UK Music Chart: September 18, 1971 Featuring Rod Stewart

After four weeks, Diana Ross relinquished the UK Number 1 spot in favour of a track from 1964, which had been buoyed by the popularity of Britain's Northern Soul scene.

Hey Girl, Don't Bother Me was a long forgotten record by The Tams, an American soul vocal group which had not had a substantial hit on either side of the Atlantic for seven years. It suddenly started to gain popularity in Northern clubs and this provided the traction for it to cross to mainstream radio.

Elsewhere, a collection of records covering the spectrum of music genres made their debuts in this week's chart - headed by a now-classic tune from Rod Stewart.

The Tams at Number 1

The Chart:

01 (02) The Tams - Hey Girl, Don't Bother Me
02 (01) Diana Ross - I'm Still Waiting
03 (06) Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood - Did You Ever?
04 (09) Curved Air - Back Street Luv
05 (08) The Supremes - Nathan Jones
06 (10) Carole King - It's Too Late
07 (04) The New Seekers - Never Ending Song of Love
08 (15) Hot Chocolate - I Believe (In Love)
09 (07) Buffy Sainte-Marie - Soldier Blue
10 (03) Dawn - What Are You Doing Sunday?
11 (**) Rod Stewart - Maggie May
12 (14) James Taylor - You've Got a Friend
13 (05) The Pioneers - Let Your Yeah Be Yeah
14 (14) Family - In My Own Time
15 (21) Shirley Bassey - For All We Know
16 (23) Middle of the Road - Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum
17 (20) Marmalade - Cousin Norman
18 (26) CCS - Tap Turns on the Water
19 (28) Ken Dodd - When Love Comes Round Again
20 (18) Gilbert O'Sullivan - We Will

*Previous week in brackets; Climbers denoted in red; New entries in bold

11: Rod Stewart: Maggie May

This classic track from Rod Stewart featured as a hit in its own right beginning with this chart from September, 1971.

Previously the B-Side to Reason to Believe (which entered last week's chart at Number 19), the popularity of Maggie May forced radio stations to feature it on their playlists instead.

By default, it became the A-Side and, in the process, one of Stewart's biggest hits of his career. Not only did it top the charts in the UK, but also concurrently in the USA - making Rod Stewart one of the few artists to achieve that feat. He also captured the Number 1 spot on the album charts in both countries with the single's parent album Every Picture Tells A Story, again concurrently.

15: Shirley Bassey: For All We Know

Originally featured in the movie Lovers and Other Strangers, The Carpenters covered For All We Know and took it into the Top 3 of America's Billboard Hot 100.

Their version was released in the UK as well, but Dame Shirley's interpretation of the song won the ensuing chart battle, peaking at Number 6.

The Carpenters would also enter the UK Top 20 with For All We Know, but to try and bolster sales it was coupled with Superstar, which helped it up to Number 18.

The song won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 1971 Academy Awards ceremony.

16: Middle of the Road: Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum

Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum was Middle of the Road's follow-up to their mega-hit, Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.

Like the latter, part of the songwriting was due to the late Lally Stott, who went on to compose further hits for Middle of the Road.

Trivia: In Italy this song was used to advertise the then-new Fiat 127, while in France a French version by Sheila called Les rois mages (The Magi) became a big hit on that country's music chart.

18: CCS: Tap Turns on the Water

If you love your music brassy, bluesy and gravelly, then you'll enjoy this track from CCS entitled Tap Turns on the Water.

CCS (or Collective Consciousness Society), headed by blues man Alexis Korner, was a short-lived musical conglomerate of mainly session musicians who had formed primarily for recording purposes. This was their third hit in approximately eighteen months and proved to be the biggest of them all.

It peaked at Number 5 and became the group's final Top 20 hit.

19: Ken Dodd: When Love Comes Round Again

His first Top 20, Love is Like a Violin, had appeared in the UK charts in the summer of 1960 and When Love Comes Round Again would prove to be Ken Dodd's final brief appearance.

He often covered successful Italian language songs and this was another of them. Originally recorded by Sergio Endrigo under the title L'arca di Noè, it was an entry at the 1970 Sanremo Festival where it finished in third place.

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The American Top 10 (w/e September 18, 1971)
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