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.
Chicory Tip
Son Of My Father
At No.1, on the the U.K. Top 50 Singles Chart the day I am born, is Chicory Tip with “Son Of My Father”.
And so I come to the biggest selling single in the UK, on the day I was born…
Chicory Tip’s “Son Of My Father” had entered the chart at number 30, almost a month before, on the 23rd of January 1972.
The song had originally been a hit before,..
…not that the British public would have ever known that.
A year previously, German singer / songwriter / musician and record producer Michael Holm, had teamed up with Italian composer and producer Giorgio Moroder (yes, that one) and recorded the song in his native Germany.
Michael and Giorgio had successfully collaborated before. The first time was when they’d written the song “Ich Sprenge Alle Ketten” (which in English interprets as “I Bust All The Chains”) for French / Lebanese singer Ricky Shayne who was quite a hit it Germany.
Their next composition…
…was a cover of the song “Mendocino”, which had been a hit in early 1969 for the San Antonio Country Rock group Sir Douglas Quintet.
Michael and Giorgio…
…re-recorded the track in German, and this time Michael sang it himself.
His version would go on to hit the top of the German charts and sell over a million copies there, earning Michael a gold disc in the process.
At around the same time…
…as Michael was earning his gold disc, Giorgio was doing the same with a Bubblegum style song he’d written himself called “Looky Looky”.
Going by his stage name of ‘Giorgio’, he took it upon himself to sing most of it (with Michael singing the chorus). And again, it went on to sell over a million.
Looking at the footage of Giorgio now, I do wonder if he’d ever starred in any very grainy European videos at the time, pretending to be a plumber.
His next single,..
…a cover version of a song by Italian film composer Piero Umiliani failed completely, but you may recognise it.
With the success of the “Looky Looky” single,..
Giorgio would invest in building his own studio in Munich, which became Musicland Studios, and one of the first things he built into it was some cutting edge electronic synthesizers. A new type of instrumentation he was particularly passionate about.
He would first use it when recording his next album in English (which he got assistance with from his new studio assistant Pete Bellotte, who hailed from Barnet in Hertfordshire), and would let Michael have a go at the title track.
Michael converted the lyrics for his German audience, and would score a sizable hit with it.
The composer himself…
…would also have a crack at the English speaking market with his original version, when he released it in 1971. However, the song failed to catch the British public’s interest.
The song was then discovered…
…by Chicory Tip’s manager and producer, who thought it would be perfect for his band.
Formed in Maidstone, Kent, in 1967 as Chicory Tip,..
…but previously being known as The Sonics much further back in the 1960’s (when the group was created by bass player Barry Mayger and guitarist Rick Foster at their local youth club)current , the band had not tasted success with any of their singles up to this point.
Their name is said to have come from Barry’s suggestion, after noticing the word Chicory on the front of a bottle of instant coffee syrup, which included 25% chicory extract. The assumption is it’s from a British product called Camp Coffee, which is now more predominantly used as a baking product for making coffee cake.
The group had first released a single a couple of years before in 1970, when they secured a record deal with CBS. However, the song failed to chart.
A chance for a break…
…came last year in early August 1971 when they were offered to perform on BBC’s Top of the Pops with their (then) latest single (even though it wasn’t quite in the Top 50 placings in the chart). However, the song again failed to get any further, and the performance, along with the whole episode, has been wiped.
Their last attempt…
…at a placing was probably aimed at the Christmas market (at least I hope so), with the rather, shall I say ‘eccentric’ song “I Love Onions”, which didn’t have some deep undercurrent meaning.
It really was about someone loving onions.
The only reason I can think of is that someone would actually release a single which has the verse…
“My garden is unique beside the sea
It’s planted full of onions just for me
I don’t like toads or snails or frogs
Or strange things living under logs
But ooohoo, I love onions”
…things must have been getting kind of a bit desperate.
So when their manager walked in…
…with Giorgio’s tune, they must have almost bitten his hand off.
The band headed into the studio to record the single,..
…over two days, had it mixed on Christmas Eve 1971, and 3 weeks later, on Friday the 14th of January, it was released out into the world.
Probably to the surprise…
…of it’s original composer Giorgio, and possibly much to the relief of the band, the song entered into the chart the following week, on Sunday the 23rd.
By their 2nd week the single was knocking of the door at the Top 10 at No.11.
By week 3, they had smashed through and were now sitting at No.2.
And by week 4, they had made it to the very top, and it will sit there proudly for the 3 weeks. This week being the middle week of those three.
When it does climb down from the top by March, it will spend another couple of weeks in the Top 10, before moving further back, eventually leaving the Top 50 after the 22nd of April, with a total of 13 weeks to show for it.
Ok, now on a personal tangent, I’ve got this thing about the “Law of Attraction”…
Many would like to dismiss certain pivotal moments in their lives as mere coincidences, however with me they happen often.
And this one is a bit of a BIGGY.
So a bit of background…
I hail from North West Surrey – a little place called Hersham (some may remember a song called “Hersham Boys” by Sham 69).
I lived there my whole childhood. My Mum (and 2 of my sisters) still live there.
Now I’ve always thought that, in a funny way, my life has been mapped out for me.
Once I moved out of the family home I kind of stayed nearby – within a 10 mile radius, eventually settling in my 2 bedroom flat in Walton on Thames a mile away from my childhood home.
I had no intention of straying far, but the universe had other ideas…
Fast forward to my 40th…
…I’d moved in with someone, and we were about 5 miles further away in a place called Byfleet and had started a family.
For my milestone, my (then) partner bought me my No.1 single, framed in a presentation to celebrate my 40th birthday.
It hung on the wall, and like anything anybody puts on the wall, it became part of the surroundings and got noticed now and again…
A few years later, after starting a family,..
…we went down to the South Coast to shop at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth…
…then we kept coming down there more often.
Then we explored further.
Something was drawing us there, and we ended up visiting there almost every week.
Eventually we decided it would be cheaper to live down in Portsmouth, or the adjacent suburb of Southsea, than the cost of the fuel to keep coming down!
I eventually sold my place in Walton and we moved down to Southsea and rented a 3 bedroom Victorian house. Our family grew a bit more.
Several years ago, around May time I think…
…I was going through the U.K. Number 1 singles each of the family had on the days they had been born.
My daughter asked me what mine was, so I found it on YouTube. I’d never really done that before , probably only once, and back then I’d found an old “Top of the Pops” clip.
But this time there was another clip, filmed for the Dutch TV music show Top Pop.
Now, when you scroll down to the video promo, some of you may recognise the place where the footage was filmed, and let’s just say when I found this clip (when I was about 47 I think) it freaked me out somewhat. You’ll understand why if you know where this is.
So – here’s the Number 1 single from when I was born, with the original promotional video included, filmed on location back in early 1972…
…in the same area I was now living in…
…in Southsea.
Well, it freaked me out a little anyway.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Chicory Tip – Son Of My Father (Promotional Video)
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:
Listen to “The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th February 1972” Playlist here:
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