The period in the early 70's when music was taking a big chunk of my interests as a seven year old in Infants still listening on 247 and 208 metres Medium Wave on my handed down portable radio and the family stereogram in an era when pop music was AM only and I plug the Sharp portable tape recorder in the back to copy stuff I liked.
Really this era wasn't much compiled missing 1972's tv advertised sets on Ronco and K Tel so it was re-recording on Music For Pleasure's Hot Hit's and Hallmark's Top of the Pops series each with a "dolly bird" on the cover and eleven or twelve songs and much later on in some "Glam Rock sets" so it's great to have this although there's no Ringo, George and Rolling Stones in this 80 song set.
Disc One opens with Elton John’s signature song ‘Your Song’, followed by Paul McCartney’s debut solo single ‘Another Day’, and Rod Stewart with his first chart-topper ‘Maggie May’ alongside the second #1 for T.Rex with ‘Get It On’.
U.S. classics also feature such as Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ is as popular today as it was in ’71, as is John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’ that I liked plus country-pop hits for Lynn Anderson and Olivia Newton-John come ahead of singer-songwriter gold from Cat Stevens and Carly Simon.
Diana Ross hit #1 with ‘I’m Still Waiting’ which wasn't an A side in America and the Jackson 5 hit the top in the U.S. with one of their most beloved tracks, ‘I’ll Be There’ all followed by peerless soul ballads from The Delfonics and Al Green along with big pop hits for R. Dean Taylor, Blue Mink, The Fortunes, Sweet and The Kinks before Tom Jones completes the first disc with ‘She’s A Lady’.
Disc Two opens with Judy Collins’ version of ‘Amazing Grace’ was massive hit and would end up spending an incredible 67 weeks on the UK charts followed by Peter Noone enjoying a big hit covering David Bowie’s ‘Oh You Pretty Things’ from Honky Dory and Cilla Black was back in the Top 3 with ‘Something Tells Me…’.’Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves’ gave Cher a U.S. #1 and comes ahead of a run of pure-pop gems from Clodagh Rodgers (with 1971’s UK Eurovision entry), The Mixtures, Jackie Lee, Lobo and ‘Knock Three Times’, the first #1 for Tony Orlando & Dawn.
Easy Listening gold up next from Andy Williams, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones and Tony Christie, plus more of the years’ pop hits from Bay City Rollers their first ever #9 hit , Gilbert O’Sullivan, Marmalade, New World, Hurricane Smith and to close the disc a Top 10 hit, ‘I Believe (In Love)’ for Hot Chocolate.
Disc Three celebrates 1971’s groundbreaking soul, rock and singer-songwriter classics, opening with Marvin Gaye’s landmark masterpiece ‘What’s Going On’, although this wasn't a UK hit single in truth before the Oscar-winning ‘Theme From "Shaft"’ from Isaac Hayes. Ike & Tina Turner’s electrifying ‘Proud Mary’ is followed by the sublime ‘Spanish Harlem’ from Aretha Franklin, while Diana Ross and Gladys Knight & The Pips deliver two of the year’s finest Motown ballads with ‘Remember Me’ and ‘If I Were Your Woman’.
The second half of the discs see a superb run of rock classics, from Titanic’s international smash ‘Sultana’ and Deep Purple’s ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’ to Badfinger’s ‘No Matter What’, before one of the defining anthems of the era, The Who’s epic ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’.
Three Dog Night’s U.S. #1 ‘Joy To The World’ leads into further highlights from Curved Air, Family, C.C.S. and Atomic Rooster, while Redbone’s ‘The Witch Queen Of New Orleans’ and Free’s ‘My Brother Jake’ showcase two more unforgettable rock-oriented chart hits.
This peerless collection closes with three timeless recordings: Buffy Sainte-Marie’s powerful ‘Soldier Blue’, Joan Baez’s interpretation of ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’, and finally Janis Joplin’s posthumous hit – the classic ‘Me And Bobby McGee’.
Disc 4 opens with another run of unforgettable chart smashes and #1s from Rod Stewart with ‘Reason To Believe’ and T. Rex with ‘Hot Love’ one three that year , plus early glam-pop favourites from Sweet and Slade.
Mungo Jerry keep the #1s coming before Dave & Ansel Collins' groundbreaking chart-topper ‘Double Barrel’ became the second ever reggae single to hit the UK #1 spot – and another #1 for The Tams with the re-released Northern Soul classic ‘Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me’.
This is followed the Four Tops, The Temptations, Bill Withers, The Delfonics, Jackson 5 and The Supremes delivering a stunning run of timeless Soul classics, joined by the Northern Soul favourites ‘I'm Gonna Run Away From You’ from Tami Lynn, and ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You’ from The Elgins.
Pop favourites from Middle Of The Road with their #1 ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’whose moves I still remember, Tony Orlando & Dawn and The New Seekers lead into two of the year's most memorable #1s – both tv-personality led - that book-ended the year as Clive Dunn's ‘Grandad’ is followed by Benny Hill's ‘Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)’ - the Xmas #1 for 1971 that many of remember from his tv show - to bring this spectacular Yearbook collection to a smile-inducing close. NOW Yearbook 1971 – a celebration of what was the best musically of a year I well remember in all it's diversity.
