Research? Pah!
So, this afternoon I diligently went through the (British Top 40) singles charts for the entire 52 weeks between my 17th & 18th birthdays. I remember 1972 as being almost unmitigated dross: it was the era of glam rock Little Jimmy Osmond was #1 for something like 7 weeks
and it seemed like whenever he wasn't in the charts, Donny or David (Cassidy) were sure to pop up and fill the gap.
But it turns out, my jaundiced teenage memories had filtered out quite a lot of good stuff, which I present to you below:
Code:
Singles April 30-1972 May 05-1973
Heart of Gold
Hold your head up
Tumbling Dice
Rocket man
Back Off Boogaloo
Metal Guru
Stir It Up
Lady Eleanor
California Man
Supersonic Rocket Ship
Oh Girl
Rock & Roll (G Glitter)
I've been lonely for so long
Take me back 'ome
I can see clearly now
Silver Machine
School's Out
Starman
You wear it well
Layla
I'm still in love with you
Virginia Plain
Mama weer all crazee now
All the young dudes
Sugar me
Suzanne Beware Of The Devil
Long cool woman (in a black dress)
Honky Cat
Wig-wam Bam
Children of the Revolution
John, I'm only dancing
I'll take you there
Little Willy
American Trilogy
Burlesque (family)
In a Broken Dream
My Ding-a-ling
Crocodile Rock
There are more questions than answers
Here I go again
Angel/What Made Milwaukee Famous
Stay with me
I don't believe in miracles
Gudbye to Jane
Ventura Highway
Solid Gold Easy Action
Can't Keep it In
Merry Christmas/War is Over
The Jean Genie
Always on my mind
Ball Park Incident
Wishing Well
Me & Mrs Jones
Paper Plane, Mean Girl
Papa was a rolling stone
Do you wanna touch?
Daniel
Blockbuster
Whisky in the Jar
Part Of The Union
You're So Vain
Feel the need in me
Superstition
Cindy Incidentally
Cum On Feel The Noize
The Look Of Love
Love Train
20th Century Boy
Why can't we live together
God gave rock and roll to you
Hello I'm back again
My Love
Drive-In Saturday
Brother Louie
Could it be I'm falling in love
See my baby jive
At the age of 16, I'd managed to persuade my parents, who regarded rock'n'roll as the devil's music, to allow me to purchase a 2nd-hand record player. Getting the player was only the first hurdle. _
Every_ record I purchased had to be smuggled into the house, and long lectures were sure to follow if I was caught in the act.
Still, I can remember my first two albums were the Faces' 'Long Player' and Fleetwood Mac's (Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac) 'Greatest Hits'. The first single I bought was Neil Young's 'Heart of Gold'.
I also went through all the albums that featured the in British Album charts top 50 in 1972-3. I know for sure I had acquired at least the first 15 or so by my 18th birthday, but apart from the Stones' compilations, Nashville Skyline and the Beatles albums (non-compilation), all these albums came out in between May 1972 and May 1973
Code:
Albums
Dark Side of the Moon
Never a Dull Moment, Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells A Story
Long Player, A nod's as good as a wink..., Ooh-la-la
Teaser and the Firecat
Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits
Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player
Milestones, High Tide & Green Grass
Beatles Red & Blue albums, Sgt Pepper's, Abbey Road, Let It Be
Nashville Skyline
Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
Exile on Main St,
Meaty Beaty, Big & Bouncy
After the Goldrush
Ziggy Stardust
Talking Book
Super Fly
Transformer
But then I looked round and realised, I needn't have done all this research at all. I'd bought the sheet music to these four tunes back in 1972 - and I've hung onto them ever since! So, pretty obvious what I'll be covering this week!!