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1975 1976
MIKE SMITH’S HOT HUNDRED UK HITS 1975 1975 saw the growth of Disco music and the fading away of Glam Rock. This change led to a large number of different acts appearing in the UK charts during this year. There are in fact 36 new names in this 1975 listing, but very few went on to have a long chart career, and several turned out to be one-hit-wonders. Only three acts have as many as three hits in this listing. They are the Bay City Rollers who were the top British group of the year, David Bowie, who had four entries in the Top 20, although one of those was "Space Oddity", a reissue of his 1969 hit. The third act was American Soul group the Stylistics, who achieved four Top 20 hits, and remained more popular in the UK than at home. A mention should also be made for Frankie Valli who had two solo hits plus two hits with his group the Four Seasons. From the UK, Elton John, David Essex, Rod Stewart, Showaddywaddy, and Hot Chocolate all had a couple of substantial hits in the charts. John Lennon, whose solo career had been a bit sporadic, had his classic "Imagine" single in the 1975 charts for the first of three appearances over the next three decades. From Sweden, Abba had the first two of 18 consecutive Top 10 hits which continued until 1981, making them a dominant force for the remainder of the decade. The Americans still had a good look-in. The Country Rock band the Eagles finally reached the British singles charts in 1975, having had several hits in the USA since 1972. The year also witnessed the unexpected return of the late 1950s/early 1960s guitarist Duane Eddy, although it was very much a one-off. Other revived names from the States included Art Garfunkel (originally one half of Simon & Garfunkel) who had the first of two chart toppers in the 1970s, crooner Johnny Mathis, who had not been in the UK Top 10 since 1960, and those 'Jersey Boys', the Four Seasons who had their first Top 10 hit for ten years. Other acts from the USA in the charts this year included the Carpenters, the Drifters, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and Barry White. These are my personal favourite recordings from this particular year, listed in the order in which they entered the UK hit singles chart. You may not agree with my choices, but these were UK chart hits* that had plenty of air play on the music radio stations of the day, such as BBC Radio 1, Capital Radio, and Radio Luxembourg. *1 song not a hit in the UK. |
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1 Title: Boogie On Reggae Woman
Stevie Wonder was born on 13 May 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan,
USA, but he grew up in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was blind almost from birth, but began singing in a
church choir as a child. He was signed to Tamla Motown records at the age of eleven, and made several
records. In 1963, when he was 12, he had his first hit, "Fingertips", which went to Number One
on the USA charts. His next few releases, however, did not reach the charts, and there was a danger that
Motown might drop him. However, he was given one last chance to produce a hit, and with his musical mentors,
Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby, he wrote "Uptight (Everything's Alright)".
The single reached number 3 in the USA, peaking at number 14 in the UK - his debut hit there. His career grew from there
with a series of hit singles and albums over the following years. By the end of the 20th century, he had scored 54 hit singles and
17 Top 30 hit albums in the UK. He has continued to record and perform until the present time, although at
greater intervals than in the earlier decades. His most recent original album release was in 2005. |
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2 Title: Sugar Candy Kisses
Mac & Katie
Kissoon were a brother and
sister duo, both born in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 11 Nov 1943
(Mac) and 11 Mar 1951 (Katie). They emigrated to the UK with
their family in 1962. Both began recording and performing
separately with different groups during the second half of the
1960s. They first recorded together in 1971 when they issued
the song "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". The Kissoons missed out
to a rival version from Scottish group Middle Of The Road which went
to Number One in the UK (see year 1971, song 41). Mac &
Katie's version peaked at number 41 in the UK, but reached number 20
in the USA. The duo's first chart success in the UK came in
1975 when "Sugar Candy Kisses" climbed up to number
three. This was followed by the Top 10 hit "Don't Do It
Baby" later in the year. They only had two further
smaller hits in the UK, but they were very popular in the
Netherlands, where they had several hits, including two Top 10
entries during 1979-1980. In the 2000s, Katie provided backing
vocals on several album recordings for other artists, and performed
the same role on their concert tours. |
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3 Title: January
Pilot was a Scottish
rock group formed during 1973 in Edinburgh by David Paton and Billy Lyall.
Both Paton and Lyall had been in the the Bay City Rollers
before that band reached the height of its fame. In 1974 they
recorded their debut album "From The Album Of The Same
Name", which was not a hit, but featured the song
"Magic". The recording peaked at number eleven in
the UK but it reached Number One in Canada and number five in the
USA. Even the afore-mentioned album reached number 82 on the
American Top 200 album chart. The band's next release, in
January 1975, the aptly-named "January", went to Number
One in the UK, but two further releases only made the Top 40.
The band broke up in 1978, and Paton with two other members of the
band joined the Alan Parsons Project which had a few album hits in
the second half of the 1970s and early 1980s. |
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4 Title: Angie Baby Helen Reddy (25 Oct 1941 - 29 Sep 2020), was born in Melbourne, Australia. She started singing as a child, and took part in several talent contests. One contest had a winning prize of a trip to New York, in 1966. She decided to remain in the USA to pursue her ambition to be a successful singer. She moved to Los Angeles and eventually gained a recording contact with Capitol records. During the 1970s, Reddy enjoyed success in the USA, where she placed 15 singles in the top 40. Six made the top 10 and three reached Number One, including her signature hit "I Am Woman", in 1972. On television, she was the first Australian to host a one-hour weekly primetime variety show on an American network, along with specials that were seen in more than 40 countries. Her only major successes in the UK were her Top 10 single "Angie Baby", and her "Best of Helen Reddy" album which reached number five on the UK album chart in 1976. She continued successfully in the USA until she retired from live performance in 2002, although she made a come-back from 2011 for special events. She suffered from Addison's disease and dementia in her later years, and died on 29 September 2020 in Los Angeles, aged 78. |
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5 Title: Purely By Coincidence Sweet Sensation
were a British Soul group formed in Manchester in 1971. It was
an eight-piece band with lead singer Marcel King (4 Jan 1957 - 5 Oct
1995), who was 17 when this song was recorded, which he sang in a falsetto
voice. They came to prominence when they appeared on the TV
talent show "New Faces" in early 1974. One of the
judges on the show's panel was record producer Tony Hatch, who had
crafted numerous hits for Petula Clark in the 1960s. Hatch saw
their potential and arranged for them to sign a record deal with Pye
records. Their first release did not reach the charts but the
second offering, "Sad Sweet Dreamer" (see year 1974, song
71), became a Number One hit in the UK, and it even
reached the Top 20 in the USA. One further release reached
number eleven in January 1975, but there were no further hits, and the
band was dissolved in 1977. |
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6 Title: Please Mr Postman
The
Carpenters were a brother and sister duo from Connecticut,
USA. The act comprised Richard Carpenter (born 15 Oct 1946)
and Karen Carpenter (2 Mar 1950 - 4 Feb 1983). Karen provided
the vocals and sometimes drums, while Richard provided the
arrangements, instrumentation (mostly piano), and sometimes
backing vocals. During the 1970s they were an extremely
popular easy-listening act with numerous hit singles and albums throughout
the world. Their compilation album "The Singles
1969-1973" reached Number One in the UK and remained on the
album chart for well over two years, with seven other albums
reaching the Top 10. They toured the world extensively for a
decade, but Karen began to suffer from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa,
although she always denied the suggestion. However, in early
February 1983 she collapsed and died from a heart attack brought on
by anorexia nervosa. Richard Carpenter then began producing a
new album of unreleased Carpenters recordings which was issued later
in 1983. Since then he has produced several compilation
albums, and in 2018 an album of the duo's hits with orchestration
from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was issued, reaching number
eight in the UK album chart. |
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7 Title: Star On A TV Show
The Stylistics was a smooth Soul five-piece vocal
group that was formed in Philadelphia, USA in 1970. The group
was characterised by the falsetto voice of Russell Thompkins Jr
(born on 21 Mar 1951 in Philadelphia, USA) and the smooth sound
created by producer Thom Bell. This combination resulted in a
series of six UK hits until the summer of 1974. Thom Bell
stopped working with the group at that time, but production was
taken over by record label owners Hugo & Luigi with arrangements by Van
McCoy. This resulted in another run of ten hits in the UK,
with seven of those reaching the Top 10. However, this second
run of hits over the years 1974 to 1976, did not do well in the USA
where the new Disco sound was becoming dominant. In addition
to the singles success in the UK, the group's "Best Of" album
went to Number One on the British album chart, where it eventually
stayed for 63 weeks. The group continued for the next two
decades, but Thompkins left in 2000. He released a solo album
in 2002, but in 2004 Thompkins formed a new group, Russell Thompkins
Jr & The New Stylistics. They are still performing (as a
trio) at the present time. |
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8 Title: I'm Stone In Love With You Johnny Mathis
was born on 30 Sep 1935 in Texas, USA, but his family moved to San
Francisco, where he grew up. His father encouraged him to
sing, and he was having voice lessons from the age of 13. He
began singing in clubs in 1955, and was soon given a recording
contract. His crooning style was very popular with
the older generation, and TV appearances increased his popularity.
He issued dozens of albums of ballads and standards, as well as
having some success in the singles market. He had not
enjoyed a UK Top 10 single since 1960 when "My Love For
You" reached number nine (see year 1960, song 87), so, this hit
single was quite unexpected. In 1976 his Christmas perennial,
"When A Child Is Born", first entered the UK charts,
reaching Number One. A few further hits continued in the UK
until 1979. |
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9 Title: Shoorah! Shoorah! Betty Wright (21 Dec 1953 - 10 May 2020) was born in Miami, Florida, USA. Betty joined the family Gospel group when she was a child, but that broke up in 1965 when she was eleven. She then decided to follow an R&B musical career, and began recording when just twelve. She continued singing whilst still at school, and became well-known in the Miami area. When only 17 she had her first national hit record, and followed that with several R&B hits over the next couple of years. Her first appearance in the UK charts came in early 1975 when "Shoorah! Shoorah" reached the Top 30. A follow-up in April that year got two places higher, but a sustained chart career in the UK did not ensue. Although she continued to record, she was also a backing singer on the albums of several other artists during the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2000s she was a vocal producer for several prominent vocalists, but still often performed on stage and TV. Sadly she died from cancer, in Miami, at the age of 66. |
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10 Title: Your Kiss Is Sweet Syreeta (3 Aug 1946 - 6 Jul 2004) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The family moved around the USA, until they settled in Detroit as Syreeta began high school. After competing her education she got an office job with Motown records, but was soon recording demos for established artists. She met Stevie Wonder at Motown in 1968 and they began songwriting together. In September 1970 she and Wonder married in Detroit, and they worked on Wonder's next couple of albums, although they divorced in 1972. In 1974, Syreeta issued a new album which included the single "Your Kiss Is Sweet", which was a Top 20 hit in the UK, but did not chart in the USA. She later began recording with Billy Preston (who worked with the Beatles in the late 1960s), and they enjoyed the UK number two hit "With You I'm Born Again" in 1979. She also continued to work with Wonder on his albums into the 1980s, and she issued albums into the 1980s as well. Wright briefly lived in Ethiopia in the mid-1970s, where she worked as a Transcendental Meditation teacher. She eventually settled in Los Angeles, where she lived for the rest of her life. She died in 2004 from congestive heart failure, a side effect of chemotherapy and radiation treatments she was receiving for breast and bone cancer, at the age of just 57. |
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11 Title: My Eyes Adored You Frankie
Valli was born on 3 May 1934 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He
became famous as the lead singer with the group the Four
Seasons. He had begun singing in the 1950s with various
groups, but it was In 1960, with the Four Seasons, that his career
took off. Their first hit on both sides of the Atlantic
was "Sherry", which was an American chart-topper. Other similar recordings followed and they
managed to hit the UK charts through to 1966. Valli continued
to record with the group, but also recorded as a solo artist.
In 1970 he had his first UK solo hit with "You're Ready Now"
(see year 1970, song 100) which was made in 1966, but not released in the UK
until four years later.
His next solo hit came in 1975, when he reached the Top 10 with
"My Eyes Adored You", which was an American Number One. He had more hits with the Four
Seasons, as well as solo, during the mid-to-late 1970s. He has continued to perform in
concert tours during the 2010s, but went to the UK for a farewell
tour at the end of 2018. |
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12 Title: Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) Steve Harley (27
Feb 1951 - 17 Mar 2024) was born in Deptford, south London, England.
Steve's first guitar was a Christmas gift from his parents when he was ten-years-old.
He took classical violin lessons from the age of nine to fifteen and played in his Grammar school orchestra.
He had set his sights on a career in journalism, and got a job with
the Daily Express in 1968. He later took a job with a local
newspaper group in Essex, and then worked on the East London
Advertiser in the heart of London's East End. However, his
love of music had grown, and after a stint with a Folk music group,
he formed Cockney Rebel in 1972, and signed a deal with EMI
records. The first single "Sebastian", did not
chart in the UK, but went to Number One in the Netherlands and
Belgium. The group first charted in the UK during 1974 with
"Judy Teen" which reached number five, followed by another
Top 10 entry. In February 1975 they hit Number One in the UK
with "Make Me Smile", and they had two Top 10 albums
during 1974-1975. In the 1980s Harley turned to acting, and
starred in the stage musical "Marlow". More roles
followed into the 2000s. For nine years from 1999, Steve
Harley presented BBC Radio Two's "Sounds of the Seventies", and
he composed many songs for other performers over the years. He
died from cancer in March 2024 at the age of 73. |
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13 Title: Pick Up The Pieces The Average
White Band was a white Soul/Funk band, formed in London by six
musicians originating from Dundee, Scotland. They had played
together in Scotland previously, but had gone to London as
individuals. Featuring two saxophonists and a trumpeter, they
gained a support slot at an Eric Clapton concert in 1973, and
shortly after signed a recording contract. Their debut album
"Show Your Hand" in 1973 did not reach the charts, but
their 1974 album "AWB", recorded in Los Angeles, reached
number six in the UK, and went all the way to Number One in the
USA. A single taken from the album, "Pick Up The
Pieces", which was largely an instrumental piece, also peaked
at number six in the UK but reached Number One in the USA.
With that American success, the band remained in Los Angeles, and
two further albums over 1975-1976 reached the USA Top 10, although
they did not do so well in the UK. In 1980, they had a number
twelve Disco hit in the UK with "Let's Go Round
Again". After that initial success, their popularity
began to wane, and the band broke up in 1983. However, with
mostly new personnel, they reformed in 1989 and further recordings
have been made, as well as performances into the 2010s. |
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14 Title: Mandy Barry Manilow
was born on 17 Jun 1943 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is an American
singer-songwriter, arranger, musician, producer and actor, with a career that
has spanned more than 50 years.
He began as a songwriter in the 1960s, but turned to singing in the
early 1970s. His hit recordings include "Mandy", "Could It Be Magic",
"I Write the Songs", "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana (At the
Copa)". He recorded and released numerous hit singles and
albums from the mid-1970s to the beginning of the 2000s. He
has had six Top 10 albums in the UK, but in the USA he has scored numerous
Top 10 albums up to 2014. He has produced albums for other
artists including Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson and Sarah
Vaughan, and has been nominated for a Grammy Award (winning once) as a producer,
arranger and performer a total of fifteen times (and in every decade) from 1973 to
2015. Manilow has sold more than 85 million records as a solo artist
worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling
artists of all time. |
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15 Title: There's A Whole Lot Of Loving Guys 'n' Dolls was formed in November 1974, after a production company held auditions for three young men and three young women to perform as a vocal group. The six original members were Paul Griggs, David Van Day, Dominic Grant, Thereza Bazar, Martine Howard and Julie Forsyth (daughter of entertainer Bruce Forsyth). Guys 'n' Dolls first single, "There's a Whole Lot of Loving", was released in January 1975. The song was originally recorded in September 1974 by a group of session singers (including the ubiquitous Tony Burrows) for a TV advertisement for McVitie's biscuits. Guys 'n' Dolls were formed to cash in upon the popularity of the jingle. However, the group was not ready to record a new version required for the single's hasty release and so the voices of the session singers remained on the single. The song became an immediate hit, rising to number two in the UK singles chart, launching the group to overnight stardom. They had one more Top 10 entry, being a remake of Dusty Springfield's hit from 1966 "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", in 1976. However, only two further recordings reached the charts, peaking at numbers 38 and 42. In mid-1977 David Van Day and Thereza Bazar left to form the duo Dollar, who had a successful chart career with several hits from 1978 to 1988. Guys 'n' Dolls continued as a quartet, but broke up in 1985. |
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16 Title: Young Americans David Bowie (8
Jan 1947 - 10 Jan 2016) was born in south London, England. He developed an interest in music as a child, eventually
studying art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963.
"Space Oddity" became his first entry on the UK charts after its release in July 1969.
Following a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the
Glam Rock era with his flamboyant alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single
"Starman" and the album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from
Mars", which won him widespread popularity and
recognition. After an uneven period in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes",
its parent album
"Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)", and "Under Pressure", a 1981 collaboration with Queen.
He reached his commercial peak in 1983 with "Let's Dance",
which topped both the UK and USA charts. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical
styles. He stopped touring after 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity
event in 2006.
In 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with the
album "The Next Day". He remained musically active until he died of liver cancer
in New York City at age 69, two days after the release of his final album,
"Blackstar" (2016). |
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17 Title: Bye Bye Baby
The Bay City
Rollers was a Scottish band from Edinburgh, formed originally in the
1960s under different names. Although the personnel changed a
few times, the best-known line up comprised
lead singer Les McKeown (12 Nov 1955 - 20 Apr 2021, born in Edinburgh), guitarists Eric Faulkner and Stuart Wood,
bassist Alan Longmuir (20 Jun 1948 - 2 Jul 2018), and drummer Derek
Longmuir. They signed a contract with Bell records and had
their first hit in 1971, "Keep On Dancing", which reached
the UK Top 10 (see year 1971, song 71). They did not have another hit until 1974 when
they began a run of Top 10 hits until 1976. Fan adulation for
the group during that time was dubbed 'Rollermania', echoing the 'Beatlemania'
of the 1960s. They also had some success in the USA in the
mid-1970s, with three of their releases reaching the American Top
10. After their popularity began to wane, there were several
personnel changes, but they continued into the 1980s. Various
regroupings and reunions have taken place since then, with tours at
home and abroad in the 2010s. |
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18 Title: Girls
The Moments and
Whatnauts were two separate vocal groups that were put together by
their record company for this recording. The Moments was a
trio, including the co-writers of this song, Al Goodman & Harry Ray.
They had formed in the mid-1960s in Washington DC, and some changes
of personnel took place over a few years. They enjoyed several
USA hits during those years, but it was not until 1975 when they
collaborated with the Whatnauts that they first appeared on the UK
charts. They had a further Top 10 hit in July this year (song
53), and another in 1977, but that was it in the UK. They
changed the group name to Ray, Goodman & Brown in 1980 and they
had several more hits in the USA. Ray and Goodman have both
died, but the group continues with new members. |
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19 Title: Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar
Duane Eddy (26
Apr 1938 - 30 Apr 2024) was born in Corning, New York, USA.
His family moved to Arizona when he was a young teen, and he started
playing guitar with a friend when he was 16. They got a few
gigs on a local radio station, where Duane met Lee Hazlewood,
who would help develop the "twangy" guitar sound that was
Eddy's trademark. He began recording in 1957, and the
recording of "Rebel Rouser" became an international hit in
1958. Eddy enjoyed numerous hit singles and albums after that,
mostly in partnership with Lee Hazlewood. Eddy continued to
make a few live appearances in the 21st century, and he made a brief
tour of the UK in 2018. He was featured as guest guitarist on
the Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra remix album
"If I Can Dream" in 2015. He died from cancer on 30
Apr 2024 at the age of 86. |
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20 Title: Philadelphia Freedom Elton John
was born on 25 Mar 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex (north-west
London). He learned to play piano at an early age, and by 1962 had formed
Bluesology, an R&B band with whom he played until 1967. He met his longtime musical partner
Bernie Taupin in 1967, after they both answered an advert for songwriters.
For two years, they wrote songs for artists including Lulu, and John worked as a session musician for artists
including the Hollies and the Scaffold.
Elton John was also one of several singers in the late 1960s and
early 1970s who recorded covers of hit songs for sale as
budget-priced albums in shops like Woolworths. In 1971, his first hit single, "Your Song",
taken from his second album, "Elton John", reached the top ten in the UK and the
USA.
From that point he gradually became a star and by the end of the
20th century he had achieved over seventy hit singles in the UK
charts and some 36 albums in the album chart. In the USA he
has had more than 50 Top 40 hits and seven consecutive number-one albums.
His tribute single "Candle in the Wind 1997", rewritten in dedication to Diana, Princess of Wales, sold over
33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single in the history of the UK and USA singles
charts. He has also composed music for the musical film and
stage presentation "The Lion King", as well as for several
other musicals. Elton John owned Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987 and from 1997 to 2002, and is
an honorary Life President of the club.
In 2019 a biographical film tilted "Rocket Man", about
Elton John's life from childhood to the 1980s, was released.
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21 Title: What Am I Going To Do With You Barry White (12
Sep 1944 - 4 Jul 2003) was born in Galveston, Texas, USA, but he
grew up in Los Angeles. He began singing in the early 1960s,
often with groups, sometimes solo, and he began producing recordings
in the second half of the 1960s. In the early 1970s he had
success with girl group Love Unlimited and their hit "Walking
In The Rain With The One I Love" (see year 1972, song 52),
which White wrote, arranged and produced. In 1973 White
created the Love Unlimited Orchestra, which was used mainly to
provide backing for for himself and the girl group. However,
the orchestra also recorded instrumental tracks, and they had the
hit "Love's Theme" (see year 1974, song 8). White had a
couple of small hits before his first UK Top 10 in August
1974. This kicked off his solo career in the USA and UK, where
he had ten Top 20 hits by the end of the 1980s. He continued
recording and performing until the end of the 1990s. In the
early 2000s he suffered from kidney failure, and a stroke in 2003,
which led to his death at the age of 58. |
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22 Title: Let Me Be The One The Shadows were
originally Cliff Richard's backing band, and were at first called
The Drifters. Whilst remaining Cliff Richard's backing band for several years, The Shadows enjoyed considerable success
in their own right, and in the early to mid-1960s, were Britain's top instrumental group, achieving five
Number One hits plus an additional nine Top 10 entries out of 24 hits in total during the 1960s. Not
content with that, they had more hits in the 1970s and early 1980s.
They had often provided Cliff Richard with vocal
support both on recordings and on the stage, in addition to the
instrumental backing. They issued a few vocal singles during
the 1960s, and one, "Don't
Make My Baby Blue" became
a Top 10 entry in 1965 (see year 1965, song 68). At the time of this recording, the
members were: Hank Marvin (guitar and vocals), Bruce Welch (guitar and lead vocals),
Brian Bennett (drums), John Farrar (piano and vocals), and Alan Tarney
(bass guitar). The group has officially disbanded, but they have reunited for
special concerts with Cliff Richard two or three times in recent
years. |
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23 Title: Fox On The Run The Sweet was a British Glam Rock band that
found fame in the early 1970s. The original lineup comprised lead vocalist Brian
Connolly (5 Oct 1945 - 10 Feb 1997), bass player Steve Priest (23 Feb
1948 - 4 Jun 2020), guitarist Andy Scott (born 30 Jun 1949), and drummer Mick
Tucker (17 Jul 1947 - 14 Feb 2002). The band was formed in London in 1968 and achieved their first hit, "Funny Funny", in
early 1971 after teaming up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.
They went on to have considerable chart success, achieving ten Top
10 hits by 1978, including a Number One and no less than five number
twos in the UK charts. They also had success in other parts of
Europe, and in the USA where they enjoyed four Top 10 hits. Sweet had their last international success in
1978 with "Love Is Like Oxygen".
Connolly left the group in 1979 to start a solo career and the remaining members continued as a trio until
disbanding in 1981.
From the mid-1980s, Scott, Connolly and Priest each played with their own versions of Sweet at different
times.
Connolly died in 1997, Tucker in 2002 and Priest in 2020.
Andy Scott, with a new line up, still tours the UK and the rest of
Europe. |
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24 Title: Swing Your Daddy Jim Gilstrap was born on 10 Nov 1946 in Texas, USA. Gilstrap served in the Vietnam war during the late 1960s, and began his musical career upon his return. Although he worked with a couple of groups in the early 1970s, his main job was as a studio session musician. Gilstrap sang the first two lines of Stevie Wonder's recording of "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (see year 1973, song 38). He recorded a couple of albums, the first of which contained the song "Swing Your Daddy", and the single reached number ten in the USA. Despite that modest success, he continued as a prolific session musician, and has performed on dozens of albums by various artists into the 2010s. This single is his only (solo) appearance in the UK charts. |
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25 Title: The Way We Were / Try To Remember Gladys Knight
& The Pips was a Tamla Motown group initially, but their
greatest success came with a move to Buddah records in 1973.
The group started as family group, the Pips, in 1952, when Gladys
was just seven! They changed the group name in 1961 to
showcase their lead singer, Gladys Knight (born 28 May 1944 in
Atlanta, Georgia, USA). They had a few local hits in Georgia,
but it was in 1966 when they signed with Motown that they began
USA-wide and international success. They did not reach the
level of popularity as other Motown acts such as the Supremes and
Four Tops, however. Following contractual disagreements, the
group left Motown for Buddah in 1973, and they enjoyed several hits
including "Midnight Train To Georgia" which was an
American Number One (number 10 in the UK). The group disbanded
in 1989 when Gladys went solo. In 1989 she recorded "License to Kill" for the James Bond movie
of the same title, which was a Top 10 hit in the UK and Germany.
In the 2010s she is still making occasional concert appearances, and
she performed at an outdoor festival in London during 2018. |
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26 Title: Take Good Care Of Yourself The Three
Degrees is a female vocal trio formed in Philadephia, USA during the
early 1960s. There has always been a rotation of group members
(some 15 women have been members at one time of another), but at the
time of this hit, the singers were lead vocalist Sheila Ferguson (born 8 Oct 1947),
Fayette Pinkney (10 Jan 1948 – 27 Jun 2009) and Valerie Holiday (born 2 Dec 1947).
They made several recordings during the late 1960s and early 1970s,
but it was not until they signed with Philadelphia International
records that they became a major act. Their debut album
spawned their first hit single "Year Of Decision", as well
as the international best seller "When Will I See You
Again", which reached Number One in the UK (see year 1974, song 55).
More hits followed during the 1970s, and they toured the UK
several times in that decade. Fayette Pinkney left in 1976 and
was replaced by Helen Scott. The trio's final Top 10 hit came
in 1979, and Sheila Ferguson left in 1986. She was replaced,
but there were several changes of personnel over the following
years, with some members leaving and returning. Nevertheless, the group continues to tour and perform
in the 21st century with Valerie Holiday (continuous member since
1967), Helen Scott and Freddie Pool.
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27 Title: Loving You Minnie Riperton (8 Nov 1947 - 12 Jul 1979) was born in Chicago, USA. She was interested in music as a child, and by her teens she was performing with a local group called the Gems. The group became known well enough to begin work as backing singers at Chess records in Chicago during the early 1960s. They provided backing for the Fontella Bass hit "Rescue Me" in 1965 (see year 1965, song 96). Riperton released her first solo album in 1970. However, by 1973 she was a semi-retired mother of two living in Florida. But she was invited to join Epic records in Los Angeles to record a new album. That album, "Perfect Angel", reached number four in the USA album chart (number 33 in the UK). "Loving You" was taken from the album, and the single reached Number One in America and number two in the UK. No other singles reached the British charts, although she had success on the American R&B charts. In 1976 she announced that she was suffering from breast cancer which had spread to other organs. She continued touring through 1977 and 1978, but she succumbed to the disease in 1979 aged just 31. |
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28 Title: Ding-A-Dong Teach-In was a Dutch vocal group, comprising five guys and a female lead singer (Getty Kaspers). They had formed in the late 1960s in the Netherlands, and during 1974, the group had three Top 20 hits on the Dutch charts. In 1975 they represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest, which they won with the song "Ding-A-Dong". The recording reached the Top 10 of several European countries, and even reached number 22 on the American easy-listening chart. They had a few more Dutch hits, but lead singer Getty Kaspers left in 1976, and other changes of personnel occurred over the next couple of years. Despite that they had a few more hits but eventually broke up in 1980. Some reunions have taken place from time to time. This recording is the group's only appearance in the UK charts. |
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29 Title: Take Your Mama For A Ride Lulu was born on 3 Nov 1948 near Glasgow, Scotland.
She started singing at a young age and by the time she was 13 she had a manager and was singing with a band around
Glasgow. Her manager took her to London in early 1964 and arranged a recording deal with Decca Records.
Her debut single, "Shout", was an American R&B song written by the Isley Brothers. It was an
instant hit, and Lulu's career took off from there. However, some of her recordings with Decca did not
sell as well as was hoped and she missed the charts completely in 1966. So, in 1967 she moved to EMI's
Columbia label, and producer Mickie Most. This gave her a new start, with hits for the rest of the 1960s.
Lulu was given her own BBC TV series in 1968, which ran annually until 1975. In 1969 she represented the UK
in the Eurovision Song Contest, where she came joint first. She continued to record and tour in the following decades, and in 1993
achieved her first chart-topper when she sang with boy band Take That on "Relight My Fire".
She was in the Top 10 again in 2002 when she duetted with Ronan Keating with the song "We've Got
Tonight". Recording and touring continued, and she embarked on another concert tour of the UK during
the autumn of 2017. |
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30 Title: The Night The Four Seasons is a vocal group, characterised by the
falsetto voice of Frankie Valli (born 3 May 1934 in Newark, New Jersey, USA).
In 1960, they they began working with record producer Bob Crewe, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer. The rest of the
band was Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals (also their songwriter), Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone
vocals, and Nick Massi on electric bass and bass vocals. Their first hit on both sides of the Atlantic
was "Sherry", which was an American chart-topper. Other similar recordings followed and they
managed to hit the UK charts through to 1966 despite the prominence of the British beat
groups, although many of the singles peaked at low positions. They also had
hits during the 1970s, including several solo recordings by Frankie
Valli. The band is still performing, but with Valli as the only original member.
A farewell concert took place London in December 2018.
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31 Title: Only Yesterday
The
Carpenters were a brother and sister duo from Connecticut,
USA. The act comprised Richard Carpenter (born 15 Oct 1946)
and Karen Carpenter (2 Mar 1950 - 4 Feb 1983). Karen provided
the vocals and sometimes drums, while Richard provided the
arrangements, instrumentation (mostly piano), and sometimes
backing vocals. During the 1970s they were an extremely
popular easy-listening act with numerous hit singles and albums throughout
the world. Their compilation album "The Singles
1969-1973" reached Number One in the UK and remained on the
album chart for well over two years, with seven other albums
reaching the Top 10. They toured the world extensively for a
decade, but Karen began to suffer from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa,
although she always denied the suggestion. However, in early
February 1983 she collapsed and died from a heart attack brought on
by anorexia nervosa. Richard Carpenter then began producing a
new album of unreleased Carpenters recordings which was issued later
in 1983. Since then he has produced several compilation
albums, and in 2018 an album of the duo's hits with orchestration
from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was issued, reaching number
eight in the UK album chart.
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32 Title: Stand By Your Man Tammy Wynette (5 May 5 1942 - 6 Apr 1998) was born in Mississippi, USA, and became one of the top female Country music singers of the 1970s and 1980s. She had a poor and difficult upbringing, and after leaving school she had a series of manual jobs. However whilst working in Alabama during 1965 she had a chance to sing on a local Country music TV show. That lead to a record deal and a move to Nashville, Tennessee, the home of American Country music. Her second single release became a big hit in 1967. This success grew to see her become a major music star in the USA. The song "Stand By Your Man" was recorded in 1968 and was an American hit in that year. It was not released in the UK until 1975, when it went to Number One on the British charts. It was followed by "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." which made number twelve in the UK, having also been recorded in 1968. Her popularity began to fade during the 1990s, and having endured numerous health issues during her adult life, involving some 26 major operations, she died from heart failure in 1998 at the age of 55. |
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33 Title: I Wanna Dance Wit Choo Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes was a group featuring Monti Rock III (born Joseph Montanez Jr., 29 May 1942 in New York City). Also in the band was the co-writer of this song, Bob Crewe, who was well-known as a song writer for the Four Seasons during the 1960s, and Kenny Nolan who wrote a couple of the songs featured earlier in this listing. The only female member was Cindy Bullens who was a backing singer for Elton John, Rod Stewart and many others. This group had enjoyed a hit in 1974, "Get Dancing" (see year 1974, song 88), but this was the second of just two appearances they had in the UK charts. |
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34 Title: Let Me Try Again Tammy Jones is a Welsh singer, born on 12 Mar
1944 in Bangor, Wales. She began singing at a young age and by
her teens was performing on stage and on TV in her native
Wales. She sang also Welsh, and her first record releases were
in the Welsh language. She came to British-wide fame in 1975
when she appeared on the TV talent show "Opportunity
Knocks", which she won for six consecutive weeks. This
led to the release of her only UK hit single, "Let Me Try
Again". An album of the same title reached number 38 on
the UK album chart. She performed in summer seaside shows and pantomimes
for several years afterwards. |
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35 Title: Oh Boy Mud was a Rock band formed in London during
1966 by Rob Davis (born 1 Oct 1947) and Les Gray (9 Apr 1946 - 21
Feb 2004). They began recording in 1967 but without any
commercial success for several years. But in 1973 they signed
with Mickie Most's RAK label, and with help of songwriters Chinn and
Chapman (who had written several hits for the band Sweet), hits
started coming the way of Mud. They had three hits in 1973,
but 1974 saw them have their first Number One with the catchy
"Tiger Feet". That started a run of Top 10 hits that
extended into 1976. In 1975 they achieved five Top 10 hits, and
in 1974 they made Number One with their Christmas hit "Lonely
This Christmas", which has enjoyed radio airplay every December
until the present time. As their popularity waned in the late
1970s, they decided to split up in 1979. Following the break
up, Gray formed a new band, Les Gray's Mud, and they continued to
perform, with a changing series of musicians, until Gray's death in
2004. Since then various musicians have continued performing
under that band name. |
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36 Title: Don't Do It Baby This was the duo's follow-up to their hit of
January, "Sugar Candy Kisses" (see song 2 above).
This was also by the same songwriters, but it turned out to be their
second and final Top 10 entry. Two smaller hits followed, and
that was it. |
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37 Title: Sing Baby Sing This was the group's follow-up to their hit of January, "Star On A TV Show" (song 7). "Sing Baby Sing" was the first in a run of six consecutive Top 10 hits through to August 1976. This track was featured on the Stylistics album "Thank You Baby", which reached number five on the UK album chart from July 1975. The band's next hit came in July, which was their only UK Number One (song 54). |
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38 Title: Three Steps To Heaven Showaddywaddy is a Rock 'n' Roll band specialising
in revivals of songs from the late 1950s and early 1960s. The
band was formed in Leicester, England in 1973. They came to
prominence after appearing on the TV talent show "New
Faces". The group was fronted by Dave Bartram (born 23
Mar 1952), and he remained in the group until 2011 when he then
became their manager. They first reached the charts in 1974,
and went on to have 23 hits, ten of which made the Top 10, until
1982. They have continued to perform until the present, although
there have been several personnel changes, especially in recent
years. |
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39 Title: Thanks For The Memory Slade was a Glam
Rock band formed in Wolverhampton, England during the late 1960s
(under a different name) by Noddy Holder (born 15 Jun 1946), Jim Lea
(born 14 Jun 1949), with lead guitarist Dave Hill and drummer Don Powell.
As Slade they obtained a deal with Polydor records, and from 1971 to
1977 they had 19 hit singles, with twelve consecutive Top 10 hits
which includes six Number Ones. They were the most successful
group of the 1970s in terms of singles sales. Their most
successful recording is "Merry Xmas Everybody" which
reached Number One in 1973, but has become a seasonal perennial,
being played on radio and in shopping centres every December
since. They lost some momentum in the late 1970s, but bounced
back in 1980, enjoying hits for most of that decade. However,
with falling sales and general disillusionment in the band, it broke
up in 1992. Noddy Holder then moved into acting and radio DJ
work. Lee continued writing songs and making occasional
recordings. Hill and Powell formed Slade II and began touring
and recording into the 2010s.
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40 Title: Roll Over Lay Down Status Quo found fame as a Psychedelic band,
but had lasting success through the 1970s, 1980s and beyond as a Rock band, sometimes referred to
as a Boogie band. The origins of the group go back to 1962. They performed under
different names for five years, but became Status Quo in 1967 with members Francis Rossi
(born 29 May 1949, south London), Rick Parfitt (12 Oct 1948 - 24 Dec 2016), Alan Lancaster
(7 Feb 1949 - 26 Sep 2021), and John
Coghlan. They had a deal with Pye Records and had their first hit, "Pictures Of
Matchstick Men", in early 1968. They accrued five hits by the end of 1970.
There was then a gap of two hitless years until they emerged as a Rock band in 1973 with the
hit recording "Paper Plane" on the Vertigo label, where they remained for a couple
of decades. Their first Number One came in 1974 ("Down Down"), and they have
had over sixty hits in the UK singles charts, continuing well into the 2000s. They opened
the "Live Aid" fund-raising event in 1985, and have continued with recording and live
concert work into the 2010s despite forced personnel changes. |
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41 Title: Proud One
The Osmonds was a
family group comprising brothers Alan (born 22 Jun 1949), Wayne (born 28 Aug 1951),
Merrill (born 30 Apr 1953), Jay (born 2 Mar 1955) and Donny (born 9 Dec 1957).
The older siblings began singing at a young age, and the oldest four
began appearing on American TV, notably on the Andy Williams show
from 1962 to 1969. As they grew older they moved into more
contemporary material, and were joined by Donny in the late
1960s. They first appeared in the UK charts in 1972, and their
second entry in November ("Crazy Horses") was a Top 10 hit
over the Christmas period. "Love Me For A Reason" was
the group's fourth Top 10 hit and was a strong harmony ballad. They continued having hits until the
end of 1975, but remained a successful live act for several
years. Alan and Wayne have retired from performing, and Donny
concentrates on his TV presentation work and concerts in Las Vegas
and other venues. Merrill and Jay continue performing as the
Osmonds. |
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42 Title: The Hustle Van McCoy (6 Jan 1940 - 6 Jul 1979) was born in Washington DC, USA. He took an interest in music from a young age, and by the time he was twelve he was writing his own songs and performing at amateur events. He relocated to Philadelphia in the late 1950s where he began arranging and producing recordings as well as still writing songs. His material provided hits for many artists and groups, particularly on the American R&B charts. In the early 1970s he began arranging songs for the Stylistics which became major hits. In 1975 he made an album of his own compositions called "Disco Baby", which included the track "The Hustle". Issued as a single, it went to Number One in the USA and number three in Britain. Another couple of singles followed, but with less success. However, in 1977 McCoy was in the UK Top 10 again with "The Shuffle", although that recording did not reach the USA Top 100. Sadly, McCoy died from a heart attack in 1979 at the age of just 39. |
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43 Title: I'm Not In Love 10cc was a British
band, formed in 1972. The members were Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol
Creme.
They were two pairs of songwriters - Gouldman and Stewart, as well
as Godley and Creme. Graham Gouldman in particular was a
well-known songwriter, having composed hits for the Yardbirds and
the Hollies amongst others during the 1960s. The band became
very successful, and from 1972 to 1978, 10cc had five consecutive UK top-ten
albums, plus twelve singles in the UK Top 40, three of which were the chart-toppers "Rubber Bullets"
(1973), "I'm Not in Love" (1975) and "Dreadlock Holiday" (1978).
"I'm Not in Love" was their breakthrough worldwide hit and is known for its innovative backing track.
Godley and Creme quit the band in 1976 due to artistic disagreements and became a duo
act who had a couple of Top 10 hits in 1981. They were
replaced, and the band continued recording and performing until the
end of 1978. There were reunions of all four members from time
to time, but Stewart left the band in 1995. Since 1999, Gouldman has led a touring version of
10cc with four others. |
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44 Title: Tears On My Pillow Johnny Nash ( 19
Aug 1940 - 6 Oct 2020) was born in Houston, Texas, USA. He
started recording in the latter part of the 1950s, releasing his
debut album in 1958. He issued numerous albums and singles
over the next decade, with modest success in the USA. He
travelled to Jamaica in early 1968, and was impressed by the local
Reggae music (sometimes known as Rocksteady at that time).
Nash actually recorded a couple of songs whilst there, and the trip
inspired him to write his first UK hit "Hold Me Tight"
(year 1968, song 67) which had a Rocksteady (Reggae) beat.
This led to a series of UK hits through to the mid-1970s, including
his Number One "Tears On My Pillow" in 1975. He was
still recording in the early 2000s, but he died in October 2020 at
the age of 80. |
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45 Title: Make The World Go Away Donny and Marie are brother and sister. Donny had enjoyed several major hits, including three Number Ones, in the UK over 1972 and 1973. He was also a member of the family group The Osmonds, with whom he was having further hits. Marie had enjoyed one solo hit in the UK during late 1973. For more info on these artists see year 1973, song 19 (Donny) and year 1973, song 93 (Marie). They specialised in reviving old songs, and this song was written in 1960. It was originally recorded by Ray Price, whose version reached number two on the USA Country chart. In 1966, a version by Eddy Arnold went to the top of the American Country music chart, number six on the USA pop charts, and number eight on the UK charts (see year 1966, song 15). It has been recorded by numerous other Country music performers. Donny and Marie had their final UK hit as a duo in January 1976. |
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46 Title: Misty Ray Stevens was born on 24 January 1939 in Georgia,
USA. Following his secondary education he went to college to study music. He was soon making
records, often with a comedy slant. In 1966 he began recording more mainstream material, and several
of his songs were recorded by other artists. In 1970 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee,
and became a record producer, whilst still making records himself. Also in 1970 he recorded his
song "Everything Is Beautiful" which went to Number One in the USA charts. Several more
hits followed during the 1970s, either comedy, Country, or mainstream. He has continued to
record and perform in the Country/Comedy genre into the 2010s. |
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47 Title: Swearin' To God This was Valli's follow-up to his earlier (solo) hit, "My Eyes Adored You " (song 11 above). This release did badly in the UK charts by comparison with the earlier hit which reached number five. "Swearin' To God" reached number six in the USA and Number One in Canada. The recording features American vocalist Patti Austin singing a response to Valli's praise in the middle of the song. Valli had a number eleven hit in 1976, but in 1978 he had a major hit with the theme to the musical film "Grease". Meanwhile, he was in the UK Top 10 with his group Four Seasons in September this year (song 77). |
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48 Title: Eighteen With A Bullet Pete Wingfield was born on 7 May 1948 in Hampshire, England. He learned to play piano as a boy, and developed a keen interest in American Soul and R&B music. By his teens he was a music journalist, but still had time to perform with a couple of bands. He also spent time as a session musician, and performed on the albums of several prominent musicians. His only hit record in the UK was "Eighteen With A Bullet", which also did well in America, reaching number 15 there. He continued with his session work and song writing after that, and his songs were recorded by the likes of Olivia Newton-John and Patti LaBelle for albums. He also played live with Van Morrison and the Everly Brothers during the 1980s and 1990s. |
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49 Title: Barbados Typically
Tropical was a duo comprising Jeff Calvert & Max West.
They were recording studio engineers who wrote and recorded this
song. They wrote additional songs for two albums, but neither
reached the charts. They had no further success as recording
artists, but wrote the song "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper"
which was a Top 10 hit for Sarah Brightman in 1978. |
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50 Title: Rolling Stone David Essex was
born on 23 Jul 1947 in east London, England. He thought he
might become a footballer before his singing and acting career took
off. He first recorded in 1965 and toured with a band for two
years. In 1971 he got the lead role in the stage musical
"Godspell", and in 1973 he starred in the film "That'll Be The
Day" along with Ringo Starr. He had his first hit
single, "Rock On" in 1973, which was taken from his debut
album also titled "Rock On". The album reached
number seven on the UK album chart. Essex has placed 25 hits
on the singles charts, including eight Top 10s and two Number
Ones. He has also seen many albums reach the album chart.
He has continued
with recording and acting in films, TV and on the stage up to the
present time.
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51 Title: Blanket On The Ground Billy Jo Spears (14 Jan 1937 - 14 Dec 2011) was an American Country music singer. She was born in Texas, and made her professional debut at the age of 13. She issued her first recordings whilst still a teenager, and moved to Nashville, the home of Country music in 1964. It wasn't until 1969 that she had her first substantial hit, but from 1972 to 1974 she was without a recording contract. A new deal in 1975 resulted in her big hit "Blanket On The Ground", which went to Number One on the American Country music chart, but did not cross over to the mainstream in the USA. Although Country music has never been very popular in the UK, throughout the decades some recordings have taken off in Britain, and that was the case with "Blanket On The Ground". In just the following year she was back in the UK Top 10 with "What I've Got In Mind". However, just two minor hits followed that. Nevertheless, she remained popular in the UK and some albums she recorded in the 1980s and 1990s had a UK-only release. She recovered from triple bypass surgery in 1993 and continued to tour for more than 16 years afterwards. Sadly she died from cancer in her home state of Texas at the age of 74. |
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52 Title: Give A Little Love This was the group's follow up to their hit of March, "Bye Bye Baby", (song 17). This was also a Number One, but it was their last as well. However, they had a further three Top 10 hits until autumn 1976, followed by two smaller hits in 1977. Their next hit came in November (song 93). |
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53 Title: Dolly My Love This was the Soul group's follow up to the hit they had with the Whatnauts in March (song 18). This time they were working by themselves, and enjoying their second Top 10 hit in the UK. A release in September stalled at number 42, but they were in the Top 10 for a third and final time in 1977. See song 18 for more group info. |
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54 Title: Can't Give You Anything (But My
Love) This was the Stylistics' follow up to their May hit, "Sing Baby Sing" (song 37). This was the group's only Number One hit, which reached a lowly number 51 in the USA. Another Top 10 hit came along in November (song 90), which gave them a total of four UK hit singles in 1975. |
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55 Title: The Last Farewell Roger Whittaker
(22 Mar 1936 - 13 Sep 2023) was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His
parents were from Staffordshire, England, but they emigrated to
Kenya to run a farm there when Kenya was still a British colony.
Upon completing his education, and serving in the army in Kenya,
Whittaker moved to the UK in 1959 to study, where he gained a
Batchelor of Science degree. He was singing in local clubs
during this time, and having acquired a recording contract he began
appearing on TV as well. He moved to EMI's Columbia label in
1966, and had his first hit in 1969 with "Durham Town".
He scored a Top 10 hit in 1970 ("I Don't Believe In If
Anymore"), but he was mostly an album artist, having eleven
charting albums by 1996. He became very popular in other parts
of Europe, and had 25 albums issued in Germany, many sung in the
German language. He retired to France with his wife in 2012,
and died there in 2023 at the age of 87. |
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56 Title: El Bimbo Bimbo Jet was a French Euro Disco group led by Claude Morgan and Laurent Rossi that gained international fame during the summers of 1974 and 1975 with the song "El Bimbo". "El Bimbo" was popular with other musicians and orchestra leaders, with Paul Mauriat having capitalized well from his own instrumental arrangement in 1975. The song, in a tango arrangement, was also heard in four of the seven "Police Academy" films, starting in 1984. "El Bimbo" was released in France in June 1974, and in the UK in August 1975. The track went to Number One in France and number 12 in the UK Singles Charts, and reached the Top 10 of several other countries. This is the only entry they had in the UK charts. |
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57 Title: Jive Talkin'
The Bee Gees were brothers Barry Gibb (born 1 Sep 1946, Isle of Man), and twins
Robin Gibb (22 Dec 1949 - 20 May 2012) and Maurice Gibb (22 Dec 1949 - 12 Jan 2003), also born on the Isle of Man. The three
brothers grew up in Manchester, UK, but in the mid-1950s the family moved to Australia. They began performing at a young
age, and by 1960 they were appearing on TV. After achieving their first chart success in Australia as the Bee Gees with
"Spicks and Specks", they returned to the UK in January 1967, when producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to
a worldwide audience. In 1967 they had their first UK hit, the somewhat morbid song "New York Mining Disaster
1941", which reached number twelve. Hits continued through the remainder of the 1960s, when they enjoyed success
in the USA as well. Things went quiet in the early 1970s, but in the mid-1970s they jumped on the Disco bandwagon and
became superstars. They wrote several songs for the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever" which starred John
Travolta, and singles as well as the soundtrack album were worldwide hits. Their success continued through the
following decades, and they also wrote and produced many hits for other artists. Their final new album came in 2001,
but with the death of Maurice two years later, the other two embarked on solo projects apart from a couple of charity
events where they performed together. Robin died in 2012, and Barry has since performed and recorded solo. |
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58 Title: Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me
This was the
group's follow-up to their hit of April, being the medley of
"The Way We Were" & "Try To Remember" (song
25). Again, this was not an original song, but one that was
first recorded in 1973 by Country music singer Ray Price. His
version reached Number One on the American Country music
chart. The Gladys Knight version reached number three on the
USA pop charts. A number of easy-listening artists have recorded
the song for albums. |
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59 Title: That's The Way (I Like It) KC & The
Sunshine Band were formed in Florida, USA in 1973 by lead singer
Harry Wayne Casey (KC) and musicians from the TK record studios,
also in Florida. The first couple of releases in the USA did reasonably
well, and the band was in the UK Top 10 in August 1974 with
"Queen Of Clubs". That was followed by "That's
The Way (I Like It)" which was a Number One in the USA, Canada
and the Netherlands. They had three more chart-toppers in the
USA during the 1970s, they toured the UK during 1975, and became one
of the top Disco acts of the second half of the 1970s.
However, as the 1980s progressed, Disco music faded away, and
although they had a Number One hit in the UK in 1983, the group was dissolved
in 1985. KC revived the band in the 1990s and toured again,
but no new hits were forthcoming. |
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60 Title: Fame This was Bowie's
follow-up to his hit of March, "Young Americans", (song
16). This also came from his album "Young
Americans", which reached number two in the UK album chart, and
probably explains the Top 20-only peaks of those two singles.
It was a different story across the Atlantic where "Fame"
became his first Number One single in the USA and Canada.
Bowie had met John Lennon whilst they were both living in New
York. A jam session between them resulted in the completion of
the song. Lennon is featured on the recording, providing
backing vocals and rhythm guitar. |
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61 Title: Love Will Keep Us Together The Captain & Tennille were a husband and wife duo, comprising 'Captain' Daryl Dragon (27 August 1942 - 2 Jan 2019) and Toni Tennille (born 8 May 1940). They were both keyboardists and met during 1972 in southern California. They started singing together and gained a recording contract with A&M records in 1974. Their first hit was this song which reached Number One in the USA. They enjoyed seven Top 10 hits in the USA until 1980, but interest in the UK was much lower key, with their only Top 10 hit coming in 1980, which was also their final UK chart entry. The couple married in November 1975 but divorced in 2014. In between they had their own TV series in the late 1970s, and during the 1980s Tennille also worked as a backing vocalist on the albums of Elton John, Art Garfunkel and Pink Floyd. They continued performing into the 2000s, but ill health began to effect Dragon from 2010 and he died in 2019 at the age of 76. |
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62 Title: A Child's Prayer Hot
Chocolate is a five-piece Soul band from London, England which
became one of the most successful acts during the 1970s and
1980s. It was formed by
Errol Brown (12 Nov 1943 - 6 May
2015, born in Jamaica) and Tony Wilson (born in Trinidad on 8 Oct
1947). They started in 1968 as a Reggae band, but from 1970,
under the guidance of producer Mickie Most, they moved to a Soul/Pop
style. Their first hit was "Love Is Life" in 1970,
and this began a run of 25 UK Top 40 singles (12 Top 10) until
1984. Later in the 1980s, reissues returned them to the
charts. There were some personnel changes from time to time,
with Wilson leaving in 1976 and Errol Brown departing in 1986.
The band broke up after Brown's departure for a solo career, but it
was reformed with a new vocalist in 1992, with another new vocalist
in 2010, and it continues to perform in Britain and Europe until the
present. |
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63 Title: Don't Throw It All Away Gary Benson is a British singer-songwriter. Strangely, there seems to be no biographical information about Gary Benson on the Internet, not even the date and place of his birth. The first mention is the arrival of this, his only UK hit recording, on the UK charts. The song had originally been recorded by The Shadows, and they had performed it in the 1975 "A Song for Europe" contest, where it finished fourth of six entries (The Shadows went on to perform the winning song at the Eurovision Song Contest - see song 22 above). "Don't Throw It All Away" was recorded in the USA by The Delfonics in 1978 although it was not a hit on either side of the Atlantic. Benson continued to write for the next several decades, and in 1990, his song "Close To You" was recorded by Maxi Priest, whose rendition reached the Top 10 in the UK, and Number One in the USA. |
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64 Title: One Of These Nights The Eagles are an American Country Rock band formed in Los Angeles in
September 1971. The founding members were Glenn Frey (6 Nov 1948 -
18 Jan 2016), Don Henley (born 22 Jul 1947), Bernie Leadon and Randy
Meisner.
Frey and Henley first played together when they joined Linda Ronstadt's backing band
for her tour in 1971. Leadon and Meisner were in the band as
well, and the four decided to form their own band. They
released their first album ("The Eagles") in 1972.
None of the band's early American hits reached the UK charts. In fact,
the band's first British hit did not come until 1975, after they had
enjoyed eight hit singles in the USA. However, all of their
American hits were included on the album "Their Greatest Hits
1971-1975" (released 1976) which reached number two on the UK album chart,
where it remained for 77 weeks. Guitarist and vocalist Joe Walsh joined the band in 1975, replacing
Leadon. The Eagles hit their commercial peak in late 1976 with the release of the album "Hotel California",
which went on to sell more than 26 million copies in the USA alone and more than 42 million copies worldwide.
The Eagles broke up in July 1980, but reunited in 1994 for the album "Hell Freezes Over", a mix of live and new
studio tracks.
They toured consistently and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
In 2007, the Eagles released "Long Road Out of Eden", their first full studio album in 28 years and their sixth
American Number One album. The next year they launched the Long Road Out of Eden Tour in support of the album.
In 2013, they began the extended History of the Eagles Tour in conjunction with the band's documentary release,
"History of the Eagles".
Glenn Frey died in January 2016, but they reformed in 2017, with Deacon Frey (Glen Frey's son) and Country singer
Vince Gill sharing lead vocals for Frey's songs. |
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65 Title: Summertime City Mike Batt was born on 6 Feb 1949 in Southampton, England. He started a career in the music industry in his teens, and by the time he was 19 he was an A&R man at Liberty Records UK. He was writing and producing as well as finding new talent, and found time to make a few recordings of his own. He came to fame when he was asked by the BBC to write music for their proposed animated children's' programme, "The Wombles" in 1974 (see year 1974, song 7). In additional to writing the songs, Batt and other musicians dressed up in Womble costumes and performed the songs on TV. Four singles including the Christmas hit "Wombling Merry Christmas" reached the UK Top 10 during 1974. Three albums of Wombling songs also reached the UK album chart in 1974. After that fad faded he was back producing recordings, and released the song "Summertime City" in 1975, which was used by the BBC for their "Seaside Special" TV series. The single reached the Top 10 in the UK, but it was his only solo hit. He wrote the song "Bright Eyes" in 1979 for the animated film version of "Watership Down". Recorded by Art Garfunkel, the song reached Number One in the UK Singles Charts that year. During the 1980s he was working on numerous projects with a variety of different artists. One collaboration was with Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), and the resultant album "Classic Blue" reached number 47 in the album chart during late 1989. In 2002 he discovered Katie Melua, and the song Batt wrote for her, "The Closest Thing To Crazy" reached number ten in the UK charts from late 2003. Batt continues writing, producing and arranging music until the present. |
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66 Title: Sailing
Rod Stewart was
born 10 Jan 1945 in north London, England. His father was
Scottish, and Stewart has always celebrated his Scottish
roots. He came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s
in the Jeff Beck Group, and then the Faces, but he recorded solo in
addition to his group duties. Stewart's 1971 solo album "Every Picture Tells a Story" made him a household name,
reaching Number One in the UK and USA. The album contained the
Tim Harding song "Reason To Believe", which was issued as
a single. The B-side of that record was "Maggie May"
which soon became the dominant side, reaching Number One on both
sides of the Atlantic. His fame grew to
worldwide proportions, and he has sold over 120 million records
throughout the world. He has had nine Number One albums in the UK
Album chart, and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the
Top 10, six of which were chart toppers. Stewart has had 16
Top 10 singles in the USA. From 2002 to 2010 he issued five
albums in his "Great American Songbook" series, which were
all successful in the charts. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.
His most recent original album, "Blood Red Roses", was
issued in 2018. |
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67 Title: Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Eric Clapton was born on 30 Mar 1945 in
Surrey, England. He learned to play guitar as a young teenager
and he began to take a keen interest in American Blues music.
In 1962 he began performing with groups in local venues, and in 1963
he joined the Yardbirds (see year 1965, song 26). They enjoyed
growing success, but Clapton left after their first hit recording as
he thought the group had gone too pop rather than Blues. He
then joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, but left them in 1966 to be
part of the super group Cream. By 1967 he was regarded as one
of Britain's finest guitarists, and Cream performed in New York that
year. However, the band broke up in 1968, and Clapton spent a
few years collaborating with various American bands, culminating in
his hit "Layla" (in 1972) credited to Derek & The
Dominoes (see year 1972, song 62). He then began recording as
a solo artist, and had the 1974 hit "I Shot The Sheriff"
which reached Number One in the USA. The track was featured on
his album "461 Ocean Boulevard" which reached Number One
in the USA during 1974 (number three in the UK). His success
continued into the 21st century, and he accrued 38 hit albums in the
UK from 1974 to 2020, 18 of which reached the Top 10.
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68 Title: Do It Again Steely Dan was a duo comprising Donald Fagen
(born 10 Jan 1948, New Jersey, USA) and Walter Becker (20 Feb 1950 -
3 Sep 2017, born New York City). The pair met in New York in
1968, and began songwriting together with moderate success.
They formed the band Steely Dan in 1971. Their style, a blend
of Rock, Jazz and Latin, soon attracted attention, and they were in
the USA singles and album charts from 1973. Their first
American hit, "Do It Again", finally reached the UK charts
in 1975, although it only just scraped into the Top 40 (number six
in the USA). They were far more popular in America than in the
UK, although they did score a Top 10 album ("Aja") in 1977
in the British album chart. Initially the band had a fixed lineup,
but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired the band from live performances to
become a studio-only band, opting to record with a revolving cast of session musicians.
They disbanded in 1981, but reunited in 1993 and resumed live
performance, as well as recording new material. Becker died in
2017, but Fagin continued to tour under the band name, the latest performances being in
2019.
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69 Title: Moonlighting
Leo Sayer was born
on 21 May 1948 at Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England. Sayer began his music career co-writing songs with
British singer-songwriter David Courtney (including "Giving It All Away", which gave Roger Daltrey of the Who his first solo hit in
1973). Also in 1973, Sayer began his career as a recording artist under the management of Adam Faith, who
arranged Sayer's record deal. He went on to have a very
successful career, enjoying seven consecutive Top 10 hits until
1977, with three more up to 1982. Also in 1977 he had two
consecutive Number One hits in the USA. In Britain he also had
six Top 10 albums in the album chart. In the 1990s he had
financial difficulties, but successfully sued his management and
record company for unpaid royalties. He moved to Australia in
the early 2000s and became an Australian citizen in 2009.
Since that time he has recorded in Australia and mostly performed in
that country.
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70 Title: Paloma Blanca The George Baker
Selection was a Dutch band founded in 1969, comprising George Baker
and five others. They started having hits in the Netherlands
and the USA from 1970. It was not until 1975 that they entered
the UK singles charts with the song "Paloma Blanca" which
was taken from their fifth studio album. The single was very
successful, reaching Number One in several countries, and number 26
in the USA. This was the only hit recording the band had in
the UK. The band split in 1978, although Baker revived it
between 1982 and 1989.
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71 Title: There Goes My First Love The Drifters are an American vocal
group, formed in the early 1950s, and with a constant rotation of
members. A count has indicated that some 60 individuals
have performed under the band name at one time or another. The group
enjoyed several hits in the 1960s, but in the 1970s, they signed a
deal with Bell records and based themselves in the UK, with lead
singer Johnny Moore (14 Dec 1934 -
30 Dec 1998). This gave them a run of nine hit singles, six of
which made the Top 10, until the end of 1976. Members came and
went (and returned again) several times during the next three
decades. Johnny Moore died in London at the end of 1998,
having been in the group (with some breaks) since he was 21 years
old in 1955. Nevertheless, others continued with the group
which has performed into the 21st
century, but there have been numerous lawsuits over the use of the
group name. No members of the hits-making versions of the band
are in the current lineup.
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72 Title: Heartbeat This was the follow-up to the band's hit in May (song 38). This was a revival of a song recorded by Buddy Holly in 1958, which reached the UK charts in January 1959 (see year 1959, song 12 in these lists). The song was also a minor hit for the England Sisters in February 1960, reaching number 33 in the UK charts. In June 1992, Nick Berry's version, recorded for the "Heartbeat" TV series (in which Berry starred) reached number two. The band had a couple of smaller hits in late 1975 and mid-1976, but they were at Number One in the UK charts by November 1976, which started a run of seven consecutive Top 10 hits until the end of 1978. |
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73 Title: Hold Me Close This was his follow-up to "Rolling Stone", a hit in July (song 50). Like the earlier hit, "Hold Me Close" was featured on the album "All The Fun Of The Fair", which reached number three on the UK album chart. This was his second of two chart-toppers, but he went on to have numerous additional hits until 1987, although only four reached the UK Top 10. |
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74 Title: I Only Have Eyes For You Art Garfunkel
was born on 5 Nov 1941 in New York City. He came to fame when
he formed a duo with singer-songwriter Paul Simon. They had
met at high school, and decided to sing together using the name of
Tom & Jerry, but no substantial success came of that. In
1963 they began performing and recording under their real names of
Simon & Garfunkel. Things began slowly, but by the latter
part of the 1960s they were a highly successful team, with hit
singles and albums. However, they split up after the release
of their most successful album "Bridge Over Troubled
Water" in 1970. They pursued solo work after that,
although they did reunite several times for special events.
For the next couple of years Garfunkel gave up singing, preferring
acting and teaching instead. However in 1973 he recorded a new
album, "Angel Clare" which reached number 14 on the UK
album chart. His 1975 album, "Breakaway" reached
number seven in the UK and had the single "I Only Have Eyes For
You" taken from it. The single was a Number One hit in
the UK (18 in the USA). It was not until 1979 that Garfunkel
had another hit, but that too went to Number One, being the song
"Bright Eyes", which featured in the animated film "Watership
Down". Since that time he has toured and recorded, as
well as reuniting with Simon for tours and recording. He had vocal
cord issues from 2010 to 2013, but began singing and touring again
from 2014. |
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75 Title: It's Time For Love The Chi-Lites were formed in Chicago, USA
during 1964 with lead singer and songwriter Eugene Record and
Marshall Thompson. Their first UK hit came in 1971, but in
1972 their recording "Have You Seen Her" reached number
three on both sides of the Atlantic. This was followed by five
Top 10 hits in the UK up to the summer of 1976. In the
mid-1970s, most of the group's personnel changed, even seeing the
departure of Eugene Record, although Marshall Thompson has remained
throughout. The often-revised band has continued until the present
time. A new album was released in 2006. |
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76 Title: Abba Abba was a
Swedish group who shot to fame when they won the 1974 Eurovision
Song Contest with the song "Waterloo". The members were: Agnetha Fältskog (born 5 Apr 1950 in
Jönköping, Sweden),
Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad (born 15 Nov 1945 in Ballangen, Norway), Björn Ulvaeus (born 25 Apr 1945 in Gothenburg, Sweden),
and Benny Andersson (born 16 Dec 1946 in Stockholm, Sweden).
Following their "Waterloo" success, there was a slight gap
in record sales until 1975 when they began a run of 18 UK Top 10
hits, lasting until 1981. They were the most successful
Scandinavian act, with success in the USA, Australia, most of Europe
and other parts of the world. They toured the world
extensively during the second half of the 1970s. In 1977
"ABBA: The Movie" a drama-documentary about their Australian
tour was released. Three 'greatest hits' albums were issued
between 1976 and 1982, but in 1992 their "Gold"
compilation album was released, which reached Number One in the UK,
eventually staying on the chart for 328 weeks. The group split
in 1982, and Benny and Björn
went on to write the musical "Chess" (with Tim Rice) which
opened in London in 1986. In 1999 a musical called "Mamma Mia!",
which featured numerous Abba songs opened in London. A film
version of the musical was released in 2008. Agnetha has
issued several solo albums, the most recent in 2013. Frida
initially retired from the music business and moved to Switzerland.
However, in late 2021 it was announced that Abba had reunited to
record a new album called "Voyage". |
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77 Title: Who Loves You This was the
group's follow-up to their hit of April, "The Night" (song
30). Frankie Valli was not given a credit on the record label
of this release, unlike the previous hit which was credited to
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Nevertheless, Valli is
present on the recording, taking the lead vocals as usual.
This was their first hit on the Warner Brothers label to which they
signed in early 1975. Their next release came in January 1976,
and was a UK Number One hit. |
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78 Title: Feelings Morris Albert
was born on 7 Sep 1951 in São Paulo, Brazil. He performed
with several different bands in Brazil before he gained a solo
recording contract and recorded his first album in 1974. That
album reached Number One in his native Brazil. The single
"Feelings" was taken from the album, and became a Top 10
hit in the UK and USA. However, this success did not lead to a
lasting career outside of South America. This single is the
only entry he enjoyed in the UK charts. |
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79 Title: Rhinestone Cowboy Glen Campbell
(22 Apr 1936 - 8 Aug 2017) was born in Arkansas, USA. He was
the son of a poor farmer, but he was taught to play guitar at a
young age by his uncle. At the age of 17 he joined his
uncle's band, and performed at local venues. A year later he
formed his own band. In 1960 he moved to Los Angeles to become a
session musician. He worked on the hit recording of many stars of
the time, and by 1965 he was making records of his own. His first
substantial hit came in 1967, the year that also gave us "By The
Time I Get To Phoenix" (written by Jimmy Webb) which was a Top 30
hit in the USA, although it did not reach the charts in the UK.
He finally entered the British charts in 1969 with another Jimmy Webb
song, "Wichita Lineman". This started a run of successful
singles and albums in the USA and UK for several decades. Sadly he
was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011. He decided to
go on a final world concert tour in 2012, and to record his final
album. He died in Nashville, Tennessee, USA at the age of 81. |
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80 Title: What A Difference A Day Made Esther Phillips
(23 Dec 1935 - 7 Aug 1984) was born in Galveston, Texas, USA.
She began singing in church as a youngster, and by the time she was
14 she had a recording and performing contract with music impresario
Johnny Otis. She was on the American R&B chart as early as
1950, but success did not continue, mainly because she became
addicted to heroin. She recovered from the drug addiction
enough to begin singing in small clubs around the southern states in
the late 1950s. She began recording again in 1962 and was soon
at Number One on the USA R&B chart. But the heroin took
over again, and once more she went for treatment. She
re-emerged in 1969 and again began recording and performing.
In 1975 she recorded the song "What A Difference A Day
Made" with a Disco beat, which reached the Top 20 of the USA
charts and number six in the UK. She continued successfully
into the early 1980s, but in 1984, at the age of 48, she died from liver and kidney failure due to long-term drug abuse.
This is her only entry on the UK charts. |
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81 Title: Island Girl This was Elton's third hit of 1975, the first of which was "Philadelphia Freedom" which peaked at number 12 in the UK (song 20 above). Like "Philadelphia Freedom", "Island Girl" went to Number One in the USA, where he was proving to be more popular. However, 1976 would see him with four Top 40 hits in the UK, including "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", which was his first British Number One (his fifth in the USA). |
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82 Title: Love Is The Drug Roxy Music was
formed in 1970 by Brian Ferry who also recorded solo from
1973. The co-writer of this song was the band's saxophone
player. The band had their first Top 10 hit in 1972, and the
hits continued until 1982, when they broke up. Reunions took
place several times over the following decades, their last
performances being in 2011. They had eleven Top 10 albums,
four of which reached Number One on the UK album chart.
Although Ferry released numerous solo singles and albums, members of
Roxy Music frequently provided the backing music on the recordings. |
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83 Title: Hold Back The Night The Trammps were an American Soul, Funk, and Disco four-piece vocal group whose origins go back to the 1960s. By the early 1970s they were called the Trammps, and their first hit came in 1972 in the USA and 1974 in the UK. The band members at this time were Ron Baker, Norman Harris, Earl Young and Ron Kersey. Only Earl Young still survives. They were based in Philadelphia, and were backed by the MFSB orchestra on recordings and live performances. "Hold Back The Night" was their only Top 10 hit in the UK and their biggest hit at that time in the USA. Their Disco hit "Disco Inferno" in 1977 reached number eleven in the USA and number 16 in the UK, which was effectively their final British hit. |
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84 Title: Dance With Me Orleans is an American soft Rock band which enjoyed success in the USA during the 1970s, but never reached the charts in the UK. The group was formed in New York during 1972 by John Hall, Larry Hoppen and Wells Kelly. They were joined later by Hoppen's brother Lance. They recorded their first album in 1973 but neither it nor the follow-up album reached the American charts. Their third attempt, however, "Let There Be Music" was a Top 40 hit, and spawned the single "Dance With Me" which reached number six in the USA and number five in Canada. The follow-up single also reached the Top 10 in the two North American countries. Hall left the group in 1977 for a solo career, enjoying modest success. The group continued with new members, and had a 1979 number eleven hit in the USA. Although the hits dried up, they continued to perform around the USA into the 1980s, although Kelly died from a heroin overdose in 1984. By the early 1990s, Hall had returned to the group, and they recorded and toured into the early 2000s. Hall stood for a seat in the USA congress in 2006 which he won, but was defeated four years later. Larry Hoppen died in 2012, and with Hall once again in the lineup, the band continues to the present time. |
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85 Title: Right Back Where We Started From Maxine
Nightingale is an English Soul, R&B, and Disco singer. She
was born on 2 Nov 1952 in west London, England. She began her
career in stage musicals, starting during 1969 in
"Hair". This was followed by appearances in the
German productions of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Godspell".
After returning to London she was offered the chance to record the
Disco song "Right Back Where We Started From" which became
a huge hit, reaching number eight in the UK and getting as high as
number two in the USA, as well as the Top 10 of several other countries.
Following the American success she relocated to the USA where she
has remained. Only one further hit entered the UK charts,
being "Love Hit Me" in 1977, which peaked at number
eleven. From the 1980s she moved into Jazz performance, but in
the 21st century she has also appeared on the American seventies
nostalgia pop show circuits. |
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86 Title: Sky High Jigsaw was a British band formed in Coventry, England in 1966. Originally a six-piece band, it had reduced to a quartet by the time of this hit. They were a supporting act for visiting stars from 1970, in which year they also issued their debut album. They had no chart successes with their early releases, but a song written by members Scott and Dyer was a Top 30 hit for a group called Candlewick Green in 1974. However, 1975 saw them have a hit with "Sky High" which reached the Top 10 in the UK, USA and several other countries. However, further chart success eluded them and they finally split in 1983. Scott and Dyer remained together for song writing, and several of their songs were recorded by a number of different acts over the following years. |
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87 Title: Lyin' Eyes This was the band's follow-up to their hit of August, "One Of These Nights", (song 64). This track was also taken from the album "One Of These Nights", which reached number eight on the UK album chart. The band's next single release, "Take It To The Limit", reached number 12 during March 1976. |
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88 Title: Imagine
John
Lennon (9 Oct 1940 - 8 Dec 1980) was born in Liverpool, England, and
found fame as a member of the Beatles group. After the breakup
of the band, Lennon pursued a solo career, as did the others.
His first hit after the break up was "Power To The
People", although he had enjoyed three hits over 1969-1970 as a
member of the Plastic Ono Band. He had also released albums
from 1968 with Yoko Ono, although the first to chart was not until
1971. His first major album was "Imagine" later in
1971, which not only reached Number One in the album chart, but
eventually remained on the chart for 101 weeks. He had success
with both singles and albums until 1975. He had been fighting
deportation from the USA for a couple of years, and having finally
been given permanent residency of the USA, he took off the next five
years from any recording. However, in 1980, he and Yoko
released their "Double Fantasy" album which hit the top of
the album charts in the UK and USA. From the album came the
single "(Just Like) Starting Over", which went to Number
One on both sides of the Atlantic. However in December that
year he was shot dead outside his New York apartment by Mark
Chapman. He remains in prison in December 2020. In the
aftermath of Lennon's murder, several of his past recordings
re-entered the charts, with the song "Imagine" climbing to
Number One, following on directly from "(Just Like) Starting
Over". "Imagine" was re-issued in December
1999, when it reached number three in the UK charts. |
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89 Title: You Sexy Thing This
was the group's follow-up to their summertime hit "A Child's
Prayer" (song 62). "You Sexy Thing" was their
biggest hit at the time, and it went on to enter the UK Top 10 on
two more occasions. It was remixed in 1987 when it reached
number ten, and was reissued in 1997 after being featured in the
film "The Full Monty", reaching number six in the charts
that year. It also reached number three on the USA charts in
1976. |
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90 Title: Na-Na Is The Saddest Word This was the group's fourth UK hit of 1975, which followed their Number One hit of July, "Can't Give You Anything" (song 54). 1976 would see them with three Top 10 hits in the UK, but it all tailed off after that. For more info about the group see song 7 above. |
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91 Title: This Old Heart Of Mine This
was Stewart's follow-up to his hit of August, "Sailing"
(song 66). This song was originally recorded by American
R&B group, the Isley Brothers in 1965, and was a number three
hit for them in the UK during 1968 (see year 1968, song 84).
The recording by Rod Stewart was featured on his 1975 album
"Atlantic Crossing" which went to Number One on the UK
album chart. Stewart recorded the song again in 1989 in duet
with Ronald Isley, the single reaching number 51 in the UK
charts. That version reached number ten in the USA. |
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92 Title: All Around My Hat Steeleye
Span is a UK Folk group that was formed in 1969 by two former
members of Folk band Fairport Convention. Steeleye Span first
entered the UK album chart in 1971, and their first hit single came
in 1973. There have been numerous comings and goings amongst
the band's members, but at the time of this hit the group was a
six-piece with lead vocals by Maddy Prior (born 14 Aug 1947 in
Blackpool, England). The album from which the single came, and
having the same title, was also a Top 10 hit. Although there
were no chart hits after 1976, the band has continued, with some
breaks, until the present, with Maddy Prior still leading the
vocals, although the others in the current lineup have mostly joined
in the last ten years. |
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93 Title: Money Honey This
was the band's follow-up to their Number One hit of July, "Give
A Little Love" (song 52). It was the last of three Top 10
hits they enjoyed in 1975. The recording was a huge world-wide
hit for the band, reaching the Top 10 in the USA as well. 1976
would see them with their final two Top 10 hits, and their final Top
10 album. For more info about the group, see song 17 above. |
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94 Title: Can I Take You Home Little Girl This followed the group's hit of September, "There Goes My First Love" (song 71). This was composed by the same songwriters as the previous hit, and indeed Roger Greenaway had been co-composer on the group's hits of 1974. They were back in 1976 with three Top 30 entries, although they were the group's final UK hits. |
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95 Title: Art For Art's Sake This was the band's follow-up to their hit of May, "I'm Not In Love" (song 43). This recording was taken from their album "How Dare You", which reached number five on the UK album chart. 1975 was a very successful year for the band, with a lengthy tour of the UK and several other European countries having taken place. 1976 would see them with two further Top 10 hits. |
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96 Title: Golden Years This was Bowie's fourth hit of the year, but it was his first Top 10 entry with new material since February 1974. The recording was the lead single from his tenth studio album "Station To Station" which reached number five on the UK album chart. In the USA the single reached number ten, and the album number three. 1976 would see him have just one minor hit in the UK singles chart. However, the afore-mentioned album was not released until early 1976, and a hits compilation, "Changesonebowie", reached number two in the summer, giving him a major presence on the album chart that year. 1977 witnessed Bowie reaching number three with his single "Sound And Vision". |
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97 Title: Wide Eyed And Legless Andy Fairweather Low was born on 2 Aug 1948 in south Wales. He first came to fame as a founding member of the UK group Amen Corner. They had a run of four Top 10 hits over the years 1968 and 1969. However, the band was dissolved in late 1969 and Fairweather Low formed a new group called Fair Weather. They had just one Top 10 hit in 1970, but again the group was disbanded the following year, and Fairweather Low worked solo from that time. This was his bigger of just two solo hits that he had. During the years that followed he worked as a session musician and provided backing for many artists both on recordings and in live concerts. From 1998 to 2006 he toured with Roger Walters of Pink Floyd, and during that period he also toured with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. In 2008-2009 he was part of Eric Clapton's touring band, and he has worked with Clapton several times since. |
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98 Title: Glass Of Champagne Sailor
was a Norwegian/British band lead by Georg Kajanus who was born on
9 Feb 1946 in Trondheim, Norway. Kajanus moved with his mother and sister
to Paris at the age of twelve where he studied music and classical
guitar. The family then relocated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where Kajanus
worked as a stained-glass window
designer. Eventually he moved to London, England, and after a
spell with other groups, formed the band Sailor in 1973. Their
second album, "Trouble", provided two Top 10 hits, the
first of which was "Glass Of Champagne". With
diminishing success, the group broke up in 1978, but reformed in
1989. They toured throughout Europe in the first half of the
1990s, but Kajanus left the band in 1995. He was replaced and
the band continued in to the 21st century, and with further personnel
changes they continue to tour Europe, particularly Germany. |
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99 Title: Mamma Mia This was the group's follow-up to their September hit, "S.O.S.", (song 76). The recording is taken from their third album, simply called "Abba" which was a Top 20 hit on the UK album chart. The following eight albums all reached Number One. The title "Mamma Mia" was used to name the 1999 musical, which featured numerous Abba songs, and which opened in London. A film version of the musical was released in 2008. They were back at Number one in March 1976 with "Fernando". |
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100 Title: Let The Music Play This was White's third hit of the year in the UK and his second Top 10 entry. This track is taken from his album, also titled "Let The Music Play". It entered the UK album chart on 21 February 1976, and reached number 22. The single peaked at number 32 on the American (pop) charts, although it reached number four on the more specialist American R&B chart. His next single, taken from the same album, "You See The Trouble With Me", made number four in the UK during March 1976, although that turned out to be his last British Top 10 entry. Another dozen recordings charted in the UK until 1996, the highest reaching number twelve. |
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EXTRA This extra song did not make it to my Top 100, but is still a favourite, so is listed here. X1 Title: 99
Miles From L.A.
Albert Hammond was born
on 18 May 1944 in London, England, which is where his family had been evacuated to from Gibraltar during World War II.
Shortly after the war, they returned to Gibraltar, where he grew up.
In 1960, he started in music with Gibraltarian band The Diamond Boys, which had no real commercial success, but
performed at the first nightclubs in Madrid to stage modern bands.
In 1966, Hammond co-founded the British vocal group the Family Dogg, reaching number 6 on the UK Singles Chart
with "A Way of Life" in 1969 (see year
1969, song 45). He wrote or co-wrote numerous songs, many of
which became hits for other acts. He relocated to the USA in
the early 1970s, and began recording as well as continuing to
write. He had more songwriting success through the 1980s
("One Moment In Time" - Whitney Houston), through the
1990s (hits for Diana Ross and Tina Turner), and continues writing
in the 21st century. |
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Acts with most appearances in this list:
Stylistics: 4
Bob Crewe: 5 (1 with
Kenny Nolan; 2 with Bob Gaudio; 2 with Denny Randell) K C & The Sunshine Band
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1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970
1971 1972
1973 1974
1975 1976
Comments and corrections to: mjs@onlineweb.com Compiled April
2021
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