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.

Week	Australia	Canada	UK
January 1		Tonight's The Night
		Rod Stewart	When A Child Is Born (Soleado)
January 8		Muskrat Love	Johnny Mathis
	If You Leave Me Now	Captain & Tennille
January 15	Chicago	You Don't Have To Be A Star
		Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.
January 22		You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
		Leo Sayer	Don't Give Up On Us
January 29		Hot Line	David Soul
		The Sylvers
February 5		I Wish
		Stevie Wonder
February 12		Car Wash	Don't Cry For Me Argentina
		Rose Royce	Julie Covington
February 19	The Way You Do It	Blinded By The Light
	Pussyfoot	Manfred Mann's Earth Band
February 26		Torn Between Two Lovers	When I Need You
		Mary MacGregor	Leo Sayer
March 5		New Kid In Town
		Eagles
March 12
March 19		Love Theme From A Star Is Born	Chanson D'Amour
		Barbra Streisand	Manhattan Transfer
March 26
	Torn Between Two Lovers
April 2	Mary MacGregor
		Dancing Queen
April 9		ABBA
April 16		The Things We Do For Love	Knowing Me Knowing You
		10cc	ABBA
April 23	Don't Give Up On Us	Don't Give Up On Us
	David Soul	David Soul
April 30
		Hotel California
May 7		Eagles
			Free
May 14		Southern Nights	Deniece Williams
		Glen Campbell
May 21
		When I Need You
May 28	Don't Cry For Me Argentina	Leo Sayer
	Julie Covington		I Don't Want To Talk About It*
June 4		I'm Your Boogie Man	Rod Stewart
		KC & the Sunshine Band
June 11		Sir Duke
		Stevie Wonder
June 18		Dreams	Lucille
		Fleetwood Mac	Kenny Rogers
June 25	Help Is On Its Way	Lucille	Show You The Way To Go
	Little River Band	Kenny Rogers	The Jacksons
July 2		Mainstreet
		Bob Seger
July 9			So You Win Again
		Undercover Angel	Hot Chocolate
July 16	Walk Right In	Alan O'Day
	Dr. Hook
July 23		Da Doo Ron Ron
		Shaun Cassidy
July 30		I'm In You
		Peter Frampton	I Feel Love
August 6			Donna Summer
August 13		I Just Want To Be Your Everything
		Andy Gibb
August 20	I Go To Rio		Angelo
	Peter Allen		Brotherhood Of Man
August 27		Whatcha Gonna Do?	Float On
		Pablo Cruise	The 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 Today	Handy Man	Elvis Presley
September 24	Carole Bayer Sager	James Taylor
October 1
		Telephone Line
October 8	I Feel Love	Electric Light Orchestra
	Donna Summer
October 15		Keep It Comin' Love	Silver Lady
		KC & the Sunshine Band	David Soul
October 22		Star Wars Theme / Cantina Band
		Meco
October 29		That's Rock 'N' Roll	Yes Sir I Can Boogie
		Shaun Cassidy	Baccara
November 5	I Just Want To Be Your Everything
	Andy Gibb
November 12
			The Name Of The Game
November 19		You Light Up My Life	ABBA
		Debby Boone
November 26
December 3	You're In My Heart
	Rod Stewart
December 10
		Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue	Mull Of Kintyre**
December 17	Mull Of Kintyre	Crystal Gayle	Wings
	Wings
December 24		How Deep Is Your Love
		Bee Gees
YEAR END	Don't Cry For Me Argentina	You Light Up My Life	????
	Julie Covington	Debby Boone
source	Kent Music Report	RPM	Official 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"