Teach The World
I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing by the New Seekers begins the year at number 1 and stays there for four weeks. In an interview with David Jensen, Lyn Paul recalled the day when the single first topped the charts. The New Seekers were in the office of the group's publicist, Tony Barrow.
"We were just waiting and waiting and waiting, and suddenly we were told: 'Yes, you've reached number 1' and the champagne opened. I don't remember leaving the office!" (From The Bottom To The Top, Capital Gold)
The single stays on the charts for a total of 21 weeks and ends the decade as the 6th best-selling single of the 1970s. The single also earns the group a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Performance of 1972.
Not only is the record a huge hit in the UK, its success is repeated around the world. In the USA the single reaches number 7 and would have done even better had it not been for a rival Country and Western version of the song by the Hillside Singers.
Sheet music for
the New Seekers' number 1 hit
I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony).
 
Following this success, an album is released in March entitled We'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (Polydor 2383 103). The album makes its chart début on 1st April, spends 25 weeks in the Top 50 and gets as high as number 2. Lyn takes the lead vocal on just one of the tracks - a Paul Williams' song entitled Just An Old Fashioned Love Song.
On 25th March the New Seekers represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Beg, Steal Or Borrow (Polydor 2058 201). The song comes second with a score of 114 points and the single reaches number 2 in the UK charts. On 24th April, when the New Seekers make their first appearance at the Royal Albert Hall, Eve Graham jokes about it:
"The song that we're going to sing now has done quite well for us in the British charts and we're also pleased to say that it's doing well in the charts in Europe even though it didn't win a certain contest!"
Sheet music for
the New Seekers' Eurovision hit
Beg, Steal Or Borrow.
Up until now Eve had performed the lead vocal on all but one of the New Seekers' singles. This time Lyn shares the lead vocal with Peter Doyle.
The concert at the Royal Albert Hall is one of the highlights of the New Seekers' second tour of the UK, which they embark on almost immediately after performing at Edinburgh's Usher Hall in the Eurovision Song Contest. The concert is recorded for television and years later is released as a video. An album of the concert, Live At The Royal Albert Hall (Polydor 2657 010), is released in time for Christmas. It features Lyn singing two solos - the ballad I'll Be Home and the crowd-rousing I'm A Nut. She shares the spotlight with Peter Doyle on two other songs - When I Was Small and Beg, Steal Or Borrow.
Such is the New Seekers popularity at this point in their career that Polydor Records re-release the group's last album for Philips. In June Beautiful People reappears in the shops with the title Never Ending Song Of Love (Polydor 2383 126). Meanwhile the New Seekers are voted the world's top vocal group by readers of Record Mirror and also receive a Carl-Alan award from the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
Lyn, Eve, Peter, Paul & Marty spend most of the year travelling back and forth between the UK and the States. Part of the Summer is spent in the USA recording a five week TV series called WOW. Then it's back to Blighty for a cabaret tour of the north and a three week residence at the Talk Of The Town. Before returning to the States again, they squeeze in a concert tour of Germany, including sell-out dates in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Kiel and Munich.
A new single, Circles (Polydor 2058 242), enters the UK chart on 10th June. The song is credited to the pen of Harry Chapin, a singer-songwriter from the USA, who would go on to have hits under his own name in 1974 with W.O.L.D. and Cats In The Cradle (US number 1). Circles gets to number 4 in the UK and spends 16 weeks on the singles chart.
An album, also entitled Circles (Polydor 2442 102), is released in September. Lyn takes the lead vocal on two tracks - Todd Rundgren's I Saw The Light and Neil Diamond's Song Sung Blue. Neil Diamond's version of Song Sung Blue had been a UK hit in May 1972. Todd Rundgren's version of I Saw The Light wasn't to be a hit until June 1973, when it would reach number 36 in the UK chart.
The New Seekers' Summer TV appearances include a show of their own on BBC1 (Sunday, 23rd July, 7.25pm) and a guest appearance on Saturday Variety (ITV, Saturday, 12th August, 8.30pm).
In October the New Seekers take part in the BBC's 50th anniversary celebrations by recording a TV special titled Fifty Years Of Music. Others appearing on the show include Lulu, who gets things under way with a selection of songs from the 1920s and Henry Hall, who with the help of the Alyn Ainsworth Orchestra, recalls the big band sound of the 1930s. Vera Lynn and Cliff Richard perform songs from the decades with which they are most associated (the 1940s and 1960s respectively) while Gilbert O'Sullivan covers the 1970s. The New Seekers sing Smile, originally a hit for Nat 'King' Cole in 1954, followed by a medley of other songs from the 1950s - Teresa Brewer's Music Music Music ("Put another nickel in / In the nickelodeon ..."), the Everly Brothers' Bye Bye Love, Catch A Falling Star and Magic Moments (both hits for Perry Como in 1958) and Scarlet Ribbons. The latter, which was a hit for Harry Belafonte in 1957, features Lyn Paul on lead vocal. The programme is screened on BBC2 on 6th November at 8.50pm. After recording their appearance the New Seekers fly back to America for a concert in Hollywood and another at the Forum, where they co-star with Bill Cosby, José Feliciano and Dionne Warwick.
In November, while the New Seekers tour Australia and New Zealand, a single is released titled Come Softly To Me (Polydor 2058 315). The song was originally recorded in 1959 by the Fleetwoods (London HL 8841). The New Seekers' version, which features Marty Kristian on lead vocal, enters the UK singles chart on 2nd December. The group promote the single with TV appearances on Top Of The Pops and The Golden Shot. Come Softly To Me is the New Seekers' fifth UK Top 20 hit and marks the end of a hugely successful year on the UK singles charts. At the final count, the group's singles have amassed a total of 53 weeks on the charts, placing them second only to T Rex (58 weeks) and well ahead of artists like David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, Michael Jackson, Slade and Sweet.
On Sunday, 17th December the New Seekers perform a special Christmas concert at the Hammersmith Palais for members of their Fan Club. The show is compered by DJ Ed Stewart. 8,000 people turn up and there is pandemonium as the group are mobbed by hysterical fans. Recalling scenes such as this in an interview 33 years later, Lyn said:
"Normally the groups that were being screamed at ... were all male. But we were the very first mixed group with two females in it that had all this adulation ... It was something to behold, I tell you, all these thousands of people outside hotels, actually breaking doors down to try and get to you. It was quite frightening at times but it was still a great thing to go through." (Flashback, BBC Radio Leeds, 14th August 2005)
One of Lyn's most vivid memories is the hysteria just after the Eurovision Song Contest.
"We were staying at the Caledonian in Edinburgh during the Eurovision and they had swing doors ... They saw us in the foyer and actually broke through the swing doors to try and get to us." (Flashback, BBC Radio Leeds, 14th August 2005)
On Christmas Day the group escape the "Seeker fever" in the UK by flying to America for a season at Disneyland. Meanwhile, on 27th December there is a repeat showing of the New Seekers appearance on Fifty Years Of Music (BBC1, 5.45pm).
Incidentally ...
In January, while the New Seekers were topping the UK charts with I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, the writers of the song, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, were simultaneously having Top 10 hits with Softly Whispering I Love You by the Congregation and Something Tells Me Something's Gonna Happen Tonight by Cilla Black.
| In the News - 1972 |
| |
|
| Jan |
The US President, Richard Nixon, announces his intention to run for re-election in November.
The former Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth is badly damaged by fire in Hong Kong harbour on Sunday, 9th January.
On the same day UK coal miners begin a seven-week strike, following the failure of pay negotiations with the National Coal Board.
Sheikh Mujib is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Unemployment in the UK passes the 1 million mark for the first time since the 1930s.
On 22nd January in Brussels Edward Heath, Sir Alex Douglas-Home and Geoffrey Rippon sign the Treaty of Accession of the UK to the European Economic Community.
The UK appoints its first Ambassador to Communist China.
In Londonderry, Northern Ireland, British troops fire on a crowd of civil rights marchers, killing thirteen people and wounding seventeen more (a 14th man later dies of his injuries). The day on which this occurs, 30th January, becomes known as Bloody Sunday.
|
| Feb |
The British Embassy in Dublin is burnt down on 2nd February in a reprisal for Bloody Sunday.
The UK and six other European countries officially recognise the new state of Bangladesh.
As the miners' strike takes hold, power cuts are introduced in the UK. A state of emergency is declared on 9th February. The strike is called off on 25th February after miners vote to accept a £95m pay package.
On 22nd February an IRA bomb kills seven people at the paratroopers' headquarters in Aldershot, southern England.
President Nixon visits China.
|
| Mar |
The miners' strike is settled on 2nd March, so putting an end to the power cuts.
On 24th March the Prime Minister, Edward Heath, announces to the House of Commons that direct rule from Westminster is to be imposed on Northern Ireland. William Whitelaw is appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
On 26th March, following nine months of negotiations, Malta and the UK sign a new seven-year defence agreement.
The Queen opens the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition at the British Museum on 29th March.
On 31st March CND supporters set off on a 56-mile Easter march from London to Aldermaston, Berkshire.
|
| Apr |
The first home video recorders go on sale.
On 4th April Pulsar launches the first digital watch.
On 10th April more than 5,300 people are killed by an earthquake in southern Iran.
On 20th April the astronauts aboard the Apollo 16, Charles Duke and John Young, become the fifth team to land on the moon, despite problems the previous evening with an engine on their command module, Orion.
The Soviet Union refuses visas to Swedish officials trying to present Alexandr Solzhenitsyn with his Nobel Prize for Literature.
Five Colleges at Oxford University admit women students for the first time.
|
| May |
On 9th May Israeli soldiers disguised as maintenance staff rescue 100 people on board a hijacked Sabena plane at Lod airport in Tel Aviv.
The Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis and the actress Margaret Rutherford both die on 22nd May.
Ceylon becomes a republic with the new name of Sri Lanka.
The Duke of Windsor dies at his home in Paris on 28th May, aged 77. Before his death he receives a visit from the Queen.
On 22nd May the US President Richard Nixon begins a week-long visit to Moscow. On 26th May a treaty to halt the nuclear arms race, known as the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), is signed in the Kremlin by President Nixon and the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev.
The travel company Thomas Cook & Son, which had been state-owned since 1948, is sold to a private consortium of businesses on 26th May for £22.5 million.
On 29th May three Japanese terrorists kill 26 people and injure more than 70 others at Lod Airport, Tel Aviv.
|
| Jun |
More than 400 miners are killed in an explosion at the Wankie Colliery in Rhodesia.
Gay News is founded.
The Watergate burglary takes place on 17th June. Five burglars are arrested.
On 18th June 118 people aboard a BEA flight from Heathrow are killed in Britain's worst-ever air crash.
A hurricane hits the eastern States of the USA. More than 120 people are killed and half a million are made homeless by the ensuing floods.
|
| Jul |
Reginald Maudling resigns as Home Secretary while police investigate the affairs of architect John Poulsen (Maudling had been the Chairman of one of Poulsen's companies).
76 people are killed in a head on crash between two trains in Seville, Spain.
On 28th July dock workers in the UK begin an official strike.
|
| Aug |
US troops are withdrawn from Vietnam.
On Friday, 4th August, eighteen months after he had seized power, Idi Amin orders the expulsion of all Asians living in Uganda. The 50,000-strong community is given 90 days to leave.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdraws its invitation to Rhodesia to participate in the 1972 Olympics.
Sir Francis Chichester dies on 26th August, aged 70.
|
| Sep |
On 1st September the School Leaving Age in the UK is raised from 15 years to 16.
Munich Olympics: eleven Israeli athletes are killed by Arab terrorists on 5th September. The Games resume on 6th September after a 24 hour suspension.
Dr. Ami Sachori, a diplomat at the Israeli embassy in London, is killed by a letter bomb on 19th September.
The "Cod War" begins when an Icelandic gunboat sinks two British trawlers.
UK building workers, who had been on strike for 11 weeks, accept a 30% pay increase.
Norwegians vote against joining the Common Market.
|
| Oct |
The result of a Danish referendum shows that a majority of voters are in favour of joining the Common Market.
Sir John Betjeman is appointed Poet Laureate on Tuesday, 10th October, following the death of Cecil Day-Lewis.
The Liberal politician Cyril Smith wins a by-election in Rochdale. The seat had been held by Labour for 14 years.
The Queen makes a state visit to Yugoslavia, her first to a Communist country.
|
| Nov |
The US poet and literary critic Ezra Pound dies in Venice on 1st November, aged 87.
Juan Peron returns to Argentina after 17 years in exile.
Richard Nixon is re-elected President of the USA on 7th November. In the elections for the US Congress Andrew Young becomes the first black American from the South to be elected since the mid-19th century.
On 6th November the British government imposes Phase One of its anti-inflation programme, with a 90-day freeze on pay, prices, dividends and rents.
Israel and Syria fight an eight-hour battle on the Golan Heights on 21st November.
On 24th November Finland becomes the first Western nation to formally recognize East Germany as a separate country.
In the UK the Race Relations Act comes into force on 26th November.
On the same day Anglo-Icelandic talks on the dispute over fishing limits in waters off Iceland break down.
|
| Dec |
Nicaragua is hit by an earthquake which devastates the capital Managua and kills more than 10,000 people.
Former US President Harry S. Truman dies on 26th December, aged 88.
On New Year's Eve Clive Sinclair unveils the world's first pocket calculator.
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|
| In the Charts |
| |
| UK Chart Debuts |
| |
- Colin Blunstone
- David Cassidy
- Lynsey de Paul
- Electric Light Orchestra
- Roberta Flack
- Gary Glitter
- Michael Jackson
- Lindisfarne
- Osmonds
- Roxy Music
- Stylistics
- 10cc
- Wizzard
|
| UK Best-selling Singles |
| |
- America
A Horse With No Name
- Argent
Hold Your Head Up
- Chuck Berry
My Ding-a-Ling
- Blackfoot Sue
Standing In The Road
- Colin Blunstone
Say You Don't Mind
- David Bowie
Starman
- Carpenters
Goodbye To Love / I Won't Last A Day Without You
- Johnny Cash and the Evangel Temple Choir
A Thing Called Love
- David Cassidy
Could It Be Forever / Cherish
- David Cassidy
How Can I Be Sure
- Chelsea FC
Blue Is The Colour
- Chiffons
Sweet Talking Guy
- Chi-Lites
Have You Seen Her
- Chicory Tip
Son Of My Father
- Chiffons
Sweet Talkin' Guy
- Alice Cooper
Elected
- Alice Cooper
School's Out
- Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs
Seaside Shuffle
- Lynsey de Paul
Sugar Me
- Neil Diamond
Song Sung Blue
- Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
Sylvia's Mother
- Drifters
At The Club / Saturday Night At The Movies
- Drifters
Come On Over To My Place
- Donnie Elbert
Where Did Our Love Go?
- Faces
Stay With Me
- Roberta Flack
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
- Fortunes
Storm In A Teacup
- Gary Glitter
Rock and Roll Part 2
- Al Green
Let's Stay Together
- Hawkwind
Silver Machine
- Michael Jackson
Ain't No Sunshine
- Michael Jackson
Ben
- Michael Jackson
Got To Be There
- Michael Jackson
Rockin' Robin
- John and Yoko / the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
- Elton John
Crocodile Rock
- Elton John
Rocket Man
- Judge Dread
Big Seven
- Vicky Leandros
Come What May
[Eurovision Song Contest winner]
- Lieutenant Pigeon
Mouldy Old Dough
- Lindisfarne
Lady Eleanor
- Lindisfarne
Meet Me On The Corner
- Don McLean
American Pie
- Don McLean
Vincent
- Melanie
Brand New Key
- Moody Blues
Isn't Life Strange
- Mott the Hoople
All The Young Dudes
- Move
California Man
- Johnny Nash
I Can See Clearly Now
- Johnny Nash
There Are More Questions Than Answers
- New World
Sister Jane
- Nilsson
Without You
- Donny Osmond
Puppy Love
- Jimmy Osmond
Long Haired Lover From Liverpool
- Osmonds
Crazy Horses
- Gilbert O'Sullivan
Alone Again (Naturally)
- Gilbert O'Sullivan
Clair
- Elvis Presley
I Just Can't Help Believing
- Neil Reid
Mother of Mine
- Cliff Richard
Living In Harmony
- Rolling Stones
Tumbling Dice
- Roxy Music
Virginia Plain
- Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
Amazing Grace
- Shangri-Las
Leader Of The Pack
- Paul Simon
Mother And Child Reunion
- Peter Skellern
You're A Lady
- Slade
Gudbuy T' Jane
- Slade
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
- Slade
Take Me Bak 'Ome
- Sly and the Family Stone
Family Affair
- Hurricane Smith
Oh Babe, What Would You Say
- Sonny and Cher
All I Ever Need Is You
- Ringo Starr
Back Off Boogaloo
- Cat Stevens
Morning Has Broken
- Rod Stewart
You Wear It Well
- Supremes
Automatically Sunshine
- Supremes
Floy Joy
- Sweet
Little Willie
- Sweet
Wig Wam Bam
- T Rex
Metal Guru
- T Rex
Telegram Sam
- 10cc
Donna
- Jackie Wilson
I Get The Sweetest Feeling
- Neil Young
Heart Of Gold
|
| One Hit Wonders |
| |
- Roy C
Shotgun Wedding
- Hot Butter
Popcorn
- Mardi Gras
Too Busy Thinking 'Bout My Baby
- Johnny Pearson Orchestra
Sleepy Shores (Theme from Owen M.D.)
- Faron Young
It's Four In The Morning
- Python Lee Jackson
In A Broken Dream
- Shag (Jonathan King)
Loop Di Love
|
| Hit Albums |
|
- David Bowie
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
- Bread
Best Of Bread
- Neil Diamond
Moods
- George Harrison and Friends
Concert For Bangladesh
- Lindisfarne
Fog On The Tyne
- Don McLean
American Pie
- Osmonds
Crazy Horses
- Rolling Stones
Exile On Main Street
- Paul Simon
Paul Simon
- Slade
Slayed?
- Phil Spector
Phil Spector's Christmas Album
- Cat Stevens
Catch Bull At Four
- Rod Stewart
Never A Dull Moment
- T Rex
Bolan Boogie
- T Rex
The Slider
- Yes
Close To The Edge
- Neil Young
Harvest
|
|
|
| At the Movies |
| |
| |
- Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
- The Boyfriend
- Cabaret
- The Candidate
- Carry On Abroad
- A Clockwork Orange
- Deliverance
- Diamonds Are Forever
- Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask (Woody Allen)
- The French Connection
- Frenzy
- The Godfather
- The Hospital
- Lady Caroline Lamb
- Mary, Queen Of Scots
- Play It Again Sam (Woody Allen)
- What's Up Doc?
- Young Winston
|
|
| On Television |
| |
| |
- The Adventures Of Black Beauty
- Alistair Cooke's America
- Are You Being Served?
(pilot episode)
- Colditz
- Columbo
- Dad's Army
(Series 5)
- Dave Allen At Large
(Series 2)
- Emmerdale Farm
- Father, Dear Father
(Series 6)
- General Hospital
- John Craven's Newsround
- The Liver Birds
(Series 3)
- Look - Mike Yarwood!
(Series 2)
- Love Thy Neighbour
(Series 1 and 2)
- M*A*S*H
(USA)
- Mastermind
- Monty Python's Flying Circus
(Series 3)
- My Wife Next Door
- On The Buses
(Series 6)
- Pebble Mill At One
- Record Breakers
- Sale Of The Century
- Shut That Door!!
(Larry Grayson)
- Steptoe and Son
(Series 7)
- Thirty Minutes Worth
(Harry Worth)
- Till Death Us Do Part
(Series 4)
- The Two Ronnies
(Series 2)
- Van Der Valk
- The Waltons
- War and Peace
- Weekend World
|
|
| Sporting Heroes |
| |
BBC Sport
BBC
Sports Personality
of the Year:
Mary Peters
|
|
Tennis: Virginia Wade wins the women's singles title at the Australian Open, beating Evonne Goolagong in the final in straight sets (6-4, 6-4).
Goolagong also loses in the final at Wimbledon, this time to Billie Jean King, who takes the title for the fourth time (6-3, 6-3). King also wins the women's singles title at the French Open and the US Open.
Stan Smith wins his first (and last) Wimbledon men's singles title, beating Ile Nastase in five sets (4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5).
Horse Racing: Well To Do wins the Grand National.
Lester Piggott, riding Roberto, wins the Derby for the sixth time.
Football: Tommy Docherty is appointed Manager of Manchester United.
Leeds United win the 100th FA Cup Final, beating Arsenal 1:0.
Having been promoted from the Second Division in 1969, Derby County end the season as League Champions for the first time in the club's history.
Glasgow Rangers win the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Dynamo Moscow 3:0 in the final.
Snooker: Alex Higgins beats the defending Champion, John Spencer, to win the first of his two World Snooker Championships.
Olympics: Mark Spitz wins five gold medals for swimming at the 1972 Olympics.
Mary Peters wins a gold medal for Britain in the Women's Pentathlon.
Golf: Lee Trevino wins the British Open for the second year running. Jack Nicklaus is runner-up.
Chess: Bobby Fischer of the US beats Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union to become the first American world chess champion.
Horse Racing: Willie Carson becomes Champion Jockey for the first time.
Rugby: Welsh fly-half John Barry retires, aged 27.
|
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| Page-turners |
| |
Man Booker Prize
Winner:
John Berger
G
On the shortlist:
Susan Hill
Bird Of Night
Thomas Keneally
The Chant Of Jimmy Blacksmith
David Storey
Pasmore
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