#1] WILL IT GO ROUND IN CIRCLES by Billy Preston
LW #3 / Peak Position / 15 wks / 99-90-75-67-62-55-41-30-25-19-14-7-4-3-1 / Gold / Preston’s second Top 10 hit was his first to reach #1; his instrumental OUTA-SPACE stopped just short of the top spot, peaking at #2 for one week in early July ‘72
*#2] KODACHROME by Paul Simon
LW #5 / Peak Position / 8 wks / 82-57-28-17-9-7-5-2 / Biggest Jump Inside the Top 10 - TIE [2] - 3 positions / Simon’s second Top 10 solo hit was his second to peak in the Top 5, following MOTHER AND CHILD REUNION [#4 - 1 wk] in early April ‘72
#3] MY LOVE by Paul McCartney & Wings
LW #2 / 13 wks / 73-62-36-26-13-6-2-1-1-1-1-2-3 / McCartney’s sixth post-Beatles single was his fourth Top 10 hit & second #1, following ANOTHER DAY [#5 - 2 wks] in April & UNCLE ALBERT / ADMIRAL HALSEY [#1 - 1 wk] in early September ‘71, and HI HI HI [#10 - 1 wk] in early February ‘73
#4] GIVE ME LOVE [Give Me Peace On Earth) by George Harrison
LW #1 / 8 wks / 59-34-14-13-8-5-1-4 / Harrison’s second post-Beatles #1 had succeeded Paul McCartney’s second post-Beatles #1 at the top of the Hot 100 / Harrison was the first former Beatle to top the Hot 100 on his own when MY SWEET LORD // ISN’T IT A PITY went to #1 the last week of December ‘70 & remained in that position for the first three weeks of January ‘71
*#5] BAD, BAD LEROY BROWN by Jim Croce
LW #12 / 12 wks / 85-69-63-55-47-44-31-26-20-14-12-5 / Highest Debut in the Top 10 / Biggest Jump Into the Top 10, Biggest Jump Inside the Top 20 & Biggest Jump Inside the Top 40 - TIE [2] - 7 positions / Croce’s latest was his second Top 10 hit, following YOU DON’T MESS AROUND WITH JIM [#8 - 2 wks] in September ‘72, which told a similar tale
#6] PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND by Clint Holmes
LW #7 / 16 wks / 83-74-68-56-49-43-32-27-22-14-10-5-2-2-7-6 / Holmes, the son of an African-American Jazz musician & an English Opera singer, was born in Bournemouth, England, in May ‘46, and grew up in the very small town of Farnham [population 381 in ‘20], near Buffalo, New York / he studied at Freedonia State College in Freedonia, New York, before enlisting in the Army, serving with the United States Army Chorus from ‘67 to ‘69
*#7] SHAMBALA by Three Dog Night
LW #10 / 8 wks / 71-55-36-19-14-11-10-7 / Biggest Jump Inside the Top 10 - TIE [2] - 3 positions / Three Dog Night’s latest hit was the seven-man band’s tenth Top 10 hit since June ‘69, following ONE [#5 - 3 wks / Gold] in June/July, EASY TO BE HARD [#4 - 2 wks] in Sept/Oct & ELI’S COMING [#10 - 2 wks] in Nov/Dec ‘69; MAMA TOLD ME (Not To Come) [#1 - 2 wks / Gold] in July ‘70; JOY TO THE WORLD [#1 - 6 wks / Gold] in Apr/May, LIAR [#7 - 1 wk] in late August & AN OLD FASHIONED LOVE SONG [#4 - 3 wks / Gold] in late December ‘71 - early January ‘72; NEVER BEEN TO SPAIN [#5 - 2 wks] in February and BLACK & WHITE [#1 - 1 wk / Gold] in mid-September ‘72
*#8] YESTERDAY ONCE MORE by The Carpenters
LW #13 / 6 wks / 79-69-38-16-13-8 / 2nd Highest Debut in the Top 10 / 2nd Biggest Jump Into the Top 10 & 3rd Biggest Jump Inside the Top 20 - 5 positions / the brother & sister duo’s ninth Top 10 Pop hit followed (They Long To Be) CLOSE TO YOU [#1 - 4 wks / Gold] in July/Aug & WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN [#2 - 4 wks / Gold] in Oct/Nov ‘70; FOR ALL WE KNOW [#3 - 2 wks / Gold] in March, RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS [#2 - 2 wks / Gold] in June & SUPERSTAR [#2 - 2 wks / Gold] in October ‘71; HURTING EACH OTHER [#2 - 2 wks / Gold] in Feb/Mar & GOODBYE TO LOVE [#7 - 2 wks] in Aug/Sept ‘72; and SING [#3 - 2 wks / Gold] in April ‘73
#9] RIGHT PLACE, WRONG TIME by Dr. John
LW #9 / Peak Position / 13 wks / 82-73-58-47-34-25-22-16-11-11-10-9-9 / first Top 40/Top 10 hit for the New Orleans native whose music was an amalgam of New Orleans Blues, Jazz, Funk and R&B; the longtime session musician gained a following of his own after releasing the album GRIS-GRIS in ‘68 & performing at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music in England with an entertaining stage show that brought together elements of medicine shows, Mardi Gras parades & voodoo ceremonies
#10] I’M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY by Barry White
LW #4 / 13 wks / 90-72-57-37-24-20-12-7-6-4-3-4-10 / Gold / first Top 40/Top 10 hit for the Soul singer-songwriter-producer was his first #1 hit on Billboard’s Soul chart, topping that chart at the end of May & beginning of June
*#11] SMOKE ON THE WATER by Deep Purple
LW #17 / 7 wks / 85-69-45-35-20-17-11 / 2nd Biggest Jump Inside the Top 20 & 2nd Biggest Jump Inside the Top 40 - TIE [2] - 6 positions / the British band’s third Top 40 hit - but first in more than four years, following HUSH [#4 - 2 wks] in late September & their cover of Neil Diamond’s KENTUCKY WOMAN [#38 - 3 wks] in December ‘68
#12] LONG TRAIN RUNNING by The Doobie Brothers
LW #8 / 12 wks / 84-67-61-54-43-30-22-10-12-9-8-12 / the San Jose Rock band’s third single & second Top 20 hit was their first to reach the Top 10 / LISTEN TO THE MUSIC, their first, was nearly a Top 10 hit, getting as high as #11 [2 wks] in November ‘72
#13] NATURAL HIGH by Bloodstone
LW #14 / 12 wks / 92-88-68-62-52-47-41-30-24-15-14-13 / the first chart single for the Kansas City Soul group was in its third week in the Top 20, as it continued inching higher
*#14] BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY by Bette Midler
LW #18 / 9 wks / 85-63-54-49-39-30-21-18-14 / Midler’s second single was her second Top 20 hit, following her slow tempo remake of DO YOU WANT TO DANCE [#17 - 1 wk] in March ‘73
#15] ONE OF A KIND (Love Affair) by The Spinners
LW #11 / 11 wks / 71-60-50-35-29-24-15-13-12-11-15 / after two straight Top 10 hits on the Pop chart - I’LL BE AROUND [#3 - 2 wks / Gold] & COULD IT BE I’M FALLING IN LOVE [#4 - 2 wks / Gold] - The Spinners’ third Philly Soul single stopped just short at #11 last week & dropped to #15 in week 11 on the Hot 100
#16] PILLOW TALK by Sylvia
LW #6 / 16 wks / 98-92-79-54-30-26-20-14-9-6-4-3-3-6-6-16 / Gold / Sylvia’s biggest hit spent two weeks at #3 on the Pop chart & two weeks at #1 on the Soul chart, becoming a Gold Record in the process / Sylvia’s huge hit would directly influence Donna Summer’s first US single two years later
*#17] DIAMOND GIRL by Seals & Crofts
LW #21 / 9 wks / 81-73-68-51-44-40-29-21-17 / Highest New Entry in the Top 20 / 2nd Biggest Jump Into the Top 20 - 4 positions / the singer-songwriter duo’s third Top 20 single was already higher than HUMMINGBIRD [#20 - 1 wk] in late March ‘73 - would it reach the Top 10 like SUMMER BREEZE [#6 - 2 wks] in Nov/Dec ‘72…
#18] BEHIND CLOSED DOORS by Charlie Rich
LW #20 / 11 wks / 97-77-70-57-49-43-38-31-28-20-18 / the Country singer’s crossover hit slowed down in its fifth week in the Top 40 & second week in the Top 20; his breakthrough single was already his first #1 hit on the Country chart for two weeks in April & May / the white-haired Rich was no newcomer, having been signed to Sun Records in Memphis along with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley in the late 1950s
#19] DADDY COULD SWEAR I DECLARE by Gladys Knight & the Pips
LW #22 / 11 wks / 78-71-59-50-42-38-35-32-24-22-19 / 2nd New Entry in the Top 20 / released as the follow-up single to the #2 Pop hit NEITHER ONE OF US (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) by Motown’s Soul label after the R&B/Soul group had ended contract negotiations with the label & signed with Buddah Records; Motown would release two more singles by the group, with both falling short of the Top 50
*#20] MONEY by Pink Floyd
LW #26 / 8 wks / 84-73-55-48-44-33-26-20 / 3rd New Entry in the Top 20 / Biggest Jump Into the Top 20 & 2nd Biggest Jump Inside the Top 40 - TIE [2] - 6 positions / the first US single by the English Progressive Rock band, which formed in ‘65, was now their first Top 20 hit in the US