August 26Aug 26 Author 70. KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU- Abba (579,000) 197713 Weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Abba’s 5th UK chart topper (putting them 2nd in terms of number 1’s in the 70s to that point) was a runaway success topping the charts for 5 weeks, not bad for a third single from an album and made up for the minor blip of “Money, Money, Money” only making No 3. Whilst tempting to see it as auto-biographical the track was written before either couple split up, interesting fact, it started a run of three No 1’s on the trot for them (their second hattrick) but it was the third slowest at 46 weeks (Only the Beatles-56wks, and The Police- 52wks took longer).
August 26Aug 26 Author 69 STAND BY YOUR MAN- Tammy Wynette (580,400) 197512 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 A US country No 1 way back in 1968 it also made No 19 on the main Billboard charts but it took until 1975 to be released here where it shot to the top. It received a lot of criticism from the woman’s liberation movement from its perceived support of traditional conservative values though Wynette herself disputed it any social or political slant and was written with that intent. Wynette was actually divorced for 2 months by the time the song made No 1 making her also qualified for her follow up track “D.I.V.O.R.C.E”.
August 26Aug 26 Author 68. SPIRIT IN THE SKY- Norman Greenbaum (583,200) 197020 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Greenbaum wrote the song in roughly 15 minutes after challenging himself to write a gospel song, after trying it in different styles it eventually came together though he did get into trouble with some religious groups for ignoring the concept of original sin (“I’ve Never been a sinner, I’ve never sinned”). It was his sole hit making him a glorious one hit wonder though the song has stood the test of time topping the charts both in 1986 for Dr & The Medics and in 2003 for Gareth Gates. Curiously it also started the “God Rock” trend which saw musicals written such as “Godspell” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and a resurgence of hymns such as “Amazing Grace”.
August 27Aug 27 ABBA classic, possibly my fave of all the many ABBA classics, and I was mad on it and that video at the time, so great to see it doing well here. B side was Happy Hawaii an early version of album track Why Did It Have To Be Me, and nicely tropical, I rather like it. Doubt anyone's heard it though...! Stand By Your Man popular with mum and dad, big Country fans, and I still enjoy it, old-fashioned or not. Spirit In The Sky I missed entirely in 1970 (not played on Singapore radio!) but caught up in 1974 when I bought a copy. It's fab and still the definitive version.
August 27Aug 27 Wow, once on the forum we had a mammoth 'BuzzJack's Favourite Song' event and I broke down my votes into a top 5 of each decade, to help the task seem less overwhelming and decided my top 5 favourite songs of the 1970s were:Are 'Friends' Electric?I Feel LoveLaylaLife On Mars?Wuthering Heights...so I'm rather fond of two songs that have fallen back-to-back here ('The Model' is right up there as well but I syphoned it off to the '80s as I associate it more with that decade)Unreal that 'Wuthering Heights' came from the mind of someone so young. What an achievement and really paved the way for female artists too, as aforementioned. Kate's vocals on that song are some of the most striking I've ever heard. Elsewhere, I really enjoy the storytelling and majestic production. Overall a unique, spellbinding debut. I also love that it recently crept back into the top 40 off the back of the Wuthering Heights movie.'I Feel Love' is a real landmark moment as well. Moroder's genius on full display with that sophisticated disco synth production and Donna really sells those sensual vocals. I can't imagine how futuristic this must've sounded at the time!...'The Floral Dance' is decidedly less ground-breaking but I like this instrumental version more than the one with Terry Wogan on vocals at least, bless him.'Knowing Me Knowing You' is my favourite from yesterday's trio! A classic ABBA moment that hasn't been rinsed as much as some of their other #1s. 'Stand By Your Man' isn't really my thing, but found a way to impact my life, via Lana Del Rey covering it on tour when I saw her at Wembley last year! So much respect to Tammy for later jumping on The KLF's 'Justified & Ancient', if only that was a chart-topper too.This version of 'Spirit In The Sky' is my favourite of all its #1 iterations although the sitar laced Gareth Gates version is a guilty pleasure
August 27Aug 27 Author 67. WHEN WILL I SEE YOU AGAIN- Three Degrees (584,000) 197416 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 A song which was, for a time at least, King Charles’ favourite song, it may be unique certainly in terms of UK No 1 hits in being a song where every sentence is a question. Written by Gamble and Huff, lead vocalist Sheila Ferguson famously hated the song too simple but was proved wrong when it became by far the biggest hit for the female trio
August 27Aug 27 Author 66. BAND OF GOLD- Freda Payne (584,100) 197019 Weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Written by the legendary Holand-Dozier-Holland, this is a song that Payne was not keen to record initially thinking that the song better suited a teenager or younger woman (she was almost 30 when she recorded it) but was convinced by the sheer wealth of talent on offer (besides the famous writers, there was a lead guitar by Ray Parker Jnr of “Ghostbusters” fame, and backing vocals by her sister Scherrie Payne- later of the Supremes). The song was an instant hit going top 3 in the US and spending 6 weeks at No 1 here and it illustrates the importance of an edit- the song’s lyrics imply a honeymoon night spent in separate beds and a failed attempt at consummation- this lead to supposition that it may be because the husband was either impotent or gay. Part of that confusion is due to edits made to the lyrics to reduce the length from 4 minutes to 3 minutes which omitted vital lines describing how the bride had turned the groom away and now regrets it. If you want to imagine what this would sound like if it were made in the 80s then look up Bonnie Tyler’s version produced by Jim Steinman….
August 27Aug 27 Author 65. DREADLOCK HOLIDAY- 10CC (589,500) 197813 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Based on real life events that members of the group experienced whilst on holiday in the Caribbean though the promo’s beach shots were filmed in Dorset. Godley & Crème had left the group by this point and strangely afterwards the hits pretty much dried up the group despite being fairly consistent hit makers for most of the 70s.
August 27Aug 27 Knowing me knowing you, stand by your man and spirit in the sky waht a 3 track run 🩵🩵
August 27Aug 27 On 26/08/2026 at 11:25, Gezza said:69 STAND BY YOUR MAN- Tammy Wynette (580,400) 197512 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 A US country No 1 way back in 1968 it also made No 19 on the main Billboard charts but it took until 1975 to be released here where it shot to the top. It received a lot of criticism from the woman’s liberation movement from its perceived support of traditional conservative values though Wynette herself disputed it any social or political slant and was written with that intent. Wynette was actually divorced for 2 months by the time the song made No 1 making her also qualified for her follow up track “D.I.V.O.R.C.E”.My favourite singer of all time. Most people only know her for that song but she had loads more.
August 27Aug 27 I hadn't noticed that every line of When Will I See You Again is a question. I also didn't know that Dreadlock Holiday had sold so much. I wonder if either of 10cc's other number 1 singles will appear.
August 28Aug 28 20 hours ago, Jade said:Wow, once on the forum we had a mammoth 'BuzzJack's Favourite Song' event and I broke down my votes into a top 5 of each decade, to help the task seem less overwhelming and decided my top 5 favourite songs of the 1970s were:Are 'Friends' Electric?I Feel LoveLaylaLife On Mars?Wuthering HeightsWow, that’s quite an undertaking, great choice of 5 songs though! Out of interest, what ended up winning?
August 28Aug 28 10 minutes ago, Jaz13music said:Wow, that’s quite an undertaking, great choice of 5 songs though! Out of interest, what ended up winning?'Frozen' by Madonna was the winner! I've tracked down the thread for the countdown of the top 100 - there's a roundup of the semi and heat results on page 6 but doesn't appear to be a list of the top 100 without reading through the thread.
August 28Aug 28 I also had not realised that every sentence in 'When Will I See You Again' was a question, mind blown!'Band of Gold' is my favourite of the three to drop out yesterday.It's interesting how all of 10cc's chart toppers sound absolutely nothing like each other!18 minutes ago, Jaz13music said:Wow, that’s quite an undertaking, great choice of 5 songs though! Out of interest, what ended up winning?Why thank you! Madonna - 'Frozen' was the overall winner I made a playlist out of the top 100 results at the time:
August 28Aug 28 Author 64. SILVER LADY- David Soul (594,200) 197714 Weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Soul’s second chart topper of the 70s is probably the lesser known one, he was clearly still riding on the coat tails of his success in “Starsky And Hutch”. His chart career was over in under a year after this but he made his money whilst he was doing it!
August 28Aug 28 Author 63. BILLY DON’T BE A HERO- Paper Lace (595,400) 197414 Weeks on chartPeak position: 1 An anti-war ditty written by established songwriting heavy hitters Mitch Murray and Peter Callander (they’d written top 10 hits for Gerry & The Pacemakers, Georgie Fame, Cliff Richard and Freddie & The Dreamers among others). The group hit it big after years of trying by winning “Opportunity Knocks” (think a 70s version of “Britain’s Got Talent”) and were seen by Callander’s wife who proposed the idea of working with the group to her husband. They grabbing themselves a couple of top 10 hits before fading- a cover of this track by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods topped the US charts later in 74.
August 28Aug 28 Author 62. WHISPERING GRASS- Windsor Davies & Don Estelle (598,600) 197512 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Two actors who were, by 1975, household names thanks to their starring role in the BCB comedy series “It Ain’t Half Hot Mum”. The track itself dates back to the 1930’s and was chosen as a vehicle to launch Estelle’s singing career (he was a trained singer) off the back of the show, however it was felt it would have more appeal if it was a duet with the equally popular Davis with music based from the same era as the show was set in. We saw fit to send it to No 1.
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