11 March 1972 I checked Harry Nilsson's figures on a well-known streaming service, and was unsurprised to see that 'Without You' and 'Everybody's Talkin'' were doing around five to ten times the numbers of his other songs. Even my awareness of him in the '90s was just for those two tracks and little in the … Continue reading Nilsson – ‘Without You’ →

12 February 1972 You can still send a telegram today. Isn't that cute? Less cute is how anyone nicknamed Telegram Sam today is more likely to be an avid user of a certain social media site frequented by right-wing knuckle-draggers with lEgiTiMaTe qUeStIoNs. There are a few competing footnotes as to who the Telegram Sam … Continue reading T. Rex – ‘Telegram Sam’ →

22 January 1972 This chart-topping original of 'The Men Behind The Wire' has a spoken-word introduction: On Monday the ninth of August 1971 at 4:30 a.m., Irish men from all over the six counties were taken from their homes. Hundreds of these men are now imprisoned without trial. This song is borne of the civil … Continue reading Barleycorn – ‘The Men Behind The Wire’ →

8 January 1972 Shannon Airport's role as the site of the real-life inspiration for Coca Cola's "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke" jingle will turn out to be one of Ireland's more benign contributions to our chart-topping singles of 1972. Irish coffee was invented in the '40s at the nearby Foynes transatlantic seaplane … Continue reading The New Seekers – ‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)’ →

1 January 1972 The most astonishing year in Irish chart history begins innocuously enough, with an old-fashioned waltz-time accordion ballad on the céilí wing of the country & Irish showband scene. Suffice it to say, Larry Cunningham won't be doing any of the astonishing that lies ahead. 'Slaney Valley' ploughs such a similar furrow to … Continue reading Larry Cunningham – ‘Slaney Valley’ →

9 December 1971 This seems to be the first number one single anywhere for Andrew Lloyd Webber, although Jesus Christ Superstar had topped the US album charts the previous year. (Earlier in 1971, Helen Reddy's version of the song had cracked the top twenty Stateside but neither it nor a rival cover by Petula Clark … Continue reading Tina and The Real McCoy – ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ →

25 November 1971 Bolan was the first. Bowie was the hippest. Roxy were the artiest. The Sweet were the campiest. Sparks were the edgiest. Slade, though, could claim to be the glam act that were the most popular. After all, they had six UK number ones—the same amount as in Ireland—and were the biggest-selling British … Continue reading Slade – ‘Coz I Luv You’ →

18 November 1971 Taking an early lead over Brendan Shine in the race to be Ireland's most prolific Irish chart-topper of the '70s, here's An Camán Dearg with his second number one of 1971. 'Kiss Me Goodbye' had previously been recorded by Petula Clark, for whom it was a US top twenty hit in 1968, … Continue reading Red Hurley and The Nevada – ‘Kiss Me Goodbye’ →

7 October 1971 Two total ledgebags at number one with 'Did You Ever' - not Linda Martin and Mick McCarthy with their unlikely 1991 duet, but Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood twenty years earlier. The Nancy n' Lee songbook of sunkissed and sometimes sinister country-pop still sounds thrilling and sophisticated today. In particular, 'These Boots … Continue reading Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood – ‘Did You Ever’ →