38 ( 31 ) JUST ONE LOOK Faith, Hope & Charity

39 ( 39 ) WHY CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS War

40 ( NEW ) YOUR MAGIC PUT A SPELL ON ME L.J. Johnson

41 ( NEW ) FALLING APART AT THE SEAMS Marmalade

42 ( 32 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Harlem Community Choir

43 ( 33 ) GET IT TOGETHER Crispy & Company

44 ( 34 ) I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS Greg Lake

45 ( NEW ) BEST OF MY LOVE Eagles

46 ( 28 ) LET ME BE THE NUMBER ONE Dooley Silverspoon

47 ( 37 ) DEEP PURPLE Donny & Marie Osmond

48 ( NEW ) THE OTHER SIDE OF LOVE Andy Williams

49 ( NEW ) PEOPLE LIKE YOU PEOPLE LIKE ME The Glitter Band

50 ( 41 ) HOW HIGH THE MOON Gloria Gaynor

Big YES for "Answer Me" at # 2. Possibly my favourite song from January 1976.

11 minutes ago, Last Dreamer said:

Big YES for "Answer Me" at # 2. Possibly my favourite song from January 1976.

It was played on the radio yesterday which was lovely to hear, still pure melody and vocals, love it. ❤️

On 19/01/2026 at 09:39, Popchartfreak said:

It was played on the radio yesterday which was lovely to hear, still pure melody and vocals, love it. ❤️

Yes, great song. Original by David Whitfield in the 50's,

My dad was a massive David Whitfield fan, he could sing along to his records and sound way better than he did, my brother still loves Whitfield's The Rudder And The Rock which dad played a lot. I was more into chart music, myself 😄

I don't remember how sounds the original "If Paradise Is Half as Nice" 🙂

Cheryl Baker's version ❤️

I Love To Love is still one of my favourite songs of all time and a well deserved No.1. December '63 is the Four Seasons' best song. Better than any of their 60's efforts.

Love To Love You Baby was banned by Radio 1 and so skipped by Tom Bowne on the Sunday chart. I believe Capital avoided it too but good old Luxy played it of course.

Dat, Convoy and It Should Have Been Me which was on Motown were great too.

Year of O levels and I left school. Red hot summer, great chart music, huddling round a lads pocket radio in school to see what was No.1 or listening outside the 6th Form common room as they were allowed a radio. Started work in Emgas offices in Sheffield. Fainted on train one day as it was so hot and had to stand. Holiday in Ireland and was just as hot. Dad had his wallet nicked on beach when we were all in sea. Garda weren't bothered really.

Edited January 21Jan 21 by CRAZY CHRIS

Good #1, and I know and like all your top 4.

Elsewhere, the Donna Summer song is innovative certainly.

David Whitfield's voice is very Marmite I don't like his voice sadly, and also I prefer the more upbeat tracks of the 50s chart. I do like other dodgy pop-opera stuff like Renee and Renato though!

Evil Woman by ELO good, elsewhere, I wasn't expecting to see Evelyn Thomas in the chart so early, her most iconic song was in 1984!

Edited January 21Jan 21 by TheSnake

Barbara Dickson's 1980 Top 10 hit January February was great too and well worth a listen.

23 hours ago, Last Dreamer said:

I don't remember how sounds the original "If Paradise Is Half as Nice" 🙂

Cheryl Baker's version ❤️

Yes I remember you are a bit of a fan of that one. 🙂

14 hours ago, CRAZY CHRIS said:

I Love To Love is still one of my favourite songs of all time and a well deserved No.1. December '63 is the Four Seasons' best song. Better than any of their 60's efforts.

Love To Love You Baby was banned by Radio 1 and so skipped by Tom Bowne on the Sunday chart. I believe Capital avoided it too but good old Luxy played it of course.

Dat, Convoy and It Should Have Been Me which was on Motown were great too.

Year of O levels and I left school. Red hot summer, great chart music, huddling round a lads pocket radio in school to see what was No.1 or listening outside the 6th Form common room as they were allowed a radio. Started work in Emgas offices in Sheffield. Fainted on train one day as it was so hot and had to stand. Holiday in Ireland and was just as hot. Dad had his wallet nicked on beach when we were all in sea. Garda weren't bothered really.

Ah happy days 1976, I was doing A levels and my Aunty & Uncle (both 2 years older then me) got married to I Love To Love and December 63 that month, so it's their 50th this year, I must send a card! I started taking my beloved Transistor Radio to school in 1972 and kept going into 77. Of course they had a shorter nickname in those days and were the equivalent of the mobile phone as a portable entertainment centre! My biggest memory of that summer was dry grass everywhere, sweating a lot, and swarms of Lincolnshire ladybirds all over our yellow school bus and my yellow school bag. They liked yellow! At least in Singapore our school classrooms had AC or ceiling fans and windows open. 😄

Wallet theft, been there, had my pocket picked on holiday in the Canaries and lost all my credit cards and cash which was a total pain. Lesson learned, my wallet has been in front pocket ever since, no problem, and if I go out at night to pubs, only take cash and hotel key. I watched a dodgy-looking pickpocket in McDonalds Barcelona, The Ramblas. I was upstairs and watched him sit next to two girls talking downstairs, handbags on floor, edging closer obv to grab something and run. So i fixed him with a steely stare until he glanced about and saw me watching him, at which point he flipped me a hand gesture and left. 😄

13 hours ago, TheSnake said:

Good #1, and I know and like all your top 4.

Elsewhere, the Donna Summer song is innovative certainly.

David Whitfield's voice is very Marmite I don't like his voice sadly, and also I prefer the more upbeat tracks of the 50s chart. I do like other dodgy pop-opera stuff like Renee and Renato though!

Evil Woman by ELO good, elsewhere, I wasn't expecting to see Evelyn Thomas in the chart so early, her most iconic song was in 1984!

Thanks Snakey! Yes, I agree, David Whitfield's style of singing just grated on me, but shh dont tell anyone I like Renee and Renata's too 😄

I have to admit I was also surprised to see Evelyn Thomas in the chart, I'd totally forgotten she came back bigger in the 80's after a brief chart hit in 76 - I tend to remember her 80's stuff and havent heard Weak Spot since the 70's!

13 hours ago, CRAZY CHRIS said:

Barbara Dickson's 1980 Top 10 hit January February was great too and well worth a listen.

Yes I like that one too, and I Know Him So Well.