Best Song: Jigsaw - Sky High
There are a number of gems from the 70s by music acts many have never heard of and this is one of those. Jigsaw aren't a band I've heard being talked about when it comes to 70s bands, but this was their big hit and it's a lot better than the music I've heard by the so called legendary bands. The orchestral arrangement was done by Richard Hewson before RAH Band fame which explains a lot.
Worst Song: Ken Dodd - (Think Of Me) Wherever You Are
When comedian Ken Dodd made his chart debut back in 1960 I'm sure few would have predicted his Top 40 career would last until 1975 but here he his with his final Top 40 hit to date. He could be forgiven for the fact he was a comedian and not a musician, but his music wasn't even funny. It was boring and possibly inspired the modern non-musicians to release albums at Christmas.
Top 40 Review
When it comes to these best songs of all time type countdowns the Top 2 almost always ends up being "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen and "Imagine" by John Lennon. Both records are in this Top 40 with Queen being Christmas number one. I consider both to be overrated and are both pretty average.
Generally speaking the issue with the charts at Christmas is the mixture of Christmas and novelty records in the charts and in 1975 this makes up over a quarter of the Top 40. The big Christmas hits came from progressive rockers Greg Lake and Mike Oldfield.
We have long forgotten Christmas efforts from The Carpenters and Dana, novelty ones from the Goodies and Chris Hill. Then purely novelty hits from Laurel & Hardy, Billy Howard, Wombles and Billy Connolly. All collectively get a zero.
There is however a Christmas record that does get the full marks which is "Christmas In Dreadland" by Judge Dread which is part of a double a-side with "Come Outside" and both are hilarious like Judge Dread records tend to be.
The previous years Christmas number one act Mud were flying the flag for glam rock with "Show Me Your A Woman", not one of their big hits but certainly one of their best.
We also have second outings in the Top 40 for "Itchycoo Park" by The Small Faces which is a top tune and there's also "The Twist" and "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker back as a double a-side which is not bad.
An unlikely source of points in this Top 40 comes from David Essex. It is true to say that generally speaking his music is better than his reputation as a musician and "If I Could" is an example of this.
Quite surprisingly disco music is absent from this Top 40, but there are a few funk records which contribute points. The standout record comes from Crispy & Company with "Get It Together", their follow up to the excellent "Brazil".
When you take the Christmas and novelty hits out of the equation it's not a bad chart, but it's those records that ultimately keep the score down.
Score: 13
Table
The Christmas charts get a lower score than the best year charts, but only just:
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