Category: Monthly

My how time flies – we’re only 5 years away from my own birth now, as we listen to the songs of February, 1972…

Songs of the month

• [new] “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” – Jerry Bulter And Brenda Lee Ea
• “American Pie” – Don Mclean
• “Anticipation” – Carly Simon
• [new] “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” – T. Rex
• “Black Dog” – Led Zeppelin
• “Brand New Key” – Melanie
• “Clean Up Woman” – Betty Wright
• [new] “Daddy’s Home” – Jackson 5
• “Day After Day” – Badfinger
• [new] “Don’t Say You Don’t Remember” – Beverly Bremers
• [new] “Down By The Lazy River” – Osmonds
• “Drowning In The Sea Of Love” – Joe Simon
• [new] “Everything I Own” – Bread
• “Fire And Water” – Wilson Pickett
• [new] “Floy Joy” – Supremes
• [new] “Footstompin’ Music” – Grand Funk Railroad
• [new] “Heart Of Gold” – Neil Young
• “Hurtin’ Each Other” – Carpenters
• [new] “I Can’t Help Myself” – Donnie Elbert
• “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” – Hillside Singers
• “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” – New Seekers
• “Joy” – Apollo 100
• [new] “Jungle Fever” – Chakachas
• “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” – Charley Pride
• “Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green
• “Levon” – Elton John
• “Make Me The Woman You Go Home To” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
• [new] “Mother And Child Reunion” – Paul Simon
• [new] “My World” – Bee Gees
• “Never Been To Spain” – Three Dog Night
• “Precious And Few” – Climax
• “Scorpio” – Dennis Coffey
• “Stay With Me” – Faces
• “Sunshine” – Jonathan Edwards
• [new] “Sweet Seasons” – Carole King
• “That’s The Way I Feel About Cha” – Bobby Womack
• [new] “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – Robert John
• [new] “The Way Of Love” – Cher
• “The Witch Queen Of New Orleans” – Redbone
• “Without You” – Nilsson
• “You Are Everything” – Stylistics

[new] = New to the chart this week.

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

This month in history

Exactly 5 years before I’m born, on the 10th, David Bowie opened his concert tour with his new alter ego of “Ziggy Stardust”, starting at the Toby Jug Pub in Tolworth.

The next day, as the nationwide strike of British coal miners continued, Secretary for Trade and Industry John Davies told the House of Commons that the government was ordering a massive shutdown of Britain’s industry. Davies added that “Many, many people—perhaps millions—will be laid off.”

Across the Atlantic on the 19th the TV show “All in the Family” first aired what became its most famous episode, which ended with black musician Sammy Davis Jr. giving a kiss on the cheek to America’s ‘most popular bigot’, Archie Bunker.

What’d Sadie think?

A week more at the top for “American Pie” by Don McLean, followed by a week for Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and then Nilsson gets number one for the remainder with “Without You”.

Loved ’em

• “Everything I Own” – Bread
• “Heart Of Gold” – Neil Young
• “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – Robert John

Liked ’em

• “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” – Jerry Bulter And Brenda Lee Ea
• “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” – T. Rex
• “Daddy’s Home” – Jackson 5
• “Down By The Lazy River” – Osmonds
• “Floy Joy” – Supremes
• “Footstompin’ Music” – Grand Funk Railroad
• “I Can’t Help Myself” – Donnie Elbert
• “Jungle Fever” – Chakachas
• “Mother And Child Reunion” – Paul Simon
• “My World” – Bee Gees
• “Sweet Seasons” – Carole King
• “The Way Of Love” – Cher

Leave ’em

• “Don’t Say You Don’t Remember” – Beverly Bremers

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

The ytmusicapi library is still broke, so we’re making playlists like its 2022 at the moment…oh the humanity!

But we have also had time to work on a related project, a hardware music player. We have half a dozen Sonos speakers across our apartment, which provides lovely whole-home music listening and one of these is in Sadie’s room of course. I wanted a way to allow her to control her own room’s music, but without giving her a distracting screen or infinite options of what to play.

So the “SayDeeJayBox” player uses a Raspberry Pi microcomputer with an NFC hat to allow her to tap mini “records” to activate playback of specific albums just on her speaker.  The records themselves are printed/cut on a Cricut machine and affixed with an ntag NFC sticker that is programmed with the activation URL on my phone. The Pi simply sits there listening for an NFC tap and then uses that URL to activate a web script that is authorised to control our home Sonos.

tl;dr tap record, music plays in sadie’s room!

I’ve had a 3D printed case that encloses the whole thing made since this picture was taken!

It’s probably quite a specific use-case, but we’ve opensourced the code and design, which you can check out  on github at SayDeeJayBox.

Now, geeking out done, its time to listen to the first sounds of 1972…

Songs of the month

• “All I Ever Need Is You” – Sonny And Cher
• “American Pie” – Don Mclean
• [new] “An American Trilogy” – Mickey Newbury
• “An Old Fashioned Love Song” – Three Dog Night
• [new] “Anticipation” – Carly Simon
• [new] “Baby I’m A Want You” – Bread
• [new] “Black Dog” – Led Zeppelin
• “Brand New Key” – Melanie
• “Cherish” – David Cassidy
• “Clean Up Woman” – Betty Wright
• “Day After Day” – Badfinger
• “Drowning In The Sea Of Love” – Joe Simon
• “Family Affair” – Sly And The Family Stone
• [new] “Fire And Water” – Wilson Pickett
• “Got To Be There” – Michael Jackson
• “Gypsies Tramps And Thieves” – Cher
• “Have You Seen Her” – Chi-Lites
• [new] “Hey Big Brother” – Rare Earth
• “Hey Girl” – Donny Osmond
• [new] “Hurtin’ Each Other” – Carpenters
• “I Know I’m Losing You” – Rod Stewart
• “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” – New Seekers
• [new] “It’s One Of Those Nights” – Partridge Family
• [new] “Joy” – Apollo 100
• [new] “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” – Charley Pride
• “Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green
• [new] “Levon” – Elton John
• [new] “Make Me The Woman You Go Home To” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
• [new] “Never Been To Spain” – Three Dog Night
• [new] “Old Fashioned Love Song” – Three Dog Night
• [new] “Once You Understand” – Think
• “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” – Honey Cone
• [new] “Precious And Few” – Climax
• “Respect Yourself” – Staple Singers
• “Scorpio” – Dennis Coffey
• [new] “Stay With Me” – Faces
• “Stones” – Neil Diamond
• [new] “Sugar Daddy” – Jackson 5
• “Sunshine” – Jonathan Edwards
• “Superstar” – Temptations
• [new] “That’s The Way I Feel About Cha” – Bobby Womack
• [new] “The Witch Queen Of New Orleans” – Redbone
• “Theme From Shaft” – Isaac Hayes
• “Where Did Our Love Go” – Donnie Elbert
• [new] “White Lies Blue Eyes” – Bullet
• [new] “Without You” – Nilsson
• “You Are Everything” – Stylistics

[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 4th the first scientific electronic pocket calculator, the HP-35 was introduced by Hewlett-Packard and priced at $395USD (equivalent to more than $3000+ in 2025). Although hand-held electronic machines, that could multiply and divide (such as the Canon Pocketronic) had been made since 1971, the HP-35 could handle higher functions including logarithms and trigonometry.

And on the 8th Dmitri Shostakovich’s, last symphony, No. 15 in A Major was performed for the first time, at the Moscow Conservatory.

In a great month for electronics, on the 27th Magnavox introduced the first home video game system, Odyssey. Designed by Ralph Baer, the console could be hooked up to a television set for two players to play a tennis-like game, similar to Nolan Bushnell’s game Pong.

What’d Sadie think?

Two weeks at the top for Melanie with “Brand New Key” before soon-to-be classic “American Pie” by Don Mclean takes three weeks at number one.

Loved ’em

• “Baby I’m A Want You” – Bread
• “Black Dog” – Led Zeppelin
• “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” – Charley Pride
• “Make Me The Woman You Go Home To” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
• “Without You” – Nilsson

Liked ’em

• “An American Trilogy” – Mickey Newbury
• “Anticipation” – Carly Simon
• “Fire And Water” – Wilson Pickett
• “Hey Big Brother” – Rare Earth
• “It’s One Of Those Nights” – Partridge Family
• “Joy” – Apollo 100
• “Levon” – Elton John
• “Never Been To Spain” – Three Dog Night
• “Precious And Few” – Climax
• “Stay With Me” – Faces
• “Sugar Daddy” – Jackson 5
• “That’s The Way I Feel About Cha” – Bobby Womack
• “The Witch Queen Of New Orleans” – Redbone
• “White Lies Blue Eyes” – Bullet

Leave ’em

• “Once You Understand” – Think

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

And here we are at the end of another year in our sped up journey through musical history. It seems like an age since we had Bing Crosby’s White Christmas on every December chart and indeed there’s not a festive song in sight… but let’s hear what there is on the charts of December, 1971!

Songs of the month

• “A Natural Man” – Lou Rawls
• “All I Ever Need Is You” – Sonny And Cher
• [new] “American Pie” – Don Mclean
• “An Old Fashioned Love Song” – Three Dog Night
• “Baby I’m-A Want You” – Bread
• [new] “Baby I’m-Want You” – Bread
• [new] “Brand New Key” – Melanie
• “Cherish” – David Cassidy
• [new] “Clean Up Woman” – Betty Wright
• [new] “Day After Day” – Badfinger
• “Desiderata” – Les Crane
• [new] “Drowning In The Sea Of Love” – Joe Simon
• “Easy Loving” – Freddie Hart
• “Everybody’s Everything” – Santana
• “Family Affair” – Sly And The Family Stone
• “Got To Be There” – Michael Jackson
• “Gypsies Tramps And Thieves” – Cher
• “Have You Seen Her” – Chi-Lites
• [new] “Hey Girl” – Donny Osmond
• [new] “I Know I’m Losing You” – Rod Stewart
• [new] “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” – New Seekers
• “Imagine” – John Lennon
• “Inner City Blues” – Marvin Gaye
• [new] “Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green
• “Maggie May / Reason To Believe” – Rod Stewart
• [new] “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” – Honey Cone
• “Peace Train” – Cat Stevens
• “Respect Yourself” – Staple Singers
• “Rock Steady / Oh Me Oh My” – Aretha Franklin
• “Scorpio” – Dennis Coffey
• “Stones” – Neil Diamond
• [new] “Sunshine” – Jonathan Edwards
• “Superstar” – Temptations
• “Theme From Shaft” – Isaac Hayes
• “Theme From Summer Of ’42” – Peter Nero
• “Two Divided By Love” – Grass Roots
• “Where Did Our Love Go” – Donnie Elbert
• “Wild Night” – Van Morrison
• “Yo-Yo” – Osmonds
• [new] “You’re My Everything” – Stylistics

[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 2nd The United Arab Emirates was founded by the six of the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain; Ras Al Khaimah joined later) of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

And on the 4th The Montreux Casino, located on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at Montreux, Switzerland, burned down during a Frank Zappa concert, after a concertgoer fired a flare gun into the ceiling, which was covered with rattan, destroying the casino and the equipment of Zappa and his band, The Mothers of Invention. Members of the band Deep Purple, who had planned to do a recording session the next day inside the building, watched as it burned down and later memorialized the event in the classic rock song “Smoke on the Water”.

Then on the 19th the made-for-television film “The Homecoming: A Christmas Story”, was broadcast as the CBS Sunday Night Movie and achieved high enough ratings to be adapted to a long-running television series, “The Waltons”.

What’d Sadie think?

It’s three weeks at the top for “Family Affair” for Sly And The Family Stone before Melanie take’s the top spot with “Brand New Key”.

Loved ’em

• “American Pie” – Don Mclean
• “Baby I’m-Want You” – Bread
• “Brand New Key” – Melanie
• “Day After Day” – Badfinger
• “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” – New Seekers
• “Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green
• “You’re My Everything” – Stylistics

We have to pause a moment on “I’d Like To Teach The World to Sing” – which holds a special place in the hearts of advertising folk like us. Here’s a nice little telling of some of the back story behind what was not only a massive chart hit, but the most expensive advert made up to that time.

And no “Don Draper” didn’t come up with it…the idea originally came to Bill Backer, an advertising executive working for McCann Erickson, the agency responsible for Coca-Cola. Backer, Roger Cook and Billy Davis were delayed at Shannon Airport in Ireland. After a forced layover with many hot tempers, they noticed their fellow travelers the next morning were talking and joking while drinking Coca-Cola. Backer wrote the line “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” on a napkin and shared it with Cook and Roger Greenaway.

The melody was derived from a previous song by Cook and Greenaway, originally called “True Love and Apple Pie”. Cook, Greenaway, Backer and Billy Davis reworked the song into a Coca-Cola radio jingle, which was performed by British pop group The New Seekers.. The radio jingle made its debut in February 1971 before being adapted for the Coca-Cola “Hilltop” television commercial later that year.

Liked ’em

• “Clean Up Woman” – Betty Wright
• “Drowning In The Sea Of Love” – Joe Simon
• “I Know I’m Losing You” – Rod Stewart
• “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” – Honey Cone
• “Sunshine” – Jonathan Edwards

Leave ’em

• “Hey Girl” – Donny Osmond

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

It’s 48 years and 9 months before Sadie is born and 5 years and 3 months before Thomas is.

Songs of the month

• [new] “A Natural Man” – Lou Rawls
• [new] “Absolutely Right” – Five Man Electrical Band
• [new] “All I Ever Need Is You” – Sonny And Cher
• [new] “An Old Fashioned Love Song” – Three Dog Night
• [new] “Baby I’m-A Want You” – Bread
• [new] “Cherish” – David Cassidy
• “Desiderata” – Les Crane
• “Do You Know What I Mean” – Lee Michaels
• [new] “Do You Know What I Mean” – Lou Rawls
• “Easy Loving” – Freddie Hart
• “Everybody’s Everything” – Santana
• [new] “Family Affair” – Sly And The Family Stone
• “Go Away Little Girl” – Donny Osmond
• [new] “Got To Be There” – Michael Jackson
• “Gypsies Tramps And Thieves” – Cher
• “Have You Seen Her” – Chi-Lites
• “I’ve Found Someone Of My Own” – Free Movement
• “If You Really Love Me” – Stevie Wonder
• “Imagine” – John Lennon
• “Inner City Blues” – Marvin Gaye
• “Maggie May / Reason To Believe” – Rod Stewart
• “Never My Love” – 5Th Dimension
• “One Fine Morning” – Lighthouse
• [new] “One Tin Soldier” – Coven
• “Only You Know And I Know” – Delaney And Bonnie
• “Peace Train” – Cat Stevens
• [new] “Questions 67 And 68 / I’m A Man” – Chicago
• [new] “Respect Yourself” – Staple Singers
• [new] “Rock Steady / Oh Me Oh My” – Aretha Franklin
• [new] “Scorpio” – Dennis Coffey
• [new] “Stones” – Neil Diamond
• “Superstar” – Carpenters
• [new] “Superstar” – Temptations
• “Sweet City Woman” – Stampeders
• “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” – Joan Baez
• “Theme From Shaft” – Isaac Hayes
• [new] “Theme From Summer Of ’42” – Peter Nero
• “Thin Line Between Love And Hate” – Persuaders
• “Tired Of Being Alone” – Al Green
• “Trapped By A Thing Called Love” – Denise Lasalle
• [new] “Two Divided By Love” – Grass Roots
• “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” – Paul And Linda Mccartney
• [new] “Where Did Our Love Go” – Donnie Elbert
• [new] “Wild Night” – Van Morrison
• “Yo-Yo” – Osmonds
• [new] “You’ve Got To Crawl” – 8Th Day

[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 3rd the first UNIX Programmer’s Manual was published, originally to quickly bring in more users for the testing of the world’s first portable programming system for the so-called Uniplexed Information and Computing Service (“unics”). The highly influential Unix platform, in different forms, powers most of what brings 4xLife to life…

On the 13th the U.S. probe Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to successfully enter the orbit of Mars. Previous American and Soviet probes had made close “fly-by” approaches. At 4:42 p.m. California time, the technicians at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, made Mariner 9 the first object from Earth to be put into orbit around another planet. The elliptical orbit ranged between 1,300 km above the Martian surface and 17,200 km twice a day.

And, in a big month for technology, on the 15th Intel announced the world’s first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.

What’d Sadie think?

Two weeks at the top for Cher with “Gypsies Tramps And Thieves” before Isaac Hayes takes it with Shaft.

Loved ’em

• “An Old Fashioned Love Song” – Three Dog Night
• “Baby I’m-A Want You” – Bread
• “Do You Know What I Mean” – Lou Rawls
• “Family Affair” – Sly And The Family Stone
• “One Tin Soldier” – Coven
• “Superstar” – Temptations
• “Where Did Our Love Go” – Donnie Elbert

Liked ’em

• “A Natural Man” – Lou Rawls
• “All I Ever Need Is You” – Sonny And Cher
• “Cherish” – David Cassidy
• “Got To Be There” – Michael Jackson
• “Questions 67 And 68 / I’m A Man” – Chicago
• “Respect Yourself” – Staple Singers
• “Rock Steady / Oh Me Oh My” – Aretha Franklin
• “Scorpio” – Dennis Coffey
• “Stones” – Neil Diamond
• “Two Divided By Love” – Grass Roots
• “Wild Night” – Van Morrison

Leave ’em

• “Absolutely Right” – Five Man Electrical Band
• “Theme From Summer Of ’42” – Peter Nero

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

Houston we have a problem! The software library I use to automatically create playlists for 4xLife on Youtube has broken, and so I’m stuck manually searching and compiling the list.

Which isn’t all that bad, but I spent too long trying to fix it this weekend – so we’re late this week!

On the upside we’ve just gotten a new musical (hardware) project installed in Sadie’s room which we’ll detail next week.

Songs of the month

• “Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers
• [new] “Birds Of A Feather” – Raiders
• “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” – Mac And Katie Kissoon
• [new] “Desiderata” – Les Crane
• “Do You Know What I Mean” – Lee Michaels
• [new] “Easy Loving” – Freddie Hart
• [new] “Everybody’s Everything” – Santana
• “Go Away Little Girl” – Donny Osmond
• [new] “Gypsies Tramps And Thieves” – Cher
• [new] “Have You Seen Her” – Chi-Lites
• “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” – Bee Gees
• “I Just Want To Celebrate” – Rare Earth
• “I Woke Up In Love This Morning” – Partridge Family
• [new] “I’ve Found Someone Of My Own” – Free Movement
• “If You Really Love Me” – Stevie Wonder
• [new] “Imagine” – John Lennon
• [new] “Inner City Blues” – Marvin Gaye
• [new] “Loving Her Was Easier” – Kris Kristofferson
• “Maggie May / Reason To Believe” – Rod Stewart
• “Make It Funky” – James Brown
• [new] “Never My Love” – 5Th Dimension
• [new] “One Fine Morning” – Lighthouse
• [new] “Only You Know And I Know” – Delaney And Bonnie
• [new] “Peace Train” – Cat Stevens
• “Rain Dance” – Guess Who
• [new] “Reason To Believe / Maggie May” – Rod Stewart
• “Saturday Morning Confusion” – Bobby Russell
• “Smiling Faces Sometimes” – Undisputed Truth
• “So Far Away” – Carole King
• “Spanish Harlem” – Aretha Franklin
• [new] “Stagger Lee” – Tommy Roe
• [new] “Stick Up” – Honey Cone
• “Stick-Up” – Honey Cone
• “Superstar” – Carpenters
• “Sweet City Woman” – Stampeders
• “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” – Joan Baez
• “The Story In Your Eyes” – Moody Blues
• [new] “Theme From Shaft” – Isaac Hayes
• “Thin Line Between Love And Hate” – Persuaders
• “Tired Of Being Alone” – Al Green
• [new] “Trapped By A Thing Called Love” – Denise Lasalle
• “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” – Paul And Linda Mccartney
• [new] “Wedding Song” – Paul Stookey
• “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get” – Dramatics
• “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – Who
• “Yo-Yo” – Osmonds

[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 1st of the month the first CAT scan on a human being (now referred to as a CT scan) was performed, conducted outside of London in Wimbledon at the Atkinson Morley Hospital on an unidentified patient, using computerized axial tomography on a machine developed by Dr. Godfrey Hounsfield from the theories of Dr. Allan Cormack.

Then on the 2nd “Soul Train”, created by Don Cornelius as a showcase for African-American bands, and similar to American Bandstand with a studio of teenagers dancing to the music, began as a syndicated program with weekly episodes. Originally a weekday afternoon program on Chicago’s WCIU-TV channel 26, Soul Train picked up the sponsorship of the Johnson Products Company and began airing on seven U.S. TV stations, increasing to 18 by the end of its first season. The guests on the first show were Gladys Knight and the Pips, Honey Cone, Bobby Hutton and Eddie Kendricks.

And on the tenth the classic British TV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs was shown for the first time, premiering on ITV.

What’d Sadie think?

The whole month belongs to Rod Stewart with “Maggie May / Reason To Believe” at number 1.

But really, from a pop-cultural point-of-view the month surely belongs to the film Shaft – Isaac Hayes’ theme being on our charts this month.

Loved ’em

• “Easy Loving” – Freddie Hart
• “Gypsies Tramps And Thieves” – Cher
• “Have You Seen Her” – Chi-Lites
• “Imagine” – John Lennon
• “Loving Her Was Easier” – Kris Kristofferson
• “Peace Train” – Cat Stevens
• “Maggie May” – Rod Stewart

Liked ’em

• “Birds Of A Feather” – Raiders
• “Everybody’s Everything” – Santana
• “I’ve Found Someone Of My Own” – Free Movement
• “Inner City Blues” – Marvin Gaye
• “Never My Love” – 5Th Dimension
• “One Fine Morning” – Lighthouse
• “Only You Know And I Know” – Delaney And Bonnie
• “Stagger Lee” – Tommy Roe
• “Stick Up” – Honey Cone
• “Theme From Shaft” – Isaac Hayes
• “Trapped By A Thing Called Love” – Denise Lasalle
• “Wedding Song” – Paul Stookey

Leave ’em

• “Desiderata” – Les Crane

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

It’s a rainy spring day here in 2025 as we tune our ears back to September, 1971…

Songs of the month

• “Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers
• [new] “Bangladesh” – George Harrison
• “Beginnings / Colour My World” – Chicago
• [new] “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” – Mac And Katie Kissoon
• [new] “Do You Know What I Mean” – Lee Michaels
• “Draggin’ The Line” – Tommy James
• “Go Away Little Girl” – Donny Osmond
• “Hot Pants” – James Brown
• “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” – Bee Gees
• “I Just Want To Celebrate” – Rare Earth
• “I Woke Up In Love This Morning” – Partridge Family
• “If Not For You” – Olivia Newton-John
• [new] “If You Really Love Me” – Stevie Wonder
• “Indian Reservation” – Raiders
• [new] “Lean On Me” – Bill Withers
• “Liar” – Three Dog Night
• [new] “Maggie May / Reason To Believe” – Rod Stewart
• [new] “Make It Funky” – James Brown
• “Mercy Mercy Me” – Marvin Gaye
• “Mr. Big Stuff” – Jean Knight
• [new] “Rain Dance” – Guess Who
• “Riders On The Storm” – Doors
• [new] “Saturday Morning Confusion” – Bobby Russell
• “Signs” – Five Man Electrical Band
• “Smiling Faces Sometimes” – Undisputed Truth
• [new] “So Far Away” – Carole King
• “Spanish Harlem” – Aretha Franklin
• [new] “Stick-Up” – Honey Cone
• [new] “Superstar” – Carpenters
• [new] “Sweet City Woman” – Stampeders
• “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• “Take Me Home Country Roads” – John Denver
• [new] “The Night The Drove Old Dixie Down” – Joan Baez
• [new] “The Story In Your Eyes” – Moody Blues
• [new] “Thin Line Between Love And Hate” – Persuaders
• [new] “Tired Of Being Alone” – Al Green
• “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” – Paul And Linda Mccartney
• “What The World Needs Now Is Love” – Tom Clay
• “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get” – Dramatics
• “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – Who
• [new] “Yo-Yo” – Osmonds
• “You’ve Got A Friend” – James Taylor

[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 fourth of September, the Concorde supersonic airliner made its first transatlantic crossing. After departing Toulouse in France and landing at Sal Rei in the Cape Verde Islands off of the coast of Africa, the Concorde 001 prototype departed Sal Rei and flew 3,999 km to Cayenne in French Guiana in South America in two hours and two minutes at an average speed of more than  1,967 km/h.

Then on the 6th the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced that it was banning the U.S. educational children’s TV program Sesame Street from broadcast in the UK because of the “authoritarian aims” of the show. Monica Sims, the director of children’s television programming on BBC, told reporters “Educationalists in America have questioned the value of 2-, 3- and 4-year olds’ acquiring knowledge in a passive, uninvolved fashion, and have criticised the program’s essentially middle-class attitudes, its lack of reality and its attempt to prepare children for school but not for life. I share some of these doubts and am particularly worried about the program’s authoritarian aims.”

And on the 12th the “Baker Street robbery” of £500,000  of cash from the Baker Street branch of Lloyds Bank in London, was completed by a gang of seven thieves who had burrowed into the bank vault after starting a tunnel from a vacant shop next door. One of those annoying videos that can’t be embedded tell more of the story here.

What’d Sadie think?

It’s a week at the top this month for”Uncle Albert” by Paul And Linda Mccartney before Donny Osmond has a hit at the top for the next 3 weeks with “Go Away Little Girl”. Of course the Osmonds were a real phenomenon of bubble-gum group pop of the ’70s and here we see Donny’s solo song beat out his whole family effort for the top spot.

Loved ’em

• “Do You Know What I Mean” – Lee Michaels
• “If You Really Love Me” – Stevie Wonder
• “Lean On Me” – Bill Withers
• “Make It Funky” – James Brown
• “So Far Away” – Carole King
• “Stick-Up” – Honey Cone
• “Superstar” – Carpenters
• “Thin Line Between Love And Hate” – Persuaders
• “Tired Of Being Alone” – Al Green

Liked ’em

• “Bangladesh” – George Harrison
• “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” – Mac And Katie Kissoon
• “Maggie May / Reason To Believe” – Rod Stewart
• “Rain Dance” – Guess Who
• “Sweet City Woman” – Stampeders
• “The Night The Drove Old Dixie Down” – Joan Baez
• “Yo-Yo” – Osmonds

Leave ’em

• “Saturday Morning Confusion” – Bobby Russell
• “The Story In Your Eyes” – Moody Blues

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