Years When The US Charts Were "Better" Than The UK Ones

[Satchmo Distel]

I listened to a US Top 40 rundown from July 1971 the other day and it was packed with soul classics, many of which did not chart in the UK. I wonder if a week by week analysis of 1971 would show that the US beats the UK across the year? No novelty stuff like 'Grandad' or Benny Hill, very little MOR. On the downside, T Rex are less well represented in the US chart and there is no early Slade in it.

Here's the US Top 100 of the year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billbo...ingles_of_1971

Here's the UK:

http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1971.shtml

I would need to spend some time rating each list but just at a glance there's a lot more shit in the UK one.

To take one example, "Funky Nassau", an absolute all-time banger, didn't make the UK chart until 1974 (peaked at 31) but was the 75th biggest US single of 1971.

'What's Going On' (single) - No. 2 in the US, did not chart in the UK (Marvin had no Top 10 hits until 1977 after Abraham, Martin and John on 1970).

A lot of this lies with daytime Radio 1 having no taste boundaries at all, or real understanding of soul music, with the partial exception of Tony Blackburn.

[WOM]

On the downside, T Rex are less well represented in the US chart and there is no early Slade in it.

It would be hard to overstate how big Slade and T Rex weren't in North America. I'd hazard that their reputation exceeded their popularity by a long shot.

[Amor de Cosmos]

I'm pretty certain the US top 40 was more interesting than the UK's every year until at least 1963. And arguably after that until the early 70s, though there'd be a fair amount of overlap in the upper reaches by that time.

[Satchmo Distel]

I think that's right and it's due to BBC radio having a massive influence over what got into the UK charts, whereas the US had a wider spread of influencers.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Also because the UK music business was dominated by four recording companies until the late sixties.

[1974ddr]

It's very subjective. I've just glanced at the US 1971 list, and there's a good few songs there that I wouldn't wish to hear any time soon. Could say the same for the UK list too, to be fair.

[Jah Womble]

In the early seventies, the US singles-buying public was a lot more closely-matched to its albums market than here, where far more of the hits were coming from straight-up pop acts or novelty performers, while the UK’s LP listings were dominated by hard rock, soundtracks or more progressive artists.

It’s to some degree a matter of opinion, but this would’ve resulted in the songwriting on the Hot 100 being generally higher-brow than in the British charts (at least for a while). But, of course, it all depends upon whether one would rather listen to Slade/T Rex or Jim Croce/Harry Chapin in the first place.

[My Name Is Ian]

Looking at the charts, it would seem that T Rex were pretty much a one hit wonder in the USA with Get It On (or, of course, Bang A Gong, as it was known there.) Slade only made the top twenty once there themselves, with Run Run Away in 1984. I have an American friend who is a massive Slade fan, she got into them off the back of Quiet Riot's terrible cover of Cum On Feel The Noize, and I'd assume that was the reason for the tiny bit of success they had there at that time.

Changes in the way the charts are calculated mean that Merry Xmas Everybody has made a higher chart position in this country in each of the last three years than any Slade record, whether a single or an LP, ever made in America. I'm not sure I can think of another band which was so successful here and so unsuccessful over there, but wasn't that the same for a lot of UK glam rock?

[Jah Womble]

Yep, largely speaking - Gary Glitter and (as has already been established) T Rex managed only one hit each, Slade’s came much later, while Suzi Quatro’s only major chart success was with a tamer effort alongside Chris Norman of Smokie. (Mud - if we’re categorising them thus - never even had a sniff of the US listings.)

The exception to the rule were Sweet, who - probably down to their harder-rock leanings - scored five Top 20 entries (four Top 10) there.

[Sporting]

Suzi Quatro’s only major chart success was with a tamer effort alongside Chris Norman of Smokie.

As you know, she's American.

[Jah Womble]

Yes, of course - from Detroit. But she was based here, her band were all British and her songs written by Chinnichap, so I included her.

Granted, I probably shouldn’t have, given that her US hit was without said band.