# What songs were in the top 5 when you turned 12? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529 "2014-09-25T15:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/121 "2014-10-01T07:42:51Z")
End of May 1972: At 5: _Rocket Man_, Elton John At 4: _Come What May_, Vicky Leandros At 3: _Amazing Grace_, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (which had a really long run at the top) At 2: _Could It Be Forever_, David Cassidy And at 1: _Metal Guru_, T. Rex The Cassidy one has long since faded from memory, but I could busk any of the others, at least a line or two of music. ETA: UK singles ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/122 "2014-10-01T08:10:36Z")
Hey Jude, The Beatles People Got to Be Free, The Rascals La-La Means I Love You, The Delfonics Angel of the Morning, Merrilee Rush Those Were the Days, Mary Hopkin ---
**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:** [October 1, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/123 "2014-10-01T09:53:16Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I was 12 on August 2, 1974 > > 1. John Denver - Annie’s Song > 2. Roberta Flack - Feel Like Makin’ Love > 3. Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died > 4. Elton John - Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me > 5. The Righteous Brothers - Rock And Roll Heaven > [@Darwinian](#): > > August 2 1974 - > US top 5 > > 1. Annie’s song - John Denver > 2. Don’t let the sun go down on me - Elton John > 3. Feel like makin’ love - Roberta Flack > 4. Rikki, don’t lose that number - Steely Dan > 5. The night Chicago died - Paper Lace I guess we got our lists from separate sources, but I’ll have to remember to wish you a happy birthday next year, brother! ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/124 "2014-10-01T19:53:21Z")
Going by what I see in that other series of threads, it wasn’t what was playing when I was 12, but rather when I was 14 - 15, that really stuck with me. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/125 "2014-10-01T21:41:10Z")
November 1976 1 Love So Right Bee Gees 2 The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald Gordon Lightfoot 3 Beth Kiss 4 Fernando Abba 5 Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright) Rod Stewart With the exception of Gordon Lightfoot, a wall of suck. \*Do you feel like we do? \*from Frampton came in at #6 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/126 "2014-10-01T22:30:27Z")
October, 1987: 1. Bad, Michael Jackson 2. Causing a Commotion, Madonna 3. U got the Look, The Artist Formerly Known At the Time as Prince 4. Lost in Emotion, Lisa Lisa 5. I Think We’re Alone Now, Tiffany Goes a long way to explaining why I didn’t start buying music for another five years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/127 "2014-10-01T23:45:43Z")
September 1962: 1. “Sherry” The Four Season 2. “Ramblin’ Rose” Nat King Cole 3. “Sheila” Tommy Roe 4. “Green Onions” Booker T and the MGs 5. “Teen Age Idol” Ricky Nelson ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/128 "2014-10-02T01:32:33Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > May 1983: > 1 BEAT IT –•– Michael Jackson > 2 LET’S DANCE –•– David Bowie > 3 JEOPARDY –•– The Greg Kihn Band > 4 OVERKILL –•– Men At Work > 5 SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE –•– Thomas Dolby > Mmm, I hate #1 **with the fire of 1000 suns** , like #2, have never even heard #3, like #4 a lot and fucking love #5. Not bad, overall. If it helps, Weird Al’s “I Lost on Jeopardy” was a parody of #3. ---
**Author:** ![Darwinian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Darwinian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwinian)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/129 "2014-10-02T03:56:03Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I guess we got our lists from separate sources, but I’ll have to remember to wish you a happy birthday next year, brother! Yes I think we must have, though the different songs on your list were still in the top 10 on my list. And I’ll also have to remember that we’re birthday twins next year, though I’m a sister not a brother. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/130 "2014-10-02T04:07:04Z")
April 1967 1 Happy Together The Turtles 2 Penny Lane The Beatles 3 Dedicated To The One I Love The Mamas & The Papas 4 This Is My Song Petula Clark 5 I’ve Been Lonely Too Long The Young Rascals ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/131 "2014-10-02T04:36:26Z")
I’m going to be a little different. In April 1979 my family was on vacation at Point Lookout, on Stradbroke Island, for the first of many times to come. There was a burger joint/general store where all the surfies and cool kids hung out, and it had a juke box. The store is gone now, replaced with something much fancier. 21 years later I got married only a couple of hundred yards away from [where that store was](https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-27.4332588,153.5438896,3a,75y,262.25h,83.47t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sa80JBYfSIxw7lb1S5Zbp7Q!2e0). The song that was being played over and over again on that juke box in April 1979 was the number one in Australia at the time, and it takes me right back to where I first heard it when I hear it now: 1. Heart of Glass by Blondie. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/132 "2014-10-02T12:24:17Z")
1. “Cool Night” - Paul Davis 2. “Centerfold” - J. Geils Band 3. “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” Hall & Oates 4. “Leader of the Band” - Dan Fogleberg 5. “Turn Your Love Around” - George Benson The only song in that list that I remember is Centerfold. ---
**Author:** ![JoseArcadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@JoseArcadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseArcadio)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529/133 "2014-10-02T21:18:58Z")
UK Top 40 in the week beginning 17 January 1998 1. “Never Ever” - All Saints 2. “Bamboogie” - Bamboo 3. “Renegade Master '98” - Wildchild 4. “Perfect Day” - Various Artists 5. “Together Again” - Janet Jackson Truly, a memorable week in music. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-were-in-the-top-5-when-you-turned-12/699529.md?page=6)