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*Mod Hippie aesthetics and Feminism triumph but the “Silent Majority” re-elects President Nixon in a landslide as America’s Red/Blue political divide gets real. Amid the tension, Glam Rock grabs headlines, ’50s nostalgia spawns Oldies radio, escapism rules the Pop charts and Black artists dominate the top ten for 14 straight weeks leading up to the Wattstax Benefit.*
**#1 Song of the Year**   The top song according to our Chartcrush ranking of all Hot100 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year
Roberta Flack – The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
**Artists of the Year**   The top three artists based on all charted songs during the calendar year
1. Al Green
2. Nilsson
3. Michael Jackson
**Artist with Most Charting Songs**   Artist(s) with the most Hot100 charting songs during the year (song count in parentheses)
* TIE: James Brown/Joe Simon (6)
**Average #1 Artist Age**   The average of how old artists who scored #1 Hot100 hits during the year were when their songs first reached #1
* 30.9 years
**#1 Songs**   List of Hot100 #1 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year, and (in parentheses), the month the song first hit #1 and the total number of weeks it was #1
1. Melanie – Brand New Key (December ’71, 3 wks)
2. Don McLean – American Pie (Parts 1 and 2) (January, 4 wks)
3. Al Green – Let’s Stay Together (February, 1 wk)
4. Nilsson – Without You (February, 4 wks)
5. Neil Young – Heart of Gold (March, 1 wk)
6. America – A Horse with No Name (March, 3 wks)
7. Roberta Flack – The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (April, 6 wks)
8. The Chi-Lites – Oh Girl (May, 1 wk)
9. The Staple Singers – I’ll Take You There (June, 1 wk)
10. Sammy Davis Jr. with The Mike Curb Congregation – The Candy Man (June, 3 wks)
11. Neil Diamond – Song Sung Blue (July, 1 wk)
12. Bill Withers – Lean on Me (July, 3 wks)
13. Gilbert O’Sullivan – Alone Again (Naturally) (July, 6 wks)
14. Looking Glass – Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) (August, 1 wk)
15. Three Dog Night – Black & White (September, 1 wk)
16. Mac Davis – Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me (September, 3 wks)
17. Michael Jackson – Ben (October, 1 wk)
18. Chuck Berry – My Ding-a-Ling (October, 2 wks)
19. Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now (November, 4 wks)
20. The Temptations – Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone (December, 1 wk)
21. Helen Reddy – I Am Woman (December, 1 wk)
22. Billy Paul – Me and Mrs. Jones (December, 3 wks)
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# The Top 100 Songs of 1972
/ 
/ The Top 100 Songs of 1972
Chartcrush’s Top100 songs based on data from *Billboard* magazine’s weekly Hot100 charts
| wdt\_ID | Rank | Artist - Title | Peak | Wks@Peak | WksChart | WksTop10 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 501 | 1 | Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face | 1 | 6 | 18 | 11 |
| 502 | 2 | Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (Naturally) | 1 | 6 | 18 | 11 |
| 503 | 3 | Don McLean - American Pie | 1 | 4 | 19 | 11 |
| 504 | 4 | Nilsson - Without You | 1 | 4 | 19 | 9 |
| 505 | 5 | Melanie - Brand New Key | 1 | 3 | 18 | 10 |
| 506 | 6 | Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now | 1 | 4 | 20 | 8 |
| 507 | 7 | Sammy Davis Jr. - The Candy Man | 1 | 3 | 21 | 7 |
| 508 | 8 | Joe Tex - I Gotcha | 2 | 2 | 21 | 10 |
| 509 | 9 | Billy Paul - Me and Mrs. Jones | 1 | 3 | 16 | 8 |
| 510 | 10 | America - A Horse with No Name | 1 | 3 | 14 | 10 |
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# 1972 Top 10 Chart Runs Graph
/ 1972 Top 10 Chart Runs Graph
This interactive visualization shows the *Billboard* Hot100 chart runs for the top ten songs of the year according to our Chartcrush ranking. Here you can see **when** songs charted during the year, for **how long**, and the **strength** of each song’s chart run relative to the other songs in the yearly top ten.
Hover over the legend to highlight a song in the plot area. Hover over a line in the plot area to see the song title and weekly rank.
*Things are unraveling in America but great sound and new ways to listen have made music a true, immersive sanctuary like never before—in the car on eight-track tapes or at home on headphones. Country is surging, Singer-Songwriters are charting massive hits, and Rock and Soul artists are expanding music’s horizons on sprawling albums.*
Dawn featuring Tony Orlando – Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree
1. Gladys Knight & The Pips
2. Elton John
3. Stevie Wonder
* James Brown (6)
* 29.0 years
1. Carly Simon – You’re So Vain (January, 3 wks)
2. Stevie Wonder – Superstition (January, 1 wk)
3. Elton John – Crocodile Rock (February, 3 wks)
4. Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly with His Song (February, 5 wks)
5. The O’Jays – Love Train (March, 1 wk)
6. Vicki Lawrence – The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (April, 2 wks)
7. Dawn feat. Tony Orlando – Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree (April, 4 wks)
8. Stevie Wonder – You Are the Sunshine of My Life (May, 1 wk)
9. Edgar Winter Group – Frankenstein (May, 1 wk)
10. Paul McCartney & Wings – My Love (June, 4 wks)
11. George Harrison – Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) (June, 1 wk)
12. Billy Preston – Will It Go Round in Circles (July, 2 wks)
13. Jim Croce – Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (July, 2 wks)
14. Maureen McGovern – The Morning After (August, 2 wks)
15. Diana Ross – Touch Me in the Morning (August, 1 wk)
16. Stories – Brother Louie (August, 2 wks)
17. Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On (September, 2 wks)
18. Helen Reddy – Delta Dawn (September, 1 wk)
19. Grand Funk – We’re an American Band (September, 1 wk)
20. Cher – Half-Breed (October, 2 wks)
21. The Rolling Stones – Angie (October, 1 wk)
22. Gladys Knight & The Pips – Midnight Train to Georgia (October, 2 wks)
23. Eddie Kendricks – Keep On Truckin’ (Part 1) (November, 2 wks)
24. Ringo Starr – Photograph (November, 1 wk)
25. Carpenters – Top of the World (December, 2 wks)
26. Charlie Rich – The Most Beautiful Girl (December, 2 wks)
# The Top 100 Songs of 1973
/ The Top 100 Songs of 1973
| wdt\_ID | Rank | Artist - Title | Peak | Wks@Pk | Weeks | Wks10 |
| 301 | 1 | Tony Orlando & Dawn - Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree | 1 | 4 | 23 | 11 |
| 302 | 2 | Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On | 1 | 2 | 19 | 13 |
| 303 | 3 | Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly with His Song | 1 | 5 | 16 | 9 |
| 304 | 4 | Paul McCartney - My Love | 1 | 4 | 18 | 9 |
| 305 | 5 | Carly Simon - You're So Vain | 1 | 3 | 17 | 11 |
| 306 | 6 | Eddie Kendricks - Keep on Truckin' (Part 1) | 1 | 2 | 19 | 10 |
| 307 | 7 | Elton John - Crocodile Rock | 1 | 3 | 17 | 9 |
| 308 | 8 | Gladys Knight & Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia | 1 | 2 | 19 | 8 |
| 309 | 9 | Jim Croce - Bad, Bad Leroy Brown | 1 | 2 | 22 | 8 |
| 310 | 10 | Charlie Rich - The Most Beautiful Girl | 1 | 2 | 22 | 6 |