1972

Top Selling Singles

1. Nilsson – Without You
2. Pipes & Drums & The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guard – Amazing Grace
3. Donny Osmond – Puppy Love
4. The New Seekers – I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)
5. Lieutenant Pigeon – Mouldy Old Dough
6. Chuck Berry – My Ding-A-Ling
7. T Rex – Metal Guru
8. Neil Reid – Mother Of Mine
9. Chicory Tip – Son Of My Father
10. Don McLean – American Pie

Christmas No.1: Little Jimmy Osmond – Long Haired Lover From Liverpool

Top Selling Albums

1. Various Artists – 20 Dynamic Hits
2. Various Artists 20 – All Time Greats of the 50’S
3. Simon & Garfunkel – Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits
4. Rod Stewart – Never A Dull Moment
5. Various Artists – 20 Fantastic Hits
6. Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
7. Lindisfarne – Fog On The Tyne
8. Slade – Slade Alive!
9. Various Artists – 25 Rockin’ and Rollin’ Greats
10. Don Mclean – American Pie

At the Box Office

1. Diamonds Are Forever
2. The Godfather
3. Fiddler on the Roof
4. The Devils
5. Steptoe & Son
6. The French Connection
7. Nicholas and Alexandra
8. Ryan’s Daughter
9. Dirty Harry
10. Mary, Queen of Scots

Cost of Living

Average house price	£7,000
Average salary	£36.60/week
Average car price	Ford Cortina £1,022
Petrol	35p / gallon
Pint of beer	15p
Packet of 20 Cigarettes	26½p
Pint of milk	5p

In the News

• Prime Minister – Edward Heath (Conservative)
• The National Union of Mineworkers holds a strike ballot in which 58.8% vote in favour of industrial action. Coal miners begin a strike which will last for seven weeks – A state of emergency is declared by the Prime Minister as a result
• ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Northern Ireland: fourteen Catholics are killed when troops open fire on unarmed demonstrators in Derry.
• Ford launches its new executive model, the Granada
• The Brighton Belle Pullman car train makes its final journey from London to Brighton.
• The final stretch of the M6 motorway opens
• The state-owned travel agency Thomas Cook & Son is privatised
• The first official gay pride march in London is held.
• The Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar makes its West End debut.
• The School leaving age is raised from fifteen to sixteen
• The sinking of two British trawlers by an Icelandic gunboat triggers the second Cod War.
• Thousands of Ugandan Asians arrive in the UK after being deported by Idi Amin
• Rioting by Maze Prison inmates in Northern Ireland cause a fire that destroys most of the camp.
• Access credit cards are introduced
• The Government introduces freezes on pay, prices, dividends and rents to counter inflation.

On the Telly

• Mastermind is broadcast for the first time.
• First episode of Emmerdale Farm is shown
• BBC1 launches the children’s news programme Newsround with the presenter John Craven who would host it until 1989.
• Clapperboard, hosted by Chris Kelly, the long-running cinema themed children’s programme makes its debut [theme]
• Columbo is shown on ITV for the first time [theme]
• The BBC have a new theme tune for Wimbledon [theme]
• Are You Being Served? makes its debut on BBC1 [theme]
• The Adventures of Black Beauty makes its’ debut [theme]
• Following the lifting of restrictions on broadcasting hours, BBC1’s afternoon schedule launches with the first edition of a new lunchtime magazine programme Pebble Mill at One.[theme]
• Rainbow launches, featuring the characters “Zippy”, “George” and “Bungle the Bear”. It would run until 1992. [theme]
• Debut of Record Breakers with Roy Castle and Norris McWhirter

In Music

• David Bowie introduces his Ziggy Stardust persona at the second show of the 1972–73 Ziggy Stardust Tour, at The Toby Jug pub, Tolworth, Surrey
• The 17th Eurovision Song Contest is held at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. Luxembourg wins the contest

Top Selling Christmas Toys

• Skateboard
• Uno
• Plasticraft Modelling Kits

Gadgets

• Pong – Manufacturer: Atari
• The Floppy Disk
• The VCR
• A waste disposer in the kitchen was the trendy gadget. They were expensive to buy and could cost up to £50 to install. The Maxamatic Deluxe cost £62

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