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.
The New Seekers
I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)
At No.13, on the the U.K. Top 50 Singles Chart the day I am born, is The New Seekers with “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)”.
A huge hit for the New seekers…
…which, a few weeks before, had enjoyed 4 weeks at No.1
The group, being a fresh start to an old sound,..
…was the brainchild of former founding member and 12 string guitarist of The Seekers, Keith Potger.
The original group from Melbourne, Australia had enjoyed immense success since their formation ten years before in 1962, and as the 1960’s were approaching their closure, so the lead singer of the group Judith Durham had made the decision, to pursue a solo career.
A short while before her announcement on Valentine’s Day 1968, the group had been honoured the month before on Australia Day, by the country’s Prime Minister John Gorton, to receive the Australians of the Year award.
It was in the summer of that year that the group bid their final farewells. First with a week long residency at the former Hippodrome, which had now become ‘The Talk of the Town’ nightclub, and then by a final BBC televised special, which attracted a U.K. TV audience of 10 million viewers.
A couple of albums quickly followed.
The first was a musical souvenir of their live show at ‘The Talk of the Town’. The other was a Greatest Hits compilation, which knocked the Beatles ‘White Album’ off the top of the U.K. Album Charts and stayed there for 6 weeks, denying the Rolling Stones to take their place with their ‘Beggars Banquet’ LP.
With the close of the decade,..
…Keith decided to resurrect a new more modern version of the concept, initially with himself as part of the group.
However, after a failed debut album and poor responses from an initial 6-week run of a prime time TV show they’d been gifted, he decided to change the format of the group, eventually removing himself from the line-up to concentrate on other projects. But not before he made sure that the new group were vocally competent, as new member Lyn Paul explains…
“The New Seekers always tried to find a variety of good new songs to keep the act fresh… The efforts of Keith Potger were very important to us in this respect. For example, when we had a recording session coming up and the new material had been selected, Keith would call a rehearsal, which would always start at 10.00am (or as soon as we got there) and we would all sit in a circle around him, while he played our parts to us individually on the guitar.
At first it was very difficult and took a long time to remember the harmonies until everybody was ready to sing them together. But gradually, with Keith’s patience, we began to get used to it and the new routines were learned quickly…”
With the new line-up of Eve, Kristian, Lyn, Peter and Paul,..
…the faces of which would become familiar to millions, the success would begin to grow, starting with a big hit in the U.S. of Melanie Safka’s “What Have They Done to My Song, Ma”.
Even though the single hadn’t done as well over here in the U.K.,.
…their next effort, another cover version, this time of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends’ “Never Ending Song of Love”, would almost reach the top of the U.K. Charts when it had been released last summer.
Now, with this current single, they had finally reached the top of the U.K. Charts.
It had been a quiet start at first, entering the Top 50 at No.32, and staying there for 2 weeks on the lead up to Christmas Day. But by Boxing day it had shot up to No.4.
I’m guessing a few people found this single under their Christmas Trees.
By the 2nd of January, it had knocked Benny Hill’s poor milkman “Ernie” off the top spot (whether there was any assistance from Ten Tonne Ted’s hardened crust meat pies is pure speculation), and fought off all other opposition for the next 4 weeks.
Even though it slipped slightly going into February, it still managed a further 3 weeks in the Top 10 before falling to this position. After which, it will take a very leisurely walk downhill from here, witnessing March turn into April, and heading into Easter.
This single will eventually stay a whopping 21 weeks in the UK Singles chart, having arrived on the 12th of December 1971, hitting the top at the very beginning of this year of 1972, and finally waving goodbye at the beginning of May.
For more on this song, I will be revisiting this single later on as part of my memories on my musical road.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
The New Seekers – I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) (TV Appearance)
The New Seekers – I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) (TV Appearance)
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