The 20th of February 1973
Official U.K. Singles 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.
The Electric Light Orchestra
Roll Over Beethoven
At No.8, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is The Electric Light Orchestra with “Roll Over Beethoven”.
Another instance of artists paying tribute to their Rock ‘n’ Roll hero Chuck Berry.
Last year, at the same time, Jimi Hendrix was rocking out with his rendition of “Johnny B. Goode” and, as we witnessed earlier on this very chart, the great man himself was reminding everyone of his prowess with a live version of “Reelin’ and Rockin.’”
This time it’s the turn of the Electric Light Orchestra who had been active for only a year at this point.
This band would become the first group I would seriously get into, although I didn’t know it (or were even aware of them), yet, but that’s a few years into the future.
With one of the founding members, Roy Wood, having already jumped ship to embark on his new outfit Wizzard, taking with him a chunk of this group, it was now down to shareholders Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan, along with Richard Tandy and the others, to pick up what was left and see what could happen.
One such result was this stomping (although heavily edited compared to the album track) single version of Chuck’s “Roll Over Beethoven”, which even featured the genius move (pardon the pun if you know the history of this band) of inserting Beethoven’s famous opening of his 5th Symphony.
The single had entered the chart back on the 21st of January…
at No.28 and leapt 11 places to No.17 in it’s 2nd week.
By week 3, it had reached the Top 10, sitting at No.10 before climbing a further 4 places to reach it’s peak position of No.6 last week.
This present week would be the single’s last in the Top 10 as next week it will fall back to No.15.
After that, it will exit the Top 20, sitting at No.21, before leaving the Top 30 the following week to settle at No.35.
The last couple of weeks will see it jumping around the very edge of the chart, but eventually it will roll out altogether after the last day of March.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
The Electric Light Orchestra – Roll Over Beethoven (“Midnight Special” TV Performance)
The Electric Light Orchestra – Queen Of The Hours (“Set of Six” TV Performance)
The Electric Light Orchestra – Roll Over Beethoven (“Top Of The Pops” TV Appearance)
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music, and watch the footage once again.
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Listen to “The Official Top 50 UK Singles Chart: 20th February 1972” Playlist here:
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