Without The Beatles

Remember when we talked about solo hits of the Beatles? I did some further research into the matter on the "Old Radio Shows" site. I can't say it cleared up things, but it did address some stuff that I wasn't quite sure I understood.

"Sally G" is the aspect that confuses me. It was the flip side of "Junior's Farm" and reportedly got a fair amount of airplay. My sources all seem to agree that it charted separately from "Junior's Farm". Trouble is, this isn't reflected in the AMERICAN TOP 40 shows of the era. I only found ONE show (January 11, 1975) which included "Sally G", and it was played when they reached the position occupied by "Junior's Farm" (#3). Even though two weeks of the time when "Sally G" was supposed to be on the charts were given over to the year-end countdown, I still find this mystifying. Was "Sally G" on the charts separately or not? If it was, why didn't AT40 acknowledge it?

Speaking of confusion, the AT40 Index on the site clarifies a point that troubled me the last time we discussed it. According to it, AT40 shows did not always use the chart for the week they aired. Sometimes, they were a week ahead! I only have the site's word for this, but it does explain why his date was off for the 1971 we spotlighted. Though maybe it is the Premiere Radio Network that is off? Egad, why is this so difficult?

Anyway, to get back to the original point of this business, there were definitely THREE shows where all 4 Beatles had solo songs in the Top 40 simultaneously. They are:

December 14, 1974: "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" - John Lennon (#40), "Dark Horse" - George Harrison (#32), "Only You" - Ringo Starr (#18), "Junior's Farm" - Paul McCartney and Wings (#10)

January 11, 1975: "#9 Dream" - John Lennon (#35), "Dark Horse" - George Harrison (#15), "Only You" - Ringo Starr (#6), "Sally G" (in the position of "Junior's Farm", flip) - Paul McCartney and Wings (#3)

January 18, 1975: "Dark Horse" - George Harrison (#33), "#9 Dream" - John Lennon (#29), "Only You" - Ringo Star (#12), "Junior's Farm" - Paul McCartney and Wings (#7)

For the record, I did check February 1, 1975, and there's no "Sally G". So that AT40 has three Beatles instead of all four.