January 1972 on the Music Charts

 I managed to keep up the monthly lookback at pop music of 1971.  A couple of months were later than my mid-month goal, but they got done.  They didn't seem to be especially more or less popular than anything else I post, but I enjoy it, so we'll keep plugging.

50 years ago this month started 1972, one of the greatest years in pop/rock music.  At least IMHO.  So, what were we listening to to start the year?

There were 5 weeks in January of 1972, and there were 60 songs that spent time in the Top 40.  That's a little more turnover than we've seen through 1971, it will be interesting to see if it is a trend.  But over those 5 weeks, only 2 songs topped the charts:  Melanie's "Brand New Key"  It was replaced by Don McLean's "American Pie", which spent the next 3 weeks at #1.

Here's the top 10 songs of the month, ranked by average chart position over the 5 weeks of the month:

• American Pie - Don McLean - 1.3
• Brand New Key - Melanie - 1.5
• Let's Stay Together - Al Green - 4.7
• Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards - 4.7
• Scorpio - Dennis Coffey and The Detroit Guitar Band - 5.5
• Family Affair - Sly and The Family Stone - 7.3
• I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing - The New Seekers - 7.8
• You Are Everything - The Stylistics - 9.0
• Clean Up Woman - Betty Wright - 9.5
• Day After Day - Badfinger - 9.7

Twenty-Five (25) songs made their Top 40 debut, a couple of notable songs.  Here they are (listed by entering position):

• Never Been To Spain - Three Dog Night - 24
• The Witch Queen Of New Orleans - Redbone - 29
• Once You Understand - Think - 32
• Down By The Lazy River - The Osmonds - 32
• Black Dog - Led Zeppelin - 33
• Precious And Few - Climax - 34
• Stay With Me - Faces - 35
• Joy - Apollo featuring Tom Parker - 35
• Anticipation - Carly Simon - 36
• Without You - Nilsson - 36
• Feeling Alright - Joe Cocker - 36
• It's One Of Those Nights (Yes Love) - The Partridge Family - 37
• That's The Way I Feel About Cha - Bobby Womack and Peace - 37
• Fire And Water - Wilson Pickett - 37
• Don't Say You Don't Remember - Beverly Bremers - 37
• Bang A Gong (Get It On) - T. Rex - 37
• Make Me The Woman That You Go Home To - Gladys Knight And The Pips - 38
• Hurting Each Other - Carpenters - 38
• The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Robert John - 38
• Looking For A Love - The J. Geils Band - 39
• Together Let's Find Love - The 5th Dimension - 39
• Levon - Elton John - 40
• White Lies, Blue Eyes - Bullet - 40
• Me And Bobby McGee - Jerry Lee Lewis - 40
• Floy Joy - The Supremes - 40