Many thanks to Paul Barber for compiling and explaining these lists.

1.     Four Zigzag readers' polls:

›› 1.1. Best Album Ever (Top 30; ZZ issue 23; Nov/Dec 1971)
›› 1.2. Most Played Album (Top 10+; ZZ 45; mid 1974
›› 1.3. Album of the Century (Top 50+; ZZ 55; Jul/Aug 1975)
›› 1.4. Favorite Track (Top 61; ZZ 65; Sep/Oct 1976)

2. Two lists compiled by Charlie Gillett and Simon Frith and published in  Rock File 3 (published by Panther, 1975):

›› 2.1. Hot Hundred Singles
›› 2.2. 100 Essential Rock Albums

1.1. Best Album Ever

(Top 30; ZZ issue 23; Nov/Dec 1971)

This was part of a bigger poll which also included Best Musician, Guitarist, DJ, "Ace Cat of the Century", etc.... As with the other Zigzag results supplied here, they are listed in traditional order of number of votes cast.

1.  Forever Changes - Love
2.  Sgt Pepper - Beatles
3.  Blonde on Blonde - Dylan
4.  Notorious Byrd Brothers - Byrds
5.  Highway 61 Revisited - Dylan
6.  Hot Rats - Zappa
7.  Happy Trails - Quicksilver Messenger Service
8.  Doors (first album)
9.  Electric Ladyland - Hendrix
10.  Live Dead - Grateful Dead
11.  Liege and Lief - Fairport Convention
12.  Sailor - Steve Miller Band
13.  After Bathing at Baxters - Jefferson Airplane
14.  Abbey Road - Beatles
15.  Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
16.  The Band - The Band
17.  Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart
18.  American Beauty - Grateful Dead
19.  After the Goldrush - Neil Young
20.  Velvet Underground & Nico
21.  Tommy - The Who
22.  White Light White Heat - Velvet Underground
23.  Electric Music for the Mind & Body - Country Joe & the Fish
24.  Ummagumma - Pink Floyd
25.  In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
26.  Are You Experienced - Hendrix
27.  What We Did On Our Holidays - Fairport Convention
28.  Hangman's Beautiful Daughter - Incredible String Band
29.  Wheels of Fire - Cream
30.  Deja Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

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1.2. Most Played Album
(Top 10+; ZZ 45; mid 1974)

This was also part of a bigger poll; instead of following the conventional format, categories had brief descriptions such as "artist that has suffered most neglect". This one was "most played album in your collection..."

1.  Forever Changes - Love
2.  Trout Mask Replica - Capt Beefheart
3.  Notorious Byrd Brothers - Byrds
4.  Moondance - Van Morrison
5.  American Beauty - Grateful Dead
6.  Clear Spot - Capt Beefheart
7.  Hot Rats - Zappa
8.  Safe As Milk - Capt Beefheart
9.  Liege & Lief - Fairport Convention
10.  Electric Ladyland - Hendrix

"Strong Challengers" were:

• Sgt Pepper - Beatles
• Highway 61 Revisited - Dylan
• Alone Together - Dave Mason
• Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
• Blonde on Blonde - Dylan

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1.3. Album of the Century

 (Top 50+; ZZ 55; Jul/Aug 1975)

By this time, Zigzag was running a different readers' poll category each month; they'd done British Guitarist, and would later cover, for example, Best Vocalist, Best Drummer, Best Film.

1.  Forever Changes - Love
2.  Happy Trails - Quicksilver Messenger Service
3.  Desperado - Eagles
4.  Live Dead - Grateful Dead
5.  Notorious Byrd Brothers - Byrds
6.  Layla & other assorted love songs - Derek & the Dominos
7.  Electric Music for the Mind & Body - Country Joe & the Fish
8.  Blonde on Blonde - Dylan
9.  Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
10.  Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris
11.  American Beauty - Grateful Dead
12.  California Bloodlines - John Stewart
13.  Sailing Shoes - Little Feat
14.  After the Goldrush - Neil Young
15.  Sgt Pepper - Beatles
16.  If Only I Could Remember My Name - David Crosby
17.  Highway 61 Revisited - Dylan
18.  Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
19.  Surfs Up - Beach Boys
20.  Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
21.  For Everyman - Jackson Browne
22.  L.A. Woman - Doors
23.  And the Hits Just Keep on Coming - Mike Nesmith
24.  Buffalo Springfield Again - Buffalo Springfield
25.  Electric Ladyland - Hendrix
26.  Eagles - Eagles
27.  "Skull & Roses" - Grateful Dead
28.  Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Neil Young
29.  Trout Mask Replica - Capt Beefheart
30.  A Good Feeling To Know - Poco
31.  Countdown to Ecstasy - Steely Dan
32.  Workingman's Dead - Grateful Dead
33.  Moondance - Van Morrison
34.  "White Album" - Beatles
35.  The Band - The Band
36.  Tago Mago - Can
37.  After Bathing at Baxters - Jefferson Airplane
38.  Dixie Chicken - Little Feat
39.  Live at the Fillmore - Allman Brothers
40.  I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight - Richard & Linda Thompson
41.  Who's Next - The Who
42.  Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
43.  Tommy - The Who
44.  Hot Rats - Zappa
45.  Beggars Banquet - Rolling Stones
46.  Boz Scaggs - Boz Scaggs
47.  Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Pink Floyd
48.  Sailor - Steve Miller Band
49.  Music from Big Pink - The Band
50.  Sweetheart of the Rodeo - Byrds

"Next 16":

• Eat a Peach - Allman Brothers
• Velvet Underground & Nico
• Ziggy Stardust - Bowie
• Can't Buy a Thrill - Steely Dan
• Court & Spark - Joni Mitchell
• Pure Prairie League (first album)
• Led Zeppelin 2
• Feats Don't Fail Me Now - Little Feat
• Crown of Creation - Jefferson Airplane
• Stormcock - Roy Harper
• Liege & Lief - Fairport Convention
• The Doors (first album)
• I Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die - Country Joe & the Fish
• Into the Purple Valley - Ry Cooder
• Gilded Palace of Sin - Flying Burrito Brothers
• GP - Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris

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1.4. Favorite Track

(Top 61; ZZ 65; Sep/Oct 1976)

This was another in the monthly sequence of readers' polls, which ran for a short while longer before the whole magazine was swamped by punk.

• 1. Like a Rolling Stone - Dylan
• 2. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
• 3. Desolation Row - Dylan
• 4. A Day in the Life - Beatles
• 5. Layla - Derek & the Dominos
• 6. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands - Dylan
• 7. Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
• 8. Eight Miles High - Byrds
• 9. Dark Star - Grateful Dead
• 10. Return of the Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons
• 11. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
• 12. Strawberry Fields Forver - Beatles
• 13. Willin' - Little Feat
• 14. Fountain of Sorrow - Jackson Browne
• 15. American Pie - Don McLean
• 16. Take it Easy - Eagles
• 17= Mother Country - John Stewart
• 17= Andmoreagain - Love
• 19. Madame George - Van Morrison
• 20. The End - Doors
• 21. Boulder to Birmingham - Emmylou Harris
• 22. Before the Deluge - Jackson Browne
• 23. Who do You Love - Quicksilver Messenger Service
• 24. Some of Shelley's Blues - Mike Nesmith
• 25= White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
• 25= Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills & Nash
• 27. Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones
• 28. Surf's Up - Beach Boys
• 29. My Old School - Steely Dan
• 30. Hey Joe - Hendrix
• 31= Wasn't Born to Follow - Byrds
• 31= Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonful
• 33. Supper's Ready - Genesis
• 34. In My Hour of Darkness - Gram Parsons
• 35. Jessica - Allman Brothers
• 36. Listen to the Lion - Van Morrison
• 37. Song for Our Ancestors - Steve Miller Band
• 38= Tonight's the Night - Neil Young
• 38= Southern Man - Neil Young
• 40. Dixie Chicken - Little Feat
• 41. The Joker - Steve Miller Band
• 42. America - Simon & Garfunkel
• 43. Cortez the Killer - Neil Young
• 44= For a Dancer - Jackson Browne
• 44= All Along the Watchtower - Hendrix
• 46= Brown Suger - Rolling Stones
• 46= Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine - Country Joe & the Fish
• 48. Reeling in the Years - Steely Dan
• 49. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
• 50. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
• 51. Sarah - Bob Dylan
• 52= Waiting for My Man - Velvet Underground
• 52= Joanne - Mike Nesmith
• 54. Dear Mr Fantasy - Traffic
• 55. These Days - Jackson Browne
• 56. For Free - Joni Mitchell
• 57= Desperado - Eagles
• 57= Mr Tambourine Man - Byrds
• 59. Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
• 60= Sefronia - Tim Buckley
• 60= Lady Friend - Byrds

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2.1. Charlie & Simon's Hot Hundred Singles 

 I)  Beat Section

This was Charlie Gillett and Simon Frith's attempt to list the records having most impact as singles, which they emphasized was not necessarily the same thing as the hundred BEST singles. Their stated cut-off point was the end of 1972. They were listed by category, and covered singles in both Britain and the States... explaining the inclusion of Zepp's "Whole Lotta Love")

a) Classic Rockers

• Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & the Comets
• Long Tall Sally - Littls Richard
• Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
• Be Bop A Lula - Gene Vincent
• Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
• That'll Be the Day - Crickets
• Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
• Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry

b) British Beat

• She Loves You - Beatles
• I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Beatles
• You Really Got Me - Kinks
• Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann
• Keep On Running - Spencer Davis Group
• Wild Thing - Troggs
• Honky Tonk Women - Rolling Stones
• Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
• All Right Now - Free

c) American Beat

• Runaround Sue - Dion
• Louie Louie - Kingsmen
• Woolly Bully - Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
• Hang on Sloopy - McCoys
• Light My Fire - Doors
• The Letter - Box Tops
• Proud Mary - Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum

d) Disco Specials

• The Twist - Chubby Checker
• The Locomotion - Little Eva
• Dancing in the Street - Martha & the Vandellas
• In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
• River Deep Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner
• Respect - Aretha Franklin
• Israelites - Desmond Dekker
• I Heard it Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
• Band of Gold - Freda Payne
• I Want You Back - Jackson 5ive
• Papa Was a Rolling Stone - Temptations

e) Brutal Beat

• Get it On - T Rex
• Mama Weer All Crazee Now - Slade

 

II) Smooch Section

Classic Ballads

• The Great Pretender - Platters
• Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
• Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino
• Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison
• I Can't Stop Loving You - Ray Charles
• House of the Rising Sun - Animals
• You've Lost That Loving Feeling - Righteous Brothers
• When a Man Loves a Woman - Percy Sledge
• Reach Out (I'll Be There) - Four Tops
• You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Dusty Springfield
• Hey Jude - Beatles
• Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
• Maggie May - Rod Stewart

 

III) Poignant Section

a) Teen

• Why Do Fools Fall In Love - Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
• Diana - Paul Anka
• Wake Up Little Suzie - Everly Brothers
• Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly
• Yakety Yak - Coasters
• Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
• Teenager In Love - Dion & the Belmonts
• Donna - Ritchie Valens
• It's Late / Never Be Anyone Else But You - Ricky Nelson
• Take Good Care of My Baby - Bobby Vee
• Breaking Up Is Hard to Do - Neil Sedaka
• Runaway - Del Shannon

b) Girl Talk

• Will You Love Me Tomorrow - Shirelles
• Please Mr Postman - Marvelettes
• He's So Fine - Chiffons
• Da Doo Ron Ron - Crystals
• It's My Party - Lesley Gore
• My Guy - Mary Wells
• Where Did Our Love Go? - Supremes
• My Boy Lollipop - Millie
• Leader of the Pack - Shangri Las
• Ode to Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry

c ) Angst

• Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
• Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire
• Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
• My Generation - Who
• For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
• A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
• Thank You / Everybody is a Star - Sly & the Family Stone
• American Pie - Don McLean

 

IV) Joyous Section

a ) Novelties

• Little Darlin' - Diamonds
• Blue Moon - Marcels
• Duke of Earl- Gene Chandler
• Sylvia's Mother - Dr Hook & the Medicine Show

b)  Instrumentals

• Rebel Rouser - Duane Eddy
• Green Onions - Booker T & the MGs
• Albatross - Fleetwood Mac

c ) Summer Songs

• It Might As Well Rain Until September - Carole King
• I Get Around - Beach Boys
• Mr Tambourine Man - Byrds
• Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonful
• Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
• California Dreamin' - Mamas & Papas
• Sunshine Superman - Donovan
• Waterloo Sunset - Kinks
• Groovin' - Rascals
• Itchycoo Park - Small Faces
• In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry
• I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash

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2.2 One Hundred Essential Rock Albums

As with the singles, Gillett & Frith's declared aim was not to list 'best' albums or give a preferential order, but to select items that "someone hearing rock for the first time in 1974-75" would need. They gave several caveats to explain the exclusion of certain styles and artists. From the inclusion of 'Court & Spark', I guess that their cut-off of 1972 for singles was not carried over to the albums.

• I Roots: Birth & Growth of Teenage Music 1950-62
• Greatest Hits - Hank Williams
• Let the Good Times Roll - Louis Jordan
• Play It Again Fats - Fats Domino
• This Is Where It All Began Vol 2 - Various (Specialty label) Arists
• Rock'n'Roll - Elvis Presley
• Memphis Rock'n'Roll - Various (Sun label) Artits
• Golden Decade Vol 1 - Chuck Berry
• Early Years - Coasters
• 22 Original Classics - Everly Brothers
• Golden Hits Vol 1 - Elvis Presley
• Legend - Buddy Holly
• American Graffiti - Various Artists
• Many Sides of Rock'n'Roll - Various Artists
• The Phil Spector Sound - Various Artists
• II Black Tradition: Blues + Gospel = Soul
• Pop Origins - Various (Chess label) Artists
• 25 Years in Show Busines - Ray Charles
• Live at the Regal - B. B. King
• The Best Vol 1 - Bobby Bland
• This Is - Sam Cooke
• Otis Blue - Otis Redding
• Atlantic Black Gold - Various Artists
• I Never Loved a Man - Aretha Franklin
• Best of - James Brown
• The Motown Sound - Various Artists ("non-existent compilation")
• His Early Years with the Impressions - Curtis Mayfield
• Anthology - Temptations
• III Britian Emerges: From Washboards through Acid to World Beaters
• Golden Hour Vol 1 - Lonnie Donegan
• Greatest Hits - Shadows
• With the Beatles
• Hard Day's Night - Beatles
• Rubber Soul - Beatles
• Rolling Stones (first album)
• John Mayall's Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton
• Golden Hour Vol 1 - Kinks
• Remember - Yardbirds
• My Generation - Who
• Sgt Pepper - Beatles
• Mr Fantasy - Traffic
• Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Pink Floyd
• Soft Machine (first album)
• Best of - Cream
• Greatest Hits - Fleetwood Mac
• Stand Up - Jethro Tull
• Unhalfbricking - Fairport Convention
• Electric Ladyland - Hendrix
• Beggars Banquet - Rolling Stones
• Get Your Ya Yas Out - Rolling Stones
• Tommy - Who
• IV America in the 60s: from Newport to Woodstock via Greenwich Village and
• California
• Volume Two - Joan Baez
• Freewheeling - Bob Dylan
• Bringing It All Back Home - Bob dylan
• Live at the Albert Hall *or* The Basement Tapes - Bob Dylan (both bootlegs
• at the time)
• Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
• Greatest Hits Vol 1 - Byrds
• Mr Tambourine Man - Byrds
• Cheap Thrills - Big Brother & the Holding Company
• Live Dead - Grateful Dead
• Surrealistic Pillow - Jefferson Airplane
• We're Only In It for the Money - Mothers
• Golden Hour - Lovin' Spoonful
• The Beginning - Buffalo Springfield
• Easy Rider (soundtrack) - Various Artists
• Woodstock - Various Artists
• V America at the end of the 60s: The sound of Things To Come
• John Wesley Harding - Bob Dylan
• Mendocino - Sir Douglas Quintet
• Velvet Underground & Nico
• Blood, Sweat & Tears (second album)
• The Band (second album)
• Crosby, Stills & Nash (first album)
• In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly
• Hot Rats - Zappa
• Introspect - Joe South
• Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Bookends - Simon & Garfunkel
• 12 Songs - Randy Newman
• Moondance - Van Morrison
• VI Sounds of the 70s
• a Black Music
• Greatest Hits - Sly & the Family Stone
• Reggae Chartbusters - Various (Trojan label) Artists
• The Harder They Come (soundtrack) - Various Artists
• What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
• Talking Book - Stevie Wonder
• I'm Still in Love With You - Al Green
• Ship Ahoy - O'Jays
• Live at Carnegie Hall - Bill Withers
• b Britain
• Led Zeppelin 2
• Led Zeppelin 4
• In Search of a Lost Chord - Moody Blues
• The Yes Album - Yes
• In Rock - Deep Purple
• Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart
• Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
• Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
• Sladest - Slade
• Stranded - Roxy Music
• c America
• Layle - Derek & the Dominos
• Live at the Fillmore - Allman Brothers
• School's Out - Alice Cooper
• Court & Spark - Joni Mitchell
• Inner Mounting Flame - Mahavishnu Orchestra
• Can't Buy a Thrill - Steely Dan