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| New at Number 10: David Cassidy |
Presenting the UK Top 20 music chart for the week ending 16 September, 1972
Glam rock group Slade were now into their second week atop the British Singles Chart this week in September 1972, while a couple of their rivals stormed into the Top 20 to try and challenge the Number 1 spot.
Fellow glam band T. Rex were back with a vengeance, seeking a fifth chart topper and, with an entry position of Number 14, it looked on the cards. However, the latest teenage heartthrob, David Cassidy, was looking to go one better than his last single, Could It Be Forever, and finally capture the Number 1 position. With a legion of female fans pushing his sales ever higher, the top of the charts would become a battle royal between these three artists.
Let's not forget the other new entries this week. The ever-reliable Cliff Richard returned with his latest offering, while American soul group The Drifters was experiencing something of a chart rebirth. Mardi Gras, a long forgotten US band, had the final new song to the chart - although it was not new at all...
Read on...
(Above image by Allan Warren (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons)
Fellow glam band T. Rex were back with a vengeance, seeking a fifth chart topper and, with an entry position of Number 14, it looked on the cards. However, the latest teenage heartthrob, David Cassidy, was looking to go one better than his last single, Could It Be Forever, and finally capture the Number 1 position. With a legion of female fans pushing his sales ever higher, the top of the charts would become a battle royal between these three artists.
Let's not forget the other new entries this week. The ever-reliable Cliff Richard returned with his latest offering, while American soul group The Drifters was experiencing something of a chart rebirth. Mardi Gras, a long forgotten US band, had the final new song to the chart - although it was not new at all...
Read on...
(Above image by Allan Warren (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons)
Slade at Number 1
The Chart:
- 01 (01) Slade - Mama Weer All Crazee Now
- 02 (02) Rod Stewart - You Wear It Well
- 03 (05) Faron Young - It's Four in the Morning
- 04 (08) Roxy Music - Virginia Plain
- 05 (06) Lynsey De Paul - Sugar Me
- 06 (04) Blackfoot Sue - Standing in the Road
- 07 (03) Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes
- 08 (16) Michael Jackson - Ain't No Sunshine
- 09 (10) Jackie Wilson - I Get the Sweetest Feeling
- 10 (---) David Cassidy - How Can I Be Sure?
- 11 (09) Derek and the Dominos - Layla
- 12 (21) Cliff Richard - Living in Harmony
- 13 (07) Hawkwind - Silver Machine
- 14 (---) T. Rex - Children of the Revolution
- 15 (12) Little Eva - The Loco-Motion
- 16 (11) Alice Cooper - School's Out
- 17 (14) Hot Butter - Popcorn
- 18 (18) Bill Withers - Lean on Me
- 19 (24) Mardi Gras - Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
- 20 (27) The Drifters - Come On Over to My Place
*Previous week in brackets; Climbers denoted in red; New entries in bold
Stream This Week's New Hits:
10: David Cassidy: How Can I Be Sure?
By now, David Cassidy's teen idol status was formidably secured thanks to a legion of adoring prepubescent girls eagerly awaiting his every record release.
How Can I Be Sure? was Cassidy's second so
lo single and was, once again, a cover of a Sixties American hit.
This time he gave his breathy interpretation to this Young Rascals
' track which originally had been included on their 1967 album, Groovin'
.
Although their version had missed out on a British chart placing the song was given another outing, this time by songstress Dusty Springfield
, who managed to flirt with the lower reaches of the UK listing for a few weeks.
However, teen buying power pushed Cassidy's recording even further up the chart from this Top 10 debut to secure the American the first of two UK Number 1 hits as well as give the song its best ever British chart showing.
12: Cliff Richard: Living in Harmony
The 1970s were a relatively lean period chartwise for former rocker, now family entertainer, Cliff Richard.
His last Top 10 hit had been in early 1970 with Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha
and the week's nine place leap by this single made it look as if another was on the cards in the coming weeks.
However, Living in Harmony would also prove to be something of a disappointment for him. Co-written by Alan Tarney, who would go on to compose his next Number 1 in 1979, the single would stall at Number 12 albeit for three consecutive weeks.
14: T. Rex: Children of the Revolution
By this time T. Rex was probably the hottest group in the UK (with Slade vying for that title, too).
It was no surprise, then, that the band's latest release would barrel its way into the Top 20 on its first week of release.
Children of the Revolution followed hot on the heels of four official T. Rex single releases of which all had gone to the top of the charts. Just Jeepster
(released without Marc Bolan's initial blessing) had "only" peaked at Number 2, so it was with some surprise that this latest track would eventually finish in the runners-up spot.
It spent three consecutive weeks at Number 2, held off the peak by a couple of the band's main rivals: Slade and David Cassidy.
19: Mardi Gras: Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
Originally a hit in 1969 by Motown legend Marvin Gaye, the now long-forgotten New York group Mardi Gras covered Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
and soon found themselves in the charts across Europe.
Although their French Number 1, Girl, I've Got News For You, had missed the British charts, this rockier version of the the soul classic found favour in the UK - unsurprising, really, in a year full of covers and re-releases - and began to make steady progress up the chart.
However, Number 19 would prove to be the single's peak position and Mardi Gras would never again return to the British listing.
20: The Drifters: Come on Over to My Place
The Drifters were experiencing something of a commercial revival in the UK during the early 1970s, all thanks to the reissue of a couple of their mid-60s tracks which had originally underperformed in the UK upon their initial release.
Come on Over to My Place
was the latest example, a Number 40 UK placing in 1965, but now buoyed somewhat by the Northern Soul dancehall craze.
This time the single would climb all the way to Number 9, eventually heralding The Drifters' most successful period in the UK when later signed to Bell Records.
The UK Number 1 album this week:
The American Top 10 (Click to play tracks)
Stream This Week's New Hits:
10: David Cassidy: How Can I Be Sure?
How Can I Be Sure? was Cassidy's second so
lo single and was, once again, a cover of a Sixties American hit.This time he gave his breathy interpretation to this Young Rascals
' track which originally had been included on their 1967 album, Groovin'.Although their version had missed out on a British chart placing the song was given another outing, this time by songstress Dusty Springfield
, who managed to flirt with the lower reaches of the UK listing for a few weeks.However, teen buying power pushed Cassidy's recording even further up the chart from this Top 10 debut to secure the American the first of two UK Number 1 hits as well as give the song its best ever British chart showing.
12: Cliff Richard: Living in Harmony
His last Top 10 hit had been in early 1970 with Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha
and the week's nine place leap by this single made it look as if another was on the cards in the coming weeks.However, Living in Harmony would also prove to be something of a disappointment for him. Co-written by Alan Tarney, who would go on to compose his next Number 1 in 1979, the single would stall at Number 12 albeit for three consecutive weeks.
14: T. Rex: Children of the Revolution
It was no surprise, then, that the band's latest release would barrel its way into the Top 20 on its first week of release.
Children of the Revolution followed hot on the heels of four official T. Rex single releases of which all had gone to the top of the charts. Just Jeepster
(released without Marc Bolan's initial blessing) had "only" peaked at Number 2, so it was with some surprise that this latest track would eventually finish in the runners-up spot.It spent three consecutive weeks at Number 2, held off the peak by a couple of the band's main rivals: Slade and David Cassidy.
19: Mardi Gras: Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
and soon found themselves in the charts across Europe.Although their French Number 1, Girl, I've Got News For You, had missed the British charts, this rockier version of the the soul classic found favour in the UK - unsurprising, really, in a year full of covers and re-releases - and began to make steady progress up the chart.
However, Number 19 would prove to be the single's peak position and Mardi Gras would never again return to the British listing.
20: The Drifters: Come on Over to My Place
Come on Over to My Place
was the latest example, a Number 40 UK placing in 1965, but now buoyed somewhat by the Northern Soul dancehall craze.This time the single would climb all the way to Number 9, eventually heralding The Drifters' most successful period in the UK when later signed to Bell Records.
The UK Number 1 album this week:
- Rod Stewart: Never A Dull Moment
The American Top 10 (Click to play tracks)
