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.
I wasn't expecting this to be more popular here in Australia than it was in Lene Lovich's native UK, I would say it was due to a Countdown performance, however from what I can gather, she only had one episode dedicated to her which was in 1983 (although she could've had another episode in 1979 when this came out.) I guess her fellow Brits weren't as impressed with this track as we Aussies were.
You'd think this would be one of the biggest hits of the decade given how the (in my opinion) inferior local version proved to be as such here in Australia for Liv Maessen, alas it appears Mary's fellow Brits weren't too impressed with this track as there's no such excuse for why it didn't better over there. That said, this did nearly top the UK charts, and she did have three hits prior to this over there.
Remember how this appeared on my 1981 list for the Gibson brothers on the Australian side of my site? It turns out we Aussies needed serious convincing to allow this disco track from the French trio of colour to take off here given how it was a hit upon its initial release in the UK just as this decade was coming to an end. If nothing else, its success down under proves we Aussies weren't on board the disco backlash.
This is the final appearance from T Rex on this list, it's also their only appearance on here that didn't get to number one in their homeland given how this was a bridesmaid on the UK charts. That said, this wasn't their weakest hit in their homeland as they still had one more candidate for this list and a bunch of other minor hits that weren't candidates.
Although this will be the only appearance from Andy Williams on this list, I should point out that this was actually his weakest hit in the UK as he had three candidates for this list that I skipped over on this list. It's easy to see how this became a success here in Australia given how it's literally the love theme for the Hollywood blockbuster Love story, in fact it's failure in America is the real surprise here.
By all accounts this should've been a hit that only found success in the UK given how there's been a surprising number of hits over there that featured a school choir from accompanying an otherwise unknown singer (or two in this case.) While this was a predictable hit for everyone involved over there, it's the fact that it tickled the fancy of us Aussies and kiwis which makes its success impressive.
This is the only other appearance from Ringo Starr on this list, admittedly it's nowhere near as popular in his homeland as it was in NZ and America, however it was still notable enough over there to fit comfortably on this list. Although "Photograph" was a hit over there, it was too minor of a hit to be considered for this list, which makes this a mini comeback for him in a way.
We looked at Pilot's second biggest hit here in Australia on my Billboard list, time for us to look at their huge chart topper on our charts which was also a chart topper in their homeland. That said, it obviously didn't last as long on their charts as it did on ours, coupled with the success of "Magic" down under, it leaves me to believe they had a guest appearance on Countdown which is currently lost media.
Rose Royce had three hits in the UK, although this will be their only appearance on this list as "Car was" was too minor of a hit to qualify for this list and their other big hit was "Wishing on a star" which obviously flopped in Australia and NZ back in the day. That leaves this breakup ballad from the group as their sole entry on here, a ballad that's been overshadowed by Madonna's cover from 1984.
Even though this is the only entry from Squeeze on this list (who we no longer need to call UK Squeeze as the Australian band with that name obviously didn't find any success anywhere) they did have a second candidate for this list with "Up in the junction" which just like this sole hit they had down under, was a bridesmaid on the UK charts. Hey at least we have some punk representation on this list.
Well at least this has a much more comfortable placement on this list compared to its placement on my Billboard list, although it still doesn't quite explain how it became so inescapable here in Australia given how it also failed to reach number one in the UK just like it did in Hot butter's native America. I guess we Aussies were simply ahead of the curb when it came to whatever the 70's equivalent of EDM was.
This is the only entry that Mike Oldfield has on this list, he did have a second minor hit with "In dulci jubilo" and the Exorcist theme was a minor hit for him in America this decade even if it was too minor to appear on my Billboard list. I guess this means that he was equally as popular in Australia as he was in the UK given how he has three hits down under just like he does in his homeland.
This is the third and final entry from David Soul on this list given how he only had three hits in the UK just like he did everywhere else in the world except his native America. This didn't quite get to number one over there despite it being the lead single to his second album, perhaps the Brits were a bit cautious in making him a household name like we Aussies were but eventually changed their minds.
Even though this was a slightly bigger hit for Hurricane Smith in America than it was in his homeland, that's actually due to him already having a hit in the UK with "Don't let it die" from the year prior to his international hit which likely explains how it took off in America and eventually Australia and NZ for the music producer. Again, he would have most of his success in NZ given how many successful follow ups he had over there.
We have the sole appearance of Peaches and Herb on this list, naturally it would be with their big international hit given how "Shake your groove thing" has only been solidified as their signature tune years after their brief moment in the spotlight. Even so, it's a bit weird that they're a one hit wonder in the UK when even us Aussies allowed that disco classic to be a sleeper hit here.
Michael Jackson only had one UK chart topper this decade, that's with "Show you the way to go" which was the comeback single his family band the Jackson 5 had over there. As such, he would have to wait until "One day in your life" became a surprise hit for him over there to finally have a solo number one hit on the UK charts, although that doesn't mean this solo entry was a flop for him there.
We have the first of only two entries from CCR on this list, hey at least they managed to score these two hits in the UK given how they're among the heavier bands to find success with the Brits over the years. I'm not sure if they were following the lead of the band's fellow Americans or us Aussies given how they were more successful in Australia than they were anywhere else in the world.
This is the final entry from Queen on our list, it was their big breakthrough worldwide despite them having an album prior to this that obviously flopped in their homeland. Even though it was another bridesmaid on the UK charts, it was still popular enough for it to be a sleeper hit in Australia and America as well as a massive success for them in NZ.
Even though we've looked at every eligible entry from Gary Glitter on this list, we still have this hit from his backing band to look at given how it was a big hit for them in their homeland as well as here in Australia. They had two other candidates for this list given how we Aussies weren't interested in making "People like you and people like me" and "Goodbye my love" a hit, the latter of which was their highest charting single in their homeland.
If you can believe it, this sleeper hit here in Australia wound up being Fox's biggest hit in their homeland given how it was a success upon its initial release over there. It only became a hit down under thanks to the surprise hit of their other entry on this list which we'll get to in a bit, it was surprising given how it was way more popular here than it was in their native UK.
We have the kiwis to thank yet again for the appearance of this one and only hit from Jean Michele Jarre given how it was a massive failure here in Australia for the French composer, I guess it does feel a bit out of place with everything else on this list even though this was released during the height of prog rock on the album charts. As you can imagine, this was a fluke for the composer even in the UK.
Here we are with the second of three appearances from Earth wind and fire on this list, this one of course coming to us from their greatest hits album which seemed to be what opened the floodgates for the RNB/disco band of colour to find international success outside their native America. For what it's worth, I always found this to be a rip-off of "Sing a song" musically which came out before this.
Whereas us Aussies and Americans needed Debbie Harry to rap (poorly in my opinion) on their international hit "Rapture" to discover the genre, the Brits and kiwis knew better by having this one and only hit from the Sugarhill gang be as such in both countries. That said, this only makes the cut due to its sleeper status in NZ, meaning it was the Brits who had the first mainstream hip-hop track in the world.
It looks like we Aussies and kiwis were following the lead of the Brits when it came to determining the success of America (the band) as this was also their only hit in the UK just like it was internationally. That said, the success they had in America (it's hard to say if they were American or British as online sources give contradictory evidence) ensures the rest of their catalogue would be played on oldies stations worldwide.
And the entries from Sweet just keep on coming on this list, although we finally have one of their big hits in the UK that was a hit here in Australia given how this was released after "Ballroom blitz" which established them as the how new act of the moment down under. There's only one candidate from them that won't be appearing on this list, that being "Hell raiser" which we've already skipped over.
Hello again Mary MacGregor, time to look at how well your problematic ballad did in the UK (again I use the word problematic as a synonym for puzzling and not how leftist idiots use it.) Much like the kiwis, the Brits were a bit torn on this sole hit Mary had as on the one hand, there's no denying it sounds sweet and innocent, but on the other hand, it's a song that romanticises choosing between two suitors.
Was there any doubt this would be a hit in the UK for the Emotions? Again, I don't want to hear anything about how women of colour (or non-white people for that matter) not finding success anywhere in the world prior to the 2010's as I think I've done a good job in disproving that misinformation on these lists. So long as the music they offered was fun like this entry, audiences would flock to it.
I keep forgetting that the RAH band is in fact one man who named himself in a way that suggests he was more than one person, in any case, we have Richard Hewson's one and only hit even in his homeland that managed to appear on here thanks to its sleeper hit status here in Australia back in the day. It's yet another instrumental that found success in both countries throughout the decade.
Here we are with the other big hit that Carly Simon had in the UK, although this one was likely as such due to it being a Bond theme even though it was way less popular over there than it was in her native America. This was also the case for the other Bond theme to become a worldwide hit this decade as Wing's entry is still to come much later down this list.
Well at least both of MJ's Australian chart toppers are on this list given how the Brits allowed this to become somewhat of a sleeper hit for the future king of pop back in the day. I'm not sure if this was due to their love of the film it's named after or if they were torn about giving him a solo hit, either way it resulted in it having a low peak position of number seven but in return lasting quite some time in their top twenty.
Here we are with the big breakthrough hit that Sweet had here in Australia, although I have to wonder why it was this track that put them on the map here given how low it appears on this list. Yes, this was a bridesmaid on the UK charts, however it's more the fact that they had three other hits prior to this we Aussies could've picked that were massive hits for them over in NZ.
This is one of four candidates that Tavares had for this list, although it only appears on here thanks to how long it lasted on the Australian charts back in the day given how this flopped in NZ as opposed to their other entry on the list which we'll get to. This means that these guys had four more hits in the UK than they did in their native America, how this came to be is anybody's guess.
Surprised to see this iconic track so low on this list? Yes, this did get to number one in the Buggles native UK, however it had quite a short chart run on the UK charts as opposed to it lasting forever in a day on the Australian charts. Again, I have to imagine that the interest this sparked in America was due to how well it did on our charts compared to it being one of the weaker chart toppers of the decade in the UK.
I did mention that Badfinger had two out of their three hits become a success in their homeland when I brought them up on my Billboard list, here's the bigger hit of the two as this was indeed their biggest hit in their homeland even if it was only slightly bigger over there than it was in America. Again, had this been released towards the end of the decade, I doubt it would've been a hit given how hard it is compared to other entries on this list.
This is the only other entry from Neil Diamond on this list, this came not too long after his first entry on here which suggests that the Brits only tolerated him for a little while before moving on to other soft rockers we've looked at. Like I said before, he had one more hit over there with a reissue of "Sweet Carolina," a song I'll include on here if I ever decide to visit the 60's on this site.
This is the third and final entry from Middle of the road on this list, again we have the kiwis to thank for its appearance given how we Aussies had clearly grown tired of the Scottish novelty band by this point in time. It appears the kiwis and their fellow Brits could only stomach their music for so long as well given how they didn't have another hit in either country after this.
Again, I'm not sure how this debut single from David Essex managed to become a success in America given how it was far from the biggest hit of the decade or even his career, however there's no denying that it was a hit for him in his homeland which at least explains how the Americans and us Aussies knew about its existence. This is his final appearance on this list given his other hits were from the 80's.
Even though this went to number one in the UK, it was among the weakest UK chart toppers of the decade which explains why it was only a sleeper hit for Steve Harley back in the day here in Australia. Still, this does receive tons of airplay on oldies stations, so perhaps it was just a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time given how it's clearly survived the test of time.
Well, every successful artist seems to have at least one rip-off during their initial breakthrough in popularity, enter Peter Skellern who was clearly riding on the coattails of Elton John with his one and only hit in Australia and his native UK when this became a hit in both countries. I'm guessing it was the fact that Elton managed to take America by storm that put an end to Peter's prospects as a successful piano man.
This is the only appearance from Melanie on this list, although she did have a second candidate for the list as "Ruby Tuesday" proved to be the big hit from her breakthrough album Candles in the rain over there as opposed to the title track here in Australia. It makes sense this was her biggest hit over there given how it was her sole chart topper in her native America.
This was such a success worldwide that even the Brits decided to make this a massive hit for Minnie Riperton on the UK charts, in fact it very nearly became a chart topper over there just like it did on the Billboard charts even though she wound up being a one hit wonder over there as well. This means that NZ was the only place in the world where this wasn't a hit for the woman of colour.
Although this was a huge hit for David Dundas in his homeland, it was clearly a bigger hit here in Australia likely due to it being selected as the theme for the Levi jeans ad of 1976 when it was released over here. This likely sparked interest in the ballad from the Americans as this did appear on the Billboard year end list for 1977 despite it failing to reach the top ten over there.
Normally a song from an Australian band/artist would have to replicate its success in NZ in order for it to take off in the UK, this wasn't the case for Sherbet as this became big over there the same time it was topping the NZ charts which suggests Daryl Braithwaite and company had a marketing push over there their fellow Aussies didn't back in the day. I guess it doesn't ultimately matter as it was their only hit in both countries.
I mentioned on my Billboard list that this was a hit for the Bellamy brothers in Australia and the UK, however I bet you weren't expecting this to be their biggest hit on the UK charts, were you? Now don't you worry as "Let your love flow" is still to come on this list, however the fact the Brits with this corny ballad over that bouncy track is a bit puzzling to me the more I think about it.
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