Ringo Starr, who had just directed the documentary film Born To Boogie, paid tribute to its subject with this T. Rex hommage, Back Off Boogaloo.

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Tom Jones had his 25th hit single with The Young New Mexican Puppeteer in April 1972, still at the top of his game in a career that began back in the mid-Sixties.

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Over the course of 1972, probably the most-played album at my school was Deep Purple’s Machine Head. But not by me. Its opening song, Highway Star, exhibited the characteristic combination of leaden riffs and virtuosic classical-inspired solos that their admirers loved so much… and I couldn’t stand.

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Pink Floyd followed up Meddle by taking time off from sessions for Dark Side Of The Moon to record the soundtrack for a film called Obscured By Clouds. It’s by far my favourite Floyd album.

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Argent inexplicably had a hit on April Fools Day in 1972 with this long organ-fuelled dirge, Hold Your Head Up. Half a century later it sounds just as bad.

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Lindisfarne achieved a belated breakthrough with this catchy slice of whimsical folk-rock, displaying their strong Geordie roots and showasing the songwriting talent of Alan Hull. (more…)

Paul Simon took a new direction for his second solo album, travelling to Jamaica to record Mother And Child Reunion with some of Kingston’s top reggae musicians. (more…)

Nilsson – Without You

11th March 1972 · 1970s, 1972, Music
I remember buying this single (which I still have), probably because it was number one for what seemed like months in 1972, and because everyone else bought it. 
 

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Don McLean’s eight-and-a-half-minute epic about the death of Buddy Holly – “the day the music died” – was inescapable in 1972 and has gone on to become a standard. (more…)

Slade – Look Wot You Dun

19th February 1972 · 1970s, 1972, Glam, Music
Slade’s third single, Look Wot You Dun, an updated pub piano singalong, continued the Black Country band’s rise towards the top as Glam gathered pace.