# Top Songs of 1972: Neil Young, Harry Nilsson, America & Gilbert O'Sullivan

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/professor-of-rock-7272370/top-songs-of-1972-neil-young-harry-nilsson-america-gilbert-o-sullivan
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/professor-of-rock-7272370/top-songs-of-1972-neil-young-harry-nilsson-america-gilbert-o-sullivan.md
Podcast: [Professor of Rock](https://stenobird.com/podcast/professor-of-rock-7272370)
Published: 2026-07-20T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://mgln.ai/e/345/pdrl.fm/eb47a0/pscrb.fm/rss/p/rss.art19.com/episodes/333c6ab7-ad50-4e5c-afbc-a97dbba60cc4.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/345/pdrl.fm/eb47a0/pscrb.fm/rss/p/rss.art19.com/episodes/333c6ab7-ad50-4e5c-afbc-a97dbba60cc4.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
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Duration seconds: 2089

## Resource

Coming up… We took a little break from this show but due to popular demand, we’re back. We take the time machine back to the 70s in a year full of classics, where Neil Young, one of rock's most cantankerous icons, had serious back issues but altered his style to create his lone #1 single, Heart of Gold. Instead of celebrating the song’s success, Neil decided to defy commercialism and purposefully write music that wouldn’t chart. Then America was accused of intentionally imitating this same notorious curmudgeon’s song by critics and the artist alike. It got worse when their song, A Horse with No Name, replaced said song at #1. Then there’s Harry Nilsson, the former bank worker who argued with his producer about transforming Without You into one of the first power ballads. He tried to sabotage the song at every end but it still hit #1; Without You would end up being a curse when he lost his voice after singing it so many times. Plus, a story of Gilbert O’Sullivan, a 21-year-old kid who wrote one of the most introspective masterpieces ever that no one thought was a hit, after it became one of the best-selling singles of all time. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

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