Adult Contemporary is a chart published by Billboard ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. In 1971, 19 songs topped the chart, then published under the title Easy Listening, based on playlists submitted by easy listening radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores. [1]
In the issue of Billboard dated January 2, The 5th Dimension moved into the number one position, replacing "It's Impossible" by Perry Como. [2] The song held the top spot for a single week before being replaced by Bobby Goldsboro's "Watching Scotty Grow". Goldsboro's song topped the chart for six consecutive weeks, the year's longest unbroken run at number one. The Carpenters spent the most total weeks at number one in 1971, occupying the top spot for a total of nine weeks with "For All We Know", "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Superstar". The brother-sister duo was the only act to achieve three number ones during the year; The 5th Dimension and Bread were the only other acts to take more than one single to the top of the chart in 1971.
Two of 1971's Easy Listening number ones also topped Billboard's all-genre singles chart, the Hot 100, both written, solely or in part, by Carole King. King spent five weeks atop the Easy Listening chart in June and July with "It's Too Late", for which she wrote the music but not the lyrics. [3] [4] It was immediately followed into the top spot by James Taylor's recording of "You've Got a Friend", written entirely by King, [3] which spent a single week at number one. The two songs each spent the same number of weeks at number one on the Hot 100. [5] [6] Taylor's song was followed into the top spot by Olivia Newton-John's cover version of Bob Dylan's "If Not for You", the first major hit for the Australian singer who would achieve considerable U.S. chart success during the 1970s in both the pop and country fields. [7] The final Easy Listening number one of 1971 was "All I Ever Need Is You" by Sonny & Cher.
Indicates best-performing easy listening song of 1971 [8] |
The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by Billboard magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to Billboard by stations that are members of the Adult Contemporary radio panel. The chart debuted in Billboard magazine on July 17, 1961. Over the years, the chart has gone under a series of name changes, being called Easy Listening(1961–1962; 1965–1979), Middle-Road Singles(1962–1964), Pop-Standard Singles(1964–1965), Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks(1979–1982) and Adult Contemporary(1983–present).
"Nightingale" is a song written by Carole King and David Palmer. "Nightingale" first appeared on her top-selling album Wrap Around Joy, which was released in mid-July 1974, but was released as a single in December. The song has since been put on many of her compilation albums, including her certified platinum album Her Greatest Hits: Songs of Long Ago.
"Midnight Blue" is a song by American singer and songwriter Melissa Manchester, written by herself alongside Carole Bayer Sager and produced by Vini Poncia with an executive production by Richard Perry. It was released in April 1975 as the first single from Manchester's third studio album, Melissa (1975).
"Only Love Is Real" is a song written and performed by Carole King. The song was included on her 1976 album, Thoroughbred. The single peaked at number twenty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and was King's fourth and final number one on the Easy Listening chart, where it remained for one week in March 1976. It is ranked as the 40th biggest AC/Easy Listening hit of 1976.
"With Pen in Hand" is a song written by Bobby Goldsboro and first released on his March 1968 album, Honey. The song's lyrics address the subjects of divorce and losing custody of one's child, and are sung from the perspective of the parent who expects to be losing custody of their child, as they make a final plea to their spouse to reconcile before the divorce is finalized. "With Pen in Hand" has been a hit for multiple artists in the late 1960 and 1970s.