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