UK Number One Singles in the 70s

The UK Singles Chart (currently entitled Official Singles Chart) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence.

The OCC website contains the Top 100 chart. Some media outlets only list the Top 40 (such as the BBC) or the Top 75 (such as Music Week magazine) of this list. Around 6,500 British retail outlets contribute sales data, as well as most UK online digital-download stores. Unlike charts in the United States, no airplay statistics are used for the official UK Singles Chart. The chart week runs from 00:01 Friday to midnight Thursday, with most UK physical and digital singles being released on Fridays. From August 3, 1969 until July 5, 2015, the chart week ran from 00:01 Sunday to midnight Saturday.

The Top 40 chart is first issued on Friday afternoons by BBC Radio 1 as The Official Chart from 16:00 to 17:45, before the full Official Singles Chart Top 100 is posted on the Official Charts Company's website. A rival chart show, The Vodafone Big Top 40, is based on downloads and commercial radio airplay and is broadcast on Sunday afternoons from 16:00 to 19:00 on 145 local commercial radio stations across the United Kingdom.

The UK Singles Chart began to be compiled in 1952. According to the Official Charts Company's statistics. The precise number of chart-toppers is debatable due to the profusion of competing charts from the 1950s to the 1980s, but the usual list used is that endorsed by the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and subsequently adopted by the Official Charts Company. The company regards a selected period of the New Musical Express chart (only from 1952 to 1960) and the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period prior to February 11, 1969, where multiples of competing charts (none official) coexisted side by side. For example, the BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and Top of the Pops prior to 1969 are not listed as chart-toppers according to the legacy criteria of the Charts Company.

The first number one on the UK Singles Chart was "Here in My Heart" by Al Martino for the week ending date November 14, 1952.

## UK Number One Singles in the 70s

###  ABBA

***ABBA*** were a Swedish pop group, formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982. ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, giving Sweden its first triumph in the contest. They are the most successful group to have taken part in the competition.

#### February 18, 1978: "Take A Chance On Me"

***"Take a Chance on Me"*** is a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA from their fifth studio album *ABBA: The Album*.

* **Released** January 27, 1978
* UK #1, three weeks, Gold; US #3, Gold

### Althia & Donna

***Althia & Donna*** were a Jamaican reggae vocal duo, consisting of Althia Rose Forrest and Donna Marie Reid. They are best known for their 1977 single "*Uptown Top Ranking*", which was a number one hit in the United Kingdom in 1978. At 17 and 18 years old, respectively, they became the youngest duo ever to have a No 1 single in the UK.

#### February 4, 1978: "Uptown Top Ranking"

Released in 1977, the song comprises the girls ad-libbing to deejay track "Three Piece Suit" by Trinity. The song was initially recorded as a joke and played by accident by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, resulting in numerous requests for additional plays. With early championing by Peel and a performance on Top of the Pops, it soon became a surprise hit.

* One week

### Brotherhood of Man

***Brotherhood of Man*** are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me".

Created in 1969, Brotherhood of Man was initially an umbrella title for a frequently-changing line-up of session singers. Early on, they scored a worldwide hit with the song "United We Stand". By 1973 the concept had run its course and a definite four-member line-up consisting of Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens was created. This version of the group went on to score many hits around the world in the mid to late 1970s. The group under this line-up still continues, performing shows throughout Europe.

#### February 11, 1978: "Figaro"

***"Figaro"*** became Brotherhood of Man's third and final number one hit in the UK. This song, which borrowed the title-idea from their previous No.1, "Angelo", was written by band members Lee Sheriden and Martin Lee along with their manager Tony Hiller, who also produced the track. The lead vocals are sung jointly by members Sandra Stevens and Nicky Stevens. The song tells of a (presumably) Spanish cabaret singer who is intent on gaining the interest of young ladies. Musically, the song has been reported on many occasions of its similarity to ABBA's "Fernando", and while this may be partly true of "Angelo", stylistically, these particular songs are very different apart from similar titles.

* One week, Gold

### Little Jimmy Osmond

***Jimmy Osmond*** (born April 16, 1963) is an American singer, actor, and businessman. He is the youngest member of the sibling musical group the Osmonds. As a solo artist, Osmond has accumulated six gold records, one platinum record, and two gold albums. His recording of "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" in 1972 resulted in The Guinness Book of World Records designating him the youngest performer to have a #1 single on the UK Singles Chart. The song was credited to "Little Jimmy Osmond".

#### December 23, 1972: "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool"

Riding high on the popularity of The Osmonds, Jimmy (the youngest sibling) had a massive hit with ***"Long Haired Lover From Liverpool"***, in the process becoming the youngest person to ever reach number one on the UK Singles Chart aged 9 years 8 months.

* Five weeks
* US #38

### Mud

***Mud*** (now Mud II) are an English glam rock band, formed in February 1966. Their earlier success came in a pop and then glam rock style, while later hits were influenced by 1950s rock and roll, and are best remembered for their hit singles "Tiger Feet", which was the UK's best-selling single of 1974, and "Lonely This Christmas" which reached Christmas number 1 in December 1974. After signing to Rak Records and teaming up with songwriters/producers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, the band had fourteen UK Top 20 hits between 1973 and 1976, including three number ones.

#### December 21, 1974: "Lonely This Christmas"

Written and produced by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, "Lonely This Christmas" was Mud's second number one single in the UK. The song is noted for a performance on Top of the Pops in which guitarist Rob Davis was covered in tinsel and wore Christmas baubles as earrings, while vocalist Les Gray sang to a ventriloquist's dummy.

* Four weeks, Gold
* Re-released in 1985, peaking at #61, and re-charted in 2015 and 2017

#### May 3, 1975: "Oh, Boy!"

***"Oh, Boy!"*** was originally recorded by Sonny West in the late 1950s but did not achieve commercial success. It was later recorded by Buddy Holly and the Crickets in 1957 and when released as a single it peaked at #10 (US) and #3 (UK).

* Two weeks

### Simon & Garfunkel

***Simon & Garfunkel*** was an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s and became counterculture icons of the decade's social revolution, alongside artists such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan.

Their often rocky relationship led to artistic disagreements, which resulted in their breakup in 1970. Their final studio record, *Bridge over Troubled Water* (released in January of that year), was their most successful, becoming one of the world's best-selling albums. Since their split in 1970 they have reunited several times, most famously in 1981 for "The Concert in Central Park", which attracted more than 500,000 people, the seventh-largest concert attendance in history.

After their 1970 breakup following the release of *Bridge over Troubled Water*, they both continued recording, Simon releasing a number of highly acclaimed albums, including 1986's Graceland. Garfunkel also briefly pursued an acting career, with leading roles in two Mike Nichols films, Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge, and in Nicolas Roeg's 1980 Bad Timing, as well as releasing some solo hits such as "All I Know".

#### March 28, 1970: "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

* **Released** January 1970
* Three weeks
* US #1, Platinum

### Slade

    ***Slade*** are an English rock band from Wolverhampton. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The *British Hit Singles & Albums* names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. They were the first act to have three singles enter the charts at number one; all six of the band's chart-toppers were penned by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea.

Following an unsuccessful move to the United States in 1975, Slade's popularity waned but was unexpectedly revived in 1980 when they were last-minute replacements for Ozzy Osbourne at the Reading Rock Festival. The band later acknowledged this to have been one of the highlights of their career. The original line-up split in 1992, but the band re-formed later in the year as Slade II. The band have continued, with a number of line-up changes, to the present day. They have shortened the group name back to Slade.

#### December 15, 1973: "Merry Xmas Everybody"

The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and was the band's sixth and final number-one single in the UK. It was recorded in the late summer of 1973, partway through Slade's east coast US tour. ***"Merry Xmas Everybody"*** took five days to finish, but the band disliked the first completed version. It ended up being re-recorded, with the corridor outside used to record the chorus, as it provided an appropriate echo.

* Five weeks, Silver
* Released December 7, 1973
* Re-charted 1981-1990, except 1988, and then every year since 2007
* In 1990, Glam rock tribute band The Metal Gurus (included Wayne Hussey of The Mission) released a version, produced by Holder and Lea, reaching #55 in the UK, and raising money for the Childline charity. Deezer
* In 1998, a remix by Slade vs Flush peaked at #30 in the UK.
* In 2005, British singer Tony Christie released a swing version, which reached #49 in the UK. Deezer