This was Middle of the Road's fifth and final week at Number 1 in the UK with Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep. Its glam rock successor by T.Rex was storming up the chart (this week Number 4) to replace it.
Two other new entries made their mark this week, as one of The Move's final singles crept in at Number 19 and a novelty hit from a long-forgotten group debuted at Number 20.
The Chart:
- 01 (01) Middle of the Road - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
- 02 (02) The Sweet - Co-Co
- 03 (03) Hurricane Smith - Don't Let It Die
- 04 (21) T.Rex - Get It On
- 05 (14) Lobo - Me and You and a Dog Named Boo
- 06 (09) Greyhound - Black and White
- 07 (17) Dave and Ansel Collins - Monkey Spanner
- 08 (04) Blue Mink - The Banner Man
- 09 (05) John Kongos - He's Gonna Step on You Again
- 10 (06) Tami Lynn - I'm Gonna Run Away From You
- 11 (08) The Temptations - Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
- 12 (18) New World - Tom-Tom Turnaround
- 13 (11) Bob and Marcia - The Pied Piper
- 14 (13) White Plains - When You Are A King
- 15 (12) Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - I Don't Blame You at All
- 16 (16) The Supremes & The Four Tops - River Deep, Mountain High
- 17 (10) Mungo Jerry - Lady Rose
- 18 (07) Tony Christie - I Did What I Did For Maria
- 19 (25) The Move - Tonight
- 20 (23) St. Cecilia - Leap Up and Down (Wave Your Knickers in the Air)
4: T.Rex: Get It On
The newest album from T.Rex, Electric Warrior, produced this latest Number 1 single from the band - hard on the heels of Hot Love which had spent six weeks at the top just a few months earlier. Get It On became the group's biggest song in the States where it hit the Top 10 the following year under the differing title, Bang A Gong.
19: The Move: Tonight
As a group, The Move was entering a period of metamorphosis. Its members were in the process of forming and recording for a new project, The Electric Light Orchestra. The two bands co-existed for a time with the glorious Tonight becoming one of The Move's final singles. Written by Roy Wood, the track took them into the British Top 20 for the penultimate time before their eventual break-up. Strangely, the song was originally meant for The New Seekers to record.
20: St. Cecilia: Leap Up and Down (Wave Your Knickers in the Air)
Apparently, St. Cecilia was the first band from Corby to make the UK Singles Chart. Although it received limited radio play on both the BBC and Radio Luxembourg, the era's most influential music TV show, Top of the Pops, decided to ban their song.
For the time, the mention of "knickers" was quite racy and producers of the television programme felt it was inappropriate to feature the track. Consequently, it became something of a naughty novelty, helping push it further up the chart to a peak of Number 12. However, the Jonathan King-produced Leap Up and Down (Wave Your Knickers in the Air), would be the one and only time that a song by St. Cecilia would feature on the chart, as follow-up singles failed to impress record buyers.
The American Top 10 (w/e July 17, 1971)
- 01 (01) It's Too Late - Carole King
- 02 (02) Indian Reservation - The Raiders
- 03 (06) You've Got A Friend - James Taylor
- 04 (05) Don't Pull Your Love - Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds
- 05 (03) Treat Her Like a Lady - Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose
- 06 (07) Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight
- 07 (04) Rainy Days and Mondays - The Carpenters
- 08 (14) Draggin' the Line - Tommy James
- 09 (16) How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? - The Bee Gees
- 10 (10) That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be - Carly Simon
The UK Number 1 album this week:
- Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
