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A look back to 1971 to 1973


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1971 1972 1973 

Music Highlights of 1971:

  • On Saturday, January 9, the U.S. Jaycees present an award to Elvis Presley, citing him as one of the 10 outstanding young men in America.
  • Alice Cooper emerges as the leading exponent of theatrical "shock rock." Rock'n'roll begins to fragment into many different styles: "Latin rock," "jazz rock," "soul rock," and "religious rock," to name a few.
  • Producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and arranger Thom Bell develop the "Philly sound" and put Philadelphia on the map as a major rival to Detroit's Motown.
  • The Beatles officially confirm the long-circulating rumor that they are separating permanently to pursue individual careers. The split is attributed to both musical and managerial differences.
  • The Rolling Stones release their first single on their new label, Rolling Stones Records, "Brown Sugar." It goes to number one on the charts.
  • On Sunday evening, June 27, Bill Graham closes his New York club, the Fillmore East.
  • Rod Stewart, after leaving the Faces, has his first major hit single when "Maggie May" rises to number one.
  • Michael Jackson, age 13, scores his first solo hit with "Got To Be There."
  • In November, Don McLean releases the album American Pie, whose title single catapults him to worldwide fame. A chronicle of rock history, "American Pie" becomes one of the largest sellers of the seventies and, at more than 8 minutes in length, the longest number one hit in the history of rock'n'roll.
  • Simon & Garfunkel announce that they are separating to pursue individual careers.

The Top 40 Singles of 1971:

  1. "Joy To The World" - Three Dog Night (First chart appearance: 3/27/71; Highest position: #1)
  2. "It's Too Late" - Carole King (5/22/71; #1)
  3. "How Do You Mend A Broken Heart" - Bee Gees (7/3/71; #1)
  4. "Indian Reservation" - The Raiders (5/29/71; #1)
  5. "One Bad Apple" - The Osmonds (1/23/71; #1)
  6. "Go Away Little Girl" - Donny Osmond (8/21/71; #1)
  7. "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" - The Temptations (2/20/71; #1)
  8. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" - John Denver with Fat City (6/26/71; #2)
  9. "Maggie May" - Rod Stewart (8/28/71; #1)
  10. "Knock Three Times" - Dawn (12/5/70; #1)
  11. "Want Ads" - The Honey Cone (5/1/71; #1)
  12. "Treat Her Like A Lady" - Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose (5/15/71; #3)
  13. "She's A Lady" - Tom Jones (2/20/71; #2)
  14. "Smiling Faces Sometimes" - The Undisputed Truth (7/31/71; #3)
  15. "Me And Bobby McGee" - Janis Joplin (2/20/71; #1)
  16. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" - Joan Baez (8/28/71; #3)
  17. "Signs" - Five Man Electrical Band (7/10/71; #3)
  18. "What's Going On" - Marvin Gaye (3/6/71; #2)
  19. "You've Got A Friend" - James Taylor (6/19/71; #1)
  20. "Tired Of Being Alone" - Al Green (8/21/71; #11)
  21. "Ain't No Sunshine" - Bill Withers (8/14/71; #3)
  22. "Rose Garden" - Lynn Anderson (12/19/70; #3)
  23. "Never Can Say Goodbye" - The Jackson 5 (4/10/71; #2)
  24. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" - Paul & Linda McCartney (8/21/71; #1)
  25. "Draggin' The Line" - Tommy James (6/26/71; #4)
  26. "Put Your Hand In The Hand" - Ocean (3/27/71; #2)
  27. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Aretha Franklin (4/24/71; #6)
  28. "Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted" - The Partridge Family (2/20/71; #6)
  29. "Temptation Eyes" - The Grass Roots (2/13/71; #15)
  30. "Don't Pull Your Love" - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (6/12/71; #4)
  31. "Mr. Big Stuff" - Jean Knight (6/19/71; #2)
  32. "Do You Know What I Mean?" - Lee Michaels (9/4/71; #6)
  33. "It Don't Come Easy" - Ringo Starr (5/8/71; #4)
  34. "Superstar" - Carpenters (9/11/71; #2)
  35. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" - Marvin Gaye (7/17/71; #4)
  36. "I've Found Someone Of My Own" - The Free Movement (9/18/71; #5)
  37. "Superstar" - Murray Head (5/8/71; #14)
  38. "Amos Moses" - Jerry Reed (1/9/71; #8)
  39. "For All We Know" - Carpenters (2/13/71; #3)
  40. "Rainy Days And Mondays" - Carpenters (5/22/71; #2)

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  Music Highlights of 1972:
  • The 1950s musical Grease opens on Broadway, setting the tone for a nostalgia craze that will sweep the nation.
  • In keeping with this, New York radio station WCBS-FM is the first to adapt a "solid gold" format of playing "oldies," a formula that remains especially popular.
  • When John Lennon's U.S. immigration visa expires, he begins a long battle to obtain permission to stay permanently in America.
  • A 22 year-old singer from Freehold, New Jersey, by the name of Bruce Springsteen signs with Columbia Records.
  • The musical Hair ends its Broadway run after 1742 performances.
  • Neil Diamond signs a multimillion-dollar deal to record for Columbia Records, thereby leaving the Uni label.
  • Chuck Berry, who first hit the charts in 1955 with "Maybelline," finally lands his first and only national number one hit with "My-Ding-A-Ling."
  • "Glitter rock" gains notoriety because of groups like the New York Dolls and New York Clubs like Max's Kansas City.
  • Genesis arrives in America and makes its concert debut.

The Top 40 Singles of 1972:

  1. "American Pie - Parts I & II" - Don McLean (First chart appearance: 12/4/71; Highest position: #1)
  2. "Alone Again (Naturally)" - Gilbert O'Sullivan (7/1/72; #1)
  3. "Without You" - Nilsson (1/15/72; #1)
  4. "Brand New Key" - Melanie (11/27/71; #1)
  5. "I Gotcha" - Joe Tex (2/26/72; #2)
  6. "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast" - Wayne Newton (6/10/72; #4)
  7. "Let's Stay Together" - Al Green (12/11/71; #1)
  8. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" - Roberta Flack (3/25/72; #1)
  9. "Brandy" - Looking Glass (7/1/72; #1)
  10. "Lean On Me" - Bill Withers (5/27/72; #1)
  11. "If Loving You Is Wrong" - Luther Ingram (6/24/72; #3)
  12. "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" - Mac Davis (8/5/72; #1)
  13. "Heart Of Gold" - Neil Young (2/12/72; #1)
  14. "The Candy Man" - Sammy Davis, Jr. (4/15/72; #1)
  15. "Nice To Be With You" - Gallery (4/29/72; #4)
  16. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - Robert John (1/29/72; #3)
  17. "Slippin' Into Darkness" - War (4/1/72; #16)
  18. "I'll Take You There" - The Staple Singers (4/15/72; #1)
  19. "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" - The Hollies (7/8/72; #2)
  20. "A Horse With No Name" - America (3/4/72; #1)
  21. "Outa Space" - Billy Preston (5/13/72; #2)
  22. "Oh Girl" - Chi-Lites (4/15/72; #1)
  23. "Song Sung Blue" - Neil Diamond (5/13/72; #1)
  24. "Family Affair" - Sly and the Family Stone (11/13/71; #1)
  25. "Rockin' Robin" - Michael Jackson (3/18/72; #2)
  26. "My Ding-A-Ling" - Chuck Berry (9/9/72; #1)
  27. "Back Stabbers" - The O'Jays (8/12/72; #3)
  28. "Everybody Plays The Fool" - The Main Ingredient (9/2/72; #3)
  29. "Last Night (I Didn't Get To Sleep At All)" - The 5th Dimension (4/22/72; #8)
  30. "Betcha By Golly, Wow" - The Stylistics (3/11/72; #3)
  31. "Precious And Few" - Climax (1/22/72; #3)
  32. "Ben" - Michael Jackson (9/9/72; #1)
  33. "Cherish" - David Cassidy (11/13/71; #9)
  34. "How Do You Do?" - Mouth & MacNeal (6/17/72)
  35. "I'm Still In Love With You" - Al Green (7/15/72; #3)
  36. "Down By The Lazy River" - The Osmonds (1/29/72; #4)
  37. "Scorpio" - Dennis Coffey (11/13/71; #6)
  38. "Popcorn" - Hot Butter (8/19/72; #9)
  39. "Go All The Way" - Raspberries (8/19/72; #5)
  40. "Too Late To Turn Back Now" - Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose (6/17/72; #2)

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  Music Highlights of 1973:
  • Helen Reddy becomes the host of NBC-TV's new late-night Friday night concert series called Midnight Special.
  • Roberta Flack releases "Killing Me Softly With His Song," based on a Lori Lieberman poem inspired by Lieberman's seeing Don McLean at a singing engagement in Los Angeles.
  • In March, Pink Floyd releases Dark Side of the Moon. It would remain on Billboard's album charts for 741 weeks (15 1/2 years), easily surpassing the previous logevity record of 490 weeks for Johnny Mathis' Greatest Hits.
  • "Country rock" is big, thanks to acts like the Allman Brothers Band, ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Charlie Daniels Band, and the Marshall Tucker Band.
  • Clive Davis, President of Columbia Records, is fired for misappropriating funds.
  • The Everly Brothers decide to call it quits and go their separate ways.
  • In August, Stevie Wonder, touring the South, is involved in a serious automobile accident that almost claims his life.
  • On Thursday, October 11, Elvis and Priscilla Presley's divorce becomes final.
  • The government requires that all radios installed in new American cars be capable of receiving both AM and FM.
  • After two years of retirement, Frank Sinatra returns to performing under the billing "Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back."
  • Thirty year-old record executive David Geffen launches Asylum Records.

The Top 40 Singles of 1973:

"Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree" - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando (First chart appearance: 3/17/73; Highest position.: #1)

  1. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" - Jim Croce (6/2/73; #1)
  2. "Crocodile Rock" - Elton John (12/23/72; #1)
  3. "My Love" - Paul McCartney & Wings (4/28/73; #1)
  4. "Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye (7/28/73; #1)
  5. "Touch Me In The Morning" - Diana Ross (7/7/73; #1)
  6. "Delta Dawn" - Helen Reddy (7/28/73; #1)
  7. "Playground In My Mind" - Clint Holmes (5/5/73; #2)
  8. "Killing Me Softly With His Song" - Roberta Flack (2/3/73; #1)
  9. "Me And Mrs. Jones" - Billy Paul (11/18/72; #1)
  10. "Will It Go Round In Circles" - Billy Preston (5/19/73; #1)
  11. "Brother Louie" - Stories (7/14/73; #1)
  12. "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" - Vicki Lawrence (3/17/73; #1)
  13. "Drift Away" - Dobie Gray (3/31/73; #5)
  14. "Half-Breed" - Cher (9/1/73; #1)
  15. "You're So Vain" - Carly Simon (12/16/72; #1)
  16. "Shambala" - Three Dog Night (6/2/73; #3)
  17. "Love Train" - The O'Jays (1/27/73; #1)
  18. "That Lady (Part 1)" - The Isley Brothers (8/18/73; #6)
  19. "Why Me" - Kris Kristofferson (7/7/73; #16)
  20. "Loves Me Like A Rock" - Paul Simon (8/18/73; #2)
  21. "Pillow Talk" - Sylvia (4/21/73; #3)
  22. "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose" - Dawn (7/28/73; #3)
  23. "Superstition" - Stevie Wonder (12/9/72; #1)
  24. "Clair" - Gilbert O'Sullivan (7/1/72; #1)
  25. "Rocky Mountain High" - John Denver (1/6/73; #9)
  26. "Last Song" - Edward Bear (1/27/73; #3)
  27. "Midnight Train To Georgia" - Gladys Knight and the Pips (9/15/73; #1)
  28. "Frankenstein" - The Edgar Winter Group (4/21/73; #1)
  29. "Stuck In The Middle With You" - Stealers Wheel (3/31/73; #1)
  30. "Little Willy" - Sweet (3/17/73; #3)
  31. "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" - Stevie Wonder (3/31/73; #1)
  32. "Danny's Song" - Anne Murray (2/10/73; #7)
  33. "We're An American Band" - Grand Funk (8/18/73; #1)
  34. "Right Place Wrong Time" - Dr. John (5/12/73; #9)
  35. "Wildflower" - Skylark (3/31/73; #9)
  36. "The Morning After" - Maureen McGovern (7/14/73; #1)
  37. "Rockin' Pneumonia -- Boogie Woogie Flu" - Johnny Rivers (11/11/72; #6)
  38. "Oh, Babe, What Would You Say" - Hurricane Smith (12/23/72; #3)
  39. "Natural High" - Bloodstone (6/9/73; #10)


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If you would like to make a special personal Music CD of oldies from various artists,  please visit imix's Web site.  Presently imix is not a club supported icon.  By visiting imix no revenue will be generated to our club and was placed on this page for your information purpose only.

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