25th May 1976

It's another new number one as Country-Rock replaces disco on top, The Bellamy Brothers' fab Let Your Love Flow pushes Andrea True off pole position while Robin Sarstedt's veteran cover is at 3 and Mud's wonderful disco funk a la KC & The Sunshine Band is up to 4. Shake It Down is challenged by a leaping Peter Frampton to 6 with Show Me The Way. I went into the town centre in Lincoln to buy my fave track later in the week. Bellamy Brothers was my intended purchase but it ended up being another one. TBC! Devil Woman meanwhile gives Cliff his first top 10 slot in 3 years - Power To All Our Friends was the last one.

Highest new entry is the second charted track of the year from Gallagher & Lyle, Heart On My Sleeve is still very nice and in at 37, with yet another reactivated 60's oldie debuting at 42 for Dion - The Wanderer is a UK chart hit again, and gives Dion a belated hit here 15 years late. At 44 Eric Carmen's old band The Raspberries finally chart Overnight Sensation, better late than never, and Thin Lizzy have been very quiet for the last 2 years but have had an upgrade in sound and return with the banging The Boys Are Back In Town at 47 for only their second chart entry.

That leaves Johnny Nash logically doing a cover of Sam Cooke's What A Wonderful World - not be confused with Louis Armstrong's song - one of Johnny's heroes and vocally quite similar. This version is quite pleasant but not as good as his last Sam Cooke cover in 1969, Cupid. Both those songs would end up top 10 again in the 80's. Finally, in at 50 is Chris White following up Spanish Wine with Natural Rhythm. Not one I have heard in the last 50 years, and not that much at the time at all, so time to re-visit it now: well, that intro line got borrowed by Breakfast In America! The same vibe, too. It's all very upbeat and nice, but Spanish Wine is better.

1 ( 2 ) LET YOUR LOVE FLOW The Bellamy Brothers

2 ( 1 ) MORE MORE MORE Andrea True Connection

3 ( 4 ) MY RESISTANCE IS LOW Robin Sarstedt

4 ( 10 ) SHAKE IT DOWN Mud

5 ( 3 ) FERNANDO ABBA

6 ( 16 ) SHOW ME THE WAY Peter Frampton

7 ( 9 ) SILLY LOVE SONGS Wings

8 ( 5 ) LOVE HANGOVER Diana Ross

9 ( 15 ) SILVER STAR The Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli

10 ( 14 ) DEVIL WOMAN Cliff Richard

11 ( 7 ) GET UP AND BOOGIE Silver Convention

12 ( 18 ) DON'T PULL YOUR LOVE/THEN YOU CAN TELL ME GOODBYE Glen Campbell

13 ( 13 ) S'S'SINGLE BED Fox

14 ( 12 ) I'M MANDY FLY ME 10cc

15 ( 17 ) DISCO CONNECTION Isaac Hayes Movement

16 ( 24 ) BABY I'M A WANT YOU Bread

17 ( 22 ) COMBINE HARVESTER The Wurzels

18 ( 8 ) YOU'RE THE REASON WHY The Rubettes

19 ( 19 ) SHE'S NO ANGEL Heavy Metal Kids

20 ( 23 ) THE GUITAR MAN Bread

21 ( 21 ) JOLENE Dolly Parton

22 ( 11 ) REQUIEM Slik

23 ( 33 ) LEADER OF THE PACK The Shangri-Las

24 ( 40 ) THIS IS IT Melba Moore

25 ( 6 ) REFLECTIONS OF MY LIFE Marmalade

26 ( 42 ) GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME Tom Jones

27 ( 41 ) SEASIDE SHUFFLE Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs

28 ( 31 ) LOVE IN THE SHADOWS Neil Sedaka

29 ( 25 ) JUNGLE ROCK Hank Mizell

30 ( 32 ) I'M YOUR PUPPET James & Bobby Purify

31 ( 35 ) TVC David Bowie

32 ( 47 ) SOUL CITY WALK Archie Bell & The Drells

33 ( 43 ) RELEASE ME Engelbert Humperdinck

34 ( 46 ) NEEDLES AND PINS The Searchers

35 ( 28 ) PINBALL WIZARD Elton John

36 ( 36 ) THE LONE RANGER Quantum Jump

37 ( NEW ) HEART ON MY SLEEVE Gallagher & Lyle

38 ( 29 ) MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA Gladys Knight & The Pips

39 ( 44 ) YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens

40 ( 26 ) NIGHT RIDER Electric Light Orchestra

41 ( RE ) LOVE ME LIKE A LOVER Tina Charles

42 ( NEW ) THE WANDERER Dion

43 ( 34 ) HOT LOVE T.Rex

44 ( NEW ) OVERNIGHT SENSATION The Raspberries featuring Eric Carmen

45 ( 20 ) MOVIE STAR Harpo featuring Frida

46 ( 27 ) ARMS OF MARY The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver

47 ( NEW ) THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN Thin Lizzy

48 ( 50 ) STAR TREK The Charles Randolph Greane Sounde

49 ( NEW ) WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD Johnny Nash

50 ( NEW ) NATURAL RHYTHM Chris White

1st June 1976

It's 2 weeks on top for the Bellamy Brothers with Peter Frampton closing in at 3, as The Shangri-Las get a 3rd run inside 4 years in my top 10 with Leader Of The Pack up to 9. Glen Campbell meanwhile makes it 8 top 10's since Wichita Lineman debuted in 1969. There are yet even more re-issues out and trying to challenge new tracks for chart slots in the UK and my charts, led by 1971's Dave, and Ansel Collins, 2 reggae gems Monkey Spanner at 20 and Double Barrel at 25. I'm sure I wasn't alone in thinking they were two brothers with the same surname - but no, Dave was his actual popstar name, so the current title-holder is a mere copycat, so there!

In at 22 The Piglets keep 1971's presence strong as Jonathan King returns to claim to be that act (he wasnt the main vocalist, so no, but he did everything else, including I will wager the opening "What's he like Mavis?" line), while simultaneously JK covers Tavares' It Only Takes A Minute to grab another pseudonymous hit label as 100 Ton & A Feather at 40. I make that his 5th to chart disguised. It's actually not a bad cover of the disco classic that floped in the UK, still keeping that pop fiddle/violin sound alive. The main problem was singing live on Top Of The Pops - guaranteed to lose sales once he had to sing live.

Bob & Marcia also getting the Trojan Records double A reissue treatment along with Dave & Ansel, enter Pied Piper at 26, also 1971, as their 1970 smash classic Young Gifted & Black has a lower return at 43 as it had already gone top 10 for me in 1974. The highest actual new track is at 27, ELO going for a ballad, the rather good Strange Magic, which had a minor UK chart run where Can't Get It Out Of My Head flopped - but they get a 100% hit rate in my charts. In at 33, Maureen McGovern charted for me with the US hit from The Poseidon Adventure, The Morning After, in 1973 and now gets a UK hit with her cover of the 1930's veteran The Continental, a bit of throwback fun.

Debuting at 39, it's only Adam Batman West having a go at a hit record as the hook "When you hear the squeel of the batmobile" gets him a bit of fun airplay as the 1966 super-hero sit-com is aired again early mornings (this was a major innovation in the UK, having actual TV shows in the mornings) and it made the 60's faves big all over again, both with original kids viewers now getting all the jokes that went over our heads and loving it, and new kiddies who take it at face value. Totally camp, still brilliant, most recently on Talking Pictures.

The most significant new entry, though, is from The Real Thing at 44, as they finally get a UK hit with the eternal You To Me Are Everything. The Scouse brothers Chris & Eddie Amoo and their mates had being trying since 1972's Vicious Circle to get a hit without any luck, but songwriter/producer Ken Gold struck, err, gold. Meanwhile there's another great forgotten disco track at 47, Lee Garrett's You're My Everything charted but hasn't become a regular radio oldie fave, sadly. It's a goodie!

1 ( 1 ) LET YOUR LOVE FLOW The Bellamy Brothers

2 ( 2 ) MORE MORE MORE Andrea True Connection

3 ( 6 ) SHOW ME THE WAY Peter Frampton

4 ( 5 ) FERNANDO ABBA

5 ( 3 ) MY RESISTANCE IS LOW Robin Sarstedt

6 ( 8 ) LOVE HANGOVER Diana Ross

7 ( 7 ) SILLY LOVE SONGS Wings

8 ( 4 ) SHAKE IT DOWN Mud

9 ( 23 ) LEADER OF THE PACK The Shangri-Las

10 ( 12 ) DON'T PULL YOUR LOVE/THEN YOU CAN TELL ME GOODBYE Glen Campbell

11 ( 21 ) JOLENE Dolly Parton

12 ( 24 ) THIS IS IT Melba Moore

13 ( 26 ) GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME Tom Jones

14 ( 11 ) GET UP AND BOOGIE Silver Convention

15 ( 27 ) SEASIDE SHUFFLE Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs

16 ( 19 ) SHE'S NO ANGEL Heavy Metal Kids

17 ( 13 ) S'S'SINGLE BED Fox

18 ( 14 ) I'M MANDY FLY ME 10cc

19 ( 32 ) SOUL CITY WALK Archie Bell & The Drells

20 ( NEW ) MONKEY SPANNER Dave, and Ansel Collins

21 ( 22 ) REQUIEM Slik

22 ( NEW ) JOHNNY REGGAE The Piglets

23 ( 37 ) HEART ON MY SLEEVE Gallagher & Lyle

24 ( 9 ) SILVER STAR The Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli

25 ( NEW ) DOUBLE BARREL Dave, and Ansel Collins

26 ( NEW ) PIED PIPER Bob & Marcia

27 ( NEW ) STRANGE MAGIC Electric Light Orchestra

28 ( 42 ) THE WANDERER Dion

29 ( 39 ) YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens

30 ( 31 ) TVC David Bowie

31 ( 15 ) DISCO CONNECTION Isaac Hayes Movement

32 ( 10 ) DEVIL WOMAN Cliff Richard

33 ( NEW ) THE CONTINENTAL Maureen McGovern

34 ( 29 ) JUNGLE ROCK Hank Mizell

35 ( 30 ) I'M YOUR PUPPET James & Bobby Purify

36 ( 18 ) YOU'RE THE REASON WHY The Rubettes

37 ( 48 ) STAR TREK The Charles Randolph Greane Sounde

38 ( 34 ) NEEDLES AND PINS The Searchers

39 ( NEW ) BATMAN AND ROBIN Adam 'Batman' West

40 ( NEW ) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE 100 Ton & A Feather aka Jonathan King

41 ( 25 ) REFLECTIONS OF MY LIFE Marmalade

42 ( 16 ) BABY I'M A WANT YOU Bread

43 ( NEW ) (TO BE) YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK Bob & Marcia

44 ( NEW ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING The Real Thing

45 ( 47 ) THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN Thin Lizzy

46 ( 44 ) OVERNIGHT SENSATION The Raspberries featuring Eric Carmen

47 ( 35 ) PINBALL WIZARD Elton John

48 ( NEW ) YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING Lee Garrett

49 ( 20 ) THE GUITAR MAN Bread

50 ( 28 ) LOVE IN THE SHADOWS Neil Sedaka

8th June 1976

It's a brand new chart-topper as Peter Frampton and his assistant vocoder grab the top spot ahead of Mud's fabulous disco romp Shake It Down - he showed them the way and I bought that single, but these days I prefer Mud's. Peter was slightly too early to chart as a member of The Herd in my first 1968 charts, but has new stuff out 50 years on. The Charles Randolph Greane Sound take the Star Trek theme tune to a disco revamp top 5 as Dolly's Country classic Jolene belatedly climbs to 6.

Maureen McGovern keeps ancient songs afloat at 11, as ELO keep the top 20's coming and Jonathan King streaks to 20. The highest new entry comes from The Shadows at 32, It'll Be Me Babe just one ahead of old mucker Cliff. NOt a UK chart hit that one but it's pretty decent. There's a monster classic new at 35, as Bryan Ferry completely revamps the old Blues song Let's Work Together, last seen done by Canned Heat, and turns it into a stomping wall-of-sound with pounding horns, with added girlfriend model Jeri Hall on vocal yelps - ahead of her future boy-friend Mick Jagger, and wife of one of the richest and most powerful moguls in history, an ageing 80 and 90-something who did his bit to ruin the planet. Worth yelping about.

New at 41 Nancy Ryan's Glad I Waited For You, one I don't remember at all. Turns out to be a rather sweet Country song sounding like Dolly Parton's stuff in a couple of years. Nice. It's the mid-70's, The Four Seasons are back and biggger than ever and their back catalogue is being plundered left right and centre, so why not Donny Osmond after his Brothers fab version of The Proud One? C'Mon Marianne was a flop in the UK and therefore sadly never appears on Hits compilations. A shame as it's Donny's best solo effort to date, something with a bit of life to it, a great song, though he's no Frankie Valli, admittedly. In at 44.

Randy Edelman, in between his two 1976 chart hits, managed to sneak out a flop - Fresh Out Of Love, pleasantly singalong and forgettable at 47, just ahead of a bunch of young lads from an ITV talent Show (New Faces I think) called Our Kid - You Just Might See Me Cry was a big hit, a decent record, and then forgotten about almost entirely. For a track featuring kids it's better than one might expect and deserves the odd oldies play that it never gets. That leaves Barry Manilow's Could It Be Magic, as covered by Donna Summer disco-fashion, and as nicked from Chopin's Prelude In C Minor. It's a good version of a good record (Barry Manilow's finest, I think, which will hit in the UK down the line a ways) and a fab melody.

1 ( 3 ) SHOW ME THE WAY Peter Frampton

2 ( 8 ) SHAKE IT DOWN Mud

3 ( 1 ) LET YOUR LOVE FLOW The Bellamy Brothers

4 ( 2 ) MORE MORE MORE Andrea True Connection

5 ( 37 ) STAR TREK The Charles Randolph Greane Sound

6 ( 11 ) JOLENE Dolly Parton

7 ( 9 ) LEADER OF THE PACK The Shangri-Las

8 ( 5 ) MY RESISTANCE IS LOW Robin Sarstedt

9 ( 6 ) LOVE HANGOVER Diana Ross

10 ( 4 ) FERNANDO ABBA

11 ( 33 ) THE CONTINENTAL Maureen McGovern

12 ( 12 ) THIS IS IT Melba Moore

13 ( 7 ) SILLY LOVE SONGS Wings

14 ( 27 ) STRANGE MAGIC Electric Light Orchestra

15 ( 19 ) SOUL CITY WALK Archie Bell & The Drells

16 ( 20 ) MONKEY SPANNER Dave, and Ansel Collins

17 ( 22 ) JOHNNY REGGAE The Piglets

18 ( 10 ) DON'T PULL YOUR LOVE/THEN YOU CAN TELL ME GOODBYE Glen Campbell

19 ( 23 ) HEART ON MY SLEEVE Gallagher & Lyle

20 ( 40 ) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE 100 Ton & A Feather aka Jonathan King

21 ( 21 ) REQUIEM Slik

22 ( 25 ) DOUBLE BARREL Dave, and Ansel Collins

23 ( 26 ) PIED PIPER Bob & Marcia

24 ( 28 ) THE WANDERER Dion

25 ( 44 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING The Real Thing

26 ( 18 ) I'M MANDY FLY ME 10cc

27 ( 14 ) GET UP AND BOOGIE Silver Convention

28 ( 39 ) BATMAN AND ROBIN Adam 'Batman' West

29 ( 17 ) S'S'SINGLE BED Fox

30 ( 24 ) SILVER STAR The Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli

31 ( 29 ) YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens

32 ( NEW ) IT'LL BE ME BABE The Shadows

33 ( 32 ) DEVIL WOMAN Cliff Richard

34 ( 48 ) YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING Lee Garrett

35 ( NEW ) LET'S STICK TOGETHER Bryan Ferry

36 ( 45 ) THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN Thin Lizzy

37 ( 13 ) GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME Tom Jones

38 ( 15 ) SEASIDE SHUFFLE Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs

39 ( 35 ) I'M YOUR PUPPET James & Bobby Purify

40 ( 43 ) (TO BE) YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK Bob & Marcia

41 ( NEW ) GLAD I WAITED FOR YOU Nancy Ryan

42 ( 16 ) SHE'S NO ANGEL Heavy Metal Kids

43 ( 34 ) JUNGLE ROCK Hank Mizell

44 ( NEW ) C'MON MARIANNE Donny Osmond

45 ( 31 ) DISCO CONNECTION Isaac Hayes Movement

46 ( 30 ) TVC David Bowie

47 ( NEW ) FRESH OUTA LOVE Randy Edelman

48 ( NEW ) YOU JUST MIGHT SEE ME CRY Our Kid

49 ( 38 ) NEEDLES AND PINS The Searchers

50 ( NEW ) COULD IT BE MAGIC Donna Summer

15th June 1976

It's a seond week on top for 1964 classic Leader Of The Pack, last on top in 1972 for The Shangri-Las, and spear-heading another invasion of oldies into my singles chart. By the end of summer all oldies will be cast-off into an oldies chart as the record labels mass-re-issues became unsustainable for my personal charts to handle. This week there are 13 old recordings, and 9 cover versions, which is nearly half the chart. Dolly Parton gets her highest-charting hit until the 21st Century, Jolene at 3, Maureen McGovern, daughter of US politician George McGovern, is up to 6 and Monkey Spanner and Johnny Reggae get a second top 10 run 5 years on.

Melba Moore gets her first top 10 with the disco classic This Is It, Bryan Ferry rockets into the 20 with his masterpiece Let's Stick Together, and the highest new entry is another disco classic as Candi Staton debuts with Young Hearts Run Free at 27, still a lush, yearning soul song that time has been kind to. 20 Golden Greats will be dominating the UK charts as The Beach Boys get a comeback with new material but it's the 1960's classics that are popular, not least the re-issued single of Good Vibrations, in at 31 to give the band 8 years of charting. Utter classic of course, ambitious, epic, innovative and The Beatles responded by stepping up their game at the time.

Demis Rousson finally charts with Forever And Ever, the lead track on The Roussos Phenomenon EP, and a single I bought in 1974, and Demis having charted for me in 1972 with Aphrodite's Child and Break. It's a great track and Demis had been huge in Europe since the late 60's prog rock band caught on, and his solo stuff instantly hit the charts across Europe, and not just in his native Greece. Lots of goodies in his back catalogue, though sadly his hit-making UK years in 1975 to 1977 weren't his best stuff.

Boyband Flintlock pop in with Dawn, they never caught on but it was OK, new at 38. T.Rex are back again with yet another change in sound, on I Love To Boogie, not so much electric rock, more 50's bopalong and one of their better remembered songs these days thanks to a movie slot, though to me it's not in the same league as their previous hits 1970 through early 1974. In at 40. Disco Tex manages a Sex-o-lettes 4th chart hit on Dancin' Kid, and Hello have another good Glam single on Love Stealer, but sadly Glam is dead along with their UK charting career.

That leaves Captain & Tenille with an American hit covering Smokey Robinson's Shop Around, a bit limp compared to the last 3 US hit singles, early 60's pop star Freddie Cannon debuting with his oldie Palisades Park, which appealed to me as a song about the funfair near DC base in New York City which I saw in adverts in DC Comics throughout the 60's - the New Jersey funfair sadly closed down in 1971 though. Donnie Elbert and Roy C meanwhile re-chart their Northern Soul 1972-charting 1960's recordings again.

1 ( 7 ) LEADER OF THE PACK The Shangri-Las

2 ( 1 ) SHOW ME THE WAY Peter Frampton

3 ( 6 ) JOLENE Dolly Parton

4 ( 5 ) STAR TREK The Charles Randolph Greane Sounde

5 ( 2 ) SHAKE IT DOWN Mud

6 ( 11 ) THE CONTINENTAL Maureen McGovern

7 ( 16 ) MONKEY SPANNER Dave, and Ansel Collins

8 ( 17 ) JOHNNY REGGAE The Piglets

9 ( 3 ) LET YOUR LOVE FLOW The Bellamy Brothers

10 ( 12 ) THIS IS IT Melba Moore

11 ( 4 ) MORE MORE MORE Andrea True Connection

12 ( 13 ) SILLY LOVE SONGS Wings

13 ( 14 ) STRANGE MAGIC Electric Light Orchestra

14 ( 22 ) DOUBLE BARREL Dave, and Ansel Collins

15 ( 23 ) PIED PIPER Bob & Marcia

16 ( 9 ) LOVE HANGOVER Diana Ross

17 ( 35 ) LET'S STICK TOGETHER Bryan Ferry

18 ( 20 ) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE 100 Ton & A Feather aka Jonathan King

19 ( 24 ) THE WANDERER Dion

20 ( 10 ) FERNANDO ABBA

21 ( 25 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING The Real Thing

22 ( 8 ) MY RESISTANCE IS LOW Robin Sarstedt

23 ( 36 ) THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN Thin Lizzy

24 ( 15 ) SOUL CITY WALK Archie Bell & The Drells

25 ( 40 ) (TO BE) YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK Bob & Marcia

26 ( 34 ) YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING Lee Garrett

27 ( NEW ) YOUNG HEARTS RUN FREE Candi Staton

28 ( 19 ) HEART ON MY SLEEVE Gallagher & Lyle

29 ( 41 ) GLAD I WAITED FOR YOU Nancy Ryan

30 ( 21 ) REQUIEM Slik

31 ( NEW ) GOOD VIBRATIONS The Beach Boys

32 ( 32 ) IT'LL BE ME BABE The Shadows

33 ( NEW ) FOREVER AND EVER Demis Roussos

34 ( 26 ) I'M MANDY FLY ME 10cc

35 ( NEW ) SHOTGUN WEDDING Roy C

36 ( 18 ) DON'T PULL YOUR LOVE/THEN YOU CAN TELL ME GOODBYE Glen Campbell

37 ( 27 ) GET UP AND BOOGIE Silver Convention

38 ( NEW ) DAWN Flintlock

39 ( 50 ) COULD IT BE MAGIC Donna Summer

40 ( NEW ) I LOVE TO BOOGIE T. Rex

41 ( NEW ) LITTLE PIECE OF LEATHER Donnie Elbert

42 ( 44 ) C'MON MARIANNE Donny Osmond

43 ( 33 ) DEVIL WOMAN Cliff Richard

44 ( NEW ) DANCIN' KID Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes

45 ( NEW ) LOVE STEALER Hello

46 ( 30 ) SILVER STAR The Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli

47 ( 29 ) S'S'SINGLE BED Fox

48 ( 48 ) YOU JUST MIGHT SEE ME CRY Our Kid

49 ( NEW ) SHOP AROUND Captain & Tennille

50 ( NEW ) PALISADES PARK Freddy Cannon

22nd June 1976

It's the long hot summer still ongoing, the ladybird invasion swarming over anything yellow such as my school bag and the school bus, and rain being a thing of the distant past, and on top of my charts it's Peter Frampton's Show Me The Way, 8 years on from his hits with The Herd. I got to see Peter as part of David Bowie's band on his Glass Spider Tour around 1987. Maureen McGovern meanwhile climbs to 2, a position she would have made had I allowed non-UK-Top-30 singles into my 1973 charts courtesy of The Poseidon Adventure movie's Morning After,

Bryan Ferry leaps to 4 with Let's Stick Together, his highest solo single peak since A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall, and equals Roxy's All I Want Is You. The highest new entry is the latest Beatles single taken from the White and the Blue albums, but mainly to promote a one-off compilation Rock 'n' Roll Music issued that summer and never to be issued again in any form. The USA got the great Got To Get You Into My Life as the hit A side, and the UK got Back In The USSR, a right old romp and fun Beach Boys parody. New in at 6 - for one week only as my Beatles Chart will be starting again next week to cover this and other tracks such as Twist And Shout (the B side to USSR is new in at 46). Meanwhile The Surprise Sisters follow-up Sideshow with their version of The Beatles Got To Get You Into My Life at 36. The Beatles version is still the definitive.

Talking of The Beach Boys, Good Vibrations is up to 21 while B side Wouldn't It Be Nice debuts at 47. It will return in future years when it gets it's own A side status in the UK. Thin Lizzy get a first-ever top 10 as The Boys Are Back In Town leaps to 7, and Lee Garrett ditto up to 10 with his under-rated You're My Everything soul-disco goodie. Candi Staton is up to 12, The Real Thing to 14, T. Rex to 18 for 3 climbing classics and a debut for Queen with the next-best track off A Night At The Opera - though there were other options that could have been pushed too - You're My Best Friend new at 19.

In the oldies arena, Hold Your Head Up gives Argent a 3rd chart run at 41, starting with 1971, then 1972 when it was a single edit, and Jonathan King bungs out his Loop Di Love for a 1972 chart-topper for me returning at 42. Actual new records debuting come from the fabulous Moonlight Feels Right, as seen in a Guardians Of The Galaxy movie more recently, and appropriately given the band is named Starbuck and the main character is called Star Lord. New at 43 and criminally never a UK hit, unlike the USA, while we had the lovely You Are My Love from Liverpool Express at 44 hitting instead. Finally, The Steve Miller Band follow-up The Joker two years on with the catchy Take The Money And Run - also not a UK hit as per The Joker. They will get their eventually, though!

1 ( 2 ) SHOW ME THE WAY Peter Frampton

2 ( 6 ) THE CONTINENTAL Maureen McGovern

3 ( 3 ) JOLENE Dolly Parton

4 ( 17 ) LET'S STICK TOGETHER Bryan Ferry

5 ( 5 ) SHAKE IT DOWN Mud

6 ( NEW ) BACK IN THE U.S.S.R. The Beatles

7 ( 23 ) THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN Thin Lizzy

8 ( 1 ) LEADER OF THE PACK The Shangri-Las

9 ( 4 ) STAR TREK The Charles Randolph Greane Sounde

10 ( 26 ) YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING Lee Garrett

11 ( 9 ) LET YOUR LOVE FLOW The Bellamy Brothers

12 ( 27 ) YOUNG HEARTS RUN FREE Candi Staton

13 ( 18 ) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE 100 Ton & A Feather aka Jonathan King

14 ( 21 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING The Real Thing

15 ( 19 ) THE WANDERER Dion

16 ( 10 ) THIS IS IT Melba Moore

17 ( 11 ) MORE MORE MORE Andrea True Connection

18 ( 40 ) I LOVE TO BOOGIE T. Rex

19 ( NEW ) YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND Queen

20 ( 12 ) SILLY LOVE SONGS Wings

21 ( 31 ) GOOD VIBRATIONS The Beach Boys

22 ( 44 ) DANCIN' KID Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes

23 ( 13 ) STRANGE MAGIC Electric Light Orchestra

24 ( 16 ) LOVE HANGOVER Diana Ross

25 ( 33 ) FOREVER AND EVER Demis Roussos

26 ( 35 ) SHOTGUN WEDDING Roy C

27 ( 45 ) LOVE STEALER Hello

28 ( 39 ) COULD IT BE MAGIC Donna Summer

29 ( 32 ) IT'LL BE ME BABE The Shadows

30 ( 20 ) FERNANDO ABBA

31 ( 24 ) SOUL CITY WALK Archie Bell & The Drells

32 ( 22 ) MY RESISTANCE IS LOW Robin Sarstedt

33 ( 28 ) HEART ON MY SLEEVE Gallagher & Lyle

34 ( 42 ) C'MON MARIANNE Donny Osmond

35 ( 48 ) YOU JUST MIGHT SEE ME CRY Our Kid

36 ( NEW ) GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE The Surprise Sisters

37 ( 29 ) GLAD I WAITED FOR YOU Nancy Ryan

38 ( 38 ) DAWN Flintlock

39 ( 7 ) MONKEY SPANNER Dave, and Ansel Collins

40 ( 8 ) JOHNNY REGGAE The Piglets

41 ( NEW ) HOLD YOUR HEAD UP Argent

42 ( NEW ) LOOP DI LOVE Shag aka Jonathan King

43 ( NEW ) MOONLIGHT FEELS RIGHT Starbuck

44 ( NEW ) YOU ARE MY LOVE Liverpool Express

45 ( 14 ) DOUBLE BARREL Dave, and Ansel Collins

46 ( NEW ) TWIST AND SHOUT The Beatles

47 ( NEW ) WOULDN'T IT BE NICE The Beach Boys

48 ( 41 ) LITTLE PIECE OF LEATHER Donnie Elbert

49 ( 34 ) I'M MANDY FLY ME 10cc

50 ( NEW ) TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN The Steve Miller Band

29th June 1976

It's the long hot scorching summer continuing as Beatles tracks drop into another contained side chart from the main chart to free up space for more current tracks, and which leaves Peter Frampton on top for week 2, and Bryan Ferry as runner-up on his highest-peaking solo track...ever! Demis Roussos bounds up to 4 with Forever And Ever's lazy musical vibes suiting the hot weather, and Candi Staton gets her first Top 10 at 6 with the classic Young Hearts Run Free. That leaves The Beach Boys getting 1966's epic Good Vibrations into the top tier for a 5th top 10 in 8 years, B side Wouldnt It Be Nice up to 32, and new cover song Rock And Roll Music in at 31. The band had a hit album at 1, a new album due out soon, and ruling the summer airwaves with the surf sound.

Starbuck leap into the 20, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band chart The Boston Tea Party at 38, not an obvious topic for a hit record, their second after Delilah topped my chart in 1975, and Linda & The Funky Boys disco dance into my chart with the little-played Sold My Soul, it didn't get much airplay even at the time and it's pretty good. In at 43 with added synth solo mid-track, just ahead of Johnny Cash's last hit for 25 years or so, One Piece At A Time with an amusing lyric about stealing a car from work, one piece at a time and putting it together at home. In bottom rung Silver Convention get a 4th entry with Tiger Baby, I'm assuming the double A side didn't get airplay for t'other track No No Joe, as I didn't list it. Oddly, as it's a bit more upbeat, more fun than laid-back Tiger Baby.

1 ( 1 ) SHOW ME THE WAY Peter Frampton

2 ( 4 ) LET'S STICK TOGETHER Bryan Ferry

3 ( 2 ) THE CONTINENTAL Maureen McGovern

4 ( 25 ) FOREVER AND EVER Demis Roussos

5 ( 7 ) THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN Thin Lizzy

6 ( 12 ) YOUNG HEARTS RUN FREE Candi Staton

7 ( 3 ) JOLENE Dolly Parton

8 ( 5 ) SHAKE IT DOWN Mud

9 ( 8 ) LEADER OF THE PACK The Shangri-Las

10 ( 21 ) GOOD VIBRATIONS The Beach Boys

11 ( 13 ) IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE 100 Ton & A Feather aka Jonathan King

12 ( 15 ) THE WANDERER Dion

13 ( 10 ) YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING Lee Garrett

14 ( 18 ) I LOVE TO BOOGIE T. Rex

15 ( 43 ) MOONLIGHT FEELS RIGHT Starbuck

16 ( 19 ) YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND Queen

17 ( 14 ) YOU TO ME ARE EVERYTHING The Real Thing

18 ( 11 ) LET YOUR LOVE FLOW The Bellamy Brothers

19 ( 36 ) GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE The Surprise Sisters

20 ( 22 ) DANCIN' KID Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes

21 ( 26 ) SHOTGUN WEDDING Roy C

22 ( 41 ) HOLD YOUR HEAD UP Argent

23 ( 27 ) LOVE STEALER Hello

24 ( 35 ) YOU JUST MIGHT SEE ME CRY Our Kid

25 ( 31 ) SOUL CITY WALK Archie Bell & The Drells

26 ( 20 ) SILLY LOVE SONGS Wings

27 ( 42 ) LOOP DI LOVE Shag aka Jonathan King

28 ( 16 ) THIS IS IT Melba Moore

29 ( 17 ) MORE MORE MORE Andrea True Connection

30 ( 9 ) STAR TREK The Charles Randolph Greane Sounde

31 ( NEW ) ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC The Beach Boys

32 ( 47 ) WOULDN'T IT BE NICE The Beach Boys

33 ( 44 ) YOU ARE MY LOVE Liverpool Express

34 ( 24 ) LOVE HANGOVER Diana Ross

35 ( 23 ) STRANGE MAGIC Electric Light Orchestra

36 ( 28 ) COULD IT BE MAGIC Donna Summer

37 ( 30 ) FERNANDO ABBA

38 ( NEW ) BOSTON TEA PARTY The Sensational Alex Harvey band

39 ( 32 ) MY RESISTANCE IS LOW Robin Sarstedt

40 ( 29 ) IT'LL BE ME BABE The Shadows

41 ( 48 ) LITTLE PIECE OF LEATHER Donnie Elbert

42 ( 37 ) GLAD I WAITED FOR YOU Nancy Ryan

43 ( NEW ) SOLD MY SOUL FOR ROCK'N'ROLL Linda & The Funky Boys

44 ( NEW ) ONE PIECE AT A TIME Johnny Cash

45 ( RE ) WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD Johnny Nash

46 ( 50 ) TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN The Steve Miller Band

47 ( 33 ) HEART ON MY SLEEVE Gallagher & Lyle

48 ( 34 ) C'MON MARIANNE Donny Osmond

49 ( 49 ) I'M MANDY FLY ME 10cc

50 ( NEW ) TIGER BABY Silver Convention

29th June 1976

THE BEATLES REISSUES CHART

And with it returning, I had bought two Beatles singles - Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine and I Feel Fine - and Back In The USSR/Twist And Shout was in the UK chart, so Eleanor grabs a week on top, I Feel Fine hits a new peak of 2, ditto Back In The USSR and Twist And Shout, and that blistering vocal from John at 5.

1 ( RE ) ELEANOR RIGBY The Beatles

2 ( RE ) I FEEL FINE The Beatles

3 ( 6 ) BACK IN THE U.S.S.R. The Beatles

4 ( RE ) YELLOW SUBMARINE The Beatles

5 ( 46 ) TWIST AND SHOUT The Beatles