Well, I feel it's about time I tackled the UK charts for the 70's just like I did for the Billboard charts, again I'm using a homemade chart on RYM to determine the order each entry appears on this list as well as stopping at a particular point to highlight only the best of the best over there this decade. I'm also skipping over entries that didn't become a hit in the southern hemisphere whilst providing alternate art where possible for each entry to give them a visual difference compared to their other appearances on this site.
This is one of only two appearances form the Police on this list, they did have three candidates like you would expect if we went over my site, however the third candidate was "Can't stand losing you" rather than "Roxanne" given how their debut album struggled to find success in their homeland upon its initial release. This was the penultimate chart topper of the decade in the UK, the final one of course being Pink Floyd's entry.
This is the only appearance that Sailor will be making on his list, although their other minor hit here in Australia "Girls girls girls" was also a minor hit in their homeland, meaning they were a two-hit wonder in both countries. Would you be surprised to learn that this was a bridesmaid on the UK charts? I know there've been plenty of songs that got stuck at number two over there, but for some reason I thought this wouldn't be one of them.
Not only will this be the Hollies only appearance on this list, but it was also the only hit they had in their homeland given how "He ain't heavy he's my brother" took forever in a day to crossover to Australia and America given how it was an instant hit over there upon its initial release in 1969. They only had two chart toppers in their homeland; this wasn't one of them as it was yet another bridesmaid on the UK charts.
This is the only appearance from Billy Ocean on this list, although had it been more of a hit in NZ, he would've appeared slightly sooner with "Red light" on this list as that wound up being his biggest hit in his homeland. Both of these songs were bridesmaids in his homeland; in fact he wouldn't score a chart topper on the UK charts until his theme song to the Hollywood film Jewel of the Nile.
This is the second and final appearance from Sting and company on this list, again they would've had a third entry had "Can't stand losing you" been a success outside of their homeland. Even then, that song needed two attempts to be a success with their fellow Brits given how their debut album was initially a failure for them. This wasn't the case for their second album as it spawned two chart toppers for the trio.
This is the final appearance from Gary Glitter on this list, although he had an additional four candidates for this list including a third UK char topper in the form of "I'm yours," so it's not like he was unpopular among his fellow Brits. This was another bridesmaid for the UK charts given how it failed to get to number one over there due to stiff competition.
This was the only other hit that the Kinks had anywhere in the world this decade, it had no chance of getting to number one in their homeland but still appears high on this list due to how long it lasted on the UK charts. Naturally this was a shoe in for my Australian and NZ list given how these guys were on a roll with their earlier entry on this list, it makes you wonder what went wrong with their subsequent follow ups.
This was Elton John's final entry on my Billboard list, so to see it as his third biggest hit in his homeland (I didn't skip any entry from him) is a bit surprising to say the least. Of course, the real surprise is how close this came to becoming his first UK chart topper as it was a bridesmaid on the UK charts for the English piano man. This makes it the second highest charting single from him of the decade.
Jimmy Cliff is back on this list for one final time with his Billboard chart topper, although again, it had no chance of topping the UK charts due to only peaking at number five over there. That said, there's little doubt this would've been a hit for him over there back in the day given the Brits love for reggae music, it wasn't as strong as the kiwis love for the genre, but they sure do love the Jamaican melodies.
We have our third entry form the Bay city rollers on this list; it was coincidentally their third hit here in Australia given how the Scottish band were on a roll in both countries with their three entries so far on this list. It'll be a while before we get to their fourth entry, although their next appearance would've come sooner had we Aussies known about their first two albums like their fellow Brits did.
Even though this was a massive hit for Livie in her native UK, its success over there paled to what it achieved here in Australia to the point where it made sense she would migrate to Australia following its success here. She's still got plenty of entries to come on this list, however it'll be a while before we see her again.
Even though A day at the races didn't do as well as the two albums from Queen that sandwich it in their discography, it was nonetheless a massive success for the band in their homeland given how big the lead single was on the UK charts. It's yet another bridesmaid for the list as is their two final entries on this list which will be appearing fairly soon, although they didn't have any other candidates for it.
There will be four appearances from Suzi Quatro on this list, none of them was with her sole appearance on my Billboard list as the Brits didn't seem to care much for her collaboration with Smokie lead singer Chris Norman like the rest of the world did. This was actually her final hit over there likely due to the Brits growing tired of her brand of punk attitude, although we Aussies kept her around for a little while longer.
I have a feeling this was a success in the UK more for the presence of Barbra Streisand rather than Donna Summer, mainly because her (at the time) most recent album Bad girls was a complete dud for the latter over there despite its overwhelming international success. It could also be a hit purely for its pro feminist message which I should remind my readers, wasn't essentially "I'm a stuck-up bitch and I'm proud of it" back then like it is now.
Whereas these guys only had this one hit throughout most parts of the world this decade, they did in fact have a second candidate for this list in the form of "Hurt" which actually came out shortly prior to this being their big breakthrough throughout the rest of the world. Again, I'm not saying being black would guarantee you success in the UK at any given point in time or anything, however it definitely didn't hurt like most modern "activists" claim.
Speaking of a black artist finding massive worldwide success this decade, we have the one and only hit that Dorothy Moore had throughout her career which naturally was a big hit in the UK just like it was internationally for the woman of colour. I'm not sure what was so appealing about this track that the rest of her catalogue lacked to make it a success; however it definitely is the only song of hers anyone can name.
You're probably wondering why this did so much better here in Australia than it did in the UK for Boney M, I'm not entirely sure, however it might be due to this technically being the third single from Nightflight to Venus over there given how "Brown girl in the ring" was a massive hit over there. For what it's worth, these guys only had two chart toppers in the UK with the other one being "Mary's boy child."
As it turns out, it was the Brits that helped these guys find an international audience given how Earth wind and fire (as well as the Emotions) will have all of their appearances from my Billboard list accounted for on this list. That said, the two entries I skipped over on that list ("Shining star" and "Sing a song" weren't candidates for this list, meaning they were most successful in their homeland this decade.
We have another Oscar winning ballad on this list, this time it's from Isaac Hayes who really charmed audiences back in the day with his theme for the blaxploitation flick Shaft. Unlike in his native America, Isaac Hayes would reappear on the UK charts from time to time, his biggest hit being under the alias of his character from South Park Chef for the UK chart topper "Chocolate salty balls."
It seems odd that Suzi's biggest hit in the UK was a song that had no chance at getting to number one over there, this is because she had two chart toppers over there including this title track from her debut album. I have no idea why it took a duet with the lead singer of Smokie for her to find success in her native America, however that obviously wasn't the case for her in Australia and the UK.
Well at least this wasn't David Bowie's biggest hit in the UK like it was here in Australia, in fact we've skipped over two entries from him from my RYM list, meaning that this was the fifth biggest hit he had this decade. It wasn't even a chart topper for him in the UK like it was down under, although admittedly he already had a hit here by this stage with the rerelease of "Space oddity."
Ever wanted to know what Annie Lennox and David Stewart were doing with their lives prior to teaming up to form the Eurythmics? It turns out they were part of a different group known as the Tourists who scored a massive hit in their homeland with this Dusty Springfield cover that managed to crossover to Australia at the start of the 80's. I would say this was a hit here due to a Countdown performance; however, they didn't perform this song here on their episode.
Given how this is considered to be Suzi Quatro's signature track, it makes sense that it would be a UK chart topper for her given how it was also a chart topper for her here in Australia. She still has one more appearance on this list, however it won't be for quite some time given how that failed to get to number one over there and that it didn't stick around forever in a day like "If you can't give me love" did.
Here we are with another ultimate one hit wonder as Anita Ward manages to return to this list with the one and only hit she had anywhere in the world, this was another UK chart topper for this list, proving that getting to number one didn't necessarily mean you were among the biggest hits of the decade. Even so, this was still a big success for her over there just like it was throughout the rest of the world.
If you want an idea to how much bigger Racey was in the southern hemisphere than their native UK, consider the fact that neither of their chart toppers down under were as such in their homeland in addition to how much lower they appear on this list compared to my Australian and NZ lists. They didn't even score a third hit over there like they did here.
We have our fourth hit from Queen on this list, this one also becoming a bridesmaid in their homeland given how chaotic the UK charts were right as the decade was coming to an end. It had more success everywhere else in the world when it saw an international release in the 80's, however it only went to number one here in Australia and on Billboard. We still have one more entry to come from Freddie and company on this list.
We have our third and final solo entry from Donny Osmond on this list, it was also a chart topper for him in the UK which explains why it was a decent hit here in Australia back in the day. It's odd that the Osmond family would only take off internationally due to the surprise hit of their youngest member, however there's no denying that Jimmy's earlier entry is what gave them international appeal.
Time now for the sole entry from the Osmonds on these lists, again we can thank the kiwis for how this appeared on the list given how the band had a total of five candidates for this list with this being the only one to make it on here. Of course it's likely it crossed over to NZ due to it being their sole chart topper in the UK even though they had two hits we skipped over on this list.
I would say we're looking at Ringo Starr's biggest solo hit in his homeland, except this wasn't as that honour goes to "Back off boogaloo" which was the closest he came to scoring a chart topper in his homeland and thus would've already appeared on this list. Still at least he had better beginners' luck over there than he did in America, although he still has another entry to come on this list.
I wasn't expecting to find out that Eruption found more success here in Australia than they did in their homeland, again this might be due to a Countdown performance that's currently lost media, but they didn't come close to having a UK chart topper with their debut single like it wound up being here. Their other big hit here "One way ticket" was too minor of a hit in their homeland to be a candidate for this list.
This is the only hit that Three dog night had in the UK, although considering the amount of success they had in their native America, I don't think we Aussies or kiwis were looking to the Brits to see if they were worth handing success to back in the day. This is especially the case since this wasn't even their biggest hit on Billboard given how we established that was "Joy to the world."
Here we are with the final appearance from Gilbert O'Sullivan on this list, we skipped over two entries from him to get here (those being "No matter how hard I try" and "Why oh why") which is fitting given how this didn't get to number one in his homeland like his two previous entries did. The only real question is of all the massive hits he had over there, why the Americans went with this one to be his Billboard chart topper.
This was too minor of a hit in America to appear on my Billboard charts, although I should point out that this was a hit over there which is more than I can say for every other entry on this list barring their top entry. As I said earlier, the Brits loved their Eurovision songs over the years, so it was little wonder how this managed to top the UK charts for the Swedish foursome back in the day.
Here we are with the sole chart topper that Status quo had in their homeland, again I'm surprised this wasn't their biggest hit over there given how it very easily was here in Australia. Admittedly it might be due to the fact that it's among the heaviest tracks to become a hit (I know, calling this track heavy is stretching it) which as we've established, the Brits generally weren't too big of fans of.
Given how this was the Sweet's biggest hit in America, it makes sense that it would also be a huge hit for them in their homeland even if it proved to be more popular on Billboard than on the UK charts. Again, we have to thank the kiwis for how this managed to appear on this list given how we Aussies weren't too interested in the glam rock band until "Ballroom blitz" which is still to come on this list.
If you're wondering how this managed to be a moderate hit here in Australia for Hollywood actor Telly Savalas, it turns out it was a huge UK chart topper for him despite this being a complete failure in his native America. Admittedly I'm not too familiar with his filmography (movies made before 1980 are a blind spot for me unless they're Disney cartoons or star Jerry Lewis) so maybe this was due to the Brits loving his filmography.
If you're wondering how this managed to become a success here in Australia despite it being a flop in his native America, then this should put that question to rest as the Brits somehow came across this calypso track from Bobby Bloom despite it being completely ignored by his fellow Americans. It was a bittersweet victory for the crooner given he'd be dead four years after its release.
Whereas this was the only hit that John Kongos had here in Australia, this was one of two candidates he had for this list as "Tokoloshe man" managed to only be slightly less popular in the UK than this was. Given how he's south African, it makes sense that there would be African elements to this track which perhaps explains its success in both countries as it had that exotic feel to us Aussies and Brits.
Well at least we don't have to call these guys the English Congregation like we did when we looked at this track on my Australian and NZ lists for the decade, this is because Mike Curb didn't have any success in the UK which allowed these guys to go by the Congregation without any confusion over there. Then again, it might've helped if there was confusion as it was less popular in their homeland than it was in NZ.
If you can believe it, Ray Stevens saw the most success this decade in the UK as not only will all three of his hits be accounted for on here, but we also skipped over his biggest hit over there which was "Bridget the midget" (no prizes for those who can figure out what that song is about.) Despite that, this was his only UK chart topper likely due to it cashing in on the streaking craze of the moment.
Well at least we know why this was a big hit in Australia and NZ for CW McCall, granted it being a Billboard chart topper would've been a satisfying explanation, however like I said on my Billboard list, this feels at complete odds with what else was getting big in the southern hemisphere upon its release. I guess the Brits didn't love this enough for it to be a UK chart topper like it was internationally.
There won't be any more UK chart toppers from Abba on this list, the only other song of theirs that got to number one over there was "Take a chance on me" which coincidentally was the only candidate I had for my Billboard list apart from "Dancing queen." This came close to topping the UK charts like it did in NZ, however it didn't quite make it despite it nonetheless being a huge hit over there.
Here we are again with an entry from Ray Stevens, this time it's one of the few non joke tracks in his catalogue as this managed to almost top the UK charts due to the Brits having no issues with taking it seriously. I guess the fact that it's neither a joke track nor an (in my opinion) pathetic attempt at virtue signalling is the best explanation I have to why this was a flop for in in his homeland.
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