# Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 1972 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232 "2015-01-29T15:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/1 "2015-01-29T15:55:00Z")
The year is now 1972. This year we go to #42 for our list of 25 nominees, which is certainly an interesting batch. What’s your favorite? Previous polls: [1956](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744629) [1957](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744819) [1958](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744978) [1959](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745151) [1960](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745331) [1961](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745525) [1962](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745733) [1963](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745956) [1964](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746118) [1965](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746342) [1966](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746498) [1967](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746735) [1968](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746932) [1969](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747152) [1970](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747345) [1971](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747517) Best #1 single polls: [1955-56](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=731649) [1957](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=731871) [1958](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732021) [1959](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732199)[1960](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732526) [1961](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732691) [1962](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732872) [1963](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733112) [1964](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733297) [1965](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733526) [1966](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733750) [1967](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733958) [1968](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734168) [1969](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734331) [1970](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734535) [1971](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734741) [1972](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735107) [1973](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735304) [1974](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735502) [1975](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735659) [1976](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735871) [1977](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736076) [1978](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736316) [1979](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736501) [1980](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736705) [1981](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736957) [1982](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737099) [1983](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737315) [1984](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737488) [1985](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737732) [1986](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737957) [1987](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738178) [1988](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738403) [1989](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738639) [1990](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738829) [1991](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739067) [1992](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739360) [1993](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739525) [1994](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739880) [1995](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740122) [1996](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740302) [1997](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740497) [1998](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740709) [1999](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740859) [2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741047) [2001](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741267) [2002](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741450) [2003](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741604) [2004](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741730) [2005](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741915) [2006](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742069) [2007](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742147) [2008](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742282) [2009](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742467) [2010](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742676) [2011](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742846) [2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=675664) [2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=710843) [2014](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743899) [1950s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743046) [1960s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743240) [1970s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743399) [1980s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743597) [1990s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743803) [2000s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743981) [2010s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744176) [All-time](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744358) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/2 "2015-01-29T16:03:49Z")
It’s ROCKET MAN. I’m not even much of an Elton John fan, but it’s ROCKET MAN. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/3 "2015-01-29T16:05:19Z")
For the record, it’s just “Raspberries” not “The Raspberries.” ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/4 "2015-01-29T16:23:49Z")
The Main Ingredient or the O’Jays… this poll comes up on a day when I am streaming 70’s soul like Don Cornelius on a speed bender… The O’Jays, I gotta imagine, wil have other opportunities, so The Main Ingredient it is. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/5 "2015-01-29T17:53:35Z")
I was torn between Elton John, the Hollies, and Badfinger, but went with Badfinger. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/6 "2015-01-29T17:56:00Z")
What a shit list. I imagine Elton will take it, but for me it was between “Betcha, By Golly, Wow” and “Go All The Way” - I went with the latter for some power pop representation. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/7 "2015-01-29T18:05:16Z")
Meh. I’ll take the Moodys. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/8 "2015-01-29T18:07:15Z")
War. I’ve always loved War. My favorite funk ensemble of the 1970’s. Not the best, not the most consistent, not the most talented, not the most innovative. But my favorite :). ---
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/9 "2015-01-29T18:20:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Meh. I’ll take the Moodys. Nights in White Satin was my choice as well - I loved that song when I was little and would get my mother to put _Days of Future Passed_ on over and over again just because I wanted to hear the poem at the end and the gong. (Note that although the album and single were released in 1967, it wasn’t until this year that it made the year-end chart, only making it to #103 in the weekly chart when first released. It was reissued in 1972 after the group had had several other hits, and made #2 that time.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/10 "2015-01-29T18:32:41Z")
The Hollies, in a walk. That’s some straight-ahead, classically-constructed rock and roll music. I still crank it up when it comes on. I loved the Moody Blues album, but it didn’t get the blood going. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/11 "2015-01-29T18:51:03Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The Hollies, in a walk. That’s some straight-ahead, classically-constructed rock and roll music. I still crank it up when it comes on. It’s a good song, but I have to mark it down because the singer slurs the lyrics to the point of complete incoherence. Even with the actual lyrics in front of me I can barely connect what he’s supposedly saying to the sounds coming out of the speaker. It’s like the song was specifically recorded that way with the intent to make people get the lyrics wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/12 "2015-01-29T18:51:33Z")
“Nights in White Satin” may be my favorite song on this list, but it’s a song from a whole other era, and I feel it should get a disqualification. So I went with War. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/13 "2015-01-29T19:04:08Z")
Long Cool Woman is one of the coolest songs of all time. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/14 "2015-01-29T19:08:59Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > “Nights in White Satin” may be my favorite song on this list, but it’s a song from a whole other era, and I feel it should get a disqualification. So I went with War. In the #1 poll series we tracked all the #1s regardless of whether or not they came out in the year they hit #1 (“Red Red Wine” making #1 in 1988 after being released in 1982, for instance), and I’m sticking with that here. Nights was five years old, but _this_ is the year it made a major impact on the pop charts, so it earns its place. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/15 "2015-01-29T19:40:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s a good song, but I have to mark it down because the singer slurs the lyrics to the point of complete incoherence. Even with the actual lyrics in front of me I can barely connect what he’s supposedly saying to the sounds coming out of the speaker. It’s like the song was specifically recorded that way with the intent to make people get the lyrics wrong. Lyrics, shmyrics, I sez. 😃 Nobody bought _Louie, Louie_ for the lyrics, which are still indecipherable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/16 "2015-01-29T19:43:18Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > In the #1 poll series we tracked all the #1s regardless of whether or not they came out in the year they hit #1 (“Red Red Wine” making #1 in 1988 after being released in 1982, for instance), and I’m sticking with that here. Nights was five years old, but _this_ is the year it made a major impact on the pop charts, so it earns its place. Of course. I’m not blaming you for including it. I’m saying that I would feel ridiculous calling it the best song of 1972. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/17 "2015-01-29T20:26:12Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > The Main Ingredient or the O’Jays… this poll comes up on a day when I am streaming 70’s soul like Don Cornelius on a speed bender… > > The O’Jays, I gotta imagine, wil have other opportunities, so The Main Ingredient it is. For trivia’s sake, the lead singer was Cuba Gooding Sr. Myself, I went with the O’Jays. Could’ve gone with Billy Preston as well. Question for **Smapti** : How are you organizing these lists? ---
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/18 "2015-01-29T20:30:56Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Question for **Smapti** : How are you organizing these lists? They’re listed in the order in which they ranked on the year-end Hot 100. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/19 "2015-01-29T20:35:45Z")
So, the second biggest song that didn’t hit #1 was sung by _Wayne Newton_? I don’t know whether to laugh or cry… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232/20 "2015-01-29T21:55:40Z")
I voted for Elton John, second choice would have been Main Ingredient. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1972/711232.md?page=2)