5 hours ago, Jester said:

I like Mississippi, clearly I am in a minority 🤣

I love it. One of my faves of all time.

'Bye Bye Baby' is a strong song though compared to most of the other recent ones posted here and I like its Beach Boys style sound even if it is the wrong decade for that!

That's disturbing about the manager though.

Edited September 10Sep 10 by TheSnake

8 hours ago, dandy* said:

A lot of the tracks that sold a lot in the 70s really are quite awful aren’t they? 😕

You could say that about any decade if we are being honest 😬

8 hours ago, 777666jason said:

You could say that about any decade if we are being honest 😬

Very likely true. I think my expectations were higher because 1979 is the year I’m most familiar with after doing my turn at the ranking the #1s series and I thought the best sellers that year were all good

Talking of 1979............

23. HEART OF GLASS- Blondie (781,200)

 

1979

12 weeks on chart

Peak position: 1

 

 

A song that dates back to the mid 70s when it was called “Once I Had A Love” and recorded as a demo with a basic uptempo beat in keeping with the mid 70s.  Over the years the group toyed with it, attempting a reggae version and a ballad but it was Producer Mike Chapman who put a disco twist on it, the song made them huge but it alienated a lot of their peers in the new wave movement who considered a sell out and they lost the support of many critics.

22. WE DON’T TALK ANYMORE- Cliff Richard (795,200)

 

1979

14 weeks on chart

Peak position: 1

 

Cliff had had a poor 70s compared to the 50s and 60s with a mere 3 top 10 singles up until this track in the summer of 79 and hadn’t been at No 1 since 1968.  This track was written by Alan Tarney for use by his own group Tarney/Spencer band and whilst producing another track with Shadows guitarist Bruce Welch he played the demo which Welch jumped on insisting it would be ideal for Cliff Richard.

21. WITHOUT YOU- Nilsson (797,000)

 

1972

28 weeks on chart

Peak position: 1

 

Written by rock group Badfinger and appearing on their 1970 album “No Dice”, it was left unreleased as a single version until picked up by Harry Nilsson after hearing the song at a party and turned into a transatlantic chart topper (of course hitting the top again for Mariah Carey 22 years later).  Rather tragically Nilsson died just a month before Carey hit the top of the UK charts.

Recap 50-21

50. DANCING QUEEN- Abba (650,500)

49. THE WONDER OF YOU- Elvis Presley (656,100)

48. MATCHSTALK MEN & MATCHSTALK CATS AND DOGS- Brian & Michael (656,700)

47. TAKE A CHANCE ON ME- Abba (658,000)

46. TIGER FEET- Mud (664,300)

45. IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW- Chicago (670,300)

44. SUNDAY GIRL- Blondie (671,900)

43. RAT TRAP- Boomtown Rats (676,900)

42. MAGGIE MAY- Rod Stewart (678,800)

41. UNDER THE MOON OF LOVE- Showaddywaddy (681,500)*

 

40. MY DING-A-LING- Chuck Berry (684,000)*

39. BLOCKBUSTER!- The Sweet (690,000)

38. ONE DAY AT A TIME-Lena Martell (691,800)

37. DANCE AWAY- Roxy Music (701,500)

36. IN THE SUMMERTIME- Mungo Jerry (721,400)

35. LONG HAIRED LOVER FROM LIVERPOOL- Little Jimmy Osmond (722,300)

34. ARE “FRIENDS” ELECTRIC- Tubeway Army (727,100)

33. I WILL SURVIVE- Gloria Gaynor (730,200)

32. HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK- Ian Dury & The Blockheads (730,500)*

31. DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART- Elton John & Kiki Dee (738,400)

 

30. DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA- Julie Covington (739,000)

29. I DON’T LIKE MONDAYS- Boomtown Rats (747,300)

28. NIGHT FEVER- Bee Gees (758,400)

27. DON’T GIVE UP ON US- David Soul (759,900)*

26. BYE BYE BABY- Bay City Rollers (763,500)

25. MISSISSIPPI- Pussycat (770,500)

24. WHEN YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN- Dr Hook (779,700)

23. HEART OF GLASS- Blondie (781,200)

22. WE DON’T TALK ANYMORE- Cliff Richard (795,200)

21. WITHOUT YOU- Nilsson (797,000)

So the top 20 contains one track that never made No 1 and all the tracks sold over 800,000

Oh wow I was actually listening to 'Heart of Glass' as I opened the thread to see it here, neat coincidence! That is my favourite Blondie song and one of the best of the entire decade <3 I can see why people might have jumped on a 'sell out' bandwagon with that disco incorporation, even if they were playing stuff like 'I Feel Love' in their live sets, but I think they were great at genre blending without losing themselves. What a wonderfully produced record and I like that there's humour to the lyrics despite the heart break.

Not a Cliff fan but 'We Don't Talk Anymore' is his best song since the pioneering 'Move It' in the '50s for me.

'Without You' is a good song and I prefer Nilsson's take to Mariah's cover but I cannot unhear that "ken lee" talent show audition on any version now

Oh I thought Heart of Glass was a million seller! 😮

3 minutes ago, dandy* said:

Oh I thought Heart of Glass was a million seller! 😮

Definitely not in the 70s, though it definitely is now 😀

11 minutes ago, dandy* said:

Oh I thought Heart of Glass was a million seller! 😮

Me too, I thought it was in the list of the top 20 best sellers of the 70's! 🤯

This time I like all 3 songs.

Heart Of Glass is also my favourite Blondie song, so effortlessly cool.

We Don’t Talk Anymore is the best of Cliff’s later singles, his vocals sound great here.

Without You is a great song, there must be stacks of cover versions of it, but the Nilsson one is best, more great vocals!

20. WELCOME HOME- Peters And Lee (801,400)

 

1973

24 weeks in chart

Peak position: 1

 

This duo rose to fame off the back of the talent show “Opportunity Knocks” which they won seven times (a record at the time) and from which they got a record deal.  This was their debut single and spent no time hitting the top supported extensively by TV shows, indeed later on in the decade they got their own TV show but by 1980 the pair had split.

19. THE SMURF SONG- Father Abraham and the Smurfs (808,200)

 

1978

17 weeks on chart

Peak position: 2

 

The stuff chart records are made of!  Father Abraham was actually called Pierre Kartner and was a Dutch composer and popstar who later wrote the 2010 Eurovision entry for the Netherlands (though it didn’t make the grand final).    He was asked to write a song for the cartoon series “The Smurfs” and the result topped the charts in 16 countries though it was cruelly denied here by “You’re The One That I Want”, it did spend 6 weeks at the runner up spot- a record equalled by Right Said Fred 13 years later and finally bettered by All-4-one 16 years later. It's also the best selling non No 1 track on the list!

Omg what on earth is that!? Lol I have never heard of that before! The Wombles, Teletubbies, Bob The Builder, and now The Smurfs all getting #1s lol! 😂

Heart of glass is a bop

The smurfs🙌

Wow, two terrible songs to start the top 20!

The 70s answer to a very poor X Factor winner and, as Spiceboy noted, the 70s version of the Teletubbies (but somehow worse)!