Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

January 13, 1973 Carly Simon's album No Secrets, featuring the hit single "You're So Vain," hits #1 in America.

December 9, 1972 The Moody Blues' Seventh Sojourn album hits #1 in America, where it stays for five weeks.

December 2, 1972 Steely Dan make the Billboard 200 for the first time when their debut album, Can't Buy a Thrill, lands at #197. The title comes from the Bob Dylan song "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry," where he sings: Well, I ride on a mailtrain, baby Can't buy a thrill The album peaks at #17 on the chart.

November 18, 1972 Steely Dan show up on Hot 100 for the first time when their debut single, "Do It Again," enters at #98. It peaks at #6 on February 11, 1973.

November 18, 1972 Cat Stevens goes to #1 in America with his album Catch Bull at Four. It's his only chart-topper in the US.

October 21, 1972 Curtis Mayfield's Super Fly soundtrack hits #1 in America, where it stays for four weeks.

September 23, 1972 "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" by Mac Davis hits #1 in America. It holds the top spot for three weeks.

September 16, 1972 Three Dog Night's "Black And White" hits #1, where it will stay for one week.

August 26, 1972 Looking Glass' "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" hits #1, where it will stay for one week.

August 19, 1972 Chicago's LP Chicago V hits #1.

August 12, 1972 Alice Cooper is beloved in Britain, with "School's Out" hitting #1 in the UK for the first of three weeks.

July 29, 1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" hits #1 for the first of six non-consecutive weeks in the US.

July 15, 1972 Elton John lands his first #1 album in America as Honky Chateau blasts to the top thanks to the hit "Rocket Man." His next five albums also enter that orbit, going to #1.

June 17, 1972 The Rolling Stones album Exile On Main Street hits #1 in America.

June 10, 1972 Sammy Davis, Jr.'s "The Candy Man" hits #1 in America and stays for three weeks. The song debuted a year earlier in the movie Willie Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, sung by the candy store owner character. Davis wanted nothing to do with it but was convinced to record it. To his chagrin, it became his signature song.

June 3, 1972 Jethro Tull's concept album Thick As A Brick, complete with an insert from the fictional newspaper St. Cleve Chronicle and Linwell Advertiser, hits #1 in America.More

May 27, 1972 The Chi-Lites land their first and only #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Oh Girl."

April 29, 1972 Roberta Flack's debut album, First Take, released three years earlier in 1969, goes to #1 thanks to the Clint Eastwood movie Play Misty For Me, which uses the song "Feel Like Makin' Love." It's a huge career boost for Flack, who lands another huge hit the next year with "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face."

March 31, 1972 America's self-titled debut album hits #1 in, yes, America.

February 26, 1972 Joe Tex's "I Gotcha" hits #1 on the R&B chart.

February 19, 1972 Nilsson's "Without You" hits #1 in America, where it will stay four weeks.

January 22, 1972 Don McLean's album American Pie hits #1 in the US, where it stays for seven weeks. It's a hasty ascent for McLean, whose previous album stalled at #111.

January 1, 1972 Carole King's album Music, her follow-up to Tapestry, hits #1 in America.

December 25, 1971 Melanie's "Brand New Key," a whimsical song about a young girl pursuing a boy with a skate key that might fit her pair, hits #1 in America for the first of three weeks.

December 4, 1971 Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair" hits #1 for the first of three weeks. The song is true to life: Sly's brother and sister are in the band, and the other members are like family.

November 20, 1971 Isaac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft" hits #1 for the first of two weeks.

November 13, 1971 Santana's Santana III album goes to #1 in America, where it stays for five weeks. Their next #1 album doesn't come until the next millennium, when Supernatural hits the top in 2000.

November 6, 1971 Cher has her first #1 as a solo artist with "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves."

November 6, 1971 Isaac Hayes' soundtrack LP Shaft hits #1.

October 2, 1971 Rod Stewart, still a member of the group Faces, goes to #1 in America with his mandolin-powered solo smash "Maggie May," inspired by the woman who took his virginity.