4x Life

One month in pop history, every week.

It’s December, 1973

Written by

Thomas Scovell

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Another year in our sped-up journey comes to a close, let’s see what Christmas sounded like in 1973!

Songs of the month

  • “All I Know” – Garfunkel
  • “Angie” – Rolling Stones
  • “Cheaper To Keep Her” – Johnnie Taylor
  • [new] “Come Get To This” – Marvin Gaye
  • [new] “D’yer Maker” – Led Zeppelin
  • “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” – Elton John
  • “Heartbeat – It’s A Lovebeat” – Defranco Family
  • [new] “Helen Wheels” – Paul Mccartney & Wings
  • “Hello It’s Me” – Todd Rundgren
  • “I Got A Name” – Jim Croce
  • [new] “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
  • “If You’re Ready” – Staple Singers
  • “Just You N Me” – Chicago
  • “Keep On Truckin’” – Eddie Kendricks
  • “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” – Bob Dylan
  • “Leave Me Alone” – Helen Reddy
  • [new] “Let Me Be There” – Olivia Newton-John
  • “Let Me Serenade You” – Three Dog Night
  • [new] “Livin’ For You” – Al Green
  • [new] “Living For The City” – Stevie Wonder
  • [new] “Love’s Theme” – Love Unlimited Orchestra
  • [new] “Me And Baby Brother” – War
  • “Midnight Train To Georgia” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
  • [new] “Mind Games” – John Lennon
  • [new] “My Music” – Loggins And Messina
  • “Never Never Gonna Give You Up” – Barry White
  • “Ooh Baby” – Gilbert O’sullivan
  • “Paper Roses” – Marie Osmond
  • “Photograph” – Ringo Starr
  • “Rockin’ Roll Baby” – Stylistics
  • [new] “Show And Tell” – Al Wilson
  • [new] “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” – Brownsville Station
  • “Space Race” – Billy Preston
  • “The Joker” – Steve Miller Band
  • “The Love I Lost” – Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes
  • “The Most Beautiful Girl” – Charlie Rich
  • [new] “The Way We Were” – Barbra Streisand
  • [new] “Time In A Bottle” – Jim Croce
  • “Top Of The World” – Carpenters
  • [new] “Until You Come Back To Me” – Aretha Franklin
  • [new] “When I Fall In Love” – Donny Osmond
  • [new] “Who’s In The Strawberry Patch With Sally” – Dawn
  • “You’re A Special Part Of Me” – Diana Ross And Marvin Gaye
  • [new] “You’re Sixteen” – Ringo Starr

[new] = New to the chart this week.

You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

This month in history

In early December, Hilly Kristal opened a small club on New York’s Bowery named CBGB (which stood for Country, Bluegrass, and Blues). While the name suggested one genre, the venue quickly became the gritty headquarters for the American punk and new wave movement. By providing a stage for then-unknown acts like the Ramones, Blondie, and Television, CBGB transformed the musical landscape and became one of the most legendary shrines in rock history.

On the day after Christmas, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist hit theaters and became an immediate cultural firestorm. It wasn’t just a movie; it was a news event, with reports of audiences fainting, vomiting, and fleeing the cinema in terror. As the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, it fundamentally changed the genre’s prestige and remains a definitive example of the visceral, boundary-pushing cinema that defined the early 1970s.

On New Year’s Eve 1973, a fledgling band called AC/DC played their first official show at the Chequers nightclub in Sydney, Australia. Founded by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, the original lineup featured Dave Evans on vocals. This debut marked the birth of one of the world’s most enduring hard rock acts, though it would be another year before they met Bon Scott and refined the high-voltage sound that eventually conquered the global charts.

What’d Sadie think?

Two at the top for “Top Of The World” by the Carpenters then two for “The Most Beautiful Girl” by Charlie Rich before Jim Croce’s “Time In A Bottle” has a week at number one.

Loved ’em

  • “D’yer Maker” – Led Zeppelin
  • “Livin’ For You” – Al Green
  • “Living For The City” – Stevie Wonder
  • “Time In A Bottle” – Jim Croce

Liked ’em

  • “Come Get To This” – Marvin Gaye
  • “Helen Wheels” – Paul Mccartney & Wings
  • “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
  • “Let Me Be There” – Olivia Newton-John
  • “Love’s Theme” – Love Unlimited Orchestra
  • “Me And Baby Brother” – War
  • “Mind Games” – John Lennon
  • “My Music” – Loggins And Messina
  • “Show And Tell” – Al Wilson
  • “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” – Brownsville Station
  • “The Way We Were” – Barbra Streisand
  • “Until You Come Back To Me” – Aretha Franklin
  • “You’re Sixteen” – Ringo Starr

Leave ’em

  • “When I Fall In Love” – Donny Osmond
  • “Who’s In The Strawberry Patch With Sally” – Tony Orlando And Dawn

Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.

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