In the 80s, he became too ordinary, and when he later tried to reclaim the weirdness, it didn't come off.
Here's the UK Album Chart for 9th September 1972. It might kickstart a bit of interest. (Then again, it might not!) 1. (1) Various Artists - 20 Fantastic Hits 2. (2) Rod Stewart - Never A Dull Moment 3. (3) Simon And Garfunkel - Greatest Hits 4. (5) Alice Cooper - School's Out 5. (6) T.Rex - The Slider 6. (8) Don McLean - American Pie 7. (7) Slade - Slade Alive 8. (4) Various Artists - 20 Dynamic Hits 9. (11) David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust 10 (10) Simon And Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 11 (20) Andy Williams - Theme From The Godfather 12 (9) 10 Emerson Lake & Palmer - Trilogy 13 (13) David Cassidy - Cherish 14 (12) Neil Diamond - Moods 15 (14) Roxy Music - Roxy Music 16 (24) Lindisfarne - Fog On The Tyne 17 (27) Elton John - Honky Chateau 18 (19) Hawkwind - In Search Of Space 19 (15) Elvis Presley - At Madison Square Garden 20 (16) Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story 21 (39) Andy Williams - Greatest Hits 22 (23) John Lennon - Imagine 23 (25) The New Seekers - We'd Like To Teach The World To Sing 24 (22) Cat Stevens - Teaser And The Firecat 25 (17) Carole King - Tapestry 26 (21) Jack Jones - Bread Winners 27 (38) Alice Cooper - Killer 28 (18) Gilbert O'Sullivan - Himself 29 (28) The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 30 (41) Don McLean - Tapestry 31 (-) Alice Cooper - Love It To Death 32 (43) Lindisfarne - Nicely Out Of Tune 33 (36) Edward Woodward - The Edward Woodward Album 34 (26) Neil Young - Harvest 35 (35) The Beatles - Abbey Road 36 (31) Pink Floyd - Obscured By The Clouds 37 (37) Eric Clapton - History Of Eric Clapton 38 (29) Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles - Carlos And Buddy Live 39 (40) The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street 40 (-) Johnny Mathis - First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 41 (-) Taste - Live At The Isle Of Wight 42 (32) Electric Light Orchestra - ELO 43 (33) T.Rex - Bolan Boogie 44 (34) Jethro Tull - Living In The Past 45 (49) Deep Purple - Machine Head 46 (42) Wishbone Ash - Argus 47 (50) Neil Reid - Smile 48 (Re) Various Artists - Motown Chartbusters Vol.3 49 (Re) Johnny Cash - At San Quentin 50 (Re) Rory Gallagher - Live In Europe Quite a lot of good stuff there, IMO. Exile & Machine Head both classics. The two Don Mclean albums are great. Never cared for Mr Young's Harvest though - too much whingeing & plodding. Motown Chartbusters Vol 3 was the first album I ever bought; back at the end of '69. Roxy's debut has always been my favourite of theirs. I prefer Mr Cash's Folsom set over the San Quentin one. And I can't stand Lennon's hypocrital bleatings on Imagine. Three Alice Cooper albums on the chart. School's Out's success putting their previous two records back onto the public's musical radar. Incidentally, on June 9th, remastered deluxe editions of both School's Out & Killer are being released. 2CD & 3 LPs. Original albums + live concerts + bonus tracks. How fab. There are booklets with each set; commentary on every song by the surviving band members. If you buy the vinyl then you get the pants as well!
Not a huge fan of the Roxy debut although I do like it. The albums that followed are much better IMO.
Some good stuff up there. Here are the ones that I have: Wishbone Ash - Argus Jethro Tull - Living in The Past Neil Young - Harvest Lindisfarne - Nicely Out Of Tune & Fog On The Tyne Gilbert O'Sullivan - Himself Cat Stevens - Teaser & The Firecat Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story & Never A Dull Moment ELP - Trilogy Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
And meanwhile, here's the albums U.S. record buyers were putting into that country's Top 50 (with an asterisk * denoting which did not make the UK charts at any time) that same week: 07 - 01 - 01 - Chicago - CHICAGO V 05 - 04 - 02 - Rod Stewart - NEVER A DULL MOMENT 11 - 03 - 03 - Cheech And Chong - BIG BAMBU* 13 - 02 - 04 - Elton John - HONKY CHATEAU 09 - 06 - 05 - Neil Diamond - MOODS 09 - 10 - 06 - Leon Russell - CARNEY* 07 - 09 - 07 - Emerson, Lake And Palmer - TRILOGY 10 - 08 - 08 - Carlos Santana And Buddy Miles - LIVE 07 - 11 - 09 - Three Dog Night - SEVEN SEPARATE FOOLS* 11 - 07 - 10 - Simon And Garfunkel - SIMON AND GARFUNKEL'S GREATEST HITS 10 - 12 - 11 - Elvis Presley - ELVIS AS RECORDED AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 05 - 15 - 12 - Gilbert O'Sullivan - HIMSELF - FEATURING ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY) 08 - 16 - 13 - Donny Osmond - TOO YOUNG 08 - 14 - 14 - Nilsson - SON OF SCHMILSSON 10 - 13 - 15 - Carpenters - A SONG FOR YOU 11 - 05 - 16 - Alice Cooper - SCHOOL'S OUT 06 - 22 - 17 - Van Morrison - SAINT DOMINIC'S PREVIEW* 14 - 17 - 18 - Rolling Stones - EXILE ON MAIN ST. 17 - 19 - 19 - Bill Withers - STILL BILL* 14 - 21 - 20 - Chuck Berry - THE LONDON CHUCK BERRY SESSIONS* 15 - 18 - 21 - The Jackson 5 - LOOKIN' THROUGH THE WINDOWS 17 - 20 - 22 - Jethro Tull - THICK AS A BRICK 09 - 29 - 23 - The Hollies - DISTANT LIGHT* 18 - 23 - 24 - Roberta Flack And Donny Hathaway - ROBERTA FLACK AND DONNY HATHAWAY 18 - 24 - 25 - Procol Harum - LIVE WITH THE EDMONTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 13 - 26 - 26 - The Osmonds - LIVE 53 - 25 - 27 - Derek And The Dominos - LAYLA AND OTHER ASSORTED LOVE SONGS 26 - 27 - 28 - The Allman Brothers Band - EAT A PEACH* 11 - 32 - 29 - Argent - ALL TOGETHER NOW 30 - 28 - 30 - Roberta Flack - FIRST TAKE 36 - 33 - 31 - The Rolling Stones - HOT ROCKS 1964-1971 22 - 30 - 32 - Eric Clapton - HISTORY OF ERIC CLAPTON 17 - 35 - 33 - Flash - FLASH* 13 - 34 - 34 - Wayne Newton - DADDY DON'T YOU WALK SO FAST* 04 - 47 - 35 - Jefferson Airplane - LONG JOHN SILVER 13 - 36 - 36 - Uriah Heep - DEMONS AND WIZARDS 13 - 31 - 37 - Aretha Franklin - AMAZING GRACE* 11 - 46 - 38 - The Isley Brothers - BROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHER* 11 - 44 - 39 - Jim Croce - YOU DON'T MESS AROUND WITH JIM* 48 - 37 - 40 - Original Cast - GODSPELL* 09 - 40 - 41 - Various Artists - FILLMORE: THE LAST DAYS* 20 - 42 - 42 - The Chi-Lites - A LONELY MAN* 12 - 38 - 43 - Eagles - EAGLES* 28 - 41 - 44 - Donny Hathaway - LIVE* 07 - 45 - 45 - Chér - FOXY LADY* 05 - 59 - 46 - Sailcat - MOTORCYCLE MAMA* 09 - 49 - 47 - Donna Fargo - THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WHOLE U.S.A.* 07 - 50 - 48 - Cornelius Brothers And Sister Rose - CORNELIUS BROTHERS AND SISTER ROSE* 03 - 89 - 49 - Curtis Mayfield / Original Motion Picture Sound Track - SUPER FLY 16 - 48 - 50 - Donny Osmond - PORTRAIT OF DONNY And let the overlapping begin . . . #2 UK = #2 U.S. #3 UK = #10 U.S. #4 UK = #16 U.S. #12 UK = #7 U.S. #14 UK = #5 U.S. #17 UK = #4 U.S. #19 UK = #11 U.S. #28 UK = #12 U.S.* (did the UK ish have "Alone Again (Naturally)" inserted in as the U.S. ish did? if not, hence the asterisk here) #37 UK = #32 U.S. #38 UK = #8 U.S. #39 UK = #18 U.S. (#5 UK = #72 U.S.) (#6 UK = #133 U.S.) (#9 UK = #104 U.S.) (#11 UK = #105 U.S.) (#24 UK = #98 U.S.) (#25 UK = #63 U.S.) (#27 UK = #66 U.S.) (#34 UK = #54 U.S.) (#36 UK = #59 U.S.) (#40 UK = #132 U.S.) (#45 UK = #111 U.S.) (#50 UK = #142 U.S.) F.W.I.W., on the Billboard Top LP's And Tape chart, the Amazing Grace album by The Pipes And Drums And Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was at #79. Nowhere to be found under any title on this week's UK chart. Evidently some people were buying that in 'Yank' territory . . . And now for what I would have or have had . . . #2, 4, 9, 15, 20, 23, 25, 30, 31, 39, 40, 42, and 49. (Interesting that, in spite of "My Ding-A-Ling" reaching #1 in "Blighty," the LP off which it came didn't chart in 'Eton'.) If based on the UK chart . . . #2, 6, 10, 17, 20, 24, 25, 29, 35, and 49.
If I were in charge of the art department, I would have had the 'WARNER RECORDS' part of the logo in royal blue (PMS 307). Would have fit more the colour scheme used by Warners' in the States first through the 'W7' era (1967-70) and then after they revived the WB shield (1970-73).
These are the ones for me: Eagles - S/T Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim Uriah Heep - Demons & Wizards Allman Bros Band - Eat A Peach Derek & The Dominoes - Layla & Other Stories Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick Gilbert O'Sullivan - Himself ELP - Trilogy Rod Stewart - Never A Dull Moment
That's a year or two before I really started buying albums but I do have 16 of them, bought retrospectively. Probably the oldest is Abbey Road which was one of the first albums I ever bought, courtesy of a Christmas record token when I was about 10.
I never really understood what happened to Chicago. Their debut is an absolute powerhouse of in yer face brass & percussion. But then every subsequent release just watered down the template bit by bit until they turned into something wetter than last week's lettuce. Lucrative, obviously, but did they never stop to blush and think "you know what we used to be on fire". I guess not. Elton was at his peak here. Even so I often found his '70-'75 albums frustrating listens. Mostly utterly sublime stuff, yet always a couple of ho-hums mixed in. Anyway, here's the brilliant Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters from Honky Chateau:
I quite like early Chicago but my go-to era is 16 - XXX (not counting endless comps, festive LPs etc). For me, it's excellent pop-rock rather than damp salad.
Let us get to what were the top 50 albums on both sides of the pond, this week in 1976, shall we? All together now . . . Week Ending 22 May 1976 UK: 07 - 01 - 01 - ABBA - GREATEST HITS 03 - 02 - 02 - The Rolling Stones - BLACK AND BLUE 06 - 05 - 03 - Various Artists - INSTRUMENTAL GOLD 06 - 03 - 04 - Wings - WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND 07 - 04 - 05 - Original Television Soundtrack (Charlotte Cornwell, Julie Covington, Rula Lenska) - ROCK FOLLIES 02 - 17 - 06 - Elton John - HERE AND THERE 02 - 29 - 07 - Various Artists - HIT MACHINE 05 - 06 - 08 - Led Zeppelin - PRESENCE 02 - 23 - 09 - John Denver - LIVE IN LONDON 12 - 08 - 10 - Eagles - THEIR GREATEST HITS 1971-1975 1 - NEW - 11 - Steely Dan - THE ROYAL SCAM 07 - 10 - 12 - Various Artists - JUKE BOX JIVE 02 - 18 - 13 - Shirley Bassey - LOVE, LIFE AND FEELINGS 13 - 12 - 14 - Gladys Knight And The Pips - THE BEST OF GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS 09 - 13 - 15 - Pam Ayres - SOME OF ME POEMS AND SONGS 14 - 11 - 16 - Diana Ross - DIANA ROSS {1976} 17 - 07 - 17 - 10cc - HOW DARE YOU! 09 - 20 - 18 - The Four Seasons - WHO LOVES YOU 1 - NEW - 19 - Various Artists - A TOUCH OF COUNTRY 05 - 21 - 20 - Brotherhood Of Man - LOVE AND KISSES FROM BROTHERHOOD OF MAN 05 - 09 - 21 - Rick Wakeman And The English Rock Ensemble - NO EARTHLY CONNECTION 07 - 40 - 22 - Sydney Devine - DOUBLY DIVINE 17 - 14 - 23 - Bob Dylan - DESIRE 200 - 57 - 24 - Simon And Garfunkel - SIMON AND GARFUNKEL'S GREATEST HITS 12 - 25 - 25 - Gallagher And Lyle - BREAKAWAY 03 - 15 - 26 - Bob Marley And The Wailers - RASTAMAN VIBRATION 02 - 54 - 27 - Roger Whittaker - THE SECOND ALBUM OF THE VERY BEST OF ROGER WHITTAKER 49 - 19 - 28 - John Denver - THE BEST OF JOHN DENVER 02 - 46 - 29 - Jethro Tull - TOO OLD TO ROCK 'N' ROLL: TOO YOUNG TO DIE 13 - 34 - 30 - Genesis - A TRICK OF THE TAIL 18 - 35 - 31 - John Denver - WINDSONG 09 - 26 - 32 - John Miles - REBEL 07 - 33 - 33 - Santana - AMIGOS 16 - RE - 34 - Slim Whitman - THE VERY BEST OF SLIM WHITMAN 149 - 36 - 35 - Mike Oldfield - TUBULAR BELLS 02 - 45 - 36 - Sutherland Brothers And Quiver - REACH FOR THE SKY 06 - 24 - 37 - Nils Lofgren - CRY TOUGH 05 - 31 - 38 - Pat Boone - PAT BOONE ORIGINALS 29 - 32 - 39 - Paul Simon - STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS 02 - 22 - 40 - Marvin Gaye - I WANT YOU 17 - 49 - 41 - Manuel And The Music Of The Mountains - CARNIVAL 29 - 41 - 42 - The Drifters - 24 ORIGINAL HITS 30 - 55 - 43 - Various Artists - MOTOWN GOLD 05 - 39 - 44 - Demis Roussos - HAPPY TO BE 24 - 42 - 45 - Queen - A NIGHT AT THE OPERA 07 - 50 - 46 - Sailor - TROUBLE 14 - 47 - 47 - Barry White - LET THE MUSIC PLAY 26 - 51 - 48 - The Rolling Stones - ROLLED GOLD 94 - 56 - 49 - The Beatles - 1967-1970 15 - 37 - 50 - Helen Reddy - THE BEST OF HELEN REDDY U.S. ( * - did not chart in UK): 03 - 01 - 01 - The Rolling Stones - BLACK AND BLUE 07 - 02 - 02 - Wings - WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND 17 - 03 - 03 - Peter Frampton - FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE! 05 - 04 - 04 - Led Zeppelin - PRESENCE 08 - 05 - 05 - Marvin Gaye - I WANT YOU 12 - 06 - 06 - Eagles - THEIR GREATEST HITS 1971-1975 43 - 07 - 07 - Fleetwood Mac - FLEETWOOD MAC 08 - 09 - 08 - The Doobie Brothers - TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS 1 - NEW - 09 - Elton John - HERE AND THERE 12 - 12 - 10 - Diana Ross - DIANA ROSS {1976} 12 - 15 - 11 - The Brothers Johnson - LOOK OUT FOR #1* 16 - 10 - 12 - Brass Construction - BRASS CONSTRUCTION 07 - 16 - 13 - Santana - AMIGOS 22 - 14 - 14 - Queen - A NIGHT AT THE OPERA 04 - 18 - 15 - America - HIDEAWAY* 27 - 17 - 16 - The Blackbyrds - CITY LIFE* 14 - 19 - 17 - Parliament - MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION* 18 - 20 - 18 - Elvin Bishop - STRUTTIN' MY STUFF* 10 - 13 - 19 - Olivia Newton-John - COME ON OVER 08 - 11 - 20 - Kiss - DESTROYER 10 - 23 - 21 - Boz Scaggs - SILK DEGREES 07 - 24 - 22 - Joe Walsh - YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH A SICK MIND 07 - 25 - 23 - Silver Convention - SILVER CONVENTION* 03 - 26 - 24 - Nazareth - CLOSE ENOUGH FOR ROCK 'N' ROLL* 11 - 08 - 25 - Johnnie Taylor - EARGASM* 09 - 30 - 26 - Donna Summer - A LOVE TRILOGY 10 - 21 - 27 - Captain And Tennille - SONG OF JOY* 40 - 28 - 28 - Gary Wright - THE DREAM WEAVER* 02 - 40 - 29 - Bob Marley And The Wailers - RASTAMAN VIBRATION 06 - 41 - 30 - George Benson - BREEZIN'* 10 - 31 - 31 - Genesis - A TRICK OF THE TAIL 15 - 32 - 32 - Bad Company - RUN WITH THE PACK 04 - 38 - 33 - Neil Sedaka - STEPPIN' OUT* 09 - 34 - 34 - Jesse Colin Young - ON THE ROAD* 08 - 39 - 35 - The Temptations - WINGS OF LOVE* 07 - 36 - 36 - Outlaws - LADY IN WAITING* 33 - 49 - 37 - Daryl Hall And John Oates - DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES 06 - 44 - 38 - Nils Lofgren - CRY TOUGH 08 - 45 - 39 - Return To Forever - ROMANTIC WARRIOR* 09 - 22 - 40 - Robin Trower - LIVE 04 - 51 - 41 - Seals And Crofts - GET CLOSER* 31 - 42 - 42 - Electric Light Orchestra - FACE THE MUSIC* 27 - 43 - 43 - America - HISTORY - AMERICA'S GREATEST HITS 06 - 46 - 44 - Weather Report - BLACK MARKET* 25 - 27 - 45 - Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan - RUFUS FEATURING CHAKA KHAN* 29 - 48 - 46 - Barry Manilow - TRYIN' TO GET THE FEELING* 33 - 47 - 47 - Foghat - FOOL FOR THE CITY* 18 - 29 - 48 - Bob Dylan - DESIRE 10 - 33 - 49 - Bay City Rollers - ROCK N' ROLL LOVE LETTER* 16 - 35 - 50 - Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, Tompall Glaser - THE OUTLAWS* And for the overlaps: #2 UK = #1 U.S. #4 UK = #2 U.S. #6 UK = #9 U.S. #8 UK = #4 U.S. #10 UK = #6 U.S. #16 UK = #10 U.S. #23 UK = #48 U.S. #26 UK = #29 U.S. #30 UK = #31 U.S. #33 UK = #13 U.S. #37 UK = #38 U.S. #40 UK = #5 U.S. #45 UK = #14 U.S. (#11 UK = #96 U.S.) (#21 UK = #85 U.S.) (#28 UK = #111 U.S. - as JOHN DENVER'S GREATEST HITS) (#31 UK = #137 U.S.) (#32 UK = #185 U.S.) (#39 UK = #51 U.S.) (#47 UK = #175 U.S.) (#50 UK = #118 U.S - as HELEN REDDY'S GREATEST HITS) [#52 UK = #3 U.S.] [#53 UK = #12 U.S.] [#60 UK = #26 U.S.] Based on the U.S. lot . . . well, I may have or have had #46 and #48. From the UK bunch . . . #39 and #47. The K-Tel compilations had U.S. versions. No doubt stringent rules about compilation of LP charts were what kept those versions off Billboard's Top LP's And Tape.
Well, it certainly puts the 'under' into 'whelming'. Black & Blue's decent enough; with one epic - Memory Motel - and one absolute stinker of a reggae cover. Abba's cash-in Greatest Hits was certainly a misnomer; not many actual hits, plus a pile of poo from the first three studio albums. A lot of folk wax lyrical re Dylan's Desire, but that awful Joeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey kills it stone dead for me. Zeppelin were a busted flush, whilst Frampton never got out of the starting gates where I'm concerned. Lots of compilations - including that blasted Eagles MORathon. If I'd to pick a favourite here I'd go for Rastaman Vibration.
Some absolute dross in the UK album chart compared to the US. Far too many Greatest Hits As for Pam Ayres at #15…..!!
This was when Pam had her own TV show. The World Of Pam Ayres on Friday nights. Just after The Muppets!
These are the ones that I own & love: UK Sailor - Trouble Sutherland Brothers & Quiver - Reach For The Sky Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells John Denver - Windsong John Miles - Rebel Genesis - A Trick of The Tail Jethro Tull - Too Old To Rock & Roll, Too Young To Die Bob Dylan - Desire 10cc - How Dare You? US Bob Dylan - Desire Foghat - Fool For The City ELO - Face The Music Seals & Crofts - Get Closer The Outlaws - Lady In Waiting Genesis - A Trick Of The Tail Gary Wright - The Dream Weaver Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees KISS - Destroyer Doobie Brothers - Takin' It To The Streets Fleetwood Mac - S/T
You know you've got too much musical product from the decade when you find yourself thinking..."....'Nicely Out Of Tune'....Did I buy that or not.....?"
Well now....tricky. While undoubtedly the finest release in the UK charts is Bob's 'Desire', these days I find myself coming back more and more to 'How Dare You?'. It's close. Yanks, you smart and savvy people, you had the good sense to chart 'Destroyer' and 'Close Enough For Rock and Roll', yet blow it on "Red card ref!!!" proportions by allowing 'Rock 'N' Roll Love Letter' in. What were you thinking????