Springbok Radio! For your FM listening pleasure!

1970 died, and 1971 was born.

I was shunted through to Standard 4, having survived Miss de Villiers for just on 9 months, and heading toward a year with Mrs Dawson. I thought she would be easy after De Villiers, but then, I was still very young and optimistic.
Back in those days corporal punishment for was the rule of the day. I was corporal, or so it seemed.

1971 was also the year I was soundly thrashed by: (in sequence):
My mother;
Mr Botes;
Mrs Dawson;
my mother;
my father.

The reason? I forgot to go to school for a few days....
I bunked school, probably cos I didn't do homework, and when I got caught, It was open season on my hide. I must add that I never did bunk again...

Back in those days we were called scholars, or pupils, probably because we were too stupid to be learners. Well, I was at any rate. Learning was not popular with me, and it was about then that I populated that part of the class that made the top half possible.



Were it not for Springbok Radios daily music line-up, and the Hit Parade on Saturday afternoons, my life would have been really miserable.

It was standard practice to run home from the Saturday afternoon movies at the old Scout Hall (which used to serve as the Methodist and Anglican Church as well), and get home just in time for the start of the hit Parade.

I had a look through the hit songs of 1971, and for the life of me cannot make up my mind which was my favourite song of 1971.

The South African Top 20 in 1971 was:

MAMMY BLUE - Charisma
CO CO - The Sweet
KNOCK THREE TIMES - Dawn
FUNNY FUNNY - The Sweet
PUT YOUR HAND IN THE HAND - Alan Garrity
LOOKY LOOKY - Giorgio
JOY TO THE WORLD - Three Dog Night
LOOK OUT HERE COMES TOMORROW - The Dealians
YOU - Peter Maffay
A SUMMER PRAYER FOR PEACE - The Archies
I HEAR YOU KNOCKING - Dave Edmunds
NO MATTER WHAT - Badfinger
IF NOT FOR YOU - Olivia Newton-John
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN - Creedence Clearwater Revival
GET ME SOME HELP - Neville Whitmill
BUTTERFLY - Danyel Gerard
DAAR'S NIKS SOOS WARE LIEFDE - Groep Twee
NEVER ENDING SONG OF LOVE - New Seekers
I DID WHAT I DID FOR MARIA - Tony Christie
HOME - Dave Mills

and from the rest of the world we got:

One Man Band - Three Dog Night
Baby I'm A Want You - Bread
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart- Bee Gees
Joy To The World- Three Dog Night
Rose Garden- Lynn Anderson
My Sweet Lord- George Harrison
I Think I Love You- Partridge Family

After much deliberation, I will have to go with the following as my 3 Top Hits for the year of 1971. If you disagree, tell me, but try to remember that music is subjective, and what may be good for you now, may be replaced by something else tomorrow.



In order of my current preference then, 1971 was the year of:
CO CO - The Sweet
NEVER ENDING SONG OF LOVE - New Seekers
JOY TO THE WORLD - Three Dog Night