Nothing can stick at the top this month with “Best Of My Love” by the Eagles, “Have You Never Been Mellow” by Olivia Newton-John, “Black Water” by the Doobie Brothers, “My Eyes Adored You” by Frankie Valli and finally “Lady Marmalade” by Labelle each having a single week of glory.
(Editorial snafu: Last week was similarly varied, but we forgot to include the list. Thanks Carl for spotting that! February 1975 number ones were – “Laughter In The Rain” by Neil Sedaka, “Fire” by Ohio Players, “You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstadt, and “Pick Up The Pieces” by Average White Band.)
“”#9 Dream”” – John Lennon
[new] “Another Somebody Done Somebody” – B.J. Thomas
[new] “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” – Freddy Fender
“Best Of My Love” – Eagles
“Black Water” – Doobie Brothers
[new] “Butter Boy” – Fanny
“Can’t Get It Out Of My Head” – Electric Light Orchestra
[new] “Chevy Van” – Sammy Johns
“Don’t Call Us We’ll Call You” – Sugarloaf
[new] “Emma” – Hot Chocolate
[new] “Emotion” – Helen Reddy
“Express” – B.T. Express
“Fire” – Ohio Players
[new] “Harry Truman” – Chicago
“Have You Never Been Mellow” – Olivia Newton-John
[new] “I Am Love” – Jackson Five
“I’m A Woman” – Maria Muldaur
[new] “L.O.V.E.” – Al Green
“Lady Marmalade” – Labelle
“Lady” – Styx
“Lonely People” – America
[new] “Long Tall Glasses” – Leo Sayer
“Lovin’ You” – Minnie Riperton
“Movin’ On” – Bad Company
“My Boy” – Elvis Presley
“My Eyes Adored You” – Frankie Valli
[new] “Never Let Her Go” – David Gates
“Nightingale” – Carole King
[new] “No No Song / Snookeroo” – Ringo Starr
[new] “Once You Get Started” – Rufus & Chaka Khan
[new] “Philadelphia Freedom” – Elton John Band
“Pick Up The Pieces” – Average White Band
“Poetry Man” – Phoebe Snow
“Roll On Down The Highway” – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
[new] “Sad Sweet Dreamer” – Sweet Sensation
[new] “Satin Soul” – Love Unlimited Orchestra
[new] “Shame Shame Shame” – Shirley & Company
[new] “Shining Star” – Earth Wind & Fire
“Some Kind Of Wonderful” – Grand Funk
[new] “Supernatural Thing” – Ben E. King
“Sweet Surrender” – John Denver
[new] “The South’s Gonna Do It” – Charlie Daniels Band
“To The Door Of The Sun” – Al Martino
“Up In A Puff Of Smoke” – Polly Brown
[new] “Walking In Rhythm” – Blackbyrds
[new] “What Am I Gonna Do With You” – Barry White
“You Are So Beautiful” – Joe Cocker
[new] “You’re No Good” – Linda Ronstadt
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
The Times
David Bowie shattered his glam-rock mold on March 7, 1975, with the release of his ninth studio album, Young Americans. Recorded primarily in Philadelphia, the record marked a radical stylistic pivot into what Bowie famously dubbed “plastic soul”—a white UK artist’s highly stylized take on American R&B, funk, and gospel. Featuring backing vocals from a young, then-unknown Luther Vandross and a title track that took a cynical look at the American Dream, the album also birthed his first-ever number-one single in the US, “Fame,” co-written with John Lennon. Young Americans shocked purists but proved to be a masterclass in musical reinvention, heavily influencing the evolution of late-70s dance and blue-eyed soul music.
And then Rock transformed into cinematic, operatoc. spectacle on March 26, 1975, when the film adaptation of The Who’s legendary concept album, Tommy, made its star-studded premiere. Directed by the eccentric Ken Russell, the movie turned the band’s 1969 rock opera into a high-camp, visually overwhelming fever dream. Featuring Roger Daltrey in the title role, the production boasted an unforgettable, iconoclastic cast of music and screen legends, including Elton John as the towering Pinball Wizard, Tina Turner as the wild Acid Queen, and Eric Clapton as the Preacher. Tommy became a box-office triumph and a cultural lightning rod, proving that rock music could break free from the vinyl groove to dominate mainstream cinema with theatrical, boundary-pushing grandiosity.
Meanwhile British comedy reached a surreal, enduring high-water mark on March 14, 1975, when “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” premiered in the United Kingdom. Co-directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones on a shoestring budget partly funded by rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, the film delivered a relentlessly absurd, brilliantly satirical deconstruction of the Arthurian legend. From knights using clacking coconut shells to mimic horses to the famously lethal Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, the film’s relentless wit and stylistic non-sequiturs redefined cinematic comedy. It instantly crossed over into global pop-culture immortality, establishing a foundational blueprint for modern alternative comedy and remaining one of the most frequently quoted films in cinema history.
The Take
Of the bands new to chart this month, “Fanny” were unknown to me personally. They were one of the first all-female rock groups to achieve critical and commercial success, including two Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 singles. But it was the Bowie link that hooked me into their history, in particular because it mentioned his own (lesser known) history in…mime!
Bowie was, by all accounts, completely captivated by Fanny’s musicianship on discovering them in the ’70s, sending them a letter full of praise and inviting them to a post-show party where he showed off some of his mime techniques.
That artistic connection inspired bassist Jean Millington to write “Butter Boy,” a sleek, swaggering track all about her relationship with Bowie. Released on their 1974 album Rock and Roll Survivors, the song brought a glam-rock energy to their sound. The Bowie connection even rippled into the band’s post-split life, as Jean later ended up marrying Earl Slick, Bowie’s longtime guitarist.
Ironically, “Butter Boy” turned out to be Fanny’s biggest commercial hit, climbing its way up to number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1975. The only catch? The success was a bit bittersweet. By the time the single actually peaked and everyone was jamming out to Jean’s tribute to Bowie, lineup changes and internal friction had already done their work, and Fanny had officially called it quits.
In a 1999 Rolling Stone interview, Bowie looked back and called them “one of the finest fucking rock bands of their time,” insisting they were just as colossal and important as any of their male peers.
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
And here we are, a mere two years before Thomas is born, but many more before our DJ Sadie is…
The Chart
A mixed month at the top – “Laughter In The Rain” by Neil Sedaka, “Fire” by Ohio Players, “You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstadt, and “Pick Up The Pieces” by Average White Band.
“#9 Dream” – John Lennon
“Best Of My Love” – Eagles
[new] “Big Yellow Taxi” – Joni Mitchell
“Black Water” – Doobie Brothers
“Boogie On Reggae Woman” – Stevie Wonder
[new] “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head” – Electric Light Orchestra
“Doctor’s Orders” – Carol Douglas
[new] “Don’t Call Us We’ll Call You” – Sugarloaf
[new] “Express” – B.T. Express
“Fire” – Ohio Players
“Free Bird” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Get Dancin’” – Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes
[new] “Have You Never Been Mellow” – Olivia Newton-John
[new] “I Belong To You” – Love Unlimited
[new] “I’m A Woman” – Maria Muldaur
[new] “Lady Marmalade” – Labelle
[new] “Lady” – Styx
“Laughter In The Rain” – Neil Sedaka
“Lonely People” – America
“Look In My Eyes Pretty Woman” – Tony Orlando & Dawn
[new] “Lovin’ You” – Minnie Riperton
“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” – Elton John
“Mandy” – Barry Manilow
“Morning Side Of The Mountain” – Donny & Marie Osmond
[new] “Movin’ On” – Bad Company
[new] “My Boy” – Elvis Presley
[new] “My Eyes Adored You” – Frankie Valli
“Never Can Say Goodbye” – Gloria Gaynor
“Nightingale” – Carole King
“One Man Woman One Woman Man” – Paul Anka & Odia Coates
“Pick Up The Pieces” – Average White Band
“Please Mr. Postman” – Carpenters
[new] “Poetry Man” – Phoebe Snow
“Ready” – Cat Stevens
“Rock N Roll” – Mac Davis
[new] “Roll On Down The Highway” – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
“Some Kind Of Wonderful” – Grand Funk
“Struttin’” – Billy Preston
“Sweet Surrender” – John Denver
[new] “To The Door Of The Sun” – Al Martino
[new] “Up In A Puff Of Smoke” – Polly Brown
[new] “You Are So Beautiful” – Joe Cocker
“You’re No Good / I Can’t Help It” – Linda Ronstadt
[new] “Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne” – Jim Stafford
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
On February 4th Former British Prime Minister Edward Heath stepped down as chairman of the Conservative Party after former Education Minister Margaret Thatcher outpolled him 130-119, still less than the majority 139 of 276 votes needed for anyone to become the party’s leader. One week later, Thatcher would become the first woman to lead a British political party and usher in a new, deeply controversial, era in politics.
Television screens across America were bathed in high-glam musical showmanship on February 12, 1975, when the solo variety show Cher premiered as an blockbuster network special on CBS. Stepping out on her own following her highly publicised divorce and professional split from Sonny Bono, Cher shattered expectations by recruiting a powerhouse lineup of guests including Elton John, Bette Midler, and Flip Wilson. Dazzling audiences with Bob Mackie’s infamously daring, avant-garde costume designs and powerhouse musical medleys, the premiere drew massive ratings. It immediately established Cher as an independent, singular pop-culture force and set a vibrant, boundary-pushing standard for 1970s prime-time entertainment.
The automotive world experienced a polarising shockwave on February 28, 1975, when American Motors Corporation officially introduced the AMC Pacer to the public. Dubbed “the first wide small car,” its unique, avant-garde design featured a massive expanse of wrap-around glass, rounded bodywork, and an asymmetrical passenger door built longer than the driver’s side to ease backseat entry. Though initially built as a forward-thinking response to the mid-70s fuel crisis, its futuristic “flying fishbowl” silhouette quickly shifted from a consumer novelty to a cult-classic icon of 1970s visual kitsch—culminating in its legendary cinematic rebirth as the Mirthmobile in the 1992 comedy classicWayne’s World.
The Take
“Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell is originally from 1970 this later live version was released in 1974 on “Miles of Aisles” and reached No. 24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart we track. Reviewers regarded the live version as “more full of life” than any of the singles Mitchell released in a long time. Which it is, but seems to lose the poignancy in being a bit more bubbly than the original.
I wrote ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart […] this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.
Then we have Olivia Newton-John’s, “Have You Never Been Mellow”, which apparently isn’t about what the mid-70s might imply its about,
“There was a time when I was in a hurry as you are I was like you There was a day when I just had to tell my point of view I was like you
Now I don’t mean to make you frown No, I just want you to slow down
Have you never been mellow?”
And lastly in terms of tunes that got us googling, there is Patti LaBelle’s classic “Lady Marmalade” which became iconic (again) for another generation when it was featured in Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!”
“Lady Marmalade” is about a man’s sexual encounter with the titular prostitute, but Patti LaBelle later claimed that she was completely oblivious to its overall message, saying: “I didn’t know what it was about. I don’t know French and nobody, I swear this is God’s truth, nobody at all told me what I’d just sung a song about.”
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
Well would you look at that…we’ve been at this for 25-sped up years! Happy quarter century 4xlife!
Songs of the month
[new] “”#9 Dream”” – John Lennon
“Angie Baby” – Helen Reddy
[new] “Best Of My Love” – Eagles
[new] “Black Water” – Doobie Brothers
“Boogie On Reggae Woman” – Stevie Wonder
“Bungle In The Jungle” – Jethro Tull
“Cats In The Cradle” – Harry Chapin
“Dancin’ Fool” – Guess Who
“Dark Horse” – George Harrison
“Doctor’s Orders” – Carol Douglas
“Fire” – Ohio Players
[new] “Free Bird” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
[new] “From His Woman To You” – Barbara Mason
[new] “Get Dancin’” – Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes
[new] “I Feel A Song” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
[new] “Junior’s Farm” – Paul Mccartney & Wings
“Kung Fu Fighting” – Carl Douglas
“Laughter In The Rain” – Neil Sedaka
[new] “Lonely People” – America
[new] “Look In My Eyes Pretty Woman” – Tony Orlando & Dawn
“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” – Elton John
“Mandy” – Barry Manilow
[new] “Morning Side Of The Mountain” – Donny & Marie Osmond
[new] “Must Have Got Lost” – J. Geils Band
“Never Can Say Goodbye” – Gloria Gaynor
[new] “Nightingale” – Carole King
“One Man Woman One Woman Man” – Paul Anka & Odia Coates
“Only You” – Ringo Starr
“Pick Up The Pieces” – Average White Band
“Please Mr. Postman” – Carpenters
[new] “Ready” – Cat Stevens
“Ride ’em Cowboy” – Paul Davis
[new] “Rock N Roll” – Mac Davis
“Sha-La-La” – Al Green
“Some Kind Of Wonderful” – Grand Funk
[new] “Struttin’” – Billy Preston
[new] “Sweet Surrender” – John Denver
“When Will I See You Again” – Three Degrees
“You Got The Love” – Rufus Ft Chaka Khan
[new] “You’re No Good / I Can’t Help It” – Linda Ronstadt
[new] “You’re The First The Last My Everything” – Barry White
[new] “Your Bulldog Drinks Chanpagne” – Jim Stafford
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On January 6, 1975, television history was made when daytime audiences were introduced to Wheel of Fortune on NBC in the USA. Created by media mogul Merv Griffin and inspired by the classic children’s game Hangman, the original daytime version was hosted by Chuck Woolery with Susan Stafford turning the letters.The unique blend of word puzzles and a giant roulette wheel instantly captivated viewers, kicking off a television dynasty that remains an iconic staple of global media culture.
On January 20, Bob Dylan released his 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, which is widely celebrated as one of his absolute masterpieces. Marking a creative rebirth, the album traded his political anthems for a cycle of deeply personal, raw, and narrative-driven tracks like “Tangled Up in Blue” and “Simple Twist of Fate.” Heavily tied by critics to the unraveling of his marriage, the record’s cynical yet vulnerable examination of love and heartbreak became the definitive sonic blueprint for mid-70s confessional singer-songwriters.
Broadway underwent a vibrant, high-energy transformation on January 5, 1975, when The Wiz officially opened at the Majestic Theatre. A groundbreaking, soul-and-funk musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the production featured an all-Black cast and a powerhouse soundtrack boasting numbers like “Ease on Down the Road.” This vibrant re-imagining blew critics and theatergoers away, eventually taking home seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and establishing a lasting legacy that deeply influenced urban fashion, theater representation, and 70s dance music.
What’d Sadie think?
It’s two weeks at the top for Elton John’s “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” , then Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” gets a week before “Please Mr. Postman” by the Carpenters does likewise.
So, now we’ve been at this for 25-accelerated years, rather than breaking down all the new songs by our reaction to them every week, we’re going to move to focus on some specific observations, or interesting facts, about a few of the stand-outs, whether they’re new or have been charting for a while.
“Please Mr. Postman” is a fun one to have reappear in the charts as a cover. We first heard it in 1961 when the Marvelettes did the original. This was also the version that Sadie’s Ballet class used for their 2025 end-of-year performance. Now we have a Carpenters cover charting, which will often have Sadie race to us to do some of the choreography, very cute!
I’ve got a soft-spot for the Eagles myself, my dad had a couple of their albums that played on repeat during my youth. An interesting story on that…
“Best of My Love” was recorded at Olympic Studios in London. The Eagles had begun working on On the Border with producer Glyn Johns who had helmed their Eagles debut album and the follow-up Desperado album. Despite the success of their debut album the Eagles were unhappy over Johns’ preference for country rock and toning down their own rock aspirations, and their dissatisfaction with Johns was reinforced by the similarly honed Desperado album which was a comparative failure and Johns’ no-drug policy during the recording.
“Cats In The Cradle” by Harry Chapin caught both Emily and I by surprise…in the sense that we had both thought it was a Cat Stevens song. Of course, he’s on the charts also right now and has a similarly themed song, “Father and Son” but this one isn’t him. I was sort of relieved to find it may be a fairly common “mandela effect” (shared cultural delusion) as documented on Reddit and various other forums.
Also of interest this week is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” which I knew more from its memetic status than the song itself. As a forum poster explains, “Decades before the internet, it became an inside joke for concertgoers to shout ‘Play Free Bird!’ to musicians, even at shows where it made absolutely no sense (like a jazz, classical, or hip-hop gig). This was immortalized as the ultimate trope of an annoying or persistent audience member”. It’s a better meme than song in my opinion, but that’s what defines pop culture!
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
Oops, we didn’t send out last week’s playlist so here is November, 1974 and then onto Xmas of the year…
Songs of the month
“Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” – Rolling Stones
“Angie Baby” – Helen Reddy
“Back Home Again” – John Denver
[new] “Boogie On Reggae Woman” – Stevie Wonder
[new] “Bungle In The Jungle” – Jethro Tull
“Cat’s In The Cradle” – Harry Chapin
[new] “Dancin’ Fool” – Guess Who
[new] “Dark Horse” – George Harrison
“Do It” – B.T. Express
[new] “Doctor’s Orders” – Carol Douglas
“Everlasting Love” – Carl Carlton
“Fairytale” – Pointer Sisters
“Fire Baby I’m On Fire” – Andy Kim
[new] “Fire” – Ohio Players
“I Can Help” – Billy Swan
“I Feel A Song” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
“I’ve Got The Music In Me” – Kiki Dee
[new] “Junior’s Farm” – Paul Mccartney And Wings
“Kung Fu Fighting” – Carl Douglas
“Laughter In The Rain” – Neil Sedaka
“Longfellow Serenade” – Neil Diamond
[new] “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” – Elton John
[new] “Mandy” – Barry Manilow
[new] “Morning Side Of The Mountain” – Donny And Marie Osmond
“Must Of Got Lost” – J. Geils Band
“My Melody Of Love” – Bobby Vinton
[new] “Never Can Say Goodbye” – Gloria Gaynor
[new] “One Man Woman One Woman Man” – Paul Anka & Odia Coates
[new] “Only You” – Ringo Starr
[new] “Pick Up The Pieces” – Average White Band
[new] “Please Mr. Postman” – Carpenters
“Promised Land” – Elvis Presley
[new] “Ride ’em Cowboy” – Paul Davis
“Sha-La-La” – Al Green
[new] “Some Kind Of Wonderful” – Grand Funk
“Touch Me” – Fancy
“When Will I See You Again” – Three Degrees
[new] “Willie And The Hand Jive” – Eric Clapton
“Wishing You Were Here” – Chicago
“Woman To Woman” – Shirley Brown
“You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
“You Got The Love” – Rufus Ft Chaka Khan
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
Though they had effectively stopped recording together years earlier, the formal partnership of The Beatles officially came to an end in late December 1974. The legal paperwork breaking up the band was slated to be signed by all four members at the Plaza Hotel in New York, but John Lennon skipped the initial meeting (sending a balloon in his place). On December 29, while vacationing at Disney World’s Polynesian Village Resort in Florida, Lennon finally signed the paperwork, officially and legally dissolving the greatest pop band in history.
On December 19, Roger Moore made his second appearance as 007 in The Man with the Golden Gun. Featuring Christopher Lee as the sophisticated assassin Francisco Scaramanga and Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight, the film took James Bond across Thailand. Complete with an iconic theme song sung by Lulu, the film captured the mid-70s obsession with martial arts cinema and remains a standout visual spectacle of the era.
Just ten months after taking over theaters with Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks struck comedy gold a second time in 1974 with the release of Young Frankenstein. Starring Gene Wilder (who also co-wrote the script), Peter Boyle as the Monster, and Marty Feldman as Igor, the film was a brilliant, affectionate parody of classic 1930s horror. Brooks even tracked down the original laboratory props from the 1931 Frankenstein film to ensure visual authenticity. It became a massive box-office success and stands as one of the most quotable comedies of the 1970s.
What’d Sadie think?
It’s two weeks of “Kung Fu Fighting” (by Carl Douglas) in December before Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s In The Cradle” and then Helen Reddy’s “Angie Baby” take the top spot.
It might have been the “official” breakup of The Beatles this month but all four members had their own charting tunes! (Though we have to include John Lennon’s participation on Elton John’s
Loved ’em
“Boogie On Reggae Woman” – Stevie Wonder
“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” – Elton John
“Mandy” – Barry Manilow
“Never Can Say Goodbye” – Gloria Gaynor
“Pick Up The Pieces” – Average White Band
“Please Mr. Postman” – Carpenters
Liked ’em
“Bungle In The Jungle” – Jethro Tull
“Dancin’ Fool” – Guess Who
“Dark Horse” – George Harrison
“Doctor’s Orders” – Carol Douglas
“Fire” – Ohio Players
“Junior’s Farm” – Paul Mccartney And Wings
“Morning Side Of The Mountain” – Donny And Marie Osmond
“One Man Woman One Woman Man” – Paul Anka & Odia Coates
“Only You” – Ringo Starr
“Ride ’em Cowboy” – Paul Davis
“Some Kind Of Wonderful” – Grand Funk
“Willie And The Hand Jive” – Eric Clapton
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
The fine autumn weather continues in Auckland of 2026. As Winter comes our way, let’s turn our ears back to November of 1974…
Songs of the month
[new] “After The Gold Rush” – Prelude
[new] “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” – Rolling Stones
[new] “Angie Baby” – Helen Reddy
“Back Home Again” – John Denver
“Can’t Get Enough” – Bad Company
“Carefree Highway” – Gordon Lightfoot
[new] “Cat’s In The Cradle” – Harry Chapin
[new] “Distant Lover” – Marvin Gaye
“Do It Baby” – Miracles
“Do It” – B.T. Express
“Everlasting Love” – Carl Carlton
[new] “Fairytale” – Pointer Sisters
[new] “Fire Baby I’m On Fire” – Andy Kim
“Honey Honey” – Abba
[new] “I Can Help” – Billy Swan
[new] “I Feel A Song” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
“I’ve Got The Music In Me” – Kiki Dee
“Jazzman” – Carole King
[new] “Kung Fu Fighting” – Carl Douglas
[new] “La La Peace Song” – Al Wilson
[new] “Laughter In The Rain” – Neil Sedaka
“Life Is A Rock” – Reunion
“Longfellow Serenade” – Neil Diamond
[new] “Love Don’t Love Nobody” – Spinners
“Love Me For A Reason” – Osmonds
[new] “Must Of Got Lost” – J. Geils Band
“My Melody Of Love” – Bobby Vinton
“Overnight Sensation” – Raspberries
[new] “People Gotta Move” – Gino Vanelli
[new] “Promised Land” – Elvis Presley
[new] “Rockin’ Soul” – Hues Corporation
[new] “Sha-La-La” – Al Green
[new] “So You Are A Star” – Hudson Brothers
“Steppin’ Out” – Tony Orlando And Dawn
“Stop And Smell The Roses” – Mac Davis
“Sweet Home Alabama” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
“The Bitch Is Back” – Elton John
“The Need To Be” – Jim Weatherly
“Then Came You” – Dionne Warwick And The Spinners
“Tin Man” – America
[new] “Touch Me” – Fancy
“Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” – John Lennon
[new] “When Will I See You Again” – Three Degrees
[new] “Wishing You Were Here” – Chicago
[new] “Woman To Woman” – Shirley Brown
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
[new] “You Got The Love” – Rufus Ft Chaka Khan
“You Haven’t Done Nothin’” – Stevie Wonder
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
In a moment that went down in rock and roll history, John Lennon joined Elton John on stage at a sold-out Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving night in 1974. The appearance was the result of a bet: Lennon had agreed that if their collaboration “Whatever Gets You thru the Night” hit #1 on the charts (which it did earlier that month), he would perform live with Elton. The crowd erupted into a legendary ten-minute standing ovation as they ran through three tracks, including “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Tragically, this surprise performance would mark the final time John Lennon ever performed on a major concert stage.
On November 20, 1974, Francis Ford Coppola achieved the near-impossible when The Godfather Part II premiered in Hollywood. Serving as both a sequel and a prequel to the 1972 original, the film masterfully contrasted the rise of a young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) with the moral descent of his son Michael (Al Pacino). It became a critical and commercial triumph, eventually making history as the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It fundamentally redefined what a cinematic sequel could achieve and remains a benchmark of American cinema.
While the pilot movie had aired earlier in the year, the official weekly series of “Little House on the Prairie” became a fixture of global television in late 1974. Starring Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls, the wholesome, family-centric drama based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books provided a massive contrast to the gritty, cynical news of the post-Watergate era. The show became an instant ratings powerhouse and a staple of family viewing, defining an entire era of wholesome 1970s television storytelling.
What’d Sadie think?
First Steve Wonder tells us, “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” before Bachman-Turner Overdrive tells us, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”. But we must have seen something as John Lennon sings, “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” and Billy Swan insists, “I Can Help” for the last two weeks of the month.
Loved ’em
“You’re The First The Last My Everything”” – Barry White
“Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” – Rolling Stones
“Cat’s In The Cradle” – Harry Chapin
“Kung Fu Fighting” – Carl Douglas
“Sha-La-La” – Al Green
“When Will I See You Again” – Three Degrees
“Woman To Woman” – Shirley Brown
“You Got The Love” – Rufus Ft Chaka Khan
Liked ’em
“After The Goldrush” – Prelude
“Angie Baby” – Helen Reddy
“Distant Lover” – Marvin Gaye
“Fairytale” – Pointer Sisters
“Fire Baby I’m On Fire” – Andy Kim
“I Can Help” – Billy Swan
“I Feel A Song” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
“La La Peace Song” – Al Wilson
“Laughter In The Rain” – Neil Sedaka
“Love Don’t Love Nobody” – Spinners
“Must Of Got Lost” – J. Geils Band
“People Gotta Move” – Gino Vanelli
“Promised Land” – Elvis Presley
“Rockin’ Soul” – Hues Corporation
“So You Are A Star” – Hudson Brothers
Touch Me” – Fancy
“Wishing You Were Here” – Chicago
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.