Here's the first of our two stops in The Windy City, where we grew up with TWO Powerhouse 50,000 Watt AM Top 40 radio stations.
Our first chart comes from WLS (who would actually suspend printing surveys later this year.
In about six weeks, we'll return to take a look at the WCFL chart. (In order to fill 53 weeks of charts this year, we've got one from every state in the country ... plus one from Washington, D.C. ... and one from CHUM in Canada ... and our second Chicagoland chart. That being said, we STILL need a chart from Vermont in order to complete the Coast-To-Coast journey ... so if anyone out there can help us in this regard, we certainly would appreciate it!)
WLS in Chicago seemed to be lagging a little behind the times in 1972 ... I remember thinking the same thing at the time. A good reason for this may have been WCFL overtaking them in the ratings, playing a bigger and more aggressive playlist. (In the '60's, these two stations fought tooth and nail to air the new premiers first. The fact that WLS stopped printing surveys altogether until the Summer of '73 might be another indicator of a bit of a defeatist attitude.)
Another way the two stations were differing ...
WLS was playing the Giorgio version of "Son Of My Father" while Super 'CFL went with the Chicory version.
Perhaps a bit more surprising is the fact that WLS was playing "Jungle Fever" by Chakachas at all! (They always tended to exude a more "conservative" point of view when it came to tracks like these.) Still, it's a Hit Parade Bound Premier at #23 this week.
The Grass Roots were also very popular here in Chicago. You'll find their latest hit, "Glory Bound," at #11 this week. It didn't fare as well in Billboard, where it peaked at #34 ... a bit of a disappointment after scoring six prior Top 20 Hits.
