The 20th of February 1974
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 17th to Saturday the 23rd of February 1974
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 16th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 17th,
and published on Wednesday the 20th of February 1974.
Stevie Wonder
Talking Book
At No.28, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart”, the week of my 2nd Birthday, is Stevie Wonder with Talking Book.
Stevie’s continuing success…
…in the chart, is partly down to the sheer quality of his new direction, and expressive freedom to which the Motown label had by now granted him, the respect his recent work had attained from his peers, and the fact that albums such as this one were managing to stay significant and bouyant in the chart due to the release of more recent material; an example of which I have recently featured in the reflecting singles chart in this period.
It’s also worth noting that this particular album has also been widely nominated for several categories at the upcoming Grammy Awards ceremony, which is due to take place in a couple of weeks time.
This new invigorated sound,…
…should also give credit to a couple of guys who have given substance to Stevie’s new work, Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil. A duo who had got together at the close of the 1960’s due to a shared love and respect for the new types of synthesizers emerging into the music world, who had created their own albums together as TONTO’s Expanding Head Band from that mutual bond, and who between them, with their wealth of programming knowledge of equipment such as the Moog, have now created a unique way of layering each instrument to maximum effect and satisfaction.
If fact so popular was the sound from these instruments, including Stevie’s iconic use of the Clavinet, that other artists were now unashamedly using the same instrumentation on their own material in an effort just to stay relevant.
The album,..
…since I’d last witnessed it pass my 1st birthday, had not left the chart for long after that initial run. In fact, it had returned for a standalone week at the end of the same month of April 1973; and then had returned for a more substantial 12 week run from the 6th of May that year, which took it through to the end of July, before another solitary week in early August, and then another month’s stay during September, with the last appearance for that year being one more week-long appearance in mid-October.
Entering into this year of 1974, and this album reappears once again, this time at the beginning of this very month of February, where it has managed to climb up to No.22 last week before slipping six places to this position.
From here,..
…the album gains places once more to sit at No.20 next week, but a couple more slips takes it back out of the chart after the first week of March.
The album’s chart behaviour will then show the same characteristics as last year, when it first arrives for a couple of one-week stays for the middle of March and the second week in April respectively, before beginning a more consecutive run, beginning from the 21st of that month, and completing the following month of May; then there is a couple of weeks mid-June, another week in early July, until it’s final showing so far, which takes in one week at the beginning of October.
By then, with all weeks counted and collected together, this album currently stands at a total of 48 weeks on chart; and I’m pretty certain, even now over fifty years later, that that number will extend to over a year’s worth at some point in the future.
Side 1
Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear the tracks, so that together we can experience both sides of this album release, as it was intended, once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Socials
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