The 20th of February 1972
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 20th to Saturday the 26th of February 1972
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 19th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 20th,
announced on Tuesday the 22nd,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 27th of February 1972.
Michael Jackson
Got To Be There
At No.8, on the the U.K. Top 50 Singles Chart the day I am born, is Michael Jackson with “Got To Be There”.
From one young singer at No.9 to another at No.8,..
…although I should think you will know this one a little better.
13 year old Michael Jackson’s talent,..
…away from his brothers, could be noticed two and a half years before, when in a retrospective observation regarding Michael’s first performance to be televised, from 1969’s ‘Miss Black America’ pageant, Rolling Stone magazine acknowledged him as “a prodigy” with “overwhelming musical gifts” who “quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer”.
The last time Michael had appeared in the U.K. Singles Chart…
…was with the Jackson 5’s song “Never Can Say Goodbye” the previous summer of 1971.
Now, the teenage Michael Jackson was, for the first time, branching out from his brothers…
…and Motown gave him a great song for this outing.
“Got To Be There” would be Elliott Willensky’s first success as a songwriter, since he’d quit his previous career as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland in 1969.
With the song’s first recipient (it would also be given to Motown label-mates The Miracles and also Diana Ross later on), it was now in its 3rd week in the UK Singles Chart when I enter this world.
The song had arrived in the Top 50…
…at No.39 on the 6th of February, and then vaulted to No.22 the following week. Now it was at No.8, and next week will see it climb even further to attain its peak position at No.5.
After that, Michael will stay in the Top 10 for another 4 weeks with this single, before falling away almost as rapidly as he came in, leaving after the 22nd of April, with a total of 11 weeks under his belt.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Michael Jackson (with the Jackson 5) – Got To Be There (‘HellZaPoppin’ TV Performance)
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