Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

March 25, 1972 America's first single, "A Horse With No Name," rides to #1 on the Hot 100, and the group's self-titled debut album also takes the top spot on the Albums chart. The group becomes one of the most successful acts of the decade, with subsequent hits "Sister Golden Hair," "Ventura Highway" and "Tin Man."

March 18, 1972 Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold," with backing vocals by James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, goes to #1 in the US.More

March 11, 1972 Wings' "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" is listed at #23 in the Melody Maker chart. An article in the same issue reports it has been banned by the BBC as "unsuitable for broadcasting."

March 11, 1972 Neil Young's album Harvest hits #1 in America, supplanting Don McLean's American Pie, which has been on top for seven weeks.

February 12, 1972 Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" hits #1 in the US. Eleven years later, Tina Turner revitalizes her career with a hit cover of the song.

January 15, 1972 Don McLean's "American Pie" hits #1 US for the first of four weeks. The single runs 8:36 - you have to flip the 45 over to hear all of it.

July 31, 1971 The singer-songwriter era reaches its apex as James Taylor's "You've Got A Friend" hits #1 in the US.More

June 19, 1971 Carole King's album Tapestry hits #1 in the US, where it stays for 15 weeks.More

May 29, 1971 The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" hits the top of the Hot 100 for the first of two weeks.

May 22, 1971 The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album, with a working zipper on the cover, hits #1 in the US.More

April 17, 1971 Each of the four ex-Beatles has a solo single on the UK chart: John Lennon - "Power to the People" Paul McCartney - "Another Day" Ringo Starr - "It Don't Come Easy" George Harrison - "My Sweet Lord"

February 27, 1971 Janis Joplin's album Pearl hits #1 in the US, where it stays for nine weeks. Joplin died of a heroin overdose three months before the album was released.More

January 2, 1971 George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, his first album released after the breakup of The Beatles, begins a seven-week run at the top of the US albums chart.More

December 26, 1970 George Harrison becomes the first Beatle to top the Hot 100 as a solo artist as "My Sweet Lord" hits #1. The song is inspired by Harrison's spiritual journey: It evokes both the Hindu mantra "Hare Krishna" and the Christian exultation "Hallelujah."

October 24, 1970 "Lola" peaks at #9 in the US, giving The Kinks their first American Top 10 since "Tired of Waiting for You" in 1965. After their US tour in 1965, they were denied visas for the next three years, killing their momentum in that country. Following their return in 1969, "Lola" gets them back on the airwaves.

May 9, 1970 The Canadian band The Guess Who hit #1 in America with "American Woman." The song is actually a tribute to the women of Canada.

April 25, 1970 The Jackson 5 bump The Beatles ("Let It Be") off the top spot in America with "ABC."

February 28, 1970 The title track of Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water album hits #1 on the Hot 100, where it remains for six weeks, longer than any other song in 1970.

February 7, 1970 The Dutch group the Shocking Blue hit #1 in America with "Venus." Sixteen years later, a cover version by Bananarama goes to the top.

January 31, 1970 The Jackson 5's debut single, "I Want You Back," hits #1 in America. It's the first of four consecutive chart toppers for the group, which is fronted by 11-year-old Michael Jackson.

January 31, 1970 "Whole Lotta Love" reaches #4 in the US, the highest Led Zeppelin will ever chart on the Hot 100. Most of their songs, including "Stairway To Heaven," are not released as singles.

December 6, 1969 Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," the ultimate "see ya later" song, hits #1 in America.More

November 1, 1969 Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" hits #1 in America, giving him his first chart-topper since "Good Luck Charm" in 1962. It's his last #1 in the US.

September 20, 1969 Linda Martell's "Color Him Father" peaks at #22 on Billboard's Country chart. No Black woman gets higher on the chart until 2024, when Beyoncé's "Texas Hold 'Em" goes all the way to #1. That song is from her album Cowboy Carter, which features Martell.

September 20, 1969 The cartoon group The Archies claim the top spot in America with "Sugar, Sugar," which spends four weeks at #1.

April 26, 1969 Walter Carlos's album Switched-On Bach, notable for being the first successful album to remix classical music compositions on the newly-invented Moog synthesizer, reaches #10 on the Billboard Albums chart. The popularity of the album is the commercial breakthrough for Moog synthesizers, which go on to be part of the soundtrack in the films Tron, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange. This in part brings synthesized music to mainstream popularity, paving the way for disco (especially the 'hi-NRG' style) in the '70s.

April 26, 1969 "Oh Happy Day" by The Edwin Hawkins Singers enters the Hot 100 at #72, becoming the first pure gospel song to make that chart. More

April 10, 1969 Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin's steamy duet "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus" hits #1 in the UK, where it's banned by the BBC.More

December 28, 1968 The Beatles' ninth studio album, The Beatles (aka The White Album), hits #1 in America.

December 14, 1968 Motown acts hold the top three spots on the Hot 100: 1) "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye 2) "Love Child" by The Supremes 3) "For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder The chart stays the same the next week, and a week later Stevie and The Supremes trade positions.