(Credits: Far Out / AVRO / Majalah Varianada / CBS Television / Album Cover)
Wed 18 March 2026 13:00, UK
1973 was a major year for the music industry in the UK, witnessing not only major releases like The Dark Side of the Moon, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Aladdin Sane, but also a host of other milestones across several parts of the industry.
For instance, Led Zeppelin claimed a record previously owned by The Beatles during one of their shows in Tampa, Florida, when they drew a crowd of over 56,800, the highest for any concert until that point, and Bowie pivoted from his beloved Ziggy Stardust persona and into a new era at the end of his British tour, while The Who embarked on their iconic Quadrophenia tour at a crucial point in their story.
Granted, there were many, less favourable moments across the board, too, like Paul McCartney’s $240 fine after he was found growing marijuana and Mick Jagger’s drug conviction, which caused issues with The Rolling Stones’ plans to tour in Japan, but overall, it was a pretty impressive year in the British music scene.
However, nothing seems to capture this quite like the success of Pink Floyd’s concept album, which, quite literally, ripped out the rulebook when it came to conceptual masterpieces, and also single-handedly set a new standard for artistic expression in music, offering a body of work that transformed the human experience into something beautiful and immersive.
Despite the record’s lasting cultural impact and many of those mentioned, for that matter, their absence from charting and sales scoreboards seems especially telling, for not only are the top-selling artists in the UK in 1973 ones with more commercially successful hits, but the one leading the charge benefited largely from the one time of year guaranteed to drive sales: Christmas.
The UK’s 10 best-selling songs from 1973
In 1973, the best-selling song across the entire year was, surprise, Slade’s enduring festive hit, ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, which on its first day sold 250,000 copies, rising to 250,000 in its first week, and to over a million by early 1974. This was followed in second place by Dawn’s ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree’, which reached number one in the UK and sold one million copies, while Simon Park Orchestra’s ‘Eye Level’ came third, Peters and Lee’s ‘Welcome Home’ fourth, and Sweet’s ‘Blockbuster!’ fifth.
Slade had another entry following those with ‘Cum On Feel the Noize’, while disgraced singer Gary Glitter scored two hits with ‘I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am)’ and ‘I Love You Love Me Love’; however, the further down the list you go, the more diverse the entries become, with songs appearing by David Bowie, Suzi Quatro, Fleetwood Mac, T Rex, and more.
Therefore, while music is, of course, subjective, this mostly proves there was still a fairly significant divide between those who were pushing boundaries and taking risks and those following formulas to win the most sales figures.
