5/15/17

Number One Songs of 1977 - The International Edition

I was ten, then eleven, in 1977, starting the year as a fifth grader and finishing the year as a sixth grader, ruling the elementary school as a member of both chorus and the elite, orange-belted safety patrol. One of my teachers had the gall to label me an "All-American Boy with unlimited potential" on my report card after the second quarter. (I showed her!) My interests included Marvel comic books and I bought the following titles each and every month, usually at a convenience store or the BX, though occasionally I picked up issues at Waldenbooks or B. Dalton Booksellers in the mall.
As someone who was not permitted to buy KISS records and posters then, it was a grand coup for me to clandestinely score two copies of their comic book - printed in real KISS blood! - on one such trip to the mall. (Still got 'em, too!) Like millions of other kids, I also began buying Star Wars comics in 1977 though I would lose interest and stopped buying them by mid-1978.
Another collecting habit, quickly fading as my limited funds were spent on other items, was collecting football and baseball cards as I bought wax packs maybe two or three times a year just before the respective seasons of each sport. Though I would not know who Dave Kingman was until 1978, I have become fascinated with his baseball cards, both real and fan-created, including the four pictured above, none of which were actually issued back in 1977 when Kingman played for those four teams in a single season.
Another thing I was collecting in 1977, after first discovering them in 1976, were the weekly WLS Surveys, like the one above. While I was unable to pick them up on a weekly basis, we went to the mall at least once a month and I would make the rounds of all the stores selling records, picking up not only the latest survey but searching for those weeks I may have missed, which sometimes paid off. The mall had a Musicland and three department stores that carried records: JC Penny's, Sears and Bergner's. Being the aforementioned "All-American Boy", it never occurred to me to take more than one copy though I am now grateful that my fellow collectors grabbed entire stacks of them at the time and then managed to keep them in excellent condition for forty years or more, allowing me to rebuild my collection. Recently, while writing about the Big 89 of 1977 (located on the back of the January 7, 1978, survey), I researched other year-end singles charts for 1977, including those from Australia, Canada, and the UK, which I present to you today in handy-dandy chart form.

WeekAustraliaCanadaUK
January 1
Tonight's The Night
Rod StewartWhen A Child Is Born (Soleado)
January 8
Muskrat LoveJohnny Mathis
If You Leave Me NowCaptain & Tennille
January 15
ChicagoYou Don't Have To Be A Star
Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.
January 22
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
Leo SayerDon't Give Up On Us
January 29
Hot LineDavid Soul
The Sylvers
February 5
I Wish
Stevie Wonder
February 12
Car WashDon't Cry For Me Argentina
Rose RoyceJulie Covington
February 19
The Way You Do ItBlinded By The Light
PussyfootManfred Mann's Earth Band
February 26
Torn Between Two LoversWhen I Need You
Mary MacGregorLeo Sayer
March 5
New Kid In Town
Eagles
March 12
March 19
Love Theme From A Star Is BornChanson D'Amour
Barbra StreisandManhattan Transfer
March 26
Torn Between Two Lovers
April 2
Mary MacGregor
Dancing Queen
April 9
ABBA
April 16
The Things We Do For LoveKnowing Me Knowing You
10ccABBA
April 23
Don't Give Up On UsDon't Give Up On Us
David SoulDavid Soul
April 30
Hotel California
May 7
Eagles
Free
May 14
Southern NightsDeniece Williams
Glen Campbell
May 21
When I Need You
May 28
Don't Cry For Me ArgentinaLeo Sayer
Julie CovingtonI Don't Want To Talk About It*
June 4
I'm Your Boogie ManRod Stewart
KC & the Sunshine Band
June 11
Sir Duke
Stevie Wonder
June 18
DreamsLucille
Fleetwood MacKenny Rogers
June 25
Help Is On Its WayLucilleShow You The Way To Go
Little River BandKenny RogersThe Jacksons
July 2
Mainstreet
Bob Seger
July 9
So You Win Again
Undercover AngelHot Chocolate
July 16
Walk Right InAlan O'Day
Dr. Hook
July 23
Da Doo Ron Ron
Shaun Cassidy
July 30
I'm In You
Peter FramptonI Feel Love
August 6
Donna Summer
August 13
I Just Want To Be Your Everything
Andy Gibb
August 20
I Go To RioAngelo
Peter AllenBrotherhood Of Man
August 27
Whatcha Gonna Do?Float On
Pablo CruiseThe Floaters
September 3
(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher
Rita Coolidge
September 10
Don't Stop
Fleetwood Mac
September 17
Way Down
You're Moving Out TodayHandy ManElvis Presley
September 24
Carole Bayer SagerJames Taylor
October 1
Telephone Line
October 8
I Feel LoveElectric Light Orchestra
Donna Summer
October 15
Keep It Comin' LoveSilver Lady
KC & the Sunshine BandDavid Soul
October 22
Star Wars Theme / Cantina Band
Meco
October 29
That's Rock 'N' RollYes Sir I Can Boogie
Shaun CassidyBaccara
November 5
I Just Want To Be Your Everything
Andy Gibb
November 12
The Name Of The Game
November 19
You Light Up My LifeABBA
Debby Boone
November 26
December 3
You're In My Heart
Rod Stewart
December 10
Don't It Make My Brown Eyes BlueMull Of Kintyre**
December 17
Mull Of KintyreCrystal GayleWings
Wings
December 24
How Deep Is Your Love
Bee Gees
YEAR END
Don't Cry For Me ArgentinaYou Light Up My Life
????
Julie CovingtonDebby Boone
sourceKent Music ReportRPMOfficial Charts Company

Long story short, Australia had 13 Number Ones and the UK had 19 while Canada had an amazing 37 different chart-topping singles! For comparison, there were 29 different #1 Songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977, though two of them reigned twice for a grand total of 31 Number Ones.

*Double A-side single with "The First Cut Is The Deepest"
**Double A-side single with "Girls' School"

6 comments:

  1. I had What If #1, Avengers #158 and that KISS Marvel Super Special. I especially wish I had that last one still as it was amazing. $1.50 was a lot back then but it was worth it. I remember doing a drawing for music class in Middle School of the KISS guys as shown on the cover. Ah memories.

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    1. I still have those comics. My issue of What If? was confiscated during the first week of sixth grade and I didn't get it back until May 1978, on the last day of school. Learned my lesson though and never brought another comic book to school. It has been well-handled but read frequently over the years. Glad I found digital scans of all my Marvel books so that I can keep them safe yet still enjoy them.

      It blows my mind that the KISS comic is going for up to $1500! Insane.

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  2. I count at least 8 songs on that chart that I've never heard and 4 more I wish I'd never heard! Props to ManTran on a Hideaway appearance.

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    1. My main takeaway from these charts was David Soul having the only song to top all three charts. "Don't Give Up On Us" was also Number One over in Ireland and New Zealand while topping the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, Cash Box and Record World charts here in the US.

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  3. Like many others, I had that KISS comic book, as I was big into comic books about this time. We had a comic book store in the downtown, not far of a walk (or bike ride) from my house, and I bought quite a bit of new and old, including quite a few Nick Fury Agent of Shield, for anywhere from a dollar to two (super expensive to me, back then). By mid-1978, however, I sold much of what I'd bought from them back to them so that I could afford the 45s and LPs at our local music store... if only I'd realized how much everything would be worth today!

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    1. Though I sold most of my vinyl and nascent CD collection in 1987 and 1988 to pay off hospital bills incurred during the birth of our first child (and have since reacquired the majority of those sold items over the past four decades), it never ever occurred to me that my highly-personal trading card and comic book collections would be worth anything to anyone but me. Still have a hard time believing that.

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