What I love about these readers polls is how they indicate rising and falling popularities. This one shows what an impact Alice Cooper’s #1 hit with Schools Out and the subsequent UK tour. The Schools Out record notoriously came wrapped in a pair of knickers in a variety of shades - blue was the rarest pink the most common. You’d get put in jail if you did such a thing today!
Focus were also just coming to prominence having had a #2 album in 1971 and Focus 3 making #6 in 1972. Rod Stewart was selling a lot of records too. He occupied an almost unique position at the time straddling pop and rock and with a lot of fans in both. Maggie Bell was always popular in these votes as there were few female rock singers to choose from!
One surprise in this is Clapton being voted best guitarist when he hadn’t produced an album since 1970’s Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs and was laid up in the grip of heroin. However, Layla was belatedly released as a single in 1972 in UK and got to #7 so that probably drove the vote. Lastly, Slade were regularly topping the charts with #1 singles so no surprise they won the group vote as they had an appeal that was broad enough to pull in both pop and rock fans. Yes 1972 was a very good year.
- Album - Rod Stewart-Never A Dull Moment
- Bass - Paul Mccartney
- Discjockey - John Peel
- Drums - Carl Palmer
- Female Singer - Maggie Bell
- Female Singer Uk - Maggie Bell
- Guitar - Eric Clapton
- Instrumental Personality - Keith Emerson
- Male Singer - Elvis Presley
- Male Singer Uk - Rod Stewart
- Most Enterprising Label - Rca
- Most Overrated Single - Donny Osmond-Puppy Love
- New Group/Most Promising - Focus
- Piano/Keyboards - Keith Emerson
- Producer - Greg Lake
- Radio Show - Sound Of The 70s
- Single - Alice Cooper-School's Out
- Stage Band/Live Act - Slade
- Tv Show - The Old Grey Whistle Test
- Vocal Group - Alice Cooper
- Vocal Group Uk - Slade
