It’s back to the 1970s again. More great music and the heyday of classic rock. Looking back on that decade there were so many classic rock albums that are still loved and regularly played now. We look back and listen in awe while recognizing the many great artists who made them. We also recognize a few other albums that should have had more success.
But perhaps the gap in time plays tricks with our memories or our understanding of the music back then. We look back at some of those superb albums, bands, and artists and forget that some were still working hard to establish themselves. It wasn’t all plain sailing and huge success back then. Some of the top albums have taken time over many years to be fully recognized as true classics. That's fine in terms of their overall status, but too late for chart success.
It may be a surprise to us when we look back at some of those superb 1970s albums and realize they didn't make it to number one at the time. We see them as such excellent records, perhaps, that we almost expect them to have been chart toppers. But that didn't turn out to be the case for some stellar sounds, like these five albums for example. They all missed out on that number-one spot on the Billboard charts.
Five superb albums from the 1970s that missed being number one
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Regarded as highly influential, the Ziggy Stardust album was an early highlight from David Bowie. It marked a particular phase of his music, which he moved on from quickly at the end of the Ziggy tour. That surprise end-of-an-era announcement on stage shocked his band as much if not more than, the fans.
Released in June 1972 it was perhaps a slow burner and needed time for the music and the great tracks on it to emerge and take root. It took until February 1973 to reach its highest point in the UK chart, up to number five. Initially, in the US, it only got as high as number 75, though a later surge after Bowie’s death in 2016 saw it rise to number 21 on the Billboard chart.
For such a great album you would have expected a higher chart position. That may be the retrospective view though, taking into account Bowie’s later career and significance to music. The album sold well over the years though; it became his second biggest with just over 7.5m copies, ranking just behind Let’s Dance on 10.7m.
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