UK Music Chart: April 1, 1972 Ft. The Chiffons

The Chiffons at Number 15

Nilsson's Without You entered its fourth week as the UK's best selling song on this date in 1972, but below him several new songs were about to make their own impression on the Top 20.

Surprisingly, The Chiffons led the pack of five new entries with a re-release of their 1966 American hit, Sweet Talkin' Guy. 1972 was fast becoming a year for recycling old singles and this was to become one of the most successful.

Elsewhere, there was no messing around from both Ringo Starr and Tom Jones as their latest releases landed directly in the Top 20.

By comparison, Olivia Newton-John's latest was moving at a snail's pace, while UK chart newcomer Neil Young was having a tough time emulating his extraordinary Stateside success with Heart of Gold.


Nilsson at Number 1

The Chart: 

• 01 (01) Nilsson - Without You 
• 02 (02) The New Seekers - Beg, Steal or Borrow 
• 03 (04) Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (Naturally) 
• 04 (03) Don McLean - American Pie 
• 05 (07) Argent - Hold Your Head Up 
• 06 (05) Lindisfarne - Meet Me on the Corner 
• 07 (09) Les Crane - Desiderata 
• 08 (06) Paul Simon - Mother and Child Reunion 
• 09 (10) The Supremes - Floy Joy 
• 10 (08) Michael Jackson - Got to Be There 
• 11 (14) The Partridge Family - It's One of Those Nights 
• 12 (11) The Chelsea Football Team - Blue is the Colour 
• 13 (13) Donnie Elbert - I Can't Help Myself 
• 14 (19) Engelbert Humperdinck - Too Beautiful to Last 
• 15 (24) The Chiffons - Sweet Talkin' Guy 
• 16 (12) Chicory Tip - Son of My Father 
• 17 (25) Neil Young - Heart of Gold 
• 18 (**) Ringo Starr - Back Off Boogaloo 
• 19 (**) Tom Jones - The Young New Mexican Puppeteer 
• 20 (21) Olivia Newton-John - What is Life?

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

No digital download available for What Is Life? by Olivia Newton-John.

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15: The Chiffons: Sweet Talkin' Guy

The Chiffons were one of several girl groups of the 1960s to hit the big time with their own interpretation of the pop/soul of the era.

Having hit the US Top 10 twice in 1963 (firstly with the #1 song He's So Fine), the girls had to wait three years before they would return there with Sweet Talkin' Guy.

However, their impact was not so great in the UK - at least not until this 1966 re-release started climbing the charts.

Mainly due to the music phenomenon that became known as Northern Soul, this Chiffons recording found a renewed (and even greater) popularity in 1972 when it was picked up in the clubs, soon peaking at Number 4 in late April.

17: Neil Young: Heart of Gold

Heading towards a UK Top 10 berth was this recent former US #1 song by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young: Heart of Gold.

Taken from his best selling album Harvest, the track featured backing vocals from both Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, who happened to be in the right place at the right time for the recording.

While those two names seemed happy with their own spotlight, the success of Heart of Gold pushed Young into the mainstream - a place where he was less than comfortable.

As a consequence, he was not a regular visitor to the UK and US Singles Charts -  this song remaining his sole conquest of the British Top 20.

18: Ringo Starr: Back Off Boogaloo

Ringo Starr's follow-up to the highly successful It Don't Come Easy was this glam rock-influenced, high-energy offering called Back Off Boogaloo.

During this period of 1972, Starr had committed to directing a documentary movie about Marc Bolan's band T. Rex, called Born to Boogie. As a result, he had formed a close friendship with Bolan who used the word 'boogaloo' frequently.

Thus, this track was born - although many commentators still maintain that the lyrics were a direct criticism by Starr of the recent output of his ex-Beatle bandmate Paul McCartney. Starr contends this is not the case.

Whatever the facts, Back Off Boogaloo became Ringo's biggest single in the UK by peaking at Number 2, as well as entering the Top 10 in the USA.

19: Tom Jones: The Young New Mexican Puppeteer

Tom Jones was seemingly on a roll of UK Top 20 hits, - having just peaked at Number 2 with his version of Till - but the undeservedly-ignored story song The Young New Mexican Puppeteer would prove to be his last one for quite some time.

A track which advocated political and social change, it peaked at Number 6 in the UK, but only managed to scrape into the lower end of America's Billboard Hot 100.





20: Olivia Newton-John: What Is Life?

In many territories, George Harrison released his own version of What Is Life? as a follow-up single to his highly successful track My Sweet Lord.

In the UK, however, it ended up on the flip side of 'Lord' thereby missing out on a full single release there.

Instead, the hit version was recorded by Olivia Newton-John who had decided to include it on her second eponymous album.

It did well, peaking at Number 16 and even figured in the Top 40 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

The UK Number 1 album this week:

• Lindisfarne: Fog on the Tyne

The American Top 10 (Click to play tracks)

The Number 5 song, The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Robert John, is unavailable.  This has been substituted by the Tight Fit version from the 1980s.