1976 in British music explained

This is a summary of 1976 in music of all genres in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

Overview

This year saw the emergence of disco as a force to be reckoned with, a trend which would hold for the rest of the decade and peak in the last two years. This was also the year which truly established ABBA as the top selling act of the decade with them achieving their second, third and fourth number ones (as well as releasing the biggest-selling album of the year). The ABBA formula was also replicated in the biggest-selling song of the year - the Eurovision-winning "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man, who began a three-year run in the UK charts from 1976. Other acts to achieve notable firsts were Elton John, who scored his first UK number one single this year (albeit as a duet with Kiki Dee), Showaddywaddy had their first and only number one and long-standing hitmaker Johnny Mathis also scored his biggest hit this year. The album charts saw TV advertising become a major factor in changing the landscape of big sellers with non-regular singles artists achieving high sales with compilations. Among these were Slim Whitman, Bert Weedon, Glen Campbell and The Beach Boys, who remained at number one for ten consecutive weeks.

Also emerging this year was a new trend, which became known as punk rock. This was little evident on the charts as yet, and was more a lifestyle choice, but would become much more significant the following year, as many new acts who typified the trend came onto the scene.

Overall, 1976 is not considered a vintage year by music critics, with its overwhelming dominance by pop and MOR acts. Certainly, many consider 1976 to be the nadir of British music and hold the year's charts up to be the very reason why Punk and New Wave music emerged with such force the following year.

Britain's foremost classical composers of the late 20th century, including Sir William Walton, Benjamin Britten and Sir Michael Tippett, were still active. Sir Charles Groves conducted the Last Night of the Proms, and the soloist for "Rule Britannia" was contralto Anne Collins; the programme included Walton's Portsmouth Point overture.

Events

• 6 March – EMI Records reissues all 22 previously released British Beatles singles, plus a new single of "Yesterday". A number of them hit the UK charts at the same time.^[1]
• 7 March – A wax likeness of Elton John is put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.
• 9 March – The Who's Keith Moon collapses on stage ten minutes into a performance at the Boston Garden.
• 3 April – Brotherhood of Man win the Eurovision Song Contest for the UK with the song "Save Your Kisses For Me".^[2] It goes on to be the biggest-selling Eurovision winner ever.
• 3 May – Paul McCartney and Wings start their Wings over America Tour in Fort Worth, Texas.^[3] This is the first time McCartney has performed in the US since the Beatles' last concert in 1966 at Candlestick Park.
• 19 May – Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is involved in a car accident. Cocaine is found in his wrecked car. Richards is given a court date of 12 January 1977.
• 2 July – Benjamin Britten is created Baron Britten of Aldeburgh in the County of Suffolk, less than six months before his death.
• 4 July – Elton John performs for a crowd of 62,000 at Shaffer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts, as part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations.
• 5 August – A drunken Eric Clapton, appearing at the Birmingham Odeon, calls on his audience to support Enoch Powell and oppose immigration.^[4]
• 9 August – Aged 21, Simon Rattle becomes the youngest ever Proms conductor with his late night London Sinfonietta performance. The programme includes Harrison Birtwistle's Meridian and Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1.
• 11 August – Keith Moon, drummer of the Who, is rushed to hospital for the second time in five months, in a "mentally disturbed" state, after trashing his Miami hotel room.^[5]
• 11 September – Sir Charles Groves conducts the Last Night of the Proms, which includes music by Britten, William Walton, Frederick Delius and other British composers.^[6] Anne Collins is guest soloist.
• 20 September & 21 September – The 100 Club Punk Festival, the first international punk festival is held in London. Siouxsie and the Banshees play their first concert.
• 8 October – The Sex Pistols sign a contract with EMI Records.^[7]
• November – The recently formed Rock Against Racism pressure group holds its first gig, featuring Carol Grimes.^[8]

Charts

Number-one singles

Date	Song	Artist(s)
10 January	"Bohemian Rhapsody"	Queen
17 January
24 January
31 January	"Mamma Mia"	ABBA
7 February
14 February	"Forever and Ever"	Slik
21 February	"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"	The Four Seasons
28 February
6 March	"I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)"	Tina Charles
13 March
20 March
27 March	"Save Your Kisses for Me"	Brotherhood of Man
3 April
10 April
17 April
24 April
1 May
8 May	"Fernando"	ABBA
15 May
22 May
29 May
5 June	"No Charge"	J.J. Barrie
12 June	"The Combine Harvester (Brand New Key)"	The Wurzels
19 June
26 June	"You to Me Are Everything"	Real Thing
3 July
10 July
17 July	The Roussos Phenomenon EP	Demis Roussos
24 July	"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"	Elton John and Kiki Dee
31 July
7 August
14 August
21 August
28 August
4 September	"Dancing Queen"	ABBA
11 September
18 September
25 September
2 October
9 October
16 October	"Mississippi"	Pussycat
23 October
30 October
6 November
13 November	"If You Leave Me Now"	Chicago
20 November
27 November
4 December	"Under the Moon of Love"	Showaddywaddy
11 December
18 December
25 December	"When a Child Is Born"	Johnny Mathis
1 January

^[9]

Number-one albums

Date	Album	Artist(s)	Weeks
10 January	40 Greatest Hits	Perry Como	1
17 January	A Night at the Opera	Queen	2
24 January
31 January	The Best of Roy Orbison	Roy Orbison	1
7 February	The Very Best of Slim Whitman	Slim Whitman	6
14 February
21 February
28 February
6 March
13 March
20 March	Blue for You	Status Quo	3
27 March
3 April
10 April	Rock Follies	Television soundtrack	2
17 April
24 April	Presence	Led Zeppelin	1
1 May	Rock Follies	Television soundtrack	1
8 May	Greatest Hits	ABBA	9
15 May
22 May
29 May
5 June
12 June
19 June
26 June
3 July
10 July	A Night on the Town	Rod Stewart	2
17 July
24 July	20 Golden Greats	The Beach Boys	10
31 July
7 August
14 August
21 August
28 August
4 September
11 September
18 September
25 September
2 October	The Best of The Stylistics Volume II	The Stylistics	1
9 October	Stupidity	Dr. Feelgood	1
16 October	Greatest Hits	ABBA	2
23 October
30 October	Soul Motion	Various Artists	2
6 November
13 November	The Song Remains the Same	Led Zeppelin	1
20 November	22 Golden Guitar Greats	Bert Weedon	1
27 November	Twenty Golden Greats	Glen Campbell	6
4 December
11 December
18 December
25 December
1 January

^[10]

Year-end charts

Between 5 January and 10 December 1976.

Best-selling singles

^{[11] [12]}

scope=col		scope=col	Title	scope=col	Artist	scope=col	Peak position
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	1	"Save Your Kisses for Me"	Brotherhood of Man	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	2	"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"	and Kiki Dee	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	3	"Mississippi"	Pussycat	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	4	"Dancing Queen"	ABBA	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	5	"A Little Bit More"	Dr Hook	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	6	"If You Leave Me Now"	Chicago	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	7	"Fernando"	ABBA	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	8	"I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	9	The Roussos Phenomenon EP		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	10	"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	11	"Under the Moon of Love"	Showaddywaddy	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	12	"You to Me Are Everything"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	13	"Forever and Ever"	Slik	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	14	"Sailing"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	15	"Young Hearts Run Free"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	16	"The Combine Harvester (Brand New Key)"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	17	"When Forever Has Gone"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	18	"Jungle Rock"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	19	"Can't Get By Without You"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	20	"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	21	"Mamma Mia"	ABBA	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	22	"Hurt"	Manhattans	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	23	"Silly Love Songs"	Wings	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	24	"Convoy"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	25	"Kiss and Say Goodbye"	Manhattans	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	26	"You Just Might See Me Cry"	Our Kid	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	27	"Love Really Hurts Without You"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	28	"You See the Trouble with Me"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	29	"Let 'Em In"	Wings	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	30	"No Charge"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	31	"Jeans On"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	32	"Don't Take Away the Music"	Tavares	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	33	"Howzat!"	Sherbet	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	34	"Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto D'Aranjuez"	Manuel and the Music of the Mountains	3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	35	"Bohemian Rhapsody"	Queen	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	36	"Misty Blue"		5
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	37	"Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel"	Tavares	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	38	"Dance Little Lady Dance"		6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	39	"I Am a Cider Drinker (Paloma Blanca)"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	40	"Music"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	41	"Love Machine"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	42	"Aria"	, His Clarinet and Strings	5
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	43	"Let's Stick Together"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	44	"In Zaire"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	45	"The Killing of Georgie"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	46	"The Girl of My Best Friend"		9
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	47	"Play That Funky Music"	Wild Cherry	7
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	48	"You Don't Have to Go"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	49	"I Only Wanna Be with You"	Bay City Rollers	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	50	"Arms of Mary"	Sutherland Brothers and Quiver	5

Best-selling albums

The list of the top fifty best-selling albums of 1976 were published in Music Week and in Record Mirror at the end of the year, and reproduced in the second edition of the BPI Year Book in 1977. However, in 2007 the Official Charts Company published album chart histories for each year from 1956 to 1977, researched by historian Sharon Mawer, and included an updated list of the top ten best-selling albums for each year based on the new research. The updated top ten for 1976 is shown in the table below.^[13]

scope=col		scope=col	Title	scope=col	Artist	scope=col	Peak position
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	1	Greatest Hits	ABBA	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	2	20 Golden Greats	Beach Boys	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	3	Forever and Ever		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	4	A Night on the Town		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	5	Glen Campbell's Twenty Golden Greats		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	6	Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)	Eagles	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	7	The Very Best of Slim Whitman		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	8	A Night at the Opera	Queen	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	9	Desire		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	10	Wings at the Speed of Sound	Wings	2

Bands formed

• • • • • • • • Elvis Costello & the Attractions The Jam The Clash The Cure The Damned Generation X Madness UK Subs

Bands disbanded

• • • • Soft Machine The Pretty Things Argent Deep Purple (they reform in 1984)

Classical Music: new works

• Benjamin Britten – Welcome Ode for young people's voices and orchestra
• Jonathan Harvey – I Love the Lord
• Alun Hoddinott – A Contemplation upon Flowers
• Daniel Jones – Dance Fantasy
• William Mathias – Zodiac Trio
• William Walton – Varii Capricci

Opera

• Peter Maxwell Davies – The Martyrdom of St Magnus
• Iain Hamilton – Tamberlaine (radio)

Film and Incidental music

• John Addison – Swashbuckler (US film).

Musical films

• Bugsy Malone
• The Slipper and the Rose

Births

• 16 January – Stuart Fletcher (The Seahorses)
• 21 January – Emma Bunton, singer (Spice Girls) and actress
• 8 March – Gareth Coombes (Supergrass)
• 15 March – Roger Ratajczak, singer (Code Red)
• 17 March – Stephen Gately, Irish singer (Boyzone)
• 3 April – Will Mellor, singer and actor
• 6 April – James Fox, singer-songwriter
• 18 April – Sean Maguire, singer and actor
• 8 May – Ian "H" Watkins (Steps)
• 10 May – Stuart Braithwaite, singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mogwai)
• 2 June – Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane)
• 13 June
  • Jason "J" Brown, singer (5ive)
  • Kym Marsh, singer (Hear'Say)
• 19 June – James Hearn, singer (Ultra)
• 22 June – Gordon Moakes (Bloc Party)
• 3 July – Shane Lynch, Irish singer (Boyzone)
• 10 July – Philip Howard, pianist and composer
• 13 July – Huw Watkins, composer and pianist
• 28 July – David Oliver, singer (Point Break)
• 12 August – Stuart MacRae, composer
• 15 September
  • KG, singer (MN8)
  • Paul Thomson, drummer (Franz Ferdinand)
• 16 September – Tina Barrett, singer (S Club 7)
• 18 September – Adam Mates, Irish singer (OTT)
• 1 October – Richard Oakes, guitarist (Suede)
• 29 October – Mark Sheehan, Irish singer and guitarist (Mytown, The Script)
• 16 November – Dan Black (The Servant)
• 6 December – Dee Tails, singer (MN8)
• 12 December – Dan Hawkins, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Darkness and Stone Gods)
• 29 December – Brett Adams, singer (Point Break)

Deaths

• 5 January – Mal Evans, Beatles' former roadie and patron of Badfinger, 40 (shot)
• 8 January – George Baker, singer, 90
• 13 January – Isolde Menges, violinist, 82
• 11 February – Margaret Dare, Scottish composer and cellist, 74
• 19 March – Paul Kossoff, guitarist, (Free), 25 (drug-related)
• 26 March – Duster Bennett, blues musician, 29
• 14 May – Keith Relf, vocalist (The Yardbirds), 33 (electrocuted)
• 15 May – David Munrow, early music performer, 33 (suicide)
• 26 May – Dame Maggie Teyte, operatic soprano, 88
• 30 May – Hugo Rignold, violinist and conductor, 71
• 24 August – Michael Head, pianist and composer, 76
• 26 October – Deryck Cooke, musicologist and broadcaster, 57
• 28 November – Harold Darke, organist and composer, 88
• 4 December – Benjamin Britten, composer, 63
• date unknown – Malcolm Boyle, organist and composer, 74

See also

• 1976 in British radio
• 1976 in British television
• 1976 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1976

References

1. Web site: Official Singles Chart Top 50 Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. en. 2019-01-04.
2. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1976. European Broadcasting Union. 15 August 2012.
3. Book: Fred Bronson. The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. registration. 1997. Billboard Books. 978-0-8230-7641-3.
4. Book: Reebee Garofalo. Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements. registration. 1992. South End Press. 978-0-89608-427-8. 67.
5. Book: Tony Fletcher. Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon. 4 March 2010. Omnibus Press. 978-0-85712-222-3. 523.
6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/1970s/1976/september-11/8901 BBC - Proms
7. Book: Brian Southall. Sex Pistols - 90 Days at EMI. 11 November 2009. Music Sales Group. 978-0-85712-037-3.
8. Book: Dave Renton. When we touched the sky: the Anti-Nazi League, 1977-1981. 2006. New Clarion Press. 91. 9781873797488.
9. Web site: Number One singles of 1976 . The Official Charts Company . 5 July 2017.
10. Web site: The Official Charts Company - Top albums of 1970. 6 May 2013. The Official Charts Company.
11. Top 50 Singles of 1976 . . Spotlight Publications . London, England . 25 . 25 December 1976.
12. Book: Nigel . Hunter . Top 100 Singles 1976 . BPI Year Book 1977 . The British Phonographic Industry Ltd . London, England . 216–18 . 1977 . 2nd . 0-906154-00-6.
13. Web site: Sharon . Mawer . Album Chart History: 1976 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071217020432/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1976.php . 17 December 2007.

External links

• BBC Radio 1's Chart Show
• The Official Charts Company