As I noted in this piece in April, regular readers will know that I post from time to time about music trivia, including songs that were “Stuck at 2”. These are the songs that almost made it to #1 in the UK chart but were kept off by another release.
Some months ago there was a question on BBC1 quiz show “Pointless” about artists that made it to #3 in the UK chart, and no higher. I don’t know when it was broadcast, and don’t have any notes about the answers, but I have been using the listings on everyhit.com (which cover the UK charts up to 2011) to create lists of artists who were “Stuck at 3”.
Here are all the artists that made it to #3 with songs released between January 1970 and December 1979. Unlike my “Stuck at 2” lists (which you can find on the Trivia Menu, here) this does not include artists who had songs that made it to #1 or #2. It only contains songs by artists who were “Stuck at 3”.
| Artist | Title | Chart entry |
| Three Dog Night | Mama Told Me Not To Come | Aug-70 |
| Chairmen Of The Board | Give Me Just A Little More Time | Aug-70 |
| Bobby Bloom | Montego Bay | Aug-70 |
| Don Fardon | Indian Reservation | Oct-70 |
| Edwin Starr | War | Oct-70 |
| Neil Diamond | Cracklin’ Rosie | Nov-70 |
| Ashton Gardner & Dyke | The Resurrection Shuffle | Jan-71 |
| Lynn Anderson | Rose Garden | Feb-71 |
| Elgins | Heaven Must Have Sent You | May-71 |
| Blue Mink | Banner Man | May-71 |
| Piglets | Johnny Reggae | Nov-71 |
| America | Horse With No Name (re-entry) | Jan-72 |
| Chi-Lites | Have You Seen Her | Jan-72 |
| Lindisfarne [See note below] | Lady Eleanor | May-72 |
| Hawkwind | Silver Machine | Jul-72 |
| Partridge Family starring Shirley Jones featuring David Cassidy | Breaking Up Is Hard To Do | Jul-72 |
| Faron Young | It’s Four In The Morning | Jul-72 |
| Mott The Hoople | All The Young Dudes | Aug-72 |
| Peter Skellern | You’re A Lady | Sep-72 |
| Python Lee Jackson | In A Broken Dream | Sep-72 |
| Shangri-Las | Leader Of The Pack (re-issue) | Oct-72 |
| Carly Simon | You’re So Vain | Dec-72 |
| Medicine Head | One And One Is One | May-73 |
| Limmie & The Family Cookin | You Can Do Magic | Jul-73 |
| Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers | Monster Mash | Sep-73 |
| Cozy Powell | Dance With The Devil | Dec-73 |
| Johnny Bristol | Hang On In There Baby | Aug-74 |
| Kenny | The Bump | Dec-74 |
| Mac & Katie Kissoon | Sugar Candy Kisses | Jan-75 |
| Fox | Only You Can | Feb-75 |
| Moments & Whatnauts | Girls | Mar-75 |
| Peter Shelley | Love Me Love My Dog | Mar-75 |
| Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony | The Hustle | May-75 |
| Smokie | If You Think You Know How To Love Me | Jul-75 |
| Miracles [See note below] | Love Machine | Jan-76 |
| Manuel & His Music Of The Mountains | Rodrigo’s Guitar Concerto De Aranjuez | Jan-76 |
| Hank Mizell | Jungle Rock | Mar-76 |
| John Miles | Music | Mar-76 |
| Robin Sarstedt | My Resistance Is Low | May-76 |
| David Dundas | Jeans On | Jul-76 |
| Chi-Lites | You Don’t Have To Go | Jul-76 |
| Mike Oldfield | Portsmouth | Nov-76 |
| Barry Biggs | Sideshow | Dec-76 |
| Berni Flint | I Don’t Want To Put A Hold On You | Mar-77 |
| Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keely (with The St Thomas More School Choir) | If I Had Words | Jan-78 |
| Gerry Rafferty | Baker Street | Feb-78 |
| Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams [See note below] | Too Much Too Little Too Late | Mar-78 |
| James Galway | Annie’s Song | May-78 |
| Marshall Hain | Dancing In The City | Jun-78 |
| A Taste Of Honey | Boogie Oogie Oogie | Jun-78 |
| Frankie Valli [See note below] | Grease | Aug-78 |
| Dean Friedman | Lucky Stars | Sep-78 |
| Cars | My Best Friend’s Girl | Nov-78 |
| Barron Knights | A Taste Of Aggro | Dec-78 |
| Earth Wind & Fire | September | Dec-78 |
| Lene Lovich | Lucky Number | Feb-79 |
| Dooleys | Wanted | Jun-79 |
| Bellamy Brothers | If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You It Against Me | Aug-79 |
| Electric Light Orchestra [See note below] | Don’t Bring Me Down | Sep-79 |
| Sad Café | Every Day Hurts | Sep-79 |
| Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand [See note below] | No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) | Nov-79 |
| Sugarhill Gang | Rapper’s Delight | Dec-79 |
| Fiddler’s Dram | Day Trip To Bangor (Didn’t We Have A Lovely Time) | Dec-79 |
| Nolans | I’m In The Mood For Dancing | Dec-79 |
Notes
- Lindisfarne reached #2 as Gazza & Lindisfarne with Fog On The Tyne (Revisited), 1990
- The Miracles reached #1 as Smokey Robinson & the Miracles with Tears of a Clown, 1970
- Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams both had solo #1s in the 1970s
- Frankie Valli reached #2 billed as Four Seasons featuring The Sound Of Frankie Valli with Rag Doll, 1964
- Electric Light Orchestra reached #1 as Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra with Xanadu, 1980
- Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand both had solo #1s (1977 and 1980 respectively)
The Compartments 