I have always wanted to cover a year from the seventies in
terms of a top ten list, part of this is this curiosity I have surrounding the
music if the seventies which saw the first half of the decade hold onto soul,
jazz and funk before the latter half of the decade slowly transitioned into the
disco explosion along with the first seeds of new wave music being planted but
regardless of how the decade was, I am going to look at a specific year, that
year being 1974 mostly because there are songs from the year that I genuinely
love and I want to talk about.
1974 was year where the Australian music scene was on the
verge of change after concerns were raised that Australian artists were
struggling on the charts in face of competition from overseas acts which meant
by 1973, the proportion of Australian acts hitting the singles chart was at an
all time low, the music of the year tended toward funk, soul, pop, country and
a small amount of rock hitting the chart.
However, if you dig a bit deeper than you’ll know that many
music critics consider 1974 to be a bad year for popular music pretty much
because the big names had disappeared with Elvis Presley quiet, The Beatles
having broken up in 1970 with only Ringo Starr really an active presence on the
charts that year (he won’t be making this list) and ABBA had only begun their
overwhelming period of success however unlike ABBA, many acts who saw success
in 1974 would not repeat their success in later years so yeah, I am not going
to say the critics are wrong because I really did have trouble put this list
together because avoiding the bad cliched song writing that felt out of step
with the time even allowing for it being the 70s, the schmaltzy cloying garbage
that was only slowly going away or the feeling that the song was just pure
novelty junk was difficult however I did manage to find ten songs that showed
genuine quality or like I said previously I genuinely love.
Let’s go over the rules before we start though: in order to
make this list, the songs had to make the Kent Music Report year end list for
1974, also if they made the year end chart for 1973 but are higher on the 1974 year end list than they are
also eligible so now we’ve got that straight, let’s go…
May as well start off with the biggest hit song of the year,
it’s one of several glam rock songs to make this list and honestly in a stronger
year I am not sure that this would have made it but given we are dealing with
1974…
10. “My Coo Ca Choo” by Alvin Stardust
Yeah, we’re starting the list with the biggest song of the
year having spent seven weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart and
honestly while I do like it, in a stronger year, it would have likely missed the
list altogether but given the common theme to this list is songs that step outside
the mold for 1974, “My Coo Ca Choo” does a lot right, I love that its this
catchy with that guitar and Pete Shelley aka ‘Alvin Stardust’ really is kind of
pushing an Elvis Presley impression in the vocals made all the more blatant by
the haircut.
“My Coo Ca Choo” is a throwback in many ways and I get why
the song was so ridiculously huge here. Alvin Stardust would go on to have further
success in the UK in 1974 with “Jealous Mind” going number one. Glad I could
give this song a little recognition even if as I said I am not really a massive
fan of it
This is one of those songs I like but don’t love and in a
better year, it probably wouldn’t make the list however the artist behind this
song was the best-selling performer in the USA in 1974 and with songs like this
one, it’s not hard to understand why.
9. ‘Annie’s Song” by John Denver.
This folk-rock, country song is one of those songs that
nobody should be surprised made my year end best list, it’s just a heartfelt
sweet song that was written in a ski lift by Denver during a trip by Denver and
his wife to Aspen in Colorado in 1973, Denver was inspired to write the song
after physical exhilaration of skiing a tough ski run and immersing himself in
the colours and sounds around him that day.
For a song that was written in ten and a half minutes, you
can barely tell because its just vivid and Denver is singing from a place of
sincerity, you can absolutely tell he was in love at the time and that guitar
is just gorgeous, it doesn’t get the praise that a song like “Country Roads
(Take Me Home)” gets.
Sadly, Denver would die in a light plane crash in California
in 1997 but yeah there’s a reason AllMusic labelled Denver as “one of the most
beloved entertainers of his era” because of songs like “Annie’s Song”. Terrific
song.
Sticking with country, lets go to a mostly ignored Glen
Campbell gem…
8. “Bonaparte’s Retreat” by Glen Campbell.
If there’s a song in Glenn Campbell’s discography that doesn’t
quite get the attention that a song like “Rhinestone Cowboy” (would be a hit a
year later) however the song itself was originally just a melody that purely
existed as various fiddle tunes dating back as far as the 1800s however it
would be an American country artist Pee Wee King who would record a modified
version of the song in 1950 adding in lyrics with the title being a reference
to Napoleon Bonaparte’s retreat from Russia that ultimately ended in disaster
in 1812.
Anyway enough about the history of the song which is
interesting and onto the song itself and I think the reason why this works so
well for me is Glenn Campbell’s vocal delivery as he sings the story of meeting
and falling in love with this girl telling her of her many charms and then
kissing her while “Napoleon’s Bonaparte” played in the background which I admit
is probably why the song could be viewed as kind of bad but honestly I find it
to be weirdly endearing.
Glenn Campbell would go onto much greater success in the 70s
with his biggest hit coming in 1975 with “Rhinestone Cowboy” and is considered
a legend in the American country scene.
So in 1974, Australian music was doing it tough on the
charts, oh sure there were plenty doing well on the charts with Stevie Wright,
Olivia Newton-John and Grahame Bond were among the Aussie artists to reach the
top but the concern about the state of Australian music was so high that ABC
and Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum would create Countdown and give Australian bands like
this one a platform to promote songs like this…
7. “Slipstream” by Sherbet
1974 saw Sherbert led by Daryl Braithwaite emerge onto the
Australian scene and they would end up having a presence on the year end charts
with their biggest being “Silvery Moon” which was a top 5 hit while
“Slipstream” would also end up hitting the top five and is the better of the
two songs even thought I nearly overlooked this song until I heard it on the
radio and realized how much I actually do like it.
I love how the song sounds so different to anything else that
was on the chart at the time and Darryl Braithwaite is really providing and
adding to the energy of the song with its build into the verse before dropping
dramatically for the bridge with that build into the chorus being great.
“Slipstream” is about losing your way, finding some room and
getting back onto the path and finding your way again, the kind of sentiment
perfect for not just back in 1974 but now given how things are right now.
Sherbet would go on to experience further success in the
years that followed with “Howzat” being huge in 1976 and becoming an Australian
music staple.
So there’s one artist who will be appearing twice on this
list and because I want to talk more about this artist later on the list I am going
to endeavour to keep this short but if you are looking for who might have
inspired Joan Jett and others than look no further…
6. “48 Crash” by Suzi Quatro
In order to talk about the influence of female rockers many
trace back to Joan Jett but I think most forget that Suzi Quatro was creating
waves in the rock scene in the 1970s and doing it brilliantly, I don’t quite
love “48 Crash” as much as a Suzi Quatro song later on the list but “48 Crash”
still does a LOT right, I love the guitars and the build into the song and holy
hell, is Suzi selling the song convincingly, she throws herself into the song
hard and the guitars sound absolutely phenomenal that it actually makes me
nostalgic for guitar led pop-rock from women on the charts again.
The song was allegedly created through a challenge where the
song writers were asked to write a song about absolutely anything hence a
challenge to write a song about the economic crash of the United States in
1848…
Yeah…a bit like if Avril Lavigne was asked to write a song
about the 1987 Wall Street crash. It’s still a great song regardless mostly due
to the shredding guitars and Suzi’s vocals.
More about Suzi Quatro later this list.
Again, this is a song I like but don’t love but it would
wrong of me not to acknowledge that this song is ridiculously iconic and by now
you should all know what it is, hey Evie, LET YOUR HAIR HANG DOWN!.
5. “Evie” by Stevie Wright
By 1973, Stevie Wright’s former band The Easybeats had gone
their separate ways and it left former frontman Stevie Wright doing it tough
and suffering from a drug addiction so given Wright was an absolutely brilliant
performer, master songwriters George Vanda and Harry Young decided to see what
they could come up with, in the end three part song “Evie” and Wright’s album
“Hard Road” was as result of the hard work put in by Wright, Vanda and Young.
“Evie would be released in April 1974
The song “Evie” though is a masterpiece, a rocking three
part song that gave Wright the ability to exert his charisma and personality
and show off the brilliant craft and song writing of Vanda and Young. The parts
to the song comprised the raucous part 1 where Wright is urging Evie to let her
hair hang down and Wright is just full of swagger while the second part sees
Wright hit more of an emotional note as he and Evie are finally together and
Wright acknowledges he would struggle without her and finally the tragic third
part which is a strangely disco esque rock song that sees Wright deal with
Evie’s death during childbirth, it’s a total emotional rollercoaster of a song.
There is a reason this song was considered the first eleven
minute song to hit the top of the Australian charts at the top and is
considered an Australian classic to this day!
Let’s stay with rock but go to the United Kingdom home to a
certain British glam rock act that would have an impact on the charts in 1974
with this…
4. “The Ballroom Blitz” by The Sweet
This should hold no surprises for anyone that this song is
on this list especially as this song has this incredible catchiness to it that
makes it a lot of fun to jump around or even just groove too with its sharp
guitars and drums and be one of the many hit songs that songwriter Mike Chapman
would either write or co-write, in the case of “The Ballroom Blitz”, he
co-wrote it with fellow songwriter and record producer Nicky Chinn.
The song was inspired by an incident at the Grand Hall in
the Scottish town of Kilmarnock where they were driven off stage by people
throwing things at the band which of course sparked the lyrics in the chorus. I
just love the drums that do not let up and the guitars and even though it took
a while to convince me, what tips this song over the edge into being great is
that bridge into the hook…that over the top ridiculous hook with the vocals
that never get annoying but bring the song out of its shell after the delivery
of the verse allowing for that chorus to really explode.
In a sea of schmaltz and novelty that was 1974, this was all
levels of wonderful, The Sweet saw both “Peppermint Twist” and “Teenage
Rampage” also hit the Australian year end list and in 1975 top the year end
chart with “Fox on the Run” which would wind up their biggest hit but I think
I’ll always prefer the slightly ridiculous and over the top nature of “The
Ballroom Blitz”
By now, you’ve probably noticed that a certain Swedish group
who first made their appearance on the charts in 1974 with a song widely
considered a classic has been absent from this list so far…well it’s not like I
disagree here…
3. “Waterloo” by ABBA
In a decade where songs that won the Eurovision Song Contest
would still be a huge on the charts even though it would take another nine
years before the contest would be televised into Australia on relatively new
station at the time, SBS. Swedish band ABBA comprising of Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn
and Anni-Frid headed to the 1974 contest hosted by the English town of Brighton
with what was soon to be a massive global smash hit in the making, “Waterloo”
was originally under the title of ‘Honey Pie” and features rock and jazz
elements with production and recording style influenced by Phil Spector’s “Wall
of Sound”;
“Waterloo” is about a woman who surrenders to a gentleman
giving him promises that she’ll love him forever and much like other songs on
this list, it strayed away from what might have been seen as conventional on
the charts and even for Eurovision with eye catching costumes and even dance
moves, ABBA even sung the song in English rather than in their native Swedish
(in those days, singers sung in their native tongue) at the contest right up to
1973)
“Waterloo” is one of the most perfect pop songs that would
come out of the 70s and at a time when pop music needed to rid itself of the
schmaltzy hold it was in, this could not have come at a better time. ABBA would
go on to have six number one hits in Australia and have a lot of success around
the world while that year’s Eurovision Song Contest would also see Australia’s
own Olivia Newton John compete for the United Kingdom with “Long Live Love” (a
rather cheesy ballad) reaching a peak of 11 on the weekly charts and hitting 87
on the year end chart but in ABBA’s “Waterloo”, we got a pop classic that I
love right to this day
What do the movie Wizard of Oz and Elton have in common?
Well Dorothy and co followed it only to find what they already had while Elton
sings about wanting a simpler life and hence in 1974, we got…
2. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John
It’s taken me awhile to truly like Elton John’s music, I
think I let many of the stories around Elton’s behaviour cloud my view of his
music which I admit was wrong and so one Saturday afternoon during a 2015 summer
I sat down and spent some time listening to Elton’s music casting aside some of
the personal biases I had and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was one of the Elton
John songs that I fell in love with and it’s themes were something that got me
immediately.
The song follows the same theme as the film The Wizard of Oz
where Dorothy and her friends (a collection of misfits) are told to follow
yellow brick road that led to Emerald City in the land of Oz in to find the all-knowing
Wizard and get the answers they seek before
realizing they already had what they were needing and wanting in the first
place..
The same idea is true in John’s song “Goodbye Yellow Brick
Road” where he realizes he is deeply unhappy living what he originally thought was
living a good life after coming to the realization that he was being treated
like crap by his rich lover, this makes him yearn in the lyrics for a time when
life was simpler a yearning that is so god damn true today (honestly there are
days where I wonder if being so damn connected to everything and everyone is
actually worth it).
Elton John continued his success through the rest of the 70s
into the 80s and he even scored a couple of hits in the 90s but there’s a
reason that many critics consider this song to be one of Elton’s best in his discography…check
it out.
Now before we get to number one, how about a couple of
honourable mentions?
-
“Farewell Aunty Jack” by Grahame Bond (Ahh yes,
the song from an ABC TV show called Aunty Jack”, this song was the second
biggest Australian song of the year and you know what? I find this oddly
appealing and charming, if I didn’t, I am pretty sure Aunty Jack would rip my
bloody arms off!)
-
“Sorrow” by David Bowie (I can imagine the rage
that this song didn’t make the list proper however while I respect Bowie and
his impact on the music scene in the 70s and 80s in particular, I just have
struggled to like much of his music but “Sorrow” is still a good song)
-
“You Won’t Find Another Fool Like Me” by The New
Seekers (Okay, this might well be the only relatively schmaltzy song to make
the list. The harmonies and catchy hook do things for me)
-
“The Joker” by Steve Miller Band (I’ve never
really cared for this song, but I can appreciate it’s not a bad song)
-
- “Hooked on A Feeling” by Blue Swede (Consider
this my number eleven, this was the last song I cut before I started making
this list. I like this more than Boston’s version a couple of years later,
always found that version a bit awful on the production side of things)
Now we come to the number one spot. Remember what I said
about there being more Suzi Quatro on this list, well we have reached that point
and to nobody’s surprise…
1.
“Devil Gate Drive” by Suzi Quatro
Another hit composed by the duo of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapmann
and it would end up giving American rocker Suzi Quatro a number hit in Australia
in 1974, the song was originally a B-side for Quatro’s minor hit “Can the Can”.
Unlike,, a lot of modern songs or even other songs of the
time in 1974 where the artists sound like nobody is having any fun, Quatro
sounds like she is having an absolute ball singing about this fictional place
called ‘Devil Gate Drive’ where teenagers go to have fun when their parents say
they are not allowed to go out and yeah, the song makes me wish I was fifteen or
sixteen and sneaking out to go to this magical place called “Devil Gate Drive”
Add the guitars, the backing vocals which add another layer
of catchiness to the hook and you have a song that is just drenched with appeal.
I consider Quatro be the one who started the women in rock scene and with songs
like “Devil Gate Drive” and “48 Crash”, thank goodness she did.
“Devil Gate Drive” by Suzi Quatro is the number one best hit
song of 1974.
