TOP ACT OVERALL Carpenters
TOP MALE ARTIST Gilbert O'Sullivan
TOP FEMALE ARTIST Roberta Flack
TOP GROUP Carpenters
TOP NEW ACT Gilbert O'Sullivan
21 songs reached #1 on Billboard in 1972
The number one single of the 1972 belonged to an artist that went by his last name, Harry Nilsson. "Without You" was previously recorded by Badfinger. Nilsson had penned hits for The Monkees and Three Dog Night. He also had won a Grammy award for "Everybody's Talking" from Midnight Cowboy and was a well known favorite of The Beatles. The Carpenters continued their success into 1972 as they placed another two singles in year end top ten, including the second biggest hit of the year, "Goodbye To Love", making them the top act of the year. The year's biggest new act was Gilbert O'Sullivan from Ireland. His first two singles, "Alone Again" and "Clair" finished the year at #3 and #4. Elvis Presley had his biggest hit in three years as "Burning Love" finished 1972 at #5. "Burning Love" was Elvis Presley's 12th single to finish on a year end top ten list for UU-BRU Radio Gold Archives. The singer/songwriter trend continued to gain popularity as Don McLean reached number one during the year with "American Pie" (#6). Albert Hammond just missed the the year end top ten coming in at #11 with "It Never Rains In Southern California". Roberta Flack earns top female artist of 1972 largely based on her chart topping single, "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", finishing the year at #23.
UU-BRU Radio Playlist was created in 1978. All UU-BRU Radio Gold Archives prior to 1978 are a compilation of year end charts from national trade magazines, several radio stations and other sources. Weeks at number one refer to Billboard.
