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Tuesday the 20th of February 1973 to Tuesday the 19th of February 1974
Elton John
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Charting in this year of 1973, on the 23rd of September, is Elton John with the single “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”.
I remember hearing this, most probably on the radio,..
…all the time. But I liked this one a lot.
From the album of the same name, Elton by this point was achieving artistic triumph again and again. And his star was shining brighter at every release.
The single will enter the chart…
…at No.43, and then jump straight up to No.16 the following week.
Two weeks later it hits the Top 10 at No.10, and by the 21st of October, gets as high as it can go when it peaks at No.6 and stays there for two weeks.
The climb down will be a much slower affair than the climb up, beginning with a further week in the Top 10 before it falls more dramatically to settle around the Top 40 perimeter, which will see it through into the new year of 1974.
The end will come when the middle of January approaches, with the single skipping away after the 12th of that month.
Although the number one slot in the U.K. was still proving elusive,..
…the album proved to be his 2nd solid No.1 album, even more impressive as it was a double, which meant the music buying public were paying more out of their pocket to get it there, than other worthy single disc contenders.
The lyrics to this particular single however were in sharp contrast to Elton and Bernie Taupin’s ascendancy to fame and ever-growing stardom.
The lyricist was now at a stage…
…where the tug of stardom wasn’t as alluring as before, and the need to ground himself back into reality became a desire strong enough to put down in writing.
I love the words to this song, it’s basically about Bernie defying the ones who are trying to control him, manipulate him, that all of it doesn’t matter. He’d take the peaceful life and happiness over stardom any day. He won’t be selling his soul.
This is Taupin, rooting himself back into his childhood where, living on a farm in Lincolnshire, which seemed like another planet away, now seemed a more alluring prospect. With no scheduled rockets set for a return journey, arriving to take him home there anytime soon.
Back when this was first receiving airplay,..
…there wouldn’t have been anything else like it for the sheer brilliance of a tune.
Packed into 3 minutes and 12 seconds, by the end of that time, it feels as if you have been to a mystical faraway land yourself.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Top of the Pops appearance:
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear these songs, and watch the footage, once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channels:
Elton John
SirEJ47
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
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Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
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Tuesday the 20th of February 1973 to Tuesday the 19th of February 1974
The Simon Park Orchestra
Eye Level (Theme from the Thames T.V. series “Van der Valk”).
Charting in the year of 1973, on the 9th of September, is The Simon Park Orchestra with the single “Eye Level (Theme from the Thames T.V. series “Van der Valk”).”.
Originally released in ‘72…
…but hitting the U.K. Singles Chart hard in ‘73, now this was definitely music I remember.
Nobody I know had bought the single so the memory of it must have come from this being played constantly on the airwaves, whether that was the TV or the radio.
It came from the ITV show ‘Van Der Valk’ which was a detective show set in Holland. The “B” side was also a theme from another popular ITV programme. Granada TV’s ‘Crown Court’.
Back to the subject of the “Aa” side, I also remember the actor Barry Foster from Van Der Valk too. Whether that means I was up late taking it in I’m not sure but I distinctly remember it.
The piece itself was written by a Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart,..
…who worked under other pseudonyms, the most notable being Jack Trombey.
In the sixties, he came over to the U.K. and signed up to the music production company De Wolfe Music, and ended up writing hundreds of compositions in the form of library music (recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media).
In this capacity, Trombey’s work was used for TV shows like “Callan” and also for films such as (and this is my personal favourite) “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
Whenever I hear Trombey’s “Homeward Bound” I will forever picture King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table skipping along the English countryside clip-clopping a couple of coconuts (try saying that after a drink or three).
’Stoeckart s most popular composition though was undoubtedly the piece which would eventually become the theme to “Van der Valk”.
The tune, based loosely on a German/Dutch 18th century nursery rhyme, was originally called “Amsterdam”. It also took its opening few bars from non other than a segment of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”.
Once ITV acquired the music to use, they enlisted The Simon Park Orchestra to arrange it with a little assistance from Stoeckart himself, who adapted the original tune and added a new top line under the Trombey name.
Apparently, the title change to “Eye Level” is still in keeping with the Dutch feel as it refers to the ever-present horizon in the Low Countries, which is always “at eye level to the beholder”.
When it was first released the year before, it hardly dented the chart at all. Entering on the 19th of November 1972 at No.45, and spending only 2 weeks in the top 50.
Once re-issued in September 1973, it re-entered on the 9th at No.48, but catapulted up the charts to No.14 the following week.
Before September was through, it went all the way up to No.1 and stayed there for 4 weeks. It took one notch down to No.2 from the 21st of October for another couple of weeks after that, and dropped out of the Top 10 after the 10th of November.
Even though there was nowhere else to go but down, the single took a long time doing so. In fact it would be well into the new year, and almost my 2nd Birthday, before it finally left after the 9th of February 1974, by then having sold just over a million units.
Going back to the end of Autumn 1973, Matt Monro, one of the very best singers to ever grace anyone’s ears, released a vocal version entitled “And You Smiled”, with lyrics written by Melvyn Taggart.
It would become his final hit single.
A year later, in1974, Stoeckart would release his own version under the name Jack Trombey’s Brass.
I’m always fascinated by the fact that, in a De Wolfe archive somewhere, there lies between 1200 – 1300 pieces of music which Stoeckart has composed, under various guises.
Some of these can be found on YouTube if you care to look for them.
That’s one hell of a body of work, and always captivating to listen to.
There may be a good chance that one day, one of those tunes may surface into the public consciousness.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Top Of The Pops appearance:
Matt Monro – And You Smiled (Eye Level Theme from TV Series “Van der Valk”)
Jack Trombey’s Brass – Eye Level
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear these songs once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channels:
The Simon Park Orchestra & De Wolfe Music – Topic
Bluevelvetglove
a8detective
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
Next – >>>
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
<<< – Previous
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Facebook Page
My Twitter Page
What is it…?
The Archive Of My Life
Why am I…?
My Musical Road
How do I…?
The Method
When am I…?
My 1st Birthday and Road to 2
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Tuesday the 20th of February 1973 to Tuesday the 19th of February 1974
Osmonds
The Plan
Charting in the year of 1973, on the 19th of August, is The Osmonds with the album “The Plan”.
There are certain pieces of music,..
…or artists, which dive right back into the depths of my living memory.
One such example is this album by the Osmonds.
Again, my eldest sister’s influence here. She had the album ‘The Plan’ and swears to this day that it’s one of the best albums ever made by anyone.
It is certainly an ambitious project…
…and it’s certainly an ambitious album.Based upon their Mormon beliefs from the beginning to the end of all things.That’s a lot to accomplish on two sides of a vinyl record which lasts less than an hour. But they gave it their best shot.
In my opinion, with the stigma that the media gave to them, they had so many ideas, so many styles, that the critics in the end didn’t know what to do with them.So they do what critics do, they criticised them.
I joined the Osmonds life story after they’d been the Osmond Brothers, the squeaky clean barber shop set-up, and when they’d added Donny to the line up and became The Osmonds.With this album they were now just “Osmonds” to attempt to distance themselves even further from their “One Bad Apple” days, where the music was chosen for them, and they were just a vehicle for somebody else’s songs.
They were now not just performers but songwriters and composers too.
So to me they were an extremely talented family.They played their own instruments.They had fantastic ideas, and with this effort, they put them all in there. And that’s probably why everyone got confused.One minute they’re heavy, the next they’re schmaltzy. Another moment they’re playful, then serious.It’s probably because it lacked a coherent musical theme that it didn’t get to where it should have been.If they’d made a box set and had a different style for each side, then that may well have worked. But either they, nor the record company, weren’t going down that road.So in the end you’ve got something that sounds like a highlights album from an epic (and unrealised) 4 hour production.
On the subject of highlights,..
…to publicise it, they performed a 10 minute taster focusing on a selection of the songs.You can tell they were immensely proud of this work. And, I think the fans either loved it or hated it – ok hated is a bit strong, probably more like felt more uncomfortable with it.
Even back then, my sister would discuss anything Osmonds with anyone, including me. I always think of her, when I was young, as around 15 when in fact at this stage she was only 10.
She was the one whom I found out that they were all brothers, as I knew Donny was his own star, but he was also in the band.The subject of brothers was one that, even back then, something (or someone) I yearned for. But strangely back then, it wasn’t a younger brother but an older one that I missed.
My sisters favourite was Merrill, and to me I can see why, with a fantastic voice that could really punch.Due to the big brother thing, I was drawn to Wayne. I felt a little envious that they had him as a brother.
But yeah, the songs they made for this album went straight into me too. In fact “Movie Man” gave me the creeps a little. It used to make me think even I was in trouble (well, I was around 2).
But, for them it really was the album they truly and seriously put everything into, including their hearts, souls, and beliefs.
The album hits the U.K. Album Chart…
on the 19th of August 1973, crashing into the Top 10 at No.7.
By the following week it will hit it’s peak position, one place higher at No.6, and sit there for a couple of weeks.
After one further week in the Top 10, where it goes back to No.7, it will settle in the mid-chart positions during the months of September and October.
A further wave will edge it back into the Top 10 by mid-November for a week, before it eventually settles just outside of it during December and going into January 1974, before falling away from the chart altogether after the 12th of that month.
After a short rest, it will enter back into the lower end of the Top 50 from the 20th, and stick around for a further 4 weeks before leaving for good after the 16th of February. Just a few days before my 2nd birthday.
To me, it’s not so much an album,..
…as more a movie soundtrack, or an event, and having given it some thought, I would have used this album as a basis for a West End (or Broadway) musical.
Abba did it. Queen did it. You’ve got Michael Jackson’s Thriller out there, Whitney Houston, and so many others too.
There’s loads of them out there, Why not the Osmonds?
The Plan.
The Musical.
The Event.
I’ve created my own separate playlists for Sides 1 and 2 of this album with (I hope) the correct versions and the original track sequencing order for the U.K. release.
Side 1
Side 2
The Osmonds – The Plan Medley (Video Promo):
“Movie Man” (TV appearance):
“Let Me In” (“Musik Laden” TV Appearance):
“One Way Ticket To Anywhere” Video Promo:
“Are You Up There?” Video Promo:
“The Last Days” Video Promo:
“Goin’ Home” Video Promo:
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music, and watch the footage, once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
TheOsmondsMusic
Samantha – What I Like
Musikladen
Michael28270
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
Next – >>>
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
<<< – Previous
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Facebook Page
My Twitter Page
What is it…?
The Archive Of My Life
Why am I…?
My Musical Road
How do I…?
The Method
When am I…?
My 1st Birthday and Road to 2
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Tuesday the 20th of February 1973 to Tuesday the 19th of February 1974
Limmie and Family Cookin’
You Can Do Magic
Charting in the year of 1973, on the 15th of July, is Limmie and Family Cookin’ with the single “You Can Do Magic”.
My sister owns this…
…so that’s where this earworm has come from.
To me it sounds much older, like it belongs in the mid-sixties.
Limmie was Limme Frank Snell Jr. The Family Cookin’ were his sisters Martha and Jimmie.
Although based in Ohio, United States, the group had much better success in the U.K.
Before he teamed up with his two siblings, he previously had some success a decade before when, aged only 11, he began a sporadic recording career with Columbia with the name Limmie B. Goode (obviously a play on Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” which had released a few years previously)
Several years passed before he first teamed up with his sisters and initially called themselves the Sugar Cakes.
Once the group had changed their name again and signed to AVCO, the same home as the up-and-coming Stylistics, they had some success, mainly in the U.K. So much so that Limmie visited the U.K. and never really went home again, becoming part of the later disco scene in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s.
This single enters the chart…
in the middle of July at No.46. Two weeks later it will break the Top 20, two weeks after that it will break the Top 10, another two weeks along, near the end of the summer on the 26th of August, it will hit it’s top position of No.3.
It will stay in the Top 10 until the middle of September before it starts making its way back down the chart, finally leaving after the 13th of October with a total of 13 weeks on chart.
Another couple of singles will follow after this one, but “You Can Do Magic” would end up becoming their biggest hit here in the U.K.
Unfortunately, Limmie died quite early in life, aged only 38. But he left us with this song which still lives on.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear these songs once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channels:
Limmie & Family Cookin' – Topic
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
Next – >>>
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
<<< – Previous
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Facebook Page
My Twitter Page
What is it…?
The Archive Of My Life
Why am I…?
My Musical Road
How do I…?
The Method
When am I…?
My 1st Birthday and Road to 2
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Tuesday the 20th of February 1973 to Tuesday the 19th of February 1974
Perry Como
And I Love You So
Charting in the year of 1973, on the 1st of July, is Perry Como with the album “And I Love You So”.
Probably the most listened to album I heard in this, my 2nd year,..
…came from this man, due to my mother buying it and playing it most of the time.
So what comes back to me about this music?
Well, to me I get a picture of sunshine coming through the dining room window. Probably mid-morning, springtime. I remember the record player being positioned side on, with the arm of the player along the front, the starting mechanism push towards the left, on top of the low level unit. I remember I was tall enough to be able to operate it myself, she showed me how to do it.
This was safe music, my mother could get on with things without my other sisters and my father there.
It’s an atmosphere of calm. A feeling of comfort.
Perry is my mother’s favourite music artist.
To me, back then, he was old, he had grey hair, but he was also happy, and that made him seem younger. Something I didn’t see so much in my own father at that time.
Even then I could tell that Perry’s singing style was an old type of style.
So this is what old people listened to. Nothing like the stuff my sisters were playing.
A year or so later, to make her happy, I remember drawing a picture of the album cover on a sheet of paper.
His head was the size of the page and I probably tried to fill in the colours the same as the background on the album cover.
I liked the cover because of the colours. This was a warm sunny album with an old, grey haired man who looked young.
The album enters the chart…
…on the first day of July goes straight to No.3.
Even though it relaxes a little, it doesn’t leave the Top 10 until the summer month of August closes out.
This period is only brief as, before the close of September, he’s back in the Top 10 once again. An exclusive club which he’ll be a member of all the way up to the end of 1973.
With that sort of behaviour in the chart, he’ll of course visit me again when I celebrate another birthday, so we’ll catch up with him, and this album then, when the future gets even brighter.
Perry, of course, had been around for years,..
…prior to this new album.
Beginning his singing career in the late 1930’s, my elder Auntie, on my mother’s side, had his 1958 hit “Catch a Falling Star” on a 78RPM.
Before he became a crooner, he was a barber, and he always thought that if the singing career gave out at least he’d have that profession to fall back on.
He needn’t have worried.
When I came along he was making something of a comeback.
It was also the time when Elvis was basically doing the same type of music.
To put in to context, my mum was basically getting a comeback album from a singer who was hugely popular in the mid fifties. That would have been 18 years before.
For 2024, that would be 2006. That’s like Justin Timberlake making a comeback album today. Oh hang on…he is.
That just doesn’t seem the same to me.
I’ve created my own separate playlists for Sides 1 and 2 of this album with (I hope) the correct versions and the original track sequencing order for the U.K. release.
Side 1
Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
Perry Como
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
Next – >>>
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
<<< – Previous
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Facebook Page
My Twitter Page
What is it…?
The Archive Of My Life
Why am I…?
My Musical Road
How do I…?
The Method
When am I…?
My 1st Birthday and Road to 2
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Tuesday, the 20th of February 1973 to Tuesday, the 19th of February 1974
Peters and Lee
Welcome Home
Charting in the year of 1973, on the 20th of May, is Peters and Lee with the single “Welcome Home”.
This song was everywhere…
…well that’s what I recall anyway.
I remember these two being on TV a lot singing this. That also shows how middle aged my parents were by this time, and the programmes they were watching.
Then again, there were only 3 TV channels, so there wasn’t that much of a choice.
Any entertainment show, whether it be a game show, comedy show, music show etc. If it had a half-way musical segment, this was on it.
At one point, they even had their own TV series themselves, ”Meet Peters and Lee”.
Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee teamed up together a couple of years before in 1970.
Before then,..
…Lennie (who had lost the sight in one eye at the age of 5 from a car accident, and lost the sight in the other eye at the age of 16 from a brick which had been thrown and had tragically struck him on the head), had since earned his living playing piano around the London pub circuit.
He’d already released a few singles in the mid to late sixties.
Dianne was an actress and dancer who, at 21 years of age when they teamed up, was 18 years his junior.
Before they officially became a duo, Lee would provide backing vocals for Peter’s’ solo performances, while also earning a living part time as half of a dance act with one of her cousins.
Shortly afterwards, Lee would join Peters at the front of the stage and they became known as Lennie Peters and Melody. It wasn’t until their management company suggested using both their surnames, thus giving Lee equal billing, that they became Peters and Lee.
They entered the talent show Opportunity Knocks a couple of years later and proved extremely popular, winning the show 7 times.
That led to a recording contract, a suitable song was found for them and “Welcome Home” went into the charts at No.46 on the 20th of May 1973. It leapt 20 places to No.26 the following week, broke the Top 20 by June, and went Top 5 mid-way through that month.
On the first day of July, it had climbed all the way to No.2, where it would sit behind Slade for two weeks before it became the biggest selling single for the week between the 15th and the 21st of July, hitting No.1.
The week after, it got knocked back to No.2 by Gary Glitter but stayed at that position until mid-August.
It eventually left the Top 10 at the beginning of September, and began to slowly slip back down the chart before leaving altogether at the beginning of November, by which point it had accrued 24 total weeks and the U.K. Singles Chart, and had sold over an astonishing 800,000 copies.
An album followed, selling a quarter of a million.
A few more hit singles and TV appearances…
…kept them buoyant throughout the seventies until they eventually split in 1980.
Lee went back to the theatre and some acting projects while Peters once again became a solo artist.
After missing the success of they’re glory days together, the pair eventually teamed up once again in the mid eighties, releasing new material and becoming a regular live act once more.
Sadly, Lennie Peters passed away in 1992 from Bone Cancer. Dianne Lee carried on entertaining and eventually married music artist Rick Price, with whom she would perform as a duo once again until Rick died in 2022.
Personally I always thought Lennie Peters looked suspiciously like the british sports commentator David Vine, and those glasses were a disguise to try and hide the fact that a few days after appearing on Top of the Pops, he’d be back on the TV presenting Ski Sunday.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
(Track Unavailable)
“Top Of The Pops” appearance.
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear these songs once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channels:
45RPMbyMikeEvans
MrTOTP
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
Next – >>>
Do You Remember? My Memories from My Musical Road during my 2nd Year.
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No.1 on “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Facebook Page
My Twitter Page
What is it…?
The Archive Of My Life
Why am I…?
My Musical Road
How do I…?
The Method
When am I…?
My 1st Birthday and Road to 2
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The 20th of February 1973
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 18th to Saturday the 24th of February 1973
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 17th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 18th,
announced on Tuesday the 20th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 25th of February 1973.
Elton John
Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player
At No.1, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is Elton John with “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player”.
I’ve actually got this album.
Not from back then (though that would be impressive) but picked up from somewhere at some point. Up until now I’d probably only played it once.
This is the one that had the hits ‘Daniel’, (currently featuring in the U.K. Singles Chart) which I used to hear all the time at one point in the late ‘80’s onwards, and ‘Crocodile Rock’ which I used to think was a bit cheesy. It’s gained more respect for me since then.
I think it will get played a bit more in the future…
No.7 on “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart” on my 1st Birthday
I do like the early Elton output, and himself and Bernie Taupin were churning out a hell of a lot back then.
Although he famously didn’t hit No.1 in the singles chart for about 20 years, his albums regularly hit the top of the tree. In fact this was Elton’s first album to hit the top spot.
The title could have originated from a number of ways.
One of them is a quote from Oscar Wilde “Don’t shoot the piano player, he’s doing his best” which Wilde reportedly spotted in a saloon bar while on a visit to the U.S.
Another is a nod to a Francois Truffaut film “Shoot The Piano Player”.
The biggest answer references the line was actually spoken by Elton at a party Groucho Marx threw and Elton played piano at.
The story goes that Groucho constantly teased Elton during the evening eventually holding two of his fingers out and his thumb in the air as if imitating a gun and pointing at Elton as if to shoot him, at which Elton turned to face him with his hands up in a gesture of surrender and shouted “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player”! (probably himself nodding to the first two theories above).There’s also a nod to Groucho on the front cover in the form of the movie poster.He’s not the only one to get a nod either.A few tracks give a tip of the hat to other artists such as Van Morrison, Bobby Vee, The Rolling Stones, and Elton’s friend Marc Bolan.
For me, from here, this album still sounds fresh, an album by an up and coming artist who, even though he’d now successfully scaled the mountain of the U.K. Albums Chart, was still to reach his peak, and you can tell at this point he was still enjoying himself.
The album had been the highest new entry a couple of weeks before,..
…when it had shot like a bullet straight to the top of the charts on the 4th of Feb.
This week would be its third at No.1, and Elton could look forward to three more at that position in the next few weeks.
After that, the album will fall away, very gradually at first, then gain momentum before falling out of the chart altogether after the 7th of July.
It would resurface to see out the end of that month for a two week stay, before coming back for another couple of weeks in mid-August. After which there will only be a couple of week-long appearances in September and November to round off this current year.
He’ll be back briefly the following year, to see the album appear to see the end of February turn to March for three weeks, before a more substantial run, which would occupy 9 consecutive weeks from the last day of that month to the first day of June 1974, with another week tacking onto mid-June.
Elton’s final week on the U.K. Chart with this album to date will be one final week in July before the album falls away for good, with total of 42 weeks on chart.
I’ve created my own separate playlists for Sides 1 and 2 of this album with (I hope) the correct versions and the original track sequencing order for the U.K. release.
Side 1
Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
Elton John
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
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No.2 on “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday
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The 20th of February 1973
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 18th to Saturday the 24th of February 1973
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 17th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 18th,
announced on Tuesday the 20th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 25th of February 1973.
David Cassidy
Rock Me Baby
At No.2, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is David Cassidy with “Rock Me Baby”.
For 22 year old David,..
…it seemed, to the British public on the outside looking in, that his star couldn’t shine any brighter.
However, this young man had spent the previous 12 months attempting to shake off the image of his TV ‘Partridge Family’ character Keith, to the point where he physically stripped himself naked and laid himself bare, to publicly present himself as emerging new born into a new era of his career life cycle.
No.9 on “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart” on my 1st Birthday
By now, and most prominently here in the U.K., his fan base was bigger than that of the Beatles and Elvis, at this point, still the two biggest acts on the planet.
His concerts, including Wembley Stadium, sold out within days, if not, hours.
With all this teen-idol adulation becoming completely overwhelming and frustrating to the young David, the one thing he wanted most of all was to become a respected musician and singer, and with this album, he hoped to go some way to try and prove that fact.
The album obviously hit his swelled target audience, but did it also reach the people he was intending it to reach? Who knows.
Would someone cast aside the stigma…
…of admitting they owned a David Cassidy album, and actually listen to it seriously? I can’t answer that.
But enough people bought it, to send it straight into the No.2 slot on this, it’s first week in the U.K. Album Chart, making it this week’s highest new entry.
Enough people will buy it to keep it in the Top 10 for almost 2 months, until the 14th of April.
The album will only drop as far as No.13 for another month after that.
In fact, the album will only start slipping further by mid-May, eventually falling out by mid-June.
He will spend the rest of the year, with this album mainly just bubbling under the surface, only now and again emerging to show he is still there for odd weeks such as the end of June and the end of August.
But, his final showing will occur at No.50 for a week in mid-November. By which time this album will have rocked a total run of 20 weeks on chart.
I’ve created my own separate playlists for Sides 1 and 2 of this album with (I hope) the correct versions and the original track sequencing order for the U.K. release.
Side 1
Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
David Cassidy – Topic
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
Next – >>>
No.1 on “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday
<<< – Previous
No.3 on “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Facebook Page
My Twitter Page
What is it…?
The Archive Of My Life
Why am I…?
My Musical Road
How do I…?
The Method
When am I…?
My Birth Day and Road to 1
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The 20th of February 1973
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 18th to Saturday the 24th of February 1973
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 17th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 18th,
announced on Tuesday the 20th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 25th of February 1973.
The London Symphony Orchestra
The Strauss Family
At No.3, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is The London Symphony Orchestra with “The Strauss Family”.
As TV tie-ins go,..
…this British TV series proved so popular that it pushed the accompanying double album, which it generated, almost to the very top of the charts.
Airing from early November, and each week thereafter up to Christmas, the TV drama, focusing on the famous family of composers, boasted acting aimuni such as Derek Jacobi and Jane Seymour amongst its illustrious cast.
The album itself had a quiet start while the ITV show aired, entering at No.50 on the 10th of December and climbing to mid chart before falling back out after the 6th of January the following year.
When it came back, from the 14th of that month, it was only a matter of a few weeks before it got as high as No.2, where it stayed for the 2 weeks before this one.
Stepping back one position this week, it will take up residency in the Top 10 until mid March before it glides back down the chart, falling out after the 5th of May, but then re-entering to add one more week to its tally, and then waltzing off for good after the 19th of that month with 21 weeks on chart in total.
Due to the actual recordings from the album, performed by The London Symphony Orchestra, being unavailable, I have used other versions by other orchestras, to give as close an interpretation of this album as I can.
As these aren’t the actual recordings on the album, there will be differing times (especially on Record 2, Side 3 which would overrun).
Record 1, Side 1
Record 1, Side 2
Record 2, Side 3
Record 2, Side 4
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
London Symphony Orchestra
Johann Strauss Orchestra – Topic
Vienna Philharmonic
Camerata Cassovia – Topic
Slovak Philharmonic – Topic
neuIlaryRheinKlange
Eugene Ormandy – Topic
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Topic
The Wicked North
bondbrookebond
Classical Music Only
Lifting Dreams
Johann Strauss II – Topic
JohannStraussSohn
bubblykings
HarmonyBaroqueLover
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
Next – >>>
No.2 on “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday
<<< – Previous
No.4 on “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Facebook Page
My Twitter Page
What is it…?
The Archive Of My Life
Why am I…?
My Musical Road
How do I…?
The Method
When am I…?
My Birth Day and Road to 1
Like this:Like Loading... [...]
Read more...
The 20th of February 1973
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 18th to Saturday the 24th of February 1973
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 17th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 18th,
announced on Tuesday the 20th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 25th of February 1973.
Deep Purple
Who Do We Think We Are
At No.4, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is Deep Purple with “Who Do We Think We Are”.
By the time Deep Purple released this album,..
…they could barely function as humans, let alone as a cohesive rock band.
Such was their exhaustion after a tour which had lasted for a year and a half, the group was by now near collapse. Yet somehow they managed, due to non-relenting pressure from their management, to record this album before the classic Mark II line-up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice disintegrated.
The album had landed in the U.K. Chart the previous week at No.13. This week would be its highest position.
From here it will spend one further week in the Top 10 before spending a solid month in the Top 20.Then, just like the band members themselves, it would start to fall away. Leaving for a short while after the 21st of April, before appearing for one final bow at the beginning of May with 11 total weeks secured on the chart.
I’ve created my own separate playlists for Sides 1 and 2 of this album with (I hope) the correct versions and the original track sequencing order for the U.K. release.
Side 1
Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
Deep Purple Official
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 18th – 24th February 1973
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th – 26th February 1972
Next – >>>
No.3 on “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday
<<< – Previous
No.5 on “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Facebook Page
My Twitter Page
What is it…?
The Archive Of My Life
Why am I…?
My Musical Road
How do I…?
The Method
When am I…?
My Birth Day and Road to 1
Like this:Like Loading... [...]
Read more...
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