Forgotten Hits of 1974 You Don't Remember

What Made These the Forgotten Hits of 1974

The forgotten hits of 1974 were not small records. Most of them went all the way to number one, and in their day you could hardly turn on a car radio without hearing them.

Time has a way of sorting songs, though. This episode counts down ten of them, and below is the story behind each one, checked against chart records and other reliable sources.

The Countdown: 10 Forgotten Hits That Ruled 1974

#10: The Loco-Motion — Grand Funk (1974)

Grand Funk Railroad, billed simply as Grand Funk by then, was known for loud, heavy rock. According to the band's story, the idea came after guitarist Mark Farner was heard singing the old song in the studio.

Todd Rundgren produced the record and gave it a much tougher sound than the original. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1974 and stayed there for two weeks.

That made "The Loco-Motion" only the second song to top the American chart in versions by two different acts. Kylie Minogue's 1988 version later reached number three.

#9: Waterloo — ABBA (1974)

ABBA had tried to reach Eurovision the year before with "Ring Ring," but it finished only third in Sweden's national selection and never made it to the contest. For 1974 the group even considered entering a gentler song, "Hasta Mañana," before settling on "Waterloo," which reportedly began life under the title "Honey Pie."

The production borrowed ideas from Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound," with layer upon layer of overdubs. On April 6, 1974, ABBA performed it in English at the Dome in Brighton, England, in silver platform boots and flashy costumes. A rule requiring each country's own language had been relaxed for a few years.

"Waterloo" won the contest and launched ABBA worldwide. In the United States, it climbed to number six on the Billboard Hot 100.

#8: Band on the Run — Paul McCartney and Wings (1974)

In 1973, Paul McCartney took Wings to EMI's studio in Lagos, Nigeria, to record a new album. Shortly before the trip, two members left the band, so only Paul, his wife Linda and Denny Laine made the journey.

In Lagos, Paul and Linda were robbed at knifepoint, and their demo tapes were taken. The band had to recover the songs from memory.

Released as a single in April 1974, "Band on the Run" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 that June.

#7: Bennie and the Jets — Elton John (1974)

That roaring crowd is not real. Elton John recorded the song in 1973 at the Château d'Hérouville studio in France, during the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road sessions. Producer Gus Dudgeon decided to make it sound live.

Dudgeon mixed in audience sounds from Elton's 1972 concert at London's Royal Festival Hall and from Jimi Hendrix's set at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, plus whistles from a Vancouver concert and added hand claps.

Elton did not want it released as a single, believing it would fail. Then CKLW, a powerful station in Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit, began playing it heavily, and it became the number one song in the Detroit market. The single reached number one on the Hot 100 in April 1974 and number 15 on the soul chart; that success later brought him to Soul Train.

#6: The Way We Were — Barbra Streisand (1973)

Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music for this theme from the Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford film, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. The film follows a couple across several decades, including the years of the Hollywood blacklist.

Released late in 1973, the single reached number one on February 2, 1974, and spent three weeks at the top in all. Billboard ranked it the number one song of the entire year.

It also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy for Song of the Year.

#5: TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) — MFSB featuring The Three Degrees (1974)

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wrote this as the theme for Soul Train, the dance show hosted by Don Cornelius. MFSB was the house band at their Philadelphia International label, a pool of more than 30 studio musicians, with The Three Degrees adding vocals.

The letters officially stood for "Mother Father Sister Brother," though musicians also used an earthier version as a phrase of praise. Cornelius would not allow the show's name in the title, so the record came out as "TSOP."

It spent two weeks at number one in April 1974 and is credited as the first television theme to top the Billboard Hot 100.

#4: Annie's Song — John Denver (1974)

John Denver wrote this love song for his wife, Annie Martell Denver. In January 1973, after skiing a hard run on Aspen Mountain in Colorado, he rode the ski lift back up and wrote the song in about ten minutes.

Annie recalled that it came after an intense time in the marriage, when things were good again. The single spent two weeks at number one on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1974 and also topped the chart in Britain.

The marriage did not last. John and Annie divorced in 1982. Denver died on October 12, 1997, when the small plane he was flying crashed into Monterey Bay, California.

#3: I Shot the Sheriff — Eric Clapton (1974)

Eric Clapton had spent about three years away from recording because of heroin addiction. After recovering, part of it while working on a farm, he went to Criteria Studios in Miami in the spring of 1974 to make 461 Ocean Boulevard.

His guitarist George Terry brought along Bob Marley and the Wailers' album Burnin'. Clapton was reluctant to cover "I Shot the Sheriff," not wanting to disrespect the original, but his band talked him into it.

The single reached number one on the Hot 100 in September 1974. It is still Clapton's only American number one. Marley himself never came close as a performer; his only Hot 100 entry, "Roots, Rock, Reggae," peaked at number 51 in 1976.

#2: Cat's in the Cradle — Harry Chapin (1974)

The words began as a poem by Harry Chapin's wife, Sandy. It was inspired by the strained relationship between her first husband and his father.

Harry did not think much of it at first. By Sandy's account, he picked it up again about a year later, after their son Josh was born, and set it to music. Chapin later said it was also about his own relationship with Josh.

The single topped the Hot 100 in December 1974, the only number one of his career, and was nominated for a Grammy. Chapin died on July 16, 1981, at 38, after a truck struck his car on the Long Island Expressway.

#1: (You're) Having My Baby — Paul Anka and Odia Coates (1974)

Paul Anka wrote this song for his wife and their four daughters, first planning to record it alone. Odia Coates, a singer he had met on tour, was in the studio, and United Artists executive Bob Skaff suggested making it a duet.

It reached number one on August 24, 1974, and held the top spot for three weeks. It was Anka's first chart-topper in about 15 years.

The song also drew sharp criticism. The National Organization for Women gave Anka its "Keep Her in Her Place" award, and Ms. magazine named him "Male Chauvinistic Pig of the Year." Anka has sometimes sung "our" in place of "my" in concert. Odia Coates died in 1991, at 49.

Why These 1974 Hits Slipped From Memory

Some of these songs were overshadowed by their own artists. Elton John, Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton recorded so many famous songs that even a number one can get lost. Others were overshadowed by other versions, like Marley's original "I Shot the Sheriff."

A few simply fell out of fashion. "(You're) Having My Baby" became a lightning rod, and "TSOP" is better remembered as a TV theme than as a chart-topper.

How 1974 Sounded on the Radio

A Swedish pop group, a Philadelphia soul orchestra, a Colorado folk singer, a hard rock band and a British blues guitarist playing reggae all shared the same Top 40 that year.

That variety is what makes the forgotten hits of 1974 worth hearing again. Which of these songs takes you back to 1974, and where were you when you first heard it?

Sources and Further Reading

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1974 (Wikipedia)
• Bennie and the Jets (Wikipedia)
• Waterloo (Wikipedia)
• 461 Ocean Boulevard (Wikipedia)
• Cat's in the Cradle (Wikipedia)