UK Music Chart: February 28, 1970

Number 13 : Simon & Garfunkel : Bridge Over Troubled Water

• 01 (01) Edison Lighthouse - Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) 
• 02 (05) Lee Marvin - Wand'rin' Star 
• 03 (02) Canned Heat - Let's Work Together 
• 04 (04) Jackson Five - I Want You Back 
• 05 (07) John Lennon/Yoko Ono/The Plastic Ono Band - Instant Karma! 
• 06 (03) Peter, Paul And Mary - Leavin' On A Jet Plane 
• 07 (06) Mary Hopkin - Temma Harbour 
• 08 (09) Shocking Blue - Venus 
• 09 (11) White Plains - My Baby Loves Lovin' 
• 10 (19) Brotherhood Of Man - United We Stand 
• 11 (12) Herman's Hermits - Years May Come, Years May Go 
• 12 (08) Jethro Tull - The Witch's Promise / Teacher 
• 13 (42) Simon And Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 
• 14 (20) Judy Collins - Both Sides Now 
• 15 (10) Rolf Harris - Two Little Boys 
• 16 (26) Sacha Distel - Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head 
• 17 (17) Temptations - I Can't Get Next To You 
• 18 (14) Chicago - I'm A Man 
• 19 (13) Badfinger - Come And Get It 
• 20 (18) Kenny Rogers/First Edition - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town

*Previous week in brackets; Climbers denoted in red.
Image: Simon & Garfunkel "Bridge Over Troubled Water" Framed Silver Record

All of last week's new entries continued to climb the Top 20, while Lee Marvin breathed down the neck of Number 1 group Edison Lighthouse which managed to hold the top spot for one further week.

More interestingly, one of pop music's classic tunes was about to begin its own assault on the peak of the British chart. On this day in February 1970, Bridge Over Troubled Water would top the Billboard Hot 100 in the States, but it would have to wait a few more weeks before repeating the feat in the UK. Nevertheless, this beautiful track made an impressive 29 place jump to become the biggest climber of the week. Sadly, the song would eventually lead to the break-up of one of music's best loved duos:

Three places below Simon and Garfunkel, Sacha Distel was winning the battle of the Raindrops as his version of Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head jumped ten places to Number 16. Several different versions of this song were floating around at the time. Three of them were competing with each other this week in 1970: the original by B.J. Thomas (UK peak, Number 38), Bobbie Gentry (UK peak, Number 40) and this one which would eventually reach Number 10:

As there are not many new songs to mention in this post, I thought adding the following video may be a little memory jogging for some. Unfortunately, the BBC has wiped many of the earlier editions of Top of the Pops, so we can't enjoy watching some of our favourite artists from the Sixties and Seventies again. However, as I was researching today's post, I happened upon this clip of the show from the era covered here:

Until next time...