JANUARY
Top hit
Brand New Key · Melanie
Top album
Music · Carole King
Year
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One moment while we pull together the music from this year.
Glam and soul refinement
1972
Al Green and Curtis Mayfield silk-wrap devotion and struggle, glam rock glitters through London, and melody gets treated like a luxury good.
Soul Gets Sophisticated
Al Green and Curtis Mayfield turn devotion and struggle into silk — every groove feels tailor-made for late-night listening and Sunday morning reckoning. Glam rock glitters through London while America argues over what's real and what's costume, and the answer is usually both. The charts reward artists who treat melody like a luxury good. The charts reward artists who treat melody like a luxury good and groove like a birthright.
- soul
- Al Green
- glam rock
- progressive rock
- early seventies
- Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together' defines modern soul
- David Bowie's 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust' launches glam
- The Staple Singers' 'I'll Take You There' tops the pop chart
- The Eagles' debut begins California soft-rock dominance
Hot 100 · weeks at #1
Top songs
Album chart · weeks at #1
Top albums
Through the year
Tap a month to drill into chart weeks.
FEBRUARY
Top hit
American Pie (Parts I & II) · Don Mclean
Top album
American Pie · Don Mclean
MARCH
Top hit
Without You · Nilsson
Top album
American Pie · Don Mclean
APRIL
Top hit
A Horse With No Name · America
Top album
First Take · Roberta Flack
MAY
Top hit
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face · Roberta Flack
Top album
First Take · Roberta Flack
JUNE
Top hit
I'll Take You There · The Staple Singers
Top album
Thick As A Brick · Jethro Tull
JULY
Top hit
Song Sung Blue · Neil Diamond
Top album
Exile On Main St. · The Rolling Stones
AUGUST
Top hit
Alone Again (Naturally) · Gilbert O'sullivan
Top album
Honky Chateau · Elton John
SEPTEMBER
Top hit
Alone Again (Naturally) · Gilbert O'sullivan
Top album
Chicago V · Chicago
OCTOBER
Top hit
Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me · Mac Davis
Top album
Chicago V · Chicago
NOVEMBER
Top hit
I Can See Clearly Now · Johnny Nash
Top album
Superfly · Curtis Mayfield
DECEMBER
Top hit
Papa Was A Rollin' Stone · The Temptations
Top album
Catch Bull At Four · Cat Stevens
