The 20th of February 1972

Official U.K. Albums 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.

Rodgers And Hammerstein

The Sound Of Music (An Original Soundtrack Recording)

At No.39, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on the day I am born, is Rodgers And Hammerstein with “The Sound Of Music”.

So where do I start with this album..?

Well I suppose we could go way way back before even my 2nd eldest sister had been born back in 1965.

But I’ll begin even further into the past, back to over two years before my eldest sister came into the world, 1960. The 23rd of August to be exact.

My parents had been married for just over 4 years, but they’re not the reason for that date.

No, the significance of the 23rd of August 1960 is because that was the day that Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (to give him his full name) died, and with that, the songwriting partnership with Richard Rodgers was no more.

The Broadway musical had opened the year before in November 1959, but he never got to witness the success of the film adaptation which was still some years away.

This musical, I suppose, must be one connection that is made from my lifetime, to that of the pre-Rock n Roll era. A time when films such as “Oklahoma”, “South Pacific”, “The King And I” and (my Mum’s favourite) “Carousel” packed cinemas, and topped the charts, back in the 1950’s. The Golden era of the musical, and the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein were such a big part of all of that.

So, let’s fast forward…

…to the 4th of April 1965, and this is where “The Sound of Music” film soundtrack begins it’s monumental journey through the U.K. Album Charts.

The album entered at a respectable No.17 and by the 2nd week had broken the Top Ten and sat at No.9.

It would slip 4 places the following week to No.13, but then be back into the Top Ten again the week after, placing itself at No.7.

And then it steadily climbed, sometimes slipping, but managing to claw back higher than before until after 5 weeks, it got to No.1 at the very end of May.

And after that, it stayed, sometimes it dropped just one place to No.2 before reclaiming the top spot once again.

And I’m not talking for a few weeks here. I’m not even talking about months.

I’m talking years.

Yes, this album didn’t move from the top 2 places in the U.K. Chart until it finally slipped one place further back to No.3 at the beginning of June 1967.

Ok, let’s put that into context here.

When it entered the chart, and when it got to No.1, the Beatles’ latest offering in the U.K. Album Chart was “Beatles for Sale”. Their soundtrack to their second film “Help” was still some months away and Elvis Presley was fully in the film business with his latest release “Girl Happy”.

By the time “The Sound of Music” slipped to a No.3 position it was June 1967 and “Sgt. Pepper” had released, the first time it fell out of the Top Ten it was August 1968, just about the time Elvis was recording his ’68 comeback special ready for Christmas that year, and when the Soundtrack first left the chart entirely (but only briefly) it was the end of January 1971 and the Beatles had officially split up the year before and Elvis was now performing in his jumpsuits in Vegas.

It re-entered the UK Album 8 more times in that year of 1971 with appearances in every month from April onwards.

The 8th run, beginning at the end of November, would see it carry through into 1972 and through to this chart of the 20th of February of that new year.

In fact this week would be the end of this 13 consecutive week run before another hiatus.

Of course that wasn’t the end of “The Sound of Music”’s presence in the chart…

For 1972, it will periodically re-appear for a week or two in the future months of March, April and May, June, July and August, September, October and November, through into December and onwards into 1973 where this habit would carry on into Springtime of that year before leaving once again in mid-April.

There will be one more appearance during the 1970’s and that will be a week long position from the 10th to the 16th of February 1974.

The very last week (so far) that it will register on the UK Album Chart (by this time expanded to the Top 100) is a 1 week residency at No.98 in mid July of 1982, over 17 years after it first entered.