4x Life

One month in pop history, every week.

It’s April, 1971

Written by

Thomas Scovell

in

Let’s discover which Beatle is missing from our charts this month by tuning into April, 1971….

Songs of the month

  • “(Where Do I Begin) Love Story” – Andy Williams
  • “Amos Moses” – Jerry Reed
  • “Another Day” – Paul Mccartney
  • “Blue Money” – Van Morrison
  • [new] “Bridge Over Troubled Water / Brand New Me” – Aretha Franklin
  • [new] “Chick-A-Boom” – Daddy Dewdrop
  • “Cried Like A Baby” – Bobby Sherman
  • “Doesn’t Somebody Want To Be Wanted” – Partridge Family
  • [new] “Eighteen” – Alice Cooper
  • “For All We Know” – Carpenters
  • “Free” – Chicago
  • “Have You Ever Seen The Rain / Hey Tonight” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
  • [new] “Heavy Makes You Happy” – Staple Singers
  • “Help Me Make It Through The Night” – Sammi Smith
  • [new] “I Am I Said” – Neil Diamond
  • [new] “I Don’t Blame You At All” – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
  • [new] “I Play And Sing” – Dawn
  • [new] “If” – Bread
  • [new] “Joy To The World” – Three Dog Night
  • “Just My Imagination” – Temptations
  • “Love’s Lines Angels And Rhymes” – 5Th Dimension
  • “Mamma’s Pearl” – Jackson 5
  • “Me And Bobbie Mcgee” – Janis Joplin
  • [new] “Me And You And A Dog Named Boo” – Lobo
  • [new] “Never Can Say Goodbye” – Jackson 5
  • “No Love At All” – B.J. Thomas
  • “One Bad Apple” – Osmonds
  • “One Toke Over The Line” – Brewer & Shipley
  • “Oye Como Va” – Santana
  • [new] “Power To The People” – John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band
  • “Proud Mary” – Ike & Tina Turner
  • [new] “Put Your Hand In The Hand” – Ocean
  • “She’s A Lady” – Tom Jones
  • “Soul Power” – James Brown
  • [new] “Stay Awhile” – Bells
  • “Temptation Eyes” – Grass Roots
  • [new] “Timothy” – Buoys
  • [new] “We Can Work It Out” – Stevie Wonder
  • “What Is Life” – George Harrison
  • “What’s Going On” – Marvin Gaye
  • “Wild World” – Cat Stevens
  • “You’re All I Need To Get By” – Aretha Franklin

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

On the 16th computer scientist Abhay Bhushan wrote RFC 354, the first File Transfer Protocol for ARPANET, the U.S. Department of Defense computer communication network that was the predecessor to the Internet. FTP allowed the easy movement of files between remote computers and is still in use to this day, as well as being the software sold by my first job back in the ’90s.

Then on the 19th the first space station in Earth’s history, Salyut 1, was launched by the Soviet Union from Baikonur at 6:40 in the morning local time (0140 UTC). On June 7, the crew of the ill-fated Soyuz 11 mission would be the first humans to enter a space station, staying until their disastrous return on June 30 when all 3 cosmonauts were lost in a decompression incident. Salyut 1 would remain in orbit only until October 11.

New York City became the first government in the United States to require that a definitive expiration date be placed on packages of perishable foods on the 23rd. While food distributors had information printed on packages to allow store managers to determine the date of shipment of an article of food as part of knowing when to withdraw it from the shelf, these had been in the form of “codes indecipherable to the average shopper.” Violations of the law were punishable by fines ranging from $25 to $250.

What’d Sadie think?

Two weeks at the top for “Just My Imagination” by the  Temptations before a couple for “Joy To The World” by Three Dog Night.

Loved ’em

With John Lennon’s “Power to the People” entering our chart we are one Beatle short of a full set this week!

  • “Bridge Over Troubled Water / Brand New Me” – Aretha Franklin
  • “Eighteen” – Alice Cooper
  • “If” – Bread
  • “Joy To The World” – Three Dog Night
  • “Never Can Say Goodbye” – Jackson 5
  • “Power To The People” – John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band

Liked ’em

  • “Chick-A-Boom” – Daddy Dewdrop
  • “Heavy Makes You Happy” – Staple Singers
  • “I Am I Said” – Neil Diamond
  • “I Don’t Blame You At All” – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
  • “I Play And Sing” – Dawn
  • “Me And You And A Dog Named Boo” – Lobo
  • “Put Your Hand In The Hand” – Ocean
  • “We Can Work It Out” – Stevie Wonder

Leave ’em

  • “Stay Awhile” – Bells
  • “Timothy” – Buoys

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

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