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 Bowie
Hunky Dory
At No.32, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is David Bowie with “Hunky Dory”.
This album should have appeared on the day of my birth.
However, due to limited promotion, because his newly signed record label RCA got a tip-off that this new artist to them was about to go through a radical image overhaul, they decided to wait until this skin had been shed. So, even though this album was out there at that time, it probably only shifted about 5,000 units.
It took the hype of the next album, before it then got the recognition it deserved.
I was a late discoverer of the 70’s Bowie.
Yes, I’d almost certainly heard a few songs in the background of my mind from radio airplay, but nothing to really latch onto.
It wasn’t until I managed to pick up a nice copy of the vinyl LP from a Car Boot sale, probably in the very early 1990’s, that I dived into that pool. This album was my diving board.
Going back to the year and the week, of my first birthday, 1973,..
…this album (his 2nd so far, which appears in this chart climb) was, quite rightly, getting as much recognition as it’s successor which appears further up this chart.
Whereas David’s new character Ziggy Stardust was now released to the world, this album, in my opinion, is the prequel to that blockbuster. Not that Hunky Dory’s track “Life on Mars” is in anyway a connection to the Spiders, in that respect it’s written more in the same vein as Space Oddity, using the (then) current space race events between the superpowers to see who could hit the red planet first.
What I mean is, the whole ensemble was already there. They just hadn’t changed their name yet officially.
Apparently it was during these sessions that keyboardist and Strawbs member Rick Wakeman was offered to join the Spiders, but he declined and instead joined Yes.
But the artist and the band were writing and recording tracks for both this album, and the next, at the same time.
So, Hunky Dory, although released at the end of 1971,..
…didn’t take it’s first tenative steps in the U.K. Album Chart until the 17th of September 1972, when it entered at No.44 for a week before falling out again.
The thing would happen again, this time on the 8th of October, right on the edge at No.50 then disappear again.
Nothing any more substantial would happen until this new year of 1973, when, on the 21st of January, the album would sneak in again at No.41, bound up to No.21 once it got into February but drop back to this current position, falling out again after this week.
But, bigger things were to come, and we’ll catch up on this story as it passes through my next birthday.
I’ve created my own separate playlists for both 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:
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
What is it…?
Why am I…?
How do I…?
When am I…?
