Top songs of 1972

What was the number one song of 1972?

The number one song of 1972 was “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack, the top song on Billboard's year-end Hot 100 for 1972. It spent 6 weeks at number one on the weekly chart, starting with the chart dated April 15, 1972.

“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack and “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gilbert O'Sullivan were each number one for 6 weeks of 1972, the most of any song that year.

Born in 1972? The birthday number one finder shows the song at number one in the exact week of your birthday, and the number one on every birthday since.

Chart data: Billboard Hot 100, as compiled on Wikipedia (number ones of 1972, year-end Hot 100 of 1972).

How many songs reached number one in 1972?

21 songs reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 1972. Counting “Brand New Key”, which was already at number one when the year began, 22 songs held the top spot across the year's 53 weekly charts.

Of the songs that first reached number one in 1972, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack stayed there longest: 6 weeks in total, from the chart dated April 15, 1972.

Weeks at No. 1 counts every week the song spent at the top, including weeks in other years; the number in brackets is the weeks on charts dated 1972. Dates are chart issue dates.

Which artists had more than one number one in 1972?

No act had more than one number one in 1972, counting lead and featured credits: each of the 22 songs at number one that year was by a different act.

What were the biggest songs of 1972?

The five biggest songs of 1972 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 were “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack, “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gilbert O'Sullivan, “American Pie” by Don McLean, “Without You” by Harry Nilsson and “The Candy Man” by Sammy Davis Jr..

The year-end chart ranks songs by how they performed on the weekly Hot 100 across Billboard’s chart year, so a song that peaked late in the year can rank lower than its weekly peak suggests, or count toward the next year’s list. The top 30 below show each song’s length where we could match the recording.

Numbers 31 to 100

31. “(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All” The 5th Dimension
32. “Nights in White Satin” The Moody Blues
33. “Go All the Way” Raspberries
34. “Too Late to Turn Back Now” Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose
35. “Back Stabbers” The O'Jays
36. “Down by the Lazy River” The Osmonds
37. “Sunshine” Jonathan Edwards
38. “Starting All Over Again” Mel and Tim
39. “Day After Day” Badfinger
40. “Rocket Man” Elton John
41. “Rockin' Robin” Michael Jackson
42. “Beautiful Sunday” Daniel Boone
43. “Scorpio” Dennis Coffey
44. “Morning Has Broken” Cat Stevens
45. “City of New Orleans” Arlo Guthrie
46. “Garden Party” Ricky Nelson
47. “I Can See Clearly Now” Johnny Nash
48. “Burning Love” Elvis Presley
49. “Clean Up Woman” Betty Wright
50. “Hold Your Head Up” Argent
51. “Jungle Fever” The Chakachas
52. “Everything I Own” Bread
53. “In the Rain” The Dramatics
54. “Look What You Done for Me” Al Green
55. “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” Donna Fargo
56. “Bang a Gong (Get it On)” T. Rex
57. “Mother and Child Reunion” Paul Simon
58. “Where Is the Love” Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
59. “I'm Still in Love with You” Al Green
60. “Layla” Derek and the Dominos
61. “Day Dreaming” Aretha Franklin
62. “The Way of Love” Cher
63. “Black and White” Three Dog Night
64. “Sylvia's Mother” Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
65. “Hurting Each Other” The Carpenters
66. “Coconut” Harry Nilsson
67. “Puppy Love” Donny Osmond
68. “You Don't Mess Around with Jim” Jim Croce
69. “Hot Rod Lincoln” Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
70. “A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done” Sonny & Cher
71. “Joy” Apollo 100
72. “Anticipation” Carly Simon
73. “Never Been to Spain” Three Dog Night
74. “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'” Charley Pride
75. “School's Out” Alice Cooper
76. “Saturday in the Park” Chicago
77. “Drowning in the Sea of Love” Joe Simon
78. “Use Me” Bill Withers
79. “Family Affair” Sly & the Family Stone
80. “Troglodyte (Cave Man)” The Jimmy Castor Bunch
81. “The Witch Queen of New Orleans” Redbone
82. “Freddie's Dead” Curtis Mayfield
83. “Power of Love” Joe Simon
84. “Ain't Understanding Mellow” Jerry Butler & Brenda Lee Eager
85. “Taxi” Harry Chapin
86. “Don't Say You Don't Remember” Beverly Bremers
87. “Sealed with a Kiss” Bobby Vinton
88. “I Saw the Light” Todd Rundgren
89. “Motorcycle Mama” Sailcat
90. “Day by Day” Original Cast of Godspell
91. “Roundabout” Yes
92. “Doctor My Eyes” Jackson Browne
93. “I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” The New Seekers
94. “Vincent” Don McLean
95. “Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)” The Detroit Emeralds
96. “Speak to the Sky” Rick Springfield
97. “I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” The Hillside Singers
98. “Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love” Love Unlimited
99. “Get on the Good Foot” James Brown
100. “Pop That Thang” The Isley Brothers

Chart data: Billboard Hot 100, as compiled on Wikipedia (number ones of 1972, year-end Hot 100 of 1972).

What songs should go on a 1972 mix CD?

A 1972 mix that fits one 80-minute CD holds 22 of the year's biggest songs, opening with “Brand New Key” by Melanie and closing with “My Ding-a-Ling” by Chuck Berry, for 77:50 of music.

We built it from the year-end top 30 and every number one of 1972, taking songs in year-end order until the disc was full, then sequenced it to follow the year: the number ones in the order they reached the top, with the year’s other big hits placed between them. With a 2-second gap before each track it runs 78:34, under the 79 minutes we fill a CD to.

Lengths are the recordings matched in Deezer’s catalog. Single edits, album versions and remasters can run a little longer or shorter, so check your own playlist before you burn it.

Turn 1972 into a CD. Send us this list, or your own 1972 songs, and we burn it to a real audio CD, test-play it and post it. It makes a good gift for a birth year, a graduation year or a wedding year.

To change the songs, paste the list into the playlist length calculator to keep it under 80 minutes, then print an insert with the CD case template. Our guide to making a mixtape covers sequencing, and nostalgic gift ideas has more ways to give a year as a present.

What was popular music like in the 1970s?

Popular music in the 1970s ran from singer-songwriters and soft rock to soul, funk and, by the end of the decade, disco. The Bee Gees, Donna Summer and Chic all reached number one with disco records in 1978 and 1979, while ballads and soft rock filled the charts between them.

From 1970 to 1979, 253 songs reached number one on the Hot 100, and 1 song stayed there for 10 weeks or more. Of those 253, “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone spent the most weeks at number one: 10 in total. Bee Gees had the most number ones that reached the top in these years, with 9. The typical number one of these years ran 3:40 (the median of the 229 with a known length).