(A Fairly Exhaustive) Timeline

[snoot]

Originally Posted by vermicious knid

The early days are rather confusing to me because their singles,when released, wouldn't be on any album. I wonder in what era that practice ended.

A lot of the times for sure, but never as an absolute rule either. That practice kind of faded away by the end of the 60's, when Top 20 + Top 40 charts began to be rivaled by FM (extended play) radio. The early '70s programming movement away from Top 40 AM put something of a damper on the traditional over-emphasis of letting singles rule the day, which the record companies couldn't help but eventually recognize. Whole albums could be heard regularly on the best FM stations, and many songs that never got the play they deserved on the AM dial could be heard, often frequently, on the FM side in what some have called the "golden age of integrity programming." DJ's began playing what they wanted instead of what they were told, and prog rock, blues-rock and psychedelia in particular finally stood chance!

This included, as it pertained to the Mac, FM radio staples (quasi-hits) like Hypnotized, Station Man, Sentimental Lady, and Bermuda Triangle. It also included many of the PG era hits that charted in the UK like Albatross, Oh Well, Man Of The World and The Green Manalishi. Hard to believe that only one of those - Oh Well - charted stateside out of that whole pack! That's not to say that none of those tunes ever made it to the AM side, they did, but either as localized (regional) faves or by request.