Gezza

15. SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME- Brotherhood Of Man (833,400) 1976 16 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 By far the biggest Eurovision track of the 70s this was of course the UK entry for 1976 and marched home to victory though it only won the qualifying competition (“Song For Europe”) by just 2 points from Co-Co who themselves represented the UK at Eurovision in 1978 and contained Bucks Fizz’s Cheryl Baker. It went on to top the charts all over Europe and ensured the band would be successful for the remainder of the 70s.

16. MARYS BOY CHILD- OH MY LORD- Boney M (832,500)* 1978 8 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Rounding off a fantastic year for the group in 1978 they scored the festive chart topper with this track, itself a cover of the Harry Belafonte’s 1957 Christmas No 1. It was put together with a new track “Oh My Lord” which helped give the songwriters a share in the profits, and was a second No 1 in just 8 months though they never made it there again and the fifth song to top the charts for different acts.

17. PUPPY LOVE- Donny Osmond (824,400) 1972 23 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Written by 19 year old Paul Anka and a hit for him in 1960 (UK#33) it got a revival by an even younger 14 year old Donny Osmond in 1972. The Osmonds were the teen sensation of the early 70s having been regulars on “The Andy Williams Show” and becoming stars on the US charts in 1971, so Donny’s first solo single here was always going to be an event and true enough it took just 4 weeks to hit the top where it stayed for 5 weeks that summer becoming his biggest solo hit.

18. THREE TIMES A LADY- The Commodores (819,500) 1978 14 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Inspired by a toast that his father made to his mother on their wedding anniversary ("She's a great lady, she's a great mother, and she's a great friend”) Richie wrote this track originally as a waltz. Feeling that it wouldn’t suit the music the Commodores were making he twiddled around it imagining it being sung by Frank Sinatra and we got the final version which was their only UK chart topper and replaced Diana Ross’ “I’m Still Waiting” as Motown’s biggest seller in the UK.

Reissues and downloads would have done it pre streaming. Alan jones confirmed that it didn't sell a million in the 70s.

The Wombles never got a No 1 either but other than that @Spiceboy was on the money!

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!

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.

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

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

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)

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.

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.

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.

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

No shows tomorrow. Back on the 18th

I blame @Popchartfreak 😃

24. WHEN YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN- Dr Hook (779,700) 1979 16 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Sneaking to the top spot in the final few months of the decade was this ditty which gave Dr Hook their biggest hit. They had been signed by Clive Davis originally in the early 70s as “Dr Hook & The Medicine Show” only abbreviating their name in 1975. It had the dubious honour of being announced as the new number one due to an error at BMRB which was corrected an hour later- they made it legitimately the following week!

25. MISSISSIPPI- Pussycat (770,500) 1976 21 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Dutch 7 piece fronted by three sisters performing country tinged pop might seem an odd combo but clearly 70s Britain was here for it. The song they did it with was inspired by the Bee Gees “Massachusetts” and was a hit across most of Europe in late 75/ early 76 taking a while to finally take off in the UK but we did relent finally before the year was out. First Dutch act to top the UK charts.

26. BYE BYE BABY- Bay City Rollers (763,500) 1975 16 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Undoubtedly one of the biggest teen scream bands of the decade, this cover of the Four Seasons 1965 US#12 track was the pinnacle of their appeal spending a cool 6 weeks at No 1 in 1975 on the way to being the bestselling single of that year. In part that’s because it was rather less well known over here with the only version to be a chart hit by the Symbols in 1967 (#44), but it helped the group achieve international success conquering the US as well. Changes in line up and the pressure of international success took its toll however and it was all over in the UK by 1977 and led to the eventual split before lawsuits were filed in later years over royalties and allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by the groups then manager.

27. DON’T GIVE UP ON US- David Soul (759,900)* 1976 16 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 A transatlantic chart topper for Soul who decided to return to singing which was one of his career options when he was younger. Trading heavily on the success of “Starsky and Hutch” proved just what the UK seemed to want! It was written by Tom Macauley who had already written No 1’s for Edison Lighthouse, The Foundations, Long John Baldrey and the New Seekers.

28. NIGHT FEVER- Bee Gees (758,400) 1978 20 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Most tracks which are written as a theme for a movie have the movie title to work with but when the Bee Gees Manager called the group asking for songs for his movie, provisionally called “Saturday Night”, he got a few songs back but nothing with the movie title in it. The group weren’t keen on the title but had already written a song called “Night Fever” (albeit it wasn’t quite finished)- they played the track to their manager and he was so impressed that he changed the title of the film to “Saturday Night Fever” and the film became one of the most successful of the decade and turned the Bee Gees into megastars. So ubiquitous were they in the US that 5 Gibb compositions spent a total of 18 weeks at No 1 over a 21 week period in 77-78 giving Barry Gibb the record of writing 4 consecutive US #1’s in a row.

29. I DON’T LIKE MONDAYS- Boomtown Rats (747,300) 1979 12 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Surely one of the most famous songs ever to be written about a high school shooting, this was the second and biggest of their singles. Written whilst the band were on a US tour it was only intended as a B-side but it got such a positive reaction on the tour that it was decided to make it the main event. The family of the culprit for the murders (Brenda Spencer) tried to prevent the US release but were unsuccessful but Geldof admitted later to regretting writing the song as it had made Spencer famous (or more famous at least).

30. DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA- Julie Covington (739,000) 1976 18 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Starting off as a concept album by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, this track was seen as the stand out moment and quickly got a single release. Covington was an established west end star, and when Elkie Brooks turned down the offer of the soundtrack Lloyd Webber asked Covington if she would do it, she did and got herself a No 1 hit. She was offered the chance of lead role when the album was staged in 1978 but turned it down as she didn’t like the character of Peron, the track was, at the time, the biggest selling single by a female solo act until topped by Jennifer Rush in 1985. The song was not only a top 10 again for Madonna in 1996, but the melody formed the basis for David Essex’s “OH What A Circus” which made No 3 as Essex starred in the original west end production. Trivia titbit- the song was originally called “It’s Only Your Lover Returning” but it didn’t sound quite right so it got this title instead.

31. DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART- Elton John & Kiki Dee (738,400) 1976 14 weeks on chart Peak position: 1 Famously Elton’s sole chart topper….until 1990 that is. The track was written as an homage to Motown records with the first choice of duet partner being Dusty Springfield who ultimately declined it. It spent 6 weeks at the top during the long hot summer of 76 and was remade into a top 10 single by Elton with Rupaul 18 years later.