UK Top 20: October 21, 1972 Ft. The Carpenters

New at Number 18: The Carpenters

Presenting the UK Top 20 music chart for the week ending 21 October, 1972

Mouldy Old Dough, Lieutenant Pigeon's novelty hit, continued its reign at Number 1 for a second week blocking records such as 10cc's debut hit Donna from hitting the top spot.

Elsewhere, three new tracks entered the Top 20 - songs by artists who had already enjoyed chart success up until this point. Gilbert O'Sullivan's Clair was making its debut on the chart and would, in time, climb to the summit of the chart.

The Carpenters' return marked the beginning of a series of major hits in the UK, while Burlesque became the swansong on the Singles Chart for predominantly album rockers, Family.

Read on...

Lieutenant Pigeon at Number 1

The Chart: 

• 01 (01) Lieutenant Pigeon - Mouldy Old Dough 
• 02 (10) 10cc - Donna 
• 03 (03) Peter Skellern - You're a Lady 
• 04 (02) David Cassidy - How Can I Be Sure 
• 05 (04) Gary Glitter - I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock 'n' Roll) 
• 06 (09) Python Lee Jackson - In a Broken Dream 
• 07 (08) Elvis Presley - Burning Love 
• 08 (06) The Sweet - Wig-Wam Bam 
• 09 (17) Alice Cooper - Elected 
• 10 (05) T. Rex - Children of the Revolution 
• 11 (11) Judge Dread - Big Six 
• 12 (19) Johnny Nash - There Are More Questions Than Answers 
• 13 (12) David Bowie - John, I'm Only Dancing 
• 14 (07) Donny Osmond - Too Young 
• 15 (---) Gilbert O'Sullivan - Clair 
• 16 (14) Dandy Livingstone - Suzanne Beware of the Devil 
• 17 (15) The Drifters - Come on Over to My Place 
• 18 (22) The Carpenters - Goodbye to Love 
• 19 (23) Family - Burlesque 
• 20 (18) The O'Jays - Back Stabbers

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

Stream This Week's New Hits:



15: Gilbert O'Sullivan: Clair

Gilbert O'Sullivan followed up his his fifth UK Top 20 hit with his first British Number 1, the somewhat cloying Clair.

Written about his manager's (then) three-year-old daughter, the lyrics to the song are initially ambiguous, leading the listener to believe the track is a love song from one adult to another.

The record would soon become one of O'Sullivan's most successful. It would go on to reside at Number 1 for two weeks in November, while becoming his second chart topper in Ireland.

America loved it, too. Clair peaked at Number 2 Stateside, blocked from the top by both Carly Simon's You're So Vain and Billy Paul's Me and Mrs. Jones.

18: The Carpenters: Goodbye to Love

Up until this point The Carpenters' chart performance in the UK had not been quite as spectacular as in their home country.

Goodbye to Love would go some way in amending that position, entering the Top 20 this week at Number 18 and eventually clawing its way to a peak of Number 9.

Originally released as the B-Side to I Won't Last a Day Without You, the record was flipped shortly after release and became only the duo's second Top 10 hit - but perhaps the first true power ballad to hit the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

It also includes a wonderful guitar solo by Tony Peluso.

19: Family: Burlesque

Taken from the group's album Bandstand, Burlesque returned Family to the UK Top 20 Singles for the very last time for a few weeks in 1972.

The track is, to some extent, a suggestive rocker about a bar in the band's hometown of Leicester, England and contains some thoroughly satisfying hooks - not always particularly evident in Family's body of work up to this point.

The band would split around 12 months after this record appeared on the chart (peak No. 13).


The UK Number 1 album this week:

• Various Artists: 20 All Time Greats of the 50s

The American Top 10 (Click to play tracks)

 

UK Music Chart: August 7, 1971

Number 11: Family

Beginning its third week as the UK Number 1 this week in 1971 was Get It On by Marc Bolan's glam rock group, T. Rex. 

Further down the chart, three new songs debuted in the Top 20, including the first hit by T. Rex contemporaries, Slade. Elvis Presley was also back in the listing with a re-release of three of his classic songs from the mid-1950s.

The Chart: 

• 01 (01) T. Rex - Get It On 
• 02 (05) The New Seekers - Never Ending Song of Love 
• 03 (02) Middle of the Road - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep 
• 04 (10) Atomic Rooster - Devil's Answer 
• 05 (03) The Sweet - Co-Co 
• 06 (04) Lobo - Me and You and a Dog Named Boo 
• 07 (06) New World - Tom-Tom Turnaround 
• 08 (16) Diana Ross - I'm Still Waiting 
• 09 (07) Dave and Ansel Collins - Monkey Spanner 
• 10 (17) The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again 
• 11 (23) Family - In My Own Time 
• 12 (08) Greyhound - Black and White 
• 13 (29) Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel / Hound Dog 
• 14 (11) The Move - Tonight 
• 15 (12) St. Cecilia - Leap Up and Down (Wave Your Knickers in the Air) 
• 16 (13) The Supremes and The Four Tops - River Deep, Mountain High 
• 17 (24) Slade - Get Down and Get With It 
• 18 (09) Hurricane Smith - Don't Let It Die 
• 19 (15) The Temptations - Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) 
• 20 (21) The Delfonics - La-La (Means I Love You) 

*Previous week in brackets; Climbers denoted in red; New entries in bold  
Image: Strange Band: The Best Of Family

11: Family: In My Own Time

Roger Chapman's distinctive warbling vocals were back in the UK Top 20 this week, as Family's biggest ever British single, In My Own Time, began its speedy ascent of the music chart.

To be honest, Family was never really a singles band, instead relying on sales of their musically eclectic albums and live tour dates.

Nevertheless, they would return to the Singles Chart one more time before the group folded, but we would have to wait almost a year for Burlesque.

13: Elvis Presley: Heartbreak Hotel/Hound Dog

During the early 1970s, RCA Records re-released several titles in the UK in their MaxiMillion series. The deal was that you could pick up three tracks for the price of two on a single record.

One of these releases was Elvis Presley's first UK hit from 1956, Heartbreak Hotel, backed with both Hound Dog and Don't Be Cruel. Great sales pushed the disc to an ultimate peak position of Number 10 this time around.

17: Slade: Get Down and Get With It

This was the first appearance in the UK Chart from Slade, the group that would eventually go on to be the most commercially successful British singles band of the decade. It was not a quiet debut, either. Get Down and Get With It is a stomping rocker which had been a live favourite, aimed principally at the group's skinhead following of the time.

Most listeners assumed that the track had been written by the band, but it was in fact a cover of a soul recording composed by American funkster Bobby Marchan. Slade transformed it and took it to Number 16.

20: The Delfonics: La-La (Means I Love You)

It took more than three years for this Delfonics' single to register on the UK chart, following its initial release in the US in January 1968. The vocal group was one of the earliest purveyors of smooth Philadelphia Soul, without even the phrase or genre having really been coined to this point.

Written by Thom Bell and William Hart, La-La (Means I Love You) was The Delfonics' first hit on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at Number 4 Stateside and Number 19 in the UK.

The American Top 10 (w/e August 7, 1971)

• 01 (06) How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? - The Bee Gees 
• 02 (02) Indian Reservation - The Raiders 
• 03 (01) You've Got A Friend - James Taylor 
• 04 (04) Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight 
• 05 (05) Draggin' the Line - Tommy James 
• 06 (08) Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver 
• 07 (03) It's Too Late - Carole King 
• 08 (16) Beginnings / Color My World - Chicago 
• 09 (10) What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin and John - Tom Clay 
• 10 (11) Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye

The UK Number 1 album this week:

• Hot Hits 6 - Various Artists

UK Music Chart: September 19, 1970

Number 18: Family: Strange Band

In just her third week on the UK chart, American singer Freda Payne captured the Number 1 spot with the Holland-Dozier-Holland composition, Band of Gold. Meanwhile, two very popular rock acts also found themselves enjoying their very first Top 20 hits, as both Family and Deep Purple entered the listing back in September 1970.

• 01 (06) Freda Payne - Band of Gold 
• 02 (01) Smokey Robinson And The Miracles - Tears of a Clown 
• 03 (04) Chairmen Of The Board - Give Me Just A Little More Time 
• 04 (02) Elvis Presley - The Wonder of You 
• 05 (03) Three Dog Night - Mama Told Me (Not to Come) 
• 06 (10) Hot Chocolate - Love Is Life 
• 07 (05) Bread - Make It With You 
• 08 (14) Desmond Dekker - You Can Get It If You Really Want 
• 09 (08) Jimmy Cliff - Wild World 
• 10 (11) Poppy Family Ft. Susan Jacks - Which Way You Goin' Billy? 
• 11 (09) Marmalade - Rainbow 
• 12 (07) Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4 
• 13 (16) Andy Williams - It's So Easy 
• 14 (15) Shirley Bassey - Something 
• 15 (20) Bobby Bloom - Montego Bay 
• 16 (12) Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon - Sweet Inspiration 
• 17 (19) Aretha Franklin - Don't Play That Song 
• 18 (22) Family - Strange Band 
• 19 (13) Hotlegs - Neanderthal Man 
• 20 (34) Deep Purple - Black Night

*Previous week in brackets; Climbers denoted in red; New entries in bold
Image: Strange Band: The Best Of Family

Possibly one of the UK's finest "forgotten" bands was Family, a group often defined as progressive, but which included many strands of rock elements in its music. The unique singing style of front man Roger Chapman easily identified the band, while much of their success came through live appearances and album sales. Very occasionally, they strayed into the singles chart and this was one of those occasions. Following up the Top 30 success of No Mule's Fool came the eclectic sound of Strange Band which would peak at Number 11.

 

At the same time, one of English rock's loudest bands made its first, and most successful, excursion into the UK singles chart. The release of Black Night coincided with the promotion of Deep Purple's fourth album Deep Purple in Rock. Written by the band, it features what is often considered to be the classic line-up of Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore and lead singer, Ian Gillan. It would go on to peak at Number 2, held off the top spot by this week's Number 1.

Until next time...