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The new decade seemed to start with no real pattern. Elvis Presley began to put together some impressive material to be the top performer of 1970 and things were back to the way they were a decade earlier. In addition to the biggest single of the year ("The Wonder of You"), the King had top ten hits with "Don't Cry Daddy" and "I've Lost You". His cabaret performances were becoming legendary and two albums, "From Memphis to Vegas" and "On Stage, February 1970" were top three hits in the UK.
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| Number two act was the Jackson Five. None of their singles reached number one but all four were strong top ten contenders including "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There".
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| Andy Williams was at number three. He first topped the UK charts in 1957 and had continued to enjoy steady success with singles and, more especially, a series of albums including "Love Andy" a number one LP in 1968. He had a trio of singles hits including "Can't Help Falling in Love" (top three), "It's So Easy" and "Home
Lovin' Man". His biggest album "Andy Williams' Greatest Hits" reached number one in December but stayed near the top all year.
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| Maintaining the American hold on the top spots were Simon and
Garfunkel, the number four artists of the year. Their year was dominated by the
classic album "Bridge Over Troubled Waters", the biggest LP hit of 1970. The title single from the album also topped the singles charts for three weeks.
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| In a year of inconsistency, the Beatles just managed to capture the number five performers' spot. their single, "Let It Be", was a chart number two but the "Let It Be" LP stayed in the album charts for over a year peaking at number one. However, by April 1970 the band had broken up.
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| There were many number one singles from performers that were their only hits of the year in 1970.
Dave Edmunds had the second biggest hit of the year with "I Hear You
Knockin" but it was over two years before he returned to the singles charts. Third
biggest hit of the year was "In The Summertime" by Mungo
Jerry, not followed up until the following February. Number four biggest hit of the year was "Band of Gold" from
Freda Payne but she never reached the UK top thirty again. Similarly,
Edison Lighthouse were in the one hit wonder category with "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes", the fifth biggest single of 1970.
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| Other artists with a more consistent record in 1970 included the Kinks who had a couple of top five hits with "Lola" and
"Apeman". In the album charts
Led Zeppelin followed their successful "Led Zeppelin II" with "Led Zeppelin III" and both hit number one. The
Rolling Stones also had album success without bothering to launch a single all year. They followed their chart topping success of "Let it Bleed" with live album "Get Yer Ya-Yas Out".
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© 2007 Backdate
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