Here's a bit of a rarity by a British rock group called Babe Ruth.  Their 1972 debut album was called First Base and despite no success in their native UK, the album peaked at #87 in Canada during 1974, eventually going Gold.  The album also peaked at #178 in the US album chart

The lead single Wells Fargo was released in 1972, but a re-release in 1974 gained more radio play.  Neither version charted in the mainstream, but it didn't stop the song from getting played on the radio.  Love the guitar solos in this!

Babe Ruth - Wells Fargo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf_7XSDtdKs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpJ74PugrY0&feature=kp

Kool & The Gang - Rhyme Tyme People

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rUp3oc__fU&feature=kp

Love Unlimited Orchestra - Love's Theme

Gotta go back to Stevie Wonder - this Grammy performance is pretty awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKhMMCaFQsk

BTW the label on this 45 RPM record said in the small print "Doo-Wops by the Jackson 5"  :D

Any excuse for some people to get their clothes off...okay if you got the body for it, I guess!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxUfg3uCBbg

One of only five hits that year that became US & UK #1's! (Six, if you include Steve Miller's 'Joker', which had to wait in Britain until 1990!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HydvceA1PAI&feature=kp

The Hollies "The Air That I Breathe"

Gotta go back to Stevie Wonder - this Grammy performance is pretty awesome:



BTW the label on this 45 RPM record said in the small print "Doo-Wops by the Jackson 5"  :D


So where were The Jackson 5?

So where were The Jackson 5?


Doing the doo-wops, Howard!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLQRW7J_D0U&feature=kp

Kiki Dee Band - I got the music in me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew9f-Pq3Wsk&feature=kp

Charlie Rich - ♫ The Most Beautiful Girl ♫

"I See a Star" (original Dutch title: "Ik zie een ster") was the Dutch entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, performed in English (the first time the Dutch entry was not entirely in Dutch) by Mouth & MacNeal.

The song was composed by Hans van Hemert and written by Gerrit den Braber, a duo with several previous entries to their credit. Lyrically, the song is a love duet, with the singers telling each other that their love has helped them see the world in a new way. The "star" of the title is in other words to be found in one's lover's eyes. A second explanation of the lyrics was later revealed by Mouth when he stated in an interview that the song was about the similarities between falling in love and using cannabis. Musically, it is based around a simple melody which is embellished by a number of different instruments, including a barrel organ with a collection of puppets on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_wDhhSpIek

Good choices those, Jason...rarely heard these days...

And 'When Will I See You Again' - another guilty pleasure of mine!

This isn't a guilty pleasure, but it left such a mark in 1974, that it's hard to ignore...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd_Fdly3rX8

Wonder how many people played the flip side ('Put The Bone In')? Bizarre, to say the least!  ;)


I want to hear "Put The Bone In" now!

"Cat's in the Cradle" is a 1974 folk rock song by Harry Chapin from the album Verities & Balderdash. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1974. As Chapin's only No. 1 hit song, it became the best known of his work and a staple for folk rock music.

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"Long Live Love" was the British entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 in Brighton, United Kingdom. It was sung by Olivia Newton-John in English. At the close of voting "Long Live Love" had received 14 points to place in a three way tie for 4th in a field of 17. In the British Isles "Long Live Love" charted in the UK with a #11 peak and reached #9 in Ireland: the track also afforded Newton-John a #11 hit in her adopted homeland of Australia.

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"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" is a song written by Ron Mael of the American pop group Sparks. It is the opening track on their 1974 album Kimono My House, and was the lead single from the album, reaching number 2 in the UK singles chart.

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"No Woman, No Cry" is a reggae song by Bob Marley & the Wailers. The song first became known in 1974 through the studio album Natty Dread. The live version from the 1975 album Live! was released as a single and is the best known version — it was included on the greatest hits compilation Legend.

The title and main refrain, "No Woman, No Cry" is rendered "No, woman, nuh cry" in Jamaican Patois. The "nuh" is pronounced with a short schwa vowel (a "mumbled" vowel, often represented as "uh" in spelling) and represents a clitic ("weakened") form of "no". It is the equivalent to the contraction "don't". The song is about growing up in the ghetto and persuading a woman that things will get better, entreating her not to cry.

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"Annie's Song" (also known as "Annie's Song (You Fill Up My Senses)") is a folk rock country song recorded and written by singer-songwriter John Denver. The song was released as a single from Denver's album, Back Home Again. It was his second number-one song in the United States, occupying that spot for two weeks in July 1974. "Annie's Song" also went to number one on the Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 25 song for 1974. It went to number one in the United Kingdom, where it was Denver's only major hit single (many of Denver's American hits were more familiar in the UK through cover versions by other artists). Four years later, an instrumental version also became flutist James Galway's only major British hit.

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Autobahn is the fourth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released in November 1974. The 22-minute title track "Autobahn" was edited to 3:27 for single release and reached number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 22 in the Australian chart, and performed even higher around Europe, including number 11 in the UK and number 12 in the Netherlands. This commercial success came after the band had released three experimental and purely instrumental albums.

Autobahn is the fourth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released in November 1974. The 22-minute title track "Autobahn" was edited to 3:27 for single release and reached number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 22 in the Australian chart, and performed even higher around Europe, including number 11 in the UK and number 12 in the Netherlands. This commercial success came after the band had released three experimental and purely instrumental albums.
The short single version:

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Autobahn is the fourth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released in November 1974. The 22-minute title track "Autobahn" was edited to 3:27 for single release and reached number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 22 in the Australian chart, and performed even higher around Europe, including number 11 in the UK and number 12 in the Netherlands. This commercial success came after the band had released three experimental and purely instrumental albums.
The longer album version:

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I thought I'd make this topic because it was the year that I was born and there was plenty of good music to listen to that year so here we go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TId2NDiuu2s

Kung Fu Fighting- Carl Douglas
I am surprised in learning that this song only took ten minutes to record, and was meant to a B-side song.

The O'Jays - For The Love of Money

Up until just a few years ago I never realized that song was so long, at 7+ minutes. :D

America- Tin Man

Great song. Also on the same album was "Lonely People":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6srfnkqS4M

"My Eyes Adored You" (original working title, "Blue Eyes in Georgia") is a popular song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. It was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in early 1974. After the Motown label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to lead singer Frankie Valli for $4000. After rejections by Capitol, Atlantic, and other labels, Valli succeeded in getting the recording released on Private Stock Records, but the owner/founder of the label wanted only Valli's name on the label. The single was released in the U.S. in November 1974 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1975. "My Eyes Adored You" also went to number 2 on the Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1975. The single was Valli's second number 1 hit as a solo artist.

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"You and Me Against the World" is a song written by Kenny Ascher and Paul Williams, recorded by Helen Reddy for her 1974 album Love Song for Jeffrey. "You and Me Against the World" was the first song written by Kenny Ascher and Paul Williams and began as a gag song: Williams and Ascher, a member of Williams's band, had a discussion about their favorite songwriters which led to the spontaneous composition of a song on the subject whose tune, Ascher then realized, had real hit potential. Williams himself debuted "You and Me Against the World" on his 1974 album Here Comes Inspiration, singing it as a traditional love ballad. Helen Reddy considered the song's lyrics too "paternalistic" to be convincing as a woman's declaration of love for a man; instead, she interpreted the song as a mother singing to a child, which her version clarified by her daughter Traci's speaking to "Mommy" at the start and end.

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"Spiders & Snakes" is a 1974 hit song recorded by Jim Stafford and written by Stafford and David Bellamy. One of the top hits of 1974, spending one week at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, the song reached number one. The song spent five and a half months on the US charts, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on March 8, 1974.

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"My Girl Bill" is a 1974 hit song written and recorded by Jim Stafford. It was the third of four U.S. Top 40 singles from his eponymous debut album. The song reached number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on the Canadian pop singles chart. It was a crossover hit onto the Adult Contemporary and Country charts of both nations. The song was also a Top 20 hit in the UK and Australia.

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"She" is a song written by Charles Aznavour and Herbert Kretzmer and released by Charles Aznavour as a single in 1974. The song was written as a theme tune for the British TV series Seven Faces of Woman. The song peaked at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, stayed there for four weeks, and it was certified silver for shipments exceeding 250,000 units. It also reached number 1 in the Irish Charts, spending one week at the top. Elvis Costello recorded a cover version of the song in 1999. This version, produced by Trevor Jones, was featured over the opening credits and final sequence of the film Notting Hill and charted throughout Europe.

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"Feelings" is a 1974 song with lyrics written by Brazilian singer Morris Albert, set to the tune of "Pour Toi" separately composed by Louis “Loulou” Gasté in 1957. Albert recorded "Feelings" as a single and later included it as the title track of his 1975 debut album. The song's lyrics, recognizable by their "whoa whoa whoa" chorus, concern the singer's inability to "forget my feelings of love". Albert's original recording of the song was very successful, performing well internationally. "Feelings" peaked at #6 on the pop charts and #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts in America.

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"Pinball", was released in August 1974, by Brian Protheroe. It entered the UK Top 50 at number 40 and reached a peak of number 22. The saxophone solo was played by Tony Coe.

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Clap For The Wolfman - by The Guess Who . Beware ... the lipsyncing is strong in this one:;!

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...Beware ... the lipsyncing is strong in this one...


Talk about lipsyncing - here's Stealer's Wheel with their 1974 hit, Star
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm-pTIlM4uU

(I'm not sure how well they're connecting with this audience...    ;D )

Clap For The Wolfman - by The Guess Who...


Good choice - that was in the midst of the Guess Who's 1974 comeback.  They hadn't had any significant chart action (at least in the U.S.) since early '71, even though they continued to release singles.  They came blazing back to chart success in '74, having 3 major hits, Clap For The Wolfman being the biggest - bookended by their last U.S. chart hit, Dancin' Fool, and this, their first '74 comeback hit, Star Baby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP6Ay54vruE

8)

Talk about lipsyncing - here's Stealer's Wheel with their 1974 hit, Star
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm-pTIlM4uU

(I'm not sure how well they're connecting with this audience...    ;D )


Yes, when I first saw this great song, I thought I had Jerry Rafferty wrong all these years because it was his voice in a very different face. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm-pTIlM4uU



Yes, when I first saw this great song, I thought I had Jerry Rafferty wrong all these years because it was his voice in a very different face. 


For the sake of anyone else reading that might not know, the guy pictured (wearing glasses) is Joe Egan - Rafferty is on Egan's right as the video runs.  (Recall that Stealers Wheel had an even bigger hit in '73, Stuck In The Middle With You)

Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9TByT3QlWc

"Rock Me Gently" was a Billboard #1 hit song for Andy Kim in 1974. The single impressed Capitol Records executives, who signed Kim to a deal. "Rock Me Gently" debuted on the Hot 100 on June 22, 1974, and took 14 weeks to reach #1 on September 28. It also rose to #2 on the UK Singles Chart, and #10 in Ireland, and remains his only charting song in either the UK or Ireland. Even the instrumental B-Side received substantial airplay on R&B stations. It would be Kim's last top 10 hit in either country.

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"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" is a song by American poet and songwriter Shel Silverstein. It was originally recorded by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show in 1974, with the name spelled "Jordon". The song describes the disillusionment and mental deterioration of a suburban housewife, who climbs to a rooftop "when the laughter grew too loud."

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"Minuetto Allegretto" by The Wombles from 1974, was based on the Third Movement of Mozart's Symphony No.41. It reached 16 in the UK Charts.

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"You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog for a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings)" was the last official single by British rock group The Faces. It later appeared on their 1976 greatest hits album Snakes and Ladders / The Best of Faces. Released under the group title, Rod Stewart and the Faces, the single reached number 12 over Christmas 1974 in the UK singles chart. The song still holds the record for the longest song-title ever to hit the UK chart.

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"Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, with DeShannon recorded it in 1974. The song was made popular by American singer Kim Carnes in 1981.

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"If You Go Away" is an adaptation of the 1959 Jacques Brel (Belgium) song "Ne me quitte pas" with English lyrics by Rod McKuen. Created as part of a larger project to translate Brel's work, "If You Go Away" is considered a pop standard and has been recorded by many artists. In 1974, Terry Jacks released a version of this song as a stand-alone single, reaching #8 in the UK Charts.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo-qweh7nbQ

Blue Swede- Hooked On A Feeling

Did this group have any other hits? ???
The song became popular again in 1996 with this.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSfpvjJjT-4

"I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Her country version of the track was released in 1974 as a single and was written as a farewell to her former business partner and mentor of seven years, Porter Wagoner, following Parton's decision to leave The Porter Wagoner Show and pursue a solo career.  It first reached number one in June 1974, and then in October 1982, with her re-recording on the soundtrack of the movie version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Whitney Houston recorded her version of the song for the 1992 film The Bodyguard. Her single spent a then-recordbreaking 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is one of the best-selling singles of all time. It also holds the record for being the best-selling single by a woman in music history.

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"Beach Baby" is a 1974 song by the British band First Class. It was written by John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare; the song became the band's only substantial hit. Towards the end of the song, there are two instrumental quotations, both on the French horn: the main theme from the last movement of Sibelius's Fifth Symphony and the tune of the title line from one of Carter's previous compositions ("Let's Go to San Francisco", a hit in 1967 for The Flower Pot Men). Lead singer Burrows attempts to sing in an American accent, reflecting the song's setting in California. Because the running time was over 5 minutes, several AM radio stations edited "Beach Baby" by fading it out during the second instrumental bridge. The estate of Jean Sibelius filed a lawsuit against the song's writers, for infringing on the Sibelius piece. The case was settled out of court, with the Sibelius estate receiving half of the song's proceeds. The radio-play fade outs then took on some importance, helping to avoid further legal implications.

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"(You're) Having My Baby" is a song written and recorded in 1974 by Canadian singer Paul Anka. Recorded as a duet with female vocalist Odia Coates, the song became Anka's first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 15 years, since 1959's "Lonely Boy". The song was certified Gold by the RIAA.

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