7 December 1972
What in God’s name is Chuck Berry doing at the top of the charts—in Ireland, the UK and, amazingly, for the only time in the US—in 1972? Well, if it had ever gone away at all, ’50s rock n’ roll was having a glam- and nostalgia-fuelled renewal of interest. Berry had headlined a huge one-day rock n’ roll festival at Wembley Stadium that summer, kind of how all summer music festivals in the 2020s are just ’90s and ’00s indie-rock museum exhibitions.
Of course, the main reason ‘My Ding-A-Ling’ topped the charts is because it’s one long slime-trail of mild innuendo. You can imagine the radio DJs of Britain and Ireland pricking up their ding-a-lings at this one. When it comes to selling end-of-the-pier sauciness to British and Irish audiences gagging for banter and craic, no one could cock that up. On which point, as this chart-topping version is taken from a 1972 festival show in England’s rock n’ roll capital, Coventry, ‘My Ding-A-Ling’ follows ‘The Wonder Of You’ by a ’50s rock n’ roll icon enduring in the early ’70s, Elvis, as being only the second live recording to top the Irish singles charts.
By the way, if you’re not familiar with Chuck Berry, he was an American Richie Kavanagh.
