Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

October 16, 1976 Stevie Wonder's LP Songs In The Key Of Life hits #1.

October 9, 1976 #1 on the Hot 100 is a disco version of a classical favorite: "A Fifth Of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band.

August 7, 1976 Elton John & Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" hits #1 in America for the first of four weeks.

July 31, 1976 The jazzy George Benson interrupts the reign of Frampton Comes Alive! to claim the top spot on the US albums chart with Breezin', which includes his hit "This Masquerade."

July 24, 1976 The Manhattans' "Kiss And Say Goodbye" hits #1 in the US.

July 24, 1976 Elton John's duet with Kiki Dee, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," hits #1 in the UK.

July 10, 1976 England Dan and John Ford Coley's "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" enters the charts.

July 10, 1976 The Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight" hits #1 in America, where it stays for two weeks. The song is not about the US bicentennial (July 4, 1976), but about daytime lovemaking.

May 22, 1976 "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney & Wings goes to #1 in America, where it stays for five weeks.

May 15, 1976 The Rolling Stones album Black and Blue goes to #1 in America.

May 1, 1976 The Bellamy Brothers' "Let Your Love Flow" hits #1 in America.

May 1, 1976 Led Zeppelin's Presence album, with the rockers "Achilles Last Stand" and "Nobody's Fault but Mine," hits #1 in America.

April 24, 1976 Wings' LP At The Speed Of Sound hits #1.

March 27, 1976 Gary Wright's big hit "Dream Weaver" reaches its US chart peak of #2. The song is inspired by the writing of Paramahansa Yogananda.

March 13, 1976 The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) goes to #1 in America, where it spends a total of five weeks. In the 1980s it once again becomes a huge seller, with new fans buying it instead of collecting all their studio albums. In 2018 it's certified at the best-selling album in US history.

March 6, 1976 The Miracles score their biggest hit when "Love Machine (Part 1)" reaches #1 in America.

February 21, 1976 The Four Seasons hit #1 in the UK with "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)." It's the only UK #1 for the group, who also topped the American charts with the song, where it was their fifth #1.

February 7, 1976 Paul Simon lands his first #1 American hit as a solo artist when "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover" claims the top spot. It's no "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Simon calls it a "nonsense song" - but listeners love it and it stays on top for three weeks.

January 31, 1976 The Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster" hits #1 in America. The scream in the instrumental section is rumored to be the sound of a woman being killed in the studio, an urban legend that persists for decades.

January 24, 1976 Diana Ross's "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" hits #1 in America.

January 17, 1976 Earth, Wind and Fire's album Gratitude hits #1 in America.

January 3, 1976 American interest in The Bay City Rollers peaks as their song "Saturday Night" hits #1 for one week, which is good enough to get their faces on cereal boxes.

December 6, 1975 Tyrone Davis' "Turning Point" enters the R&B charts.

November 29, 1975 Silver Convention's "Fly, Robin, Fly" hits #1 in America for the first of three weeks. The disco tune has very few lyrics because the German group can't speak English.

November 8, 1975 Elton John's album Rock Of The Westies hits #1 in America. It's his third #1 album of 1975, following Elton John's Greatest Hits and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

November 1, 1975 Elton John's "Island Girl" hits #1 in America for the first of three weeks, knocking off a song Elton sang backup on and released on his Rocket label: "Bad Blood" by Neil Sedaka.

October 18, 1975 John Denver's album Windsong hits #1 in America.

October 11, 1975 Neil Sedaka's "Bad Blood," with backup vocals by Elton John, hits #1 for the first of three weeks.

October 4, 1975 Pink Floyd's album Wish You Were Here hits #1 in America.

September 27, 1975 John Denver's "I'm Sorry" hits #1, giving him his second chart-topper of the year, following "Thank God I'm A Country Boy."