# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1971 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022 "2014-09-20T17:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/41 "2014-09-22T01:22:14Z")
_ **Shaft** _, baby! Can you dig it? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/42 "2014-09-22T02:12:49Z")
Went with “Family Affair” as I just _love_ me that 70’s funk groove. Had it reached #1, I probably would vote for [Backstabbers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzTeLePbB08) in 1972, but I’m going to have to figure out how to get Gamble and Huff a vote some other way. Perhaps “Love Train” (not a big fan of “Me and Mrs. Jones”, though I like it more now than when I was 7.) The song that came a VERY close #2 was “It’s Too Late” by Carole King, which is the earliest song I distinctly remember hearing - I was 4yo, in somebody’s apartment and the song came on the radio. I was _struck_ with how plaintive it sounded (though my 4yo self would’ve thought it “sad”) It was the lyric “still I’m glad for what we had, and that I once loved you” that caught my attention. I pestered somebody (my father?) to buy me the record, which he/they never did. Which was fine because had I been allowed to play it over and over and over again, I likely would have lost the memory. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/43 "2014-09-22T02:42:49Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Okay, so can someone tell me just what the hell happened? From 1964 to 1970, we’ve got a period of music widely regarded as revolutionary, and then in 1971, we’re starting to get into some very soft, mellow fluff. It’s as jarring a transition as the one between hard rock and grunge that occurred in the early 90s. But I understand what happened there, the 80s were a time of musical excess, so the music that came in the 90s was a reaction to that. But what caused the 60s music scene to essentially end at this point except for Motown? Were rock fans tired of the rock and wanted some easier listening? Here are some other possibilities not mentioned in this thread (or I glossed over them - if so, sorry!) 1. Billboard changed the way they tracked the top-40 _constantly_. For example, look at this [list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_chart_achievements_and_milestones#Most_weeks_at_number_one) of songs which spent the longest time @ #1: > [@](#): > > Most weeks at number one: > > 16 weeks > Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men — “One Sweet Day” (1995–1996) > > 14 weeks > Whitney Houston — “I Will Always Love You” (1992–1993) > Boyz II Men — “I’ll Make Love to You” (1994) > Los del Río — “Macarena” (Bayside Boys mix) (1996) > Elton John — “Candle in the Wind 1997” / “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” (1997–1998) > Mariah Carey — “We Belong Together” (2005) > The Black Eyed Peas — “I Gotta Feeling” (2009) > > 13 weeks > Boyz II Men — “End of the Road” (1992) > Brandy and Monica — “The Boy Is Mine” (1998) > > 12 weeks > Santana featuring Rob Thomas — “Smooth” (1999–2000) > Eminem — “Lose Yourself” (2002–2003) > Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris — “Yeah!” (2004) > The Black Eyed Peas — “Boom Boom Pow” (2009) > Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell — “Blurred Lines” (2013) > > 11 weeks > Elvis Presley — “Hound Dog” / “Don’t Be Cruel” (1956) (Pre-Hot 100: “Best Sellers in Stores” and “Most Played in Jukeboxes” charts) > All-4-One — “I Swear” (1994) > Toni Braxton — “Un-Break My Heart” (1996–1997) > Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 — “I’ll Be Missing You” (1997) > Destiny’s Child — “Independent Women Part I” (2000–2001) Anybody, uh, notice a trend? 😉 If you didn’t, note that every single song, except one, was released after 1991. This isn’t because “people stopped buying music” or whatever theory one wants to come up with, it’s because Billboard changed their “chartology” (to coin a word) in 1991, which resulted in longer-running #1 singles. Essentially, they started using Nielson ratings (technically [SoundScan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_SoundScan) ratings, supplied by AC Nielson.) This wasn’t the first time they did this, and their habit of changing the formula and means of tabulation meant that, over time, we’re not really comparing apples to apples. Now I can’t vouch one way or another that a similar change occurred sometime in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. [Here is an article](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/arts/music/billboards-chart-changes-draw-fire.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) talking about changes made to the rankings in 2012. I also believe (could be wrong) that this year they are also including YouTube views in how they calculate their rankings. ETA: (Looking it up, it was actually [last year](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1549399/hot-100-news-billboard-and-nielsen-add-youtube-video-streaming-to-platforms).) (Looking further at that Wiki entry, they have a category, “Most weeks in top-10 after debuting in top-10” that, frankly could not exist pre-1991. I think by that time there may have been 5 songs that had top-10 debuts… and I might be generous in that estimate.) 1. As mentioned by **Enter the Flagon** , harder “rock” began moving to FM in the late 1960s… and these stations might not have been monitored by Billboard. 2. And to tie the above together, prior to 1991 Billboard depended upon manual reports from radio stations themselves to compile these lists… and if the radio stations didn’t send BB a report, their songs didn’t get reported. And, really, it’s not hard imagining that a lot of early 1970’s AOR stations declining to send “the man” a report of what songs they were playing. Another thing that occurred, which may or may not have anything to do with the change of music styles, is many stations stopped listing popular songs once the record companies stopped promoting it. So while a song might have still been popular, if the station wasn’t receiving kickbacks, er, promotional material from Capital Records for that group/album/song, they would not put it on their manually-submitted Billboard list as it would do them no good to do so. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/44 "2014-09-22T07:31:55Z")
“Me and Bobby McGee” gets my vote, with “Joy to the World” a very close second. There were several I never heard of . . . or forgot. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/45 "2014-09-22T11:52:27Z")
Several songs I liked a lot, few I loved. I cheated and voted for “Reason to Believe,” one of Rod Stewart’s best songs, but a B-side and not a real #1 hit. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/46 "2014-09-22T13:40:42Z")
I hate Rod Stewart…but I’m a sucker for good lyrics. Had to give it to Maggie. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/47 "2014-09-22T14:08:14Z")
“Me and Bobby McGee”, because Janis. I tried not to give too much weight to her death, but failed. So it goes. RIP, Janis. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/48 "2014-09-22T14:13:48Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > This wasn’t the first time they did this, and their habit of changing the formula and means of tabulation meant that, over time, we’re not really comparing apples to apples. Now I can’t vouch one way or another that a similar change occurred sometime in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. They didn’t. There may have been some slight changes here and there during the 60s and 70s but nothing compared to the SoundScan innovation of 1991. What happened was that the world changed. Simply put, there was less competition in the 1950s. Elvis could regularly top the charts for weeks on end, and so could others who grew popular. The number of big influential radio stations was also smaller and they would play popular hits to death. Can’t underestimate the power of payola, either, in ensuring that some songs would be favored over others. Post-Beatles, every tiny record label in America started rushing out singles in the hopes of getting that big break. New stations sprang up and started competing for being the hot new place to hear the hottest newest songs. (No official payola, either, although let’s not be naive.) It became easier for local hits to move nationally. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of clubs started and bands started regular touring. Every week was like the introduction of a new iPhone. You had to keep up or not be with it. That frenetic competition eased starting in the 1970s, not because there was less music but because there was so much that the music world split into factions. You had Top 40 and AOR (Album oriented rock). Then came easy listening or adult contemporary. Urban stations played varieties of black music and those split into segments as well. Country staged a huge comeback and artists who had been on the pop charts didn’t cross over as often. Billboard tracked radio plays as well as sales, but as artists appeared on a smaller percentage of stations, they found it harder to win the overall Hot 100. By 1991, radio plays outweighed actual sales figures, which were widely seen as bad data at best and fraudulent at worst. Everything changed, and we really shouldn’t even try to compare the earlier charts to the later ones. But nothing like that immediate and obvious change happened in the era we’re discussing. It’s all a symptom of the music world fracturing. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/49 "2014-09-22T16:32:09Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Several songs I liked a lot, few I loved. > > I cheated and voted for “Reason to Believe,” one of Rod Stewart’s best songs, but a B-side and not a real #1 hit. Actually, Reason to Believe was the A-side at first - it wasn’t until Maggie May started getting more airplay that the label republished the single with it as the A-side instead. Since both songs were getting airplay, though, they became co-#1s by dint of Billboard’s policy at the time. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/50 "2014-09-23T00:24:40Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > By 1991, radio plays outweighed actual sales figures, which were widely seen as bad data at best and fraudulent at worst. Everything changed, and we really shouldn’t even try to compare the earlier charts to the later ones. But nothing like that immediate and obvious change happened in the era we’re discussing. It’s all a symptom of the music world fracturing. We’re probably way ahead of ourselves here, but I have to ask: did the charts ever account for MTV airplay? I ask because I recently got a subscription to Billboard and was surprised to see how many videos MTV would play to death that would peak at like #81 or not even chart at all during the 80s and 90s. Yet arguably, these songs ended up having a rather large effect on the popular culture and musical trends. ---
**Author:** ![justmeetee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@justmeetee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justmeetee)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/51 "2014-09-23T00:27:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I am 42 years old and have never met a single person in my life who described themselves as a Rod Stewart fan. Absolutely the most bafflingly famous person in music history, IMHO. Who the hell likes his songs? > > So I voted for “Shaft.” When he was the vocalist for Jeff Beck there were some great cuts. “Blues DeLuxe” is one of the better blues/rock songs I’ve heard. Nicky Hopkins piano work on this one is fabulous as well. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/52 "2014-09-23T01:29:44Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I think the shift to softer stuff in the Top 40 is tied to the fact that harder stuff was still popular (someone mentioned Led Zeppelin, e.g.), but on _albums_\*, not singles. That was certainly my experience. Excepting the leftovers from 1970, I remember only hearing about three of these songs on the radio in 1971, because at 17 I’d pretty much stopped listening to the radio on my own. I can tell you when I bought _Sweet Baby James_, or when a friend played _Aqualung_ for me, or when I borrowed _Deja Vu_ off another friend, or the party I was at where we listened to _Tea for the Tillerman_, just to name a few. But with the exception of “Joy to the World” and “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” there’s not a song on this list that I identify with 1971. All the songs glued to my memory from that year - and there were a _lot_ of them - were songs I heard off albums. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/53 "2014-09-23T12:16:04Z")
Ugh, Me & Bobby McGee. I can _taste_ the loogie in Janis’ throat every time she says “McGee”. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/54 "2014-09-23T14:09:56Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I hate Rod Stewart…but I’m a sucker for good lyrics. Had to give it to Maggie. _The Singing Brillo Pad Strikes Again_! was the title of my high school newspaper’s review of a Rod Stewart album. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/55 "2014-09-23T14:22:23Z")
I always imagined that if a cockroach could sing, it would sound like Rod. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/56 "2014-09-24T22:12:18Z")
I’m a huge rock fan, but Carole King’s Tapestry album is a masterpiece. “I Feel the Earth Move” is wonderful, but there’s something personal and melancholy about “It’s Too Late.” I’ve loved that song before I even knew who wrote it or sang it. > [@](#): > > There’ll be good times again for me and you > But we just can’t stay together, don’t you feel it too > Still I’m glad for what we had, and how I once loved you This cuts to the bone for me. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/57 "2014-09-24T22:39:29Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > We’re probably way ahead of ourselves here, but I have to ask: did the charts ever account for MTV airplay? AFAIK, no. Not in the 80s, at any rate. That was outside their box. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/58 "2014-10-05T15:55:04Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > What the hell is “Want Ads” by _The Honey Cone_? This my era, but I have never ever heard of this. I suppose it was not a hit in Britain, where I was then, but I I think that there is little doubt that I have heard all the other US-only major hits (certainly number ones) from this era multiple times, or if not every song I am at least familiar with the major bands and artists, but this one rings no bells at all. 😕 > [@Ponch8](#): > > I never thought I’d see it on the 1971 list. To me, it sounds a good 8-10 years older than that. I just heard this song a few minutes ago on an oldies station (which I thought were extinct). It has more of a 70s feel than I remember–musically it’s basically a cheap knockoff of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/59 "2014-10-24T16:30:20Z")
I picked Bobby McGee. I thought Brown Sugar would be the breakaway winner. I’m surprised it didn’t get more votes than it did, but there are a lot of other great tunes here. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022/60 "2015-02-08T23:28:54Z")
tuff one i voted for uncle albert [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1971/699022.md?page=2)