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.