The Sounds of 1971
The superstars, the one hit wonders and the fads that made up the music of 1971. Here are the year's Top 10 best selling singles in the UK.
1971: Table of Contents
- 1. My Sweet Lord
- Collectible Versions of My Sweet Lord
- 2. Maggie May
- Maggie May For Auction
- Notable Musical Births of 1971
- 3. Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
- This Day in History
- 4. Knock Three Times
- Tony Orlando & Dawn on CD
- 5. Hot Love
- Rare Versions of Hot Love (Marc Bolan & T.Rex)
- 6. The Pushbike Song
- Collectible Discs: The Pushbike Song - The Mixtures
- It Happened in 1971
- 7. Never Ending Song Of Love
- 8. I'm Still Waiting
- Notable Musical Deaths of 1971
- Classic Music Albums From 1971
- The 1971 Music Poll
- PS: The Top Sellers in the USA
- Your Thoughts on the Music From 1971
1. My Sweet Lord
George Harrison
This song is taken from Harrison's UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass. Session musicians on the track included Eric Clapton. The song is primarily about God, and features repetitions of the avatars of Lord Vishnu, the preserving god in Hinduism.
When released as a single, "My Sweet Lord" topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. In October 1970 Harrison told the British press that it was going to be his first solo single, but a few days later he changed his mind and said it would not be made available thus, as he did not want sales in that format to detract from those of the album. It was released as a single in the US on 23 November 1970. Within a few weeks, EMI and Apple Records bowed to media and public demand, and the UK release followed on 15 January 1971.
Entering the British charts in the first week at No. 7 and then hitting the summit for five weeks, it was the first single by an ex-Beatle to reach No. 1. It did so again in the UK when reissued in January 2002 after Harrison's death from cancer. It also reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 26, 1970.
When released as a single, "My Sweet Lord" topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. In October 1970 Harrison told the British press that it was going to be his first solo single, but a few days later he changed his mind and said it would not be made available thus, as he did not want sales in that format to detract from those of the album. It was released as a single in the US on 23 November 1970. Within a few weeks, EMI and Apple Records bowed to media and public demand, and the UK release followed on 15 January 1971.
Entering the British charts in the first week at No. 7 and then hitting the summit for five weeks, it was the first single by an ex-Beatle to reach No. 1. It did so again in the UK when reissued in January 2002 after Harrison's death from cancer. It also reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 26, 1970.
George Harrison My Sweet Lord
Collectible Versions of My Sweet Lord
Fetching RSS feed... please stand by2. Maggie May
Rod Stewart
"Maggie May" was recorded by Stewart in 1971 for his album Every Picture Tells A Story.
The song was Stewart's first substantial hit as a solo performer, and remains one of his best-known songs.
It was initially released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of the single "Reason to Believe", but DJs became more fond of the B-side and, after two weeks in the chart, the song was re-classified with "Maggie May" as the A-side. However, the single continued to be pressed with "Maggie May" designated the B-side.
In October 1971, the song went to number one in the UK, and simultaneously topped the charts in the United States; Every Picture Tells a Story achieved the same feat at the same time -- a feat achieved by only a handful of performers, notably The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and Beyonce.
The song launched Stewart as a solo performer, and remains arguably his best-known song. A famous live performance of the song on Top of the Pops saw the Faces joined onstage by DJ John Peel who pretended to play the mandolin (the mandolin player on the recording was Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne). Stewart himself was amused by the song's success saying, "I still can't see how the single is such a big hit. It has no melody. Plenty of character and nice chords, but no melody."
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked the song #130 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song was Stewart's first substantial hit as a solo performer, and remains one of his best-known songs.
It was initially released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of the single "Reason to Believe", but DJs became more fond of the B-side and, after two weeks in the chart, the song was re-classified with "Maggie May" as the A-side. However, the single continued to be pressed with "Maggie May" designated the B-side.
In October 1971, the song went to number one in the UK, and simultaneously topped the charts in the United States; Every Picture Tells a Story achieved the same feat at the same time -- a feat achieved by only a handful of performers, notably The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and Beyonce.
The song launched Stewart as a solo performer, and remains arguably his best-known song. A famous live performance of the song on Top of the Pops saw the Faces joined onstage by DJ John Peel who pretended to play the mandolin (the mandolin player on the recording was Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne). Stewart himself was amused by the song's success saying, "I still can't see how the single is such a big hit. It has no melody. Plenty of character and nice chords, but no melody."
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked the song #130 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Rod Stewart and the Faces. Maggie May
Maggie May For Auction
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byNotable Musical Births of 1971
January 11 - Mary J. BligeJanuary 11 - Tom Rowlands, Chemical Brothers
January 11 - Stuart Davis, lyricist
January 17 - Kid Rock, rapper
January 18 - Jonathan Davis, KoFn
January 25 - China Kantner (Daughter of Grace Slick and Paul Kantner)
February 1 - Ron Welty of The Offspring
February 2 - Michelle Gayle, singer
February 2 - Ben Mize, Counting Crows
February 26 - Erykah Badu
March 4 - Feargal Lawler, The Cranberries
March 6 - Betty Boo
April 20 - Mikey Welsh, Weezer
May 3 - Damon Dash, record label executive
May 9 - Paul McGuigan, Oasis
June 16- Tupac Shakur, rapper (d. 1996)
June 17 - Bif Naked, singer
June 18 - Nathan Morris, Boyz II Men
June 27 - DJ Screw, rapper (d. 2000)
July 1 - Missy Elliott
July 23 - Alison Krauss
July 30 - Calogero, singer
July 30 - Elvis Crespo, singer
August 4 - Yo-Yo (rapper)
August 17 - Uhm Jung-hwa, singer
August 30 - Lars Frederiksen, Rancid
September 6 - Dolores O'Riordan, The Cranberries
September 11 - Richard Ashcroft
September 19 - D-Flame, hip-hop and reggae performer
September 24 - Marty Cintron, No Mercy
September 28 - A. J. Croce, singer-songwriter and son of Jim Croce
October 2 - Tiffany
October 2 - James Root, guitarist for Slipknot
October 10 - Evgeny Kissin, pianist
October 20 - Snoop Dogg
October 25 - Midori, violinist
November 8 - Tech N9ne, rapper
December 24 - Ricky Martin
December 25 - Noel Hogan, The Cranberries
3. Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
Middle of the Road
Written by Harold (known professionally as Lally) Stott, it was a minor hit in Italy and Australia for the composer, as well as on the Billboard Hot 100, where it charted, but failed to achieve significant success as the cover by Mac and Katie Kissoon became more popular.
Stott's record company were reluctant to release it overseas, so he offered it to Scottish folk-pop group Middle Of The Road, who were working in Italy at the time. The song became a large hit on the continent initially, but became a hit in the UK as returning holidaymakers searched out a copy.
It nearly flopped in the UK, as Mac and Katie Kissoon released their version just before them, but aided by the patronage of DJ Tony Blackburn it became a massive hit. It reached No.1 in the UK for five weeks in June 1971.
The Kissoon version failed to chart in the UK, but reached No.20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Stott's record company were reluctant to release it overseas, so he offered it to Scottish folk-pop group Middle Of The Road, who were working in Italy at the time. The song became a large hit on the continent initially, but became a hit in the UK as returning holidaymakers searched out a copy.
It nearly flopped in the UK, as Mac and Katie Kissoon released their version just before them, but aided by the patronage of DJ Tony Blackburn it became a massive hit. It reached No.1 in the UK for five weeks in June 1971.
The Kissoon version failed to chart in the UK, but reached No.20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep Middle of the Road 1971
This Day in History
Fetching RSS feed... please stand by4. Knock Three Times
Dawn (Featuring Tony Orlando)
"Knock Three Times" was released as a single in November 1970, paired with Dawn's other hit song "Candida".
The single hit number one in January 1971 and eventually sold nine million copies, also claiming the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart in May.
It was covered by Billy "Crash" Craddock in 1971 and became a number one country hit.
The single hit number one in January 1971 and eventually sold nine million copies, also claiming the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart in May.
It was covered by Billy "Crash" Craddock in 1971 and became a number one country hit.
Tony Orlando & Dawn on CD
Fetching RSS feed... please stand by5. Hot Love
T.Rex
Hot Love was T.Rex's first UK number one, staying at the top for six weeks from March 1971 while it fared less well in the USA, where it peaked at #72.
It was also the first T. Rex single to feature both a bass guitar and drums. Its success was propelled by a legendary Top of the Pops appearance, where mainman Marc Bolan appeared in androgynous clothes and covered in glitter, thus inventing the style that came to be known as glam rock.
It was a twelve-bar record with fuzzy guitars, repetitive lyrics (eg. She ain't no witch and I love the way she twitch) and the "Hey Jude" esque refrain (la la la la la la la) giving the impression of a hard rock nursery rhyme.
It was also the first T. Rex single to feature both a bass guitar and drums. Its success was propelled by a legendary Top of the Pops appearance, where mainman Marc Bolan appeared in androgynous clothes and covered in glitter, thus inventing the style that came to be known as glam rock.
It was a twelve-bar record with fuzzy guitars, repetitive lyrics (eg. She ain't no witch and I love the way she twitch) and the "Hey Jude" esque refrain (la la la la la la la) giving the impression of a hard rock nursery rhyme.
Marc Bolan & T.Rex - "Hot Love" (German TV ´71)
Rare Versions of Hot Love (Marc Bolan & T.Rex)
Fetching RSS feed... please stand by6. The Pushbike Song
The Mixtures
Written by brothers Idris and Evan Jones, The Pushbike Song was released in 1970 and reached the top-spot for 2 weeks in the Australian charts in March 1971.
It also proved popular in the UK too, reaching the number 2 spot on the 16th January (beaten by George Harrison's My Sweet Lord).
It also proved popular in the UK too, reaching the number 2 spot on the 16th January (beaten by George Harrison's My Sweet Lord).
The Mixtures - The Pushbike Song
Collectible Discs: The Pushbike Song - The Mixtures
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byIt Happened in 1971
The UK Facts
January 2 - A stairway crush at the Rangers vs. Celtic football match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow kills 66 and leaves many more injured.January 3 - BBC Open University broadcasts begin.
January 7 - The British heavy metal band Black Sabbath releases their breakthrough album, Paranoid.
February - British Leyland launches the new Morris Marina range of family saloons and coupes, which replace the long-running Morris Minor and are designed as a direct competitor for the Ford Cortina.
February 4 - Rolls-Royce goes bankrupt and is nationalised.
February 15 - The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency.
March 7 - The British postal workers' strike, led by UPW General Secretary Tom Jackson, ends after 47 days.
May 11 - The Daily Sketch, Britain's oldest tabloid newspaper, is withdrawn from circulation after 62 years.
June 7 - The children's show Blue Peter buries a time capsule in the grounds of BBC Television Centre, due to be opened on the first episode of the year 2000.
June 14 - The first Hard Rock Cafe opens near Hyde Park Corner in London.
June 21 - Britain begins new negotiations for EEC membership in Luxembourg.
July 29 - The United Kingdom opts out of the Space Race, with the cancellation of its Black Arrow launch vehicle.
August 9 - British security forces in Northern Ireland detain hundreds of guerrilla suspects and put them into Long Kesh prison - the beginning of an internment without trial policy. Twenty die in riots that follow.
August 12 - Three thousand people from Belfast and Derry flee to Ireland because of the violence.
August 14 - British troops are stationed on the Ireland border to stop arms smuggling. The total number of troops in Northern Ireland is raised to 12,500.
August 25 - The Who Release their critically acclaimed album Who's Next.
September - Godfrey Hounsfield's invention, the CAT scan, is first used on a patient at a hospital in Wimbledon.
September 3 - Qatar gains independence from the United Kingdom. Unlike most nearby emirates, Qatar declines to become part of either the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
September 21 - The television music show The Old Grey Whistle Test premieres on BBC2, lasting until 1987.
September 24 - Britain expels 90 KGB and GRU officials; 15 are not allowed to return.
October 21 - A gas explosion in Clarkston, Glasgow kills 20 people.
October 28 - The House of Commons votes in favour of joining the EEC by a vote of 356-244.
The United Kingdom becomes the 6th nation to launch a satellite into orbit, the Prospero X-3, using a Black Arrow carrier rocket.
October 30 - The Democratic Unionist Party is founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley in Northern Ireland.
October 31 - A bomb explodes at the top of the Post Office Tower in London.
December 4 - 15 people are killed and 17 others injured in a bomb attack that destroys a pub in Belfast. The IRA are believed to have been behind the bombing.
December 29 - The United Kingdom gives up its military bases in Malta.
8. I'm Still Waiting
Diana Ross
"I'm Still Waiting" by Diana Ross first appeared on her 1971 album Everything Is Everything.
Written by Deke Richards and produced by Richards, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, "I'm Still Waiting" continued the vein of sophisticated soul as heard on her breakthrough solo hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
Despite this, it was a mild success in the US, reaching No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In the UK singles chart, it reached No.1 for four weeks in August 1971, prompting a retitle in the UK of the album Surrender to the title of I'm Still Waiting.
Although initially intended only as an album track, BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Tony Blackburn featured it heavily on his morning programme and persuaded EMI, who then issued all Tamla Motown material in the UK, to release it as a single.
Written by Deke Richards and produced by Richards, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, "I'm Still Waiting" continued the vein of sophisticated soul as heard on her breakthrough solo hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
Despite this, it was a mild success in the US, reaching No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In the UK singles chart, it reached No.1 for four weeks in August 1971, prompting a retitle in the UK of the album Surrender to the title of I'm Still Waiting.
Although initially intended only as an album track, BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Tony Blackburn featured it heavily on his morning programme and persuaded EMI, who then issued all Tamla Motown material in the UK, to release it as a single.
Diana Ross - i'm still waiting TOTP 70s
Notable Musical Deaths of 1971
February 7 - Dock Boggs, banjo playerMarch 21 - Nan Wynn, US singer
March 26 - Harold McNair, saxaphonist and flute player, lung cancer.
March 31 - Karl King, composer and bandleader
April 6 - Igor Stravinsky, composer
April 17 - Carmen Lombardo, US singer, composer and saxophonist
May 2 - Edith Day, US actress, singer and dancer
May 30 - Marcel Dupré, organist and composer
June 11 - Ambrose, English bandleader and violinist
June 18 - Libby Holman, US singer and actress
July 3 - Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors
July 6 - Louis Armstrong, US jazz pioneer
August 13 - King Curtis, jazz and blues musician (murdered)
August 17 - Tab Smith, saxophonist
August 25 - Ted Lewis
August 27 - Lil Hardin Armstrong, wife and musical collaborator of Louis Armstrong
October 2 - Bola de Nieve, Cuban singer, pianist, and songwriter
October 3 - Seán Ó Riada, composer and bandleader
October 12 - Gene Vincent, singer
October 24 - Carl Ruggles, composer
October 29 - Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers
November 18 - Junior Parker, blues musician
November 22 - Zez Confrey, popular composer and pianist
December 28 - Max Steiner, composer
Classic Music Albums From 1971
Popular Artists From 1971
Best selling songs No.9 and No.10 can be seen here in a clip from the BBC's "Top of the Pops" programme of Christmas 1971.
The No.9 song was T.Rex and "Get It On" which was the second UK number one song for the British glam rock group. It was released from their best-known album, Electric Warrior.
While it only spent four weeks at the top in the UK, starting July 24, 1971 ("Hot Love" was number one for six weeks from March-May), it was the group's biggest hit overall, selling nearly a million copies in the UK.
It peaked on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number ten in January 1972 under the title Bang A Gong, becoming the band's only major U.S. hit.
The No.10 song was a re-release by The Tams, "Hey Girl, Don't Bother Me", written by Ray Whitley. It was originally released in 1964 and became a minor hit on the Billboard Hot 100 reaching No.41. It would have then lapsed into obscurity but became a favourite on the Northern Soul scene in the UK, and belatedly reached No.1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in September 1971.
The No.9 song was T.Rex and "Get It On" which was the second UK number one song for the British glam rock group. It was released from their best-known album, Electric Warrior.
While it only spent four weeks at the top in the UK, starting July 24, 1971 ("Hot Love" was number one for six weeks from March-May), it was the group's biggest hit overall, selling nearly a million copies in the UK.
It peaked on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number ten in January 1972 under the title Bang A Gong, becoming the band's only major U.S. hit.
The No.10 song was a re-release by The Tams, "Hey Girl, Don't Bother Me", written by Ray Whitley. It was originally released in 1964 and became a minor hit on the Billboard Hot 100 reaching No.41. It would have then lapsed into obscurity but became a favourite on the Northern Soul scene in the UK, and belatedly reached No.1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in September 1971.
Top of the pops - Christmas 1971 Part 1
The 1971 Music Poll
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PS: The Top Sellers in the USA
The Top Ten Most Popular Hits1. You've Got A Friend - James Taylor
2. Joy To The World - Three Dog Night
3. Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones
4. Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
5. Imagine - John Lennon
6. Behind Blue Eyes - the Who
7. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
8. Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner
9. Friends - Elton John
10. Maggie May - Rod Stewart
AND:
1971's Grammy For Best New Artist: Carly Simon
1971's Grammy Record of the Year: It's Too Late - Carole King
Your Thoughts on the Music From 1971
Share Your Memories of 1971
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