Number one singles that have been (almost) completely forgotten

"Mercy sakes alive! That's a big 10-4 good buddy!"

Maybe you would be happier with being on a different thread. Start a new thread about how punk saved your sanity or something. A lot of us won't be on it out of respect. So, maybe you should show us some respect and bow out of this one. No amount of your constant rambling of how much you hate 70s pop will change the fact that it existed and that people like it.

Yes, you are a minority of one because you keep going against the spirit of this thread ie. threadcrapping. Why can't you simply create a thread about how punk saved you from offing yourself? Then, like-minded people can all post there. Or, you can put on great chinnychap klike Nick Gilder's "Hot Child In The City" or "You Made Me Believe In Magic" by Bay City Rollers and...you know...

 

Perfect summation of my view.

 

Really loving that old footage.

 

Hi, @muffmasterh I respect that, and heck, I loved Punk, and the watered-down New Wave. I also listened to Led Zep, Eagles, Floyd and Supertramp, in the same time period.

Some Punk was just as contrived as the great (for your benefit ), Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, tunes, and I baulked at the idea of being told what I shouldn't listen to. I was far more anarchic, for listening to The Stranglers, Pistols and Ramones, followed by The Beatles and Eagles, so there!!!

I still listen to all this music, plus several more genres that I have developed a passion for, but, that period from 1971-1975 is kind of, my default setting, and I love the pure pop, and glam of the period - it is my, and numerous others, ultimate feelgood music.

 

You have friends, with that taste in music!!

I remember the song well, as yes, it makes me smile, too.

 

[QUOTE=" The Stranglers, Pistols and Ramones, followed by The Beatles and Eagles, so there!!!.[/QUOTE]
you'll get no argument from me on those buddy, nor on Bowie, The Clash, The Jam, Squeeze, Pink Floyd the Doors and early Zep !!!

In fact my distaste for the period was instrumental was seeking out alternatives like the Doors whom I had been unaware of previously ( too young )

 

er hang on a minute sunshine, can you tell me exactly WHERE on this thread does it say forgotten number ones BETWEEN 1971 AND 1976 ??

IF YOU can't then i am not thread capping and I accordingly expect an apology for being falsely accused as such.

As far as i can see my opinions on this thread are just as valid as yours.

Unbelievable !

 

Not many punk songs hit #1 in either the U.S. or the U.K., but the Bay City Rollers sure did.

YOU are the one who has been accused of repeatedly saying how much they hate the 70s music. That's not what the thread is about.

Indeed, sunshine!

 

Especially with the mother-daughter fantasy thing...oh, just kidding...heh heh.

 

Some of us believe, that the Sex Pistols, God Save The Queen, should have been number one, as it was out-selling Rod, 7/1 in many shops, but, The Boomtown Rats, were the first recognised, Punk / New Wave act to have a number one, in the UK, with Rat Trap, in November 1978. As the Rats, themselves said on the B side of, Mary Of The 4th Form, Do The Rat, "what's this got to do with Punk rock?
Er, nothin'!!"

Unlike, I Don't Like Mondays, Rat Trap, rarely gets an outing these days.

Ian Dury, and The Jam obviously hit the top spot, but was there actually any Punk number 1s, except, The Clash, 15 years after the event?

Another great number one, that I haven't heard get played much, is, The Specials, Ghost Town.

As an aside, I saw a thread closed (probably deservedly) before my eyes, a couple of days ago, so keep it civil. It's great that we can be passionate about our music, but let's not make it personal.

 

This is correct.

 

But, it wasn't. And here in the U.S., they didn't even pass #100 on any chart.

I'm not. But, he was coming in here doing nothing but complaining about how much he hates the chart music of the 70s when that isn't what the thread is about. That's why I suggested he would be happier starting a thread about what he hated.

 

well you have your wish , consider me duly trolled off this thread, some play the man not the ball and i have no wish to continue, bye.

 

No you are right, it wasn't, and as I hinted at, it maybe should have been, because it was allegedly, selling far more copies than the record which was given that honour. Certainly a number of record shops that I spoke to, had sale figures, that were nowhere near representative of the top two, in the chart, that infamous week (in the UK), and the record shops with multiple outlets, were saying something similar.

I wasn't getting at you Grant, or anyone in particular, just an observation, and in retrospect, I shouldn't have joined it in a post, responsding to you, or anyone else.

Unlike some, the thread title matter really shouldn't be that controversial a topic!

I love heated, passionate discussions, but on the odd occasion, a thread has magically gone "puff", usually not long after things turning, just too personal and nasty. I know that is only done as a last resort, but is a real shame for all those who invested time.

In response to your original point, I can't recall any song that I would term "Punk", getting to the top spot in the UK.

The Clash did reach number one here, not in 1977, but 1991, with, Should I Stay Or Should I Go, but that was on the back of an advert, and not exactly hard-core Punk.

I was going to say that a number of Chinn & Chapman songs, had more balls, than that particular Clash, song, but as @muffmasterh isn't playing anymore, my attempted humour is wasted.

From memory, Punk really wasn't around for that long, and The Osmonds, releasing Crazy Horses, was probably more outrageous than some of the record company contrived New Wave groups, with their outrageous look, of a tie loosened a few inches under the collar!

Cliff was more edgy than some of these bands, and if anything, the music became largely "safer", after Punk. This is some ways was a real shame, because the DIY ethos of Punk was really cool, some great music and artists did appear, and it did put the wind up the corporate record companies.

We ended up with that outrageous band, Boney M. and highly controversial film, Grease.

 

Rat Trap really does fit the definition of a forgotten but glorious number one.

It really was rather wonderful to watch them tear up pictures of John and Olivia (sorry Bobby) on TOTP.

 

You weren't playing either, and I did not troll. Too bad you can't admit when you are in the wrong.

 

here in the U.S., there was no way on earth that would have ever happened, anyway. The U.S. pop chart was all about disco and pop at the time.

There are quite a few rockccentric types on this forum who constantly come up in threads about hits and feel the need to make everyone know that they hated music until punk came along. We get it. They hate soft rock. They hate soul music. They hate disco. They hate glam. So, why can't they crawl away and start their own thread celebrating what they like? No, they would rather threadcrap and troll on threads like this.

Well, if people would have some respect...

Agreed to almost all, but why do you call "Grease" controversial?

 

I'll start with the easy bit! I was being sarcastic / ironic, about both Boney M. and Grease. Both, would be termed safe and mainstream, and exactly the type of material, that Punk was in some ways rallying against.

The thing is, Prog Rock, got hit really hard by Punk, and change was, for a very short period, in the air. However, this didn't last long, and a lot of relatively media friendly bands and films came along, such as Boney M. and Grease. "Nice" material was being fed to the impressionable children, which made some record companies, and some elements of the establishment, far more comfortable,than with the confrontational, Punk movement.

Which brings us on to, God Save The Queen, by a band called the, Sex Pistols.

1977, in the UK, was the Queen's Silver Jubilee, The Sex Pistols, signed a record contract, outside of the Queen's residence, Buckingham Palace. For anyone not living in the UK in 1977, it is very difficult to imagine the hatred, by much of the establishment and media towards the Pistols.

The Queen's Silver Jubilee, was a big deal. Celebrations, street parties, carnivals, all jolly good stuff.

Against this, the Sex Pistols were being banned from playing in a lot of places, a number of shops wouldn't stock the records, and they released a single, which wasn't 100% complimentary about our respected and loved monarch. This single had a picture on the front, of the Queen with, God Save The Queen, through her eyes, and Sex Pistols, through her mouth. This was outrageous!

Some charts had a blank, against this chart entry, it literally wasn't mentioned! Of course things like this cannot happen in free countries, such as the US and the UK. But, despite selling rather a lot of copies, allegedly rather more than Rod Stewart, when it came to the new charts, number two was announced on the paragon of virtue, the BBC, as, God Save The Queen, by the Sex Pistols. Panic over, the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebration's were not undermined, by that song.

Of course, Rod may have sold more copies than the Sex Pistols, just not amongst any people I, or the record shops I visited knew.

1977 was a very interesting year!

 

I don't know what to tell you. Fleetwood Mac, Grease, Boston, Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament, Stevie Wonder, and Saturday Night fever had permanent spots at the top of our album charts in 1977.

 

Even without an emoticon that should have been obvious

 

You don't have to tell me anything, but if you now think that there be a grain of truth, or at the least, there was a massive vested interest in God Save The Queen, not getting to the top, that week, that year, then I've made my point.

Grease, Saturday Night Fever etc were top of the charts for months in the UK too, but for a very short time, the Sex Pistols were absolutely notorious, and the UK was a "dangerous" place.

The week of the Royal Jubilee, the Queen having ruled for 25 years, the Sex Pistols chartered a boat, called the Queen Elizabeth, for a private party on the River Thames, as the boat goes under Westminster Bridge, they play Anarchy In The UK. As has been well documented, the police raided the boat, and arrests were made.

The Sex Pistols won an award for young businessmen of the year, and after A&M, having signed them outside Buckingham Palace, pay them to leave, without releasing (apart from the very rare, and valuable copies of GSTQ). John Lyndon's quote? Gross stupidity!

No one really knows if anything went on to prevent them reaching number 1, but there was a lot of relief, in certain areas, that it didn't. A number one, that couldn't be played.

I was 14, and bought the single.

By the time of the Golden Jubilee, the UK was a different place. The Thames arrest scene, was even shown as part of the film made for the London, Olympic games.

 

I'm just speaking from a U.S. perspective. When the Sex Pistols hit, they were all over the media, and not in a good way. Stores refused to stock the album, the song was banned on radio...if they played it at all, and it was all about Sid Vicious or Or Johnny Rotten, and his issues. A lot was made about the name of the band. Again, the song went nowhere. Album-oriented rock radio, and audiences, favored Foreigner, Queen, Styx, Van Halen, and Boston. In about a month, they were all forgotten about, except for the dumb record deal they had and never recorded a note for the label.

I totally understand your perspective, but, let's remind ourselves of how different the U.S. and the U.K. are, culturally. There was no youth movement against prog rock or "corporate rock". We embraced it here, for the most part. And, then there was the funk, disco, and easy rock sides of music. The Sex Pistols had no chance here in the states.

 

The Sex Pistols, to my mind were very British, and Johnny Rotten, a sort of Dickensian character. The songs subject, like the above mentioned, God Save The Queen, and Anarchy In The UK, were very British, too.

A lot of the publicity, and negativety, had come of the back of the Bill Grundy, television appearance.

Sid Viscous, was an easily manipulated, clown character, who in real life was an ABBA, fan. In some ways, he ended up as the image of Punk, a cartoon, that died, just like Punk did, very young.

Apart from the legacy of the debut album, which has grown massively since 1977, it doesn't suprise me all, that they were not a success, in the US.

In the UK, in reality, Punk came and went, in a few months, and long term changed nothing.

Move forward to Grunge, short term there was collateral damage to the hair Metal, bands. A few years down the line, had much really changed?

 

In the UK, Dexys Midnight Runners, had two great number one hits.

Come On Eileen, is still played to death, Geno, is rarely played.

 

What about "Honeymooners Rap" by Joe Piscopo & Eddie Murphy?