Which song held the number one spot for the longest in 1971?
It doesn’t matter what period of time you are looking at, it doesn’t matter what style of music is popular; every artist secretly wants that number one spot.
I don’t care what people say, creativity, and creatively minded people want to be the best in their field. Kendrick Lamar said what all artists were thinking recently, when he was asked why he started the ongoing feud with Drake, he admitted it’s because he wanted to prove that he was the best rapper on the planet.
“My intent was to always keep, I think from day one, was to always keep the nature of it as a sport,” said Lamar. “I don’t care how mother fuckers look at it as a collaborative effort, you know, that’s cool too, but I love when artists grit their teeth. Like, I still watch battle raps […] This has always been the core definition of who I am, and it’s been that way since day one.”
The sooner more artists admit to having this mindset, the better. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of rivalry in music, after all, some of the greatest songs ever written have been the result of competition. And while the whole argument about “Which is better” will ring on until the end of time, the charts have always been a good indication as to whose flying high above the rest.
It’s never easy to predict who was number one for the longest in a certain year, regardless of what the moody bloke at the pub might try to tell you; there is always good music coming out. However, it could be argued that one of the hardest decades to predict what music would be most popular in was the ‘70s. Throughout this decade, people were constantly discovering new music and tapping into various styles. We went from pop to rock to prog to disco to funk to soul to punk all within the span of a few years, and as such, the charts look like a pretty fun array of diversity.
You could sense the change in the air at the very beginning of the decade, but it begs the question, who was number one for the longest time at the very start, all the way back in 1971? There was a lot happening in music, rock was evolving, pop was as innovative as ever, and the charts were there to be dominated by anyone who fancied a go.
So, what song was number one for the longest in 1971?
There were plenty of great songs released in 1971. Some of the most iconic music to ever grace the airwaves made itself known in this year. A great example is Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, a heartfelt protest ballad about the Vietnam War. It took Gaye a while to finally release this song as Motown weren’t keen on making music that was overtly political, but when they saw how well Gaye’s masterpiece was received, they changed their tune.
The public adored the track, and it stayed on the top spot for five weeks, but it wasn’t the longest-running number one of the year. That was a song dedicated to the fun, rock-fueled, and catchy number by Three Dog Night, ‘Joy to the World’. Following its release in February, the track spent a solid six weeks at the top of the charts, as it had an infectious nature that listeners seemed unable to shake.
The high-ranking songs of 1971 really highlight how much versatility there was available in the early ‘70s, as one track was a fun-loving jaunty rock song, meanwhile you had others which were pretty harrowing takes on the horrors of war. How beautiful music can be that way. And what a great few songs to top the charts.
