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.
The Times
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 youNow I don’t mean to make you frown
No, I just want you to slow downHave 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.