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.
Various Artists
Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (Music From The Soundtrack)
At No.23, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is “Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (Music From The Soundtrack)”.
As I completed my first year in this world,..
…so Stanley Kubrick’s latest offering, as one critic put it being both “Disturbing and Thought-Provoking” was now generating such controversy that the film itself was about to be withdrawn from the U.K. public entirely. In fact, it would be another 27 years before the film was allowed back to the people.
Looking back now, the millenium seems quite away away in the past to most people younger than me.
However, if you’d told people that they would not be able to see the film until the year 2000, that would have seemed so futuristic.
Not that anyone knew at the time, that it would be out of circulation so long.
It was probably due to these events that the soundtrack suddenly got a new lease of life.
We left the soundtrack of the film just finishing off an initial 3 week run in the U.K. Album Charts when I was born.
Since then, it had briefly visited for a couple of weeks during that year of 1972.
The first of those was a week at No.43 at the end of March. The second was just barely attending when it got to No.49 for a week from the 8th of October.
This time though, would be different.
If the film’s title detailed the dystopian and dangerous view…
…of conditioning it’s main character to become an acceptable member of society, thus becoming a Clockwork Orange – Organic on the outside, but mechanical on the inside – then the events surrounding it’s imminant ban, began winding up it’s accompanying soundtrack’s mechanism to fever pitch.
Two weeks before, it had sneaked back in at No.48, then last week leapt up to get to the Top 20 at No.20.
With this week falling back slightly, the momentum would really gear up in the coming weeks.
Now that the film is being withdrawn, the album will take on a life of its own.
Next week will see it climb up to No.17, before it climbs another ten places to get to No.7 the week after.
Throughout March it will claw even higher. First getting to No.6, before it reaches up another two places to get to it’s best position of No.4 from the 18th.
The last week in March, will see it’s last week in the Top 10 for a little while, before it dips out and spends the rest of Spring and the majority of the Summer keeping itself in the Top 20 (apart from a slip to No.22 at the beginning of June, which it makes up for by getting back to the Top 10 at No.10 at the beginning of July).
It will be all the way up to the 5th of August, where it will slip back further away, finally falling out after 30 weeks in a row, after the 1st of September.
Only a few days later, the album will be back in the Top 40 again, staying around there until the 27th of October.
Then 4 final weeks on chart to see out the Autumn of this year, beginning from the 4th of November, where it will float around the lower end of the Top 50 before finally leaping out for good after the first day of December, leaving some big repercussions and controversies in it’s wake, some of which are still to be felt today.
Unfortunately I have been unable to create a complete playlist for each original separate side of the LP, but I’ve done what I can from what is available at present. As soon as it’s possible to put the genuine album up, then I will do so.
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…?
