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Posted by: popchartfreak 4th January 2014, 07:56 PM

1st January 1974 Wot I Liked That Actual Week Then

It's a third week on top for Roy Wood as I turn sweet 16, and I definitely got record tokens for Xmas and birthday as I will be spending them next week. 50 years later I got itunes vouchers as a generous retirement gift from workmates, considerably more than the 50p or so I got then. Back to school, back to working towards GCE and CSE exams. And I was back onto full-time personal charting again for the next 50 years too, only expanded to allow non-charting tracks, albums and oldies that had been reissued.

Getting instant Radio 1 airplay were the new Chinn-Chapman Glam Rock stompers from The Sweet and Mud, both of them coming off number ones for me, and The Sweet seemed like the most immediate classic, Teenage Rampage new at 3, with Mud's Tiger Feet in at 9 and also boosting Dynamite ahead of it dropping out of my chart. Stevie Wonder gets his highest charting single at 2 in 5 years of big hits, Living For The City, and Jonathan King keeps the top 10's going as Bubblerock.

In the post-christmas static charts and lack of new releases, the rest of the chart jostles about a bit with the Xmas singles dropping hard.


1 ( 1 ) FOREVER - Roy Wood
2 ( 5 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY - Stevie Wonder
3 ( NEW ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE - The Sweet
4 ( 22 ) DYNAMITE - Mud
5 ( 6 ) ROLL AWAY THE STONE - Mott The Hoople
6 ( 7 ) STREET LIFE - Roxy Music
7 ( 3 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL - Cozy Powell
8 ( 13 ) MY COO CA CHOO - Alvin Stardust
9 ( NEW ) TIGER FEET - Mud
10 ( 23 ) (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION - Bubble Rock

11 ( 16 ) HELEN WHEELS - Paul McCartney & Wings
12 ( 9 ) REMEMBER (SHA LA LA LA) - The Bay City Rollers
13 ( 17 ) DO YOU WANNA DANCE - Barry Blue
14 ( 4 ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON - Leo Sayer
15 ( 2 ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY - Wizzard
16 ( 14 ) BLACK CAT WOMAN - Geordie
17 ( 11 ) LOVE ON A MOUNTAIN TOP - Robert Knight
18 ( 19 ) TRUCK ON (TYKE) - T.Rex
19 ( 15 ) POOL HALL RICHARD - The Faces
20 ( 10 ) MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY - Slade

21 ( 26 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW - Melanie
22 ( 24 ) THE LOVE I LOST - Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes
23 ( 8 ) STEP INTO CHRISTMAS - Elton John
24 ( 12 ) LITTLE SAINT NICK - The Beach Boys
25 ( 29 ) ROCKIN' ROLL BABY - The Stylistics
26 ( 28 ) RADAR LOVE - Golden Earring
27 ( RE ) SORROW - David Bowie
28 ( 25 ) LAMPLIGHT - David Essex
29 ( 21 ) I LOVE YOU LOVE ME LOVE - Gary Glitter
30 ( 18 ) AMOUREUSE - Kiki Dee


8th JAN 1974

Yes, freed from the UK singles charts - I now was free to include any tracks I liked, and I did so, album tracks, flops and especially American hits as I listened more to Paul Gambaccini's American charts countdown and also I discovered the American forces radio Europe network (living in Gloucester we had different radio signals from previous Lincoln where Radio Luxembourg was the only alternative to radio 1).

It was also the last year of school for a lot of kids who'd been caught by the raising of school leaving age, and weren't that interested in being there till 16. Hey ho. In those days local factories took on apprentices straight from school, and they wanted to be earning cash to go out to discos and suchlike. A new year and lots of new exciting records! The Sweet got their 5th consecutive number one with the stomping Teenage Rampage, one my brother bought and which I initially preferred to Chin-Chapman's classic Tiger Feet from Mud (the one I bought with my birthday record tokens, yes I was now sweet 16, all shy and innocent, and much more interested in DC Comics and Pop music, and Star Trek, than anything else. I even used to read science fiction novels back then. Yes I had time to actually read books. Wow!)

highest new entry was the radio played track for the album Band On The Run which had already topped the charts. I had little money for albums, so I can't express how frustrating it was to absolutely love a record and not be able to buy it. For months. A bit like 2014, then, only then it was rare, now it's common.

A third Chinn-Chapman hit machine track also entered high for Suzi Quatro and what a gem, though that was also a few weeks away from release. Lulu was back. With a Bowie bang! The absolutely marvellous cover of his The Man Who Sold The World set Lulu on a path to kinda-cool (occasionally) and a chameleon-like musical career after her pop days of the 60's. Meanwhile future-charters pop in lower down with flops that shoulda been hits, Gallagher & Lyle and Sutherland Brothers, writers of hit songs for others, most notably Tina Turner and Rod Stewart. Yes, Rod's Sailing was a Sutherland Brothers cover version. Can I just say he completely changed the band's version and turned it into a dirge? Just like almost all of his cover versions. Check out the original, way better.


1 ( 3 ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE The Sweet
2 ( NEW ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
3 ( 2 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
4 ( 9 ) TIGER FEET Mud
5 ( 1 ) FOREVER Roy Wood
6 ( NEW ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
7 ( 10 ) (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION Bubble Rock
8 ( 7 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell
9 ( 14 ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON Leo Sayer
10 ( 5 ) ROLL AWAY THE STONE Mott The Hoople

11 ( 6 ) STREETLIFE Roxy Music
12 ( 21 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
13 ( 8 ) MY COO CA CHOO Alvin Stardust
14 ( 15 ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY Wizzard
15 ( 12 ) REMEMBER (SHA LA LA LA) The Bay City Rollers
16 ( NEW ) THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu
17 ( 16 ) BLACK CAT WOMAN Geordie
18 ( 11 ) HELEN WHEELS Wings
19 ( 25 ) ROCKIN' ROLL BABY The Stylistics
20 ( 22 ) THE LOVE I LOST Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes

21 ( RE ) GOD BLESS Dexter Redding
22 ( 13 ) DO YOU WANNA DANCE Barry Blue
23 ( 17 ) LOVE ON A MOUNTAIN TOP Robert Knight
24 ( RE ) SOLITAIRE Andy Williams
25 ( 18 ) TRUCK ON (TYKE) T.Rex
26 ( NEW ) SHINE A LIGHT Gallagher & Lyle
27 ( NEW ) DREAM KID The Sutherland Brothers
28 ( RE ) SORROW David Bowie
29 ( 20 ) MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY Slade
30 ( NEW ) HOW COME Ronnie Lane

Posted by: popchartfreak 4th January 2014, 08:08 PM

15th JAN 1974

In which Paul McCartney gets the thrusting frantic sax rock album track to the top, the best thing he'd done since leaving The Beatles, and his 3rd number one outside the fabs. The ever-present Cher gets a big chart entry with a gypsy murder ballad, what a corker, drama of the first order! The critically-acclaimed Todd Rundgren enters with his huge American classic hit Hello It's Me. such a gorgeous song, and a crime it's unknown in the UK, the melody and his honeyed vocals are achingly brilliant.

Candlewick Green (who?!) cover Jigsaw and get a hit in my chart. For once, though, the definitive version was 20 years in the future - Saint Etienne! ** Fancy, I think an all-girl combo (don't quote me it was a long-time ago!) cover The Troggs ** Schoolteacher Clifford has another of his wistful, lovely singles, only one of which was a hit (Gaye) ** The Isley Brothers back again with classy soul ** Alice Cooper enters with the last of his run of hit singles ** 10CC sneak in with one of their (at this point) semi-regular flops, a quirky, witty, inventive song all about the hit-making money-machine record industry manufactured stars. A bit like 2014 then. 10CC have never got the recognition they deserve because wit, sarcasm and irony seem to go over most music fan's heads, sadly, especially when you can't be pigeon-holed in musical terms.



1 ( 2 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
2 ( 4 ) TIGER FEET Mud
3 ( 1 ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE The Sweet
4 ( 3 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
5 ( NEW ) DARK LADY Cher
6 ( 5 ) FOREVER Roy Wood
7 ( 8 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell
8 ( 16 ) THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu
9 ( 10 ) ROLL AWAY THE STONE Mott The Hoople
10 ( 11 ) STREETLIFE Roxy Music

11 ( 12 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
12 ( 6 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
13 ( NEW ) HELLO IT'S ME Todd Rundgren
14 ( 9 ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON Leo Sayer
15 ( 19 ) ROCKIN' ROLL BABY The Stylistics
16 ( 13 ) MY COO CA CHOO Alvin Stardust
17 ( 17 ) BLACK CAT WOMAN Geordie
18 ( NEW ) WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE Candlewick Green
19 ( NEW ) WILD THING Fancy
20 ( 7 ) (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION Bubble Rock

21 ( 15 ) REMEMBER (SHA LA LA LA) The Bay City Rollers
22 ( 14 ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY Wizzard
23 ( 24 ) SOLITAIRE Andy Williams
24 ( NEW ) SCULLERY Clifford T. Ward
25 ( 20 ) THE LOVE I LOST Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes
26 ( 30 ) HOW COME Ronnie Lane
27 ( 21 ) GOD BLESS Dexter Redding
28 ( NEW ) HIGHWAYS OF MY LIFE The Isley Brothers
29 ( 23 ) LOVE ON A MOUNTAIN TOP Robert Knight
30 ( NEW ) TEENAGE LAMENT '74 Alice Cooper
31 ( NEW ) THE WORST BAND IN THE WORLD 10CC

Posted by: popchartfreak 4th January 2014, 08:25 PM

10CC deserve their own caption here, fab band, love 'em to bits.

Part 2 of January to follow...

Posted by: popchartfreak 6th January 2014, 07:49 PM

22nd JAN 1974

2nd week at the top for hero Paul McCartney & his missus, and had I been listing albums Band On The Run would have topping too, they played a different track when it topped the chart on Johnnie Walker’s Radio 1 lunchtime show so I got a good idea just how good it was - even if I didn’t have the money to buy it! Still Macca’s finest post-Beatles album.

Mud stuck at 2 again, and Cher up to 3, Suzi back into the top 10, Todd makes it for the first official time (though I Saw The Light would have made it a year earlier had I allowed non-chart singles), and highest new entry is a hot new radio exclusive for Alvin Stardust, following up his chart-topper My Coo Ca Choo - in the real world it was Jealous Mind that hit number 1. 10CC go top 20, Stealer’s Wheel get their third hit with Star (future Baker Street-man Gerry Rafferty on vocals) and ultimate soul vocalist Aretha Franklin returns for the first time in 2 years with a gorgeous Stevie Wonder cover. Juuuuust gorgeous.

1 ( 1 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
2 ( 2 ) TIGER FEET Mud
3 ( 5 ) DARK LADY Cher
4 ( 3 ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE The Sweet
5 ( 4 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
6 ( 8 ) THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu
7 ( 12 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
8 ( 13 ) HELLO IT'S ME Todd Rundgren
9 ( 9 ) ROLL AWAY THE STONE Mott The Hoople
10 ( NEW ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust




11 ( 6 ) FOREVER Roy Wood
12 ( 7 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell
13 ( 11 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
14 ( 24 ) SCULLERY Clifford T. Ward
15 ( 15 ) ROCKIN' ROLL BABY The Stylistics
16 ( 16 ) MY COO CA CHOO Alvin Stardust
17 ( 10 ) STREETLIFE Roxy Music
18 ( 20 ) (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION Bubble Rock
19 ( 14 ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON Leo Sayer
20 ( 31 ) THE WORST BAND IN THE WORLD 10CC

21 ( 18 ) WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE Candlewick Green
22 ( 19 ) WILD THING Fancy
23 ( 28 ) HIGHWAYS OF MY LIFE The Isley Brothers
24 ( 21 ) REMEMBER (SHA LA LA LA) The Bay City Rollers
25 ( 22 ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY Wizzard
26 ( 30 ) TEENAGE LAMENT '74 Alice Cooper
27 ( NEW ) STAR Stealer's Wheel
28 ( 26 ) HOW COME Ronnie Lane
29 ( 25 ) THE LOVE I LOST Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes
30 ( NEW ) UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME Aretha Franklin
31 ( 29 ) LOVE ON A MOUNTAIN TOP Robert Knight

Posted by: popchartfreak 6th January 2014, 07:51 PM

29th JAN 1974

3 weeks for Jet, Cher at 2, Suzi up to 4, and heading up a mini-invasion of new entries a new track from my hero Roy Wood. Not a single (and hit) for months, but those reggae bagpipes (all played by Roy of course) were off-the-wall fab to me and just beat out previous hero Marc Bolan with his first (and last) ballad single, the sprawling Teenage Dream.

At 14, no it’s not 1990, it’s 1974 and a high entry for non-UK hit The Joker. I like to think I’m ahead of the game at spotting hits but even so, 16 years!! Just behind The Hollies and their best-ballad, even though it had to wait until 1988 re-issue to hit my number one, it’s plaintive and emotional in a good way. Neil Young’s After The Goldrush gets a wonderful acapella treatment from Prelude, soft hippie cajun folkrock from Medicine Head, cajun stroprock from Brownsville Station (2 months ahead of charting), and sexy fabulous smooth soul from the great Barry White all entering.

1 ( 1 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
2 ( 3 ) DARK LADY Cher
3 ( 2 ) TIGER FEET Mud
4 ( 7 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
5 ( 10 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
6 ( 8 ) HELLO IT'S ME Todd Rundgren
7 ( 4 ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE The Sweet
8 ( 5 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
9 ( NEW ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
10 ( NEW ) TEENAGE DREAM Marc Bolan and T.Rex




11 ( 14 ) SCULLERY Clifford T. Ward
12 ( 6 ) THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu
13 ( 11 ) FOREVER Roy Wood
14 ( NEW ) THE JOKER The Steve Miller Band
15 ( NEW ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
16 ( 12 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell
17 ( 13 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
18 ( 20 ) THE WORST BAND IN THE WORLD 10CC
19 ( 16 ) MY COO CA CHOO Alvin Stardust
20 ( 23 ) HIGHWAYS OF MY LIFE The Isley Brothers




21 ( 30 ) UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME Aretha Franklin
22 ( 9 ) ROLL AWAY THE STONE Mott The Hoople
23 ( 18 ) (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION Bubble Rock
24 ( 24 ) REMEMBER (SHA LA LA LA) The Bay City Rollers
25 ( 19 ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON Leo Sayer
26 ( NEW ) SLIP AND SLIDE Medicine Head
27 ( NEW ) AFTER THE GOLDRUSH Prelude
28 ( NEW ) SMOKING IN THE BOYS ROOM Brownsville Station
29 ( NEW ) NEVER NEVER GONNA GIVE YA UP Barry White
30 ( 26 ) TEENAGE LAMENT '74 Alice Cooper
31 ( 15 ) ROCKIN' ROLL BABY The Stylistics
32 ( 27 ) STAR Stealer's Wheel

Posted by: popchartfreak 1st February 2014, 03:30 PM

5th Feb 1974

Mud climb to the top for the 3rd consecutive single (with Crazy peaking at 2 before that), that famous (in the UK) party classic that lads for once didn’t mind copying a dance to. Great stuff! Clifford and Hollies go Top 10, Todd Top 5, Aretha Top 20 and new entries: from Ringo Starr, covering a 50’s teen pop ballad to fun effect and a US Number One; Love Unlimited Orchestra, or the backing to soul girl group Love Unlimited, or Barry White essentially doing a gorgeous strings-based orchestral soul instrumental that also topped the US charts. I think it’s fairly clear that the American record buyer was doing a better job than the British singles buyer at this time, at least in terms of chart positions. Elsewhere a trio of worldwide flop singles (boo!) from The Tremeloes, now well out of step with the music scene, Neil Sedaka (not that he cared much given what happened next in his career) and Joni Mitchell (who was an albums artist anyway) and her fab Raised On Robbery.



1 ( 3 ) TIGER FEET Mud
2 ( 2 ) DARK LADY Cher
3 ( 5 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
4 ( 1 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
5 ( 6 ) HELLO IT'S ME Todd Rundgren
6 ( 11 ) SCULLERY Clifford T. Ward
7 ( 7 ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE The Sweet
8 ( 8 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
9 ( 15 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
10 ( 4 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro

11 ( 10 ) TEENAGE DREAM Marc Bolan and T.Rex
12 ( 13 ) FOREVER Roy Wood
13 ( 9 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
14 ( 14 ) THE JOKER The Steve Miller Band
15 ( 21 ) UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME Aretha Franklin
16 ( 17 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
17 ( 16 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell
18 ( 18 ) THE WORST BAND IN THE WORLD 10CC
19 ( 20 ) HIGHWAYS OF MY LIFE The Isley Brothers
20 ( NEW ) YOU'RE SIXTEEN Ringo Starr




21 ( NEW ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
22 ( 19 ) MY COO CA CHOO Alvin Stardust
23 ( 26 ) SLIP AND SLIDE Medicine Head
24 ( 12 ) THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu
25 ( 27 ) AFTER THE GOLDRUSH Prelude
26 ( 23 ) (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION Bubble Rock
27 ( 29 ) NEVER NEVER GONNA GIVE YA UP Barry White
28 ( NEW ) DO I LOVE YOU The Tremeloes
29 ( NEW ) A LITTLE LOVIN' Neil Sedaka
30 ( NEW ) RAISED ON ROBBERY Joni Mitchell




31 ( 32 ) STAR Stealer's Wheel
32 ( 24 ) REMEMBER (SHA LA LA LA) The Bay City Rollers

Posted by: popchartfreak 1st February 2014, 03:37 PM

12th Feb 1974

Cher finally gets to the top, and what a dramatic murder epic is still is to me. Fab, and her 2nd to date (with Sonny). Former topper Jet drops dramatically due to my “5 week only” rule on album tracks and non-hits - sadly I kept this all year, or else Jet would have hung around for weeks at the top until it was officially released. Anyway, where a record prematurely gets evicted it gets a bonus position of 31 to indicate it would have been much higher!

Highest new entry at 12 from Hudson-Ford, very much Part Of The Union part 2 in sound (The Strawbs hit essentially being Hudson-Ford) and all but forgotten these days, sadly. Barry White claws up slowly, but his Orchestra rockets to 6, Joni goes Top 20, and 2 more entries from ELO rockin’ it up and Charlie Rich croonin’ a country classic.




1 ( 2 ) DARK LADY Cher
2 ( 1 ) TIGER FEET Mud
3 ( 3 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
4 ( 5 ) HELLO IT'S ME Todd Rundgren
5 ( 9 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
6 ( 21 ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
7 ( 11 ) TEENAGE DREAM Marc Bolan and T.Rex
8 ( 10 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
9 ( 8 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
10 ( 6 ) SCULLERY Clifford T. Ward




11 ( 7 ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE The Sweet
12 ( NEW ) BURN BABY BURN Hudson-Ford
13 ( 12 ) FOREVER Roy Wood
14 ( 15 ) UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME Aretha Franklin
15 ( 16 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
16 ( 30 ) RAISED ON ROBBERY Joni Mitchell
17 ( 28 ) DO I LOVE YOU The Tremeloes
18 ( 20 ) YOU'RE SIXTEEN Ringo Starr
19 ( 23 ) SLIP AND SLIDE Medicine Head
20 ( 18 ) THE WORST BAND IN THE WORLD 10CC




21 ( 17 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell
22 ( NEW ) MA MA MA MA BELLE Electric Light Orchestra
23 ( NEW ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
24 ( 22 ) MY COO CA CHOO Alvin Stardust
25 ( 27 ) NEVER NEVER GONNA GIVE YA UP Barry White
26 ( 29 ) A LITTLE LOVIN' Neil Sedaka
27 ( 24 ) THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu
28 ( 14 ) THE JOKER The Steve Miller Band
29 ( 19 ) HIGHWAYS OF MY LIFE The Isley Brothers
30 ( 26 ) (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION Bubble Rock
31 ( 4 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings

Posted by: popchartfreak 1st February 2014, 03:42 PM

19th Feb 1974

3rd week of all-change at the top, this time for Love Unlimited Orchestra. I still love it, reminds me of enforced Sunday family drives to Bristol Zoo and The American Museum near Bath, and listening to the chart rundown on the radio in the car on the way back. My beloved reel-to-reel tape recorder was in for repairs for most of Feb through April so I had to subsequently fill in gaps by buying as many singles as I could scrape pocket-money permitting (I babysat for other forces families for cash in those days when they fancied an evening out, and was popular as I was dependable, sensible and easily fobbed off with 50p rather than the more appropriate pound or two. That was the price of a new single, as it happens…)

Todd and Clifford make an early departure (enforced) while lots of chart activity a-goin’-on: Hudson Ford to 3, Ringo to 6, Charlie Rich at 8 and ELO 9 to make for a fresh Top 10. Roy Wood’s yonks-from-release Going Down The Road re-enters, while Brownsville Station re-enters due to UK chart success. New stuff, 60’s soul legends basically, Smokey Robinson's native american lament, The Temptations Eddie Kendricks (back in Chris Malinchak-sampled UK Top 40 this week), and The Four Tops, all flops in the UK where the much-slower singles chart was still stuffed with some of my earlier hits, or new entries like Alvin Stardust which had been in my charts for weeks, now at 2. Highest new entry, though, Robert Knight and his original of the British number from 1968 for Love Affair, following up B side chart hit Love On A Mountain Top. Nottingham TV-pushed band Paper Lace enter with future UK number one (and covered in the US too) bizarrely about dying in the American Civil War. We just don’t get songs about people and history anymore! That’s not a good thing, honest!




1 ( 6 ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
2 ( 3 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
3 ( 12 ) BURN BABY BURN Hudson-Ford
4 ( 1 ) DARK LADY Cher
5 ( 2 ) TIGER FEET Mud
6 ( 18 ) YOU'RE SIXTEEN Ringo Starr
7 ( 5 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
8 ( 23 ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
9 ( 22 ) MA MA MA MA BELLE Electric Light Orchestra
10 ( 16 ) RAISED ON ROBBERY Joni Mitchell

11 ( 8 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
12 ( 9 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
13 ( 7 ) TEENAGE DREAM Marc Bolan and T.Rex
14 ( RE ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
15 ( 20 ) THE WORST BAND IN THE WORLD 10CC
16 ( 11 ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE The Sweet
17 ( 19 ) SLIP AND SLIDE Medicine Head
18 ( 17 ) DO I LOVE YOU The Tremeloes
19 ( NEW ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
20 ( 21 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell

21 ( 14 ) UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME Aretha Franklin
22 ( NEW ) JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING Smokey Robinson
23 ( NEW ) BOOGIE DOWN Eddie Kendricks
24 ( 25 ) NEVER NEVER GONNA GIVE YA UP Barry White
25 ( 27 ) THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu
26 ( 24 ) MY COO CA CHOO Alvin Stardust
27 ( NEW ) I JUST CAN'T GET THE FEELING The Four Tops
28 ( NEW ) BILLY DON'T BE A HERO Paper Lace
29 ( 28 ) THE JOKER The Steve Miller Band
30 ( RE ) SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM Brownsville Station

31 ( 4 ) HELLO IT'S ME Todd Rundgren
32 ( 31 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
33 ( 10 ) SCULLERY Clifford T. Ward
34 ( 15 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
35 ( NEW ) REBEL REBEL David Bowie

Posted by: popchartfreak 1st February 2014, 03:49 PM

26th Feb 1974

Jet’s back at the top, having been released at last, for a fourth week at number one, bad news for Alvin as his bid for a second one falters at 2. Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell hits 8 (lead single off the great album Court and Spark), while fellow singer-songwriter husband-wife James & Carly copy Melanie by covering an oldie, but as a duet. Real-oldie follows his son Dexter into the charts with a reissue of the late legend’s classic 1968 hit, Otis Redding and Dock Of The Bay, which would have been a big hit in 1969 for me had I allowed oldies in (it was a track on 16 Big Hits, a hits album I badgered my dad to buy ). Not the last time it would chart, though…

Ex-Flirtations and UK TV regular singer Pearly Gates had a girlie 60’s-stylee non-hit, Barry Blue appeals to kids with his School Love 50’s pastiche, having abandoned his Gary Glitter-sound alike phase. I doubt he knew what was coming, but the good news is the BBC can still play a record that sounds like Gary Glitter without fear of letters from Mr & Mrs Angry of Mayfair. Sneaking in for one solitary week a record you may have heard of, from Elton John. I was a huge fan of Elton, but I have never got this dirge. Honestly, the biggest-selling record in history, over-rated much! A week at 30 is about right, the far superior B side Bennie & The Jet was a massive US hit and should have been an A side in the UK in 1974 (not 1976 after the oomph had died out). Jambalaya I mention for it’s delightful mis-heard lyric (to me): the angelic, marvellous, sweet Karen singing jauntily “son of a gun we’ll have a big fart on the bayou” is a moment to treasure. Go on, listen to it, I’m right!


1 ( 32 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
2 ( 2 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
3 ( 4 ) DARK LADY Cher
4 ( 1 ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
5 ( 3 ) BURN BABY BURN Hudson-Ford
6 ( 5 ) TIGER FEET Mud
7 ( 7 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
8 ( 10 ) RAISED ON ROBBERY Joni Mitchell
9 ( 8 ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
10 ( 6 ) YOU'RE SIXTEEN Ringo Starr




11 ( 9 ) MA MA MA MA BELLE Electric Light Orchestra
12 ( 34 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
13 ( 11 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
14 ( 23 ) BOOGIE DOWN Eddie Kendricks
15 ( NEW ) MOCKINGBIRD James Taylor and Carly Simon
16 ( 19 ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
17 ( 12 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
18 ( 14 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
19 ( NEW ) (SITTING ON THE) DOCK OF THE BAY Otis Redding
20 ( NEW ) JOHNNY AND THE JUKEBOX Pearly Gates




21 ( 22 ) JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING Smokey Robinson
22 ( 20 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell
23 ( 13 ) TEENAGE DREAM Marc Bolan and T.Rex
24 ( 28 ) BILLY DON'T BE A HERO Paper Lace
25 ( 16 ) TEENAGE RAMPAGE The Sweet
26 ( 21 ) UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME Aretha Franklin
27 ( 24 ) NEVER NEVER GONNA GIVE YA UP Barry White
28 ( NEW ) SCHOOL LOVE Barry Blue
29 ( 26 ) MY COO CA CHOO Alvin Stardust
30 ( NEW ) CANDLE IN THE WIND Elton John
31 ( 25 ) THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD Lulu
32 ( NEW ) JAMBALAYA The Carpenters

Posted by: popchartfreak 12th March 2014, 05:36 PM

5th March 1974

Spring has sprung, and family outings to Bristol Zoo one overcast Sunday while listening to the chart show. We have the photos, so I know we went, and I probably sulked at not being back in time for the chart show, but to be honest the only real memory I have is sitting in the car (yes we actually had one now, affluent!) overlooking the River Severn while the music played.

A 5th week at 1 for Jet, lots of rebounds for Love Unlimited Orchestra, Hollies, Steve Miller & Brownsville Station as my chart rules meant exits from the UK Top 50 and over 5 weeks uncharted meant records got the boot early, victims this week being Cher, Melanie & others, who are listed outside the 30.

New stuff? Queen. They got a spare slot on Top Of The Pops, and the record was SO exciting and unusual I charted it on one listen. That lead singer certainly grabbed attention, and the seaside singalong at the end was genius. The New Seekers were back with their final hit single (sort of) an old-fashioned jaunty singalong with a great melody. Ricky Wilde, Kim’s Bro, charted for the third time - poor Rick, always the bridesmaid, he never did get a hit! Gladys Knight at this stage was having sporadic hits, this was one of the flops, upbeat funk. Even funkier, minor classic Funky Nassau, it does what it says on the label.

At 29, another late legend to join Otis in my charts, Buddy Holly, dead for 15 years by then, and his greatest hit. It was amazing that Holly, having diesd when I was 1 year old, was pretty much a chart regular over the subsequent 15 years in the UK. Eddie Kendricks climbs to 6, a recent voice from the past on Chris Malinchak’s single, and Pearly Gates non-hit I note as I heard from a friend that she’d been on All-Star Family Fortunes 2 weeks ago (I don’t watch) along with 80’s disco diva Miquel Brown (her sis) and niece Sinitta. Funny ol’ world, don’t think about someone for 40 years, then boom! Back again!

1 ( 1 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
2 ( 4 ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
3 ( 2 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
4 ( 8 ) RAISED ON ROBBERY Joni Mitchell
5 ( 7 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
6 ( 14 ) BOOGIE DOWN Eddie Kendricks
7 ( 6 ) TIGER FEET Mud
8 ( 5 ) BURN BABY BURN Hudson-Ford
9 ( 15 ) MOCKINGBIRD James Taylor and Carly Simon
10 ( 11 ) MA MA MA MA BELLE Electric Light Orchestra

11 ( 16 ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
12 ( 19 ) (SITTING ON THE) DOCK OF THE BAY Otis Redding
13 ( 10 ) YOU'RE SIXTEEN Ringo Starr
14 ( 13 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
15 ( 21 ) JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING Smokey Robinson
16 ( 9 ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
17 ( 20 ) JOHNNY AND THE JUKEBOX Pearly Gates
18 ( 24 ) BILLY DON'T BE A HERO Paper Lace
19 ( 28 ) SCHOOL LOVE Barry Blue
20 ( NEW ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen




21 ( NEW ) I GET A LITTLE SENTIMENTAL The New Seekers
22 ( NEW ) I'VE GOT TO USE MY IMAGINATION Gladys Knight & The Pips
23 ( NEW ) MRS MELINSKI Ricky Wilde
24 ( RE ) THE JOKER The Steve Miller Band
25 ( RE ) SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM Brownsville Station
26 ( NEW ) FUNKY NASSAU The Beginning Of The End
27 ( 22 ) DANCE WITH THE DEVIL Cozy Powell
28 ( 23 ) TEENAGE DREAM Marc Bolan and T.Rex
29 ( NEW ) IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE Buddy Holly
30 ( 26 ) UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME Aretha Franklin

31 ( 3 ) DARK LADY Cher
32 ( 12 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie
33 ( 17 ) LIVING FOR THE CITY Stevie Wonder
34 ( 18 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
35 ( NEW ) THE WOMBLING SONG The Wombles

Posted by: popchartfreak 12th March 2014, 05:38 PM

12th March 1974

6 weeks for Jet, big jump for the sentimental New Seekers, and loads of new entries shoving out loads of other tracks that would easily have been charting on long runs had I done a 75 in those days, notably UK number one Billy Don’t Be A Hero, peaking at 18! In at 4 highest new entry, former Poppy Family Canadian singer Terry Jacks with his hushed version of a Jaques Brel song. The sombre tone was excelled by Hot Chocolate having another musical change of direction, opting for moody death ballad Emma, a wannabe star who never made it. Oudoing both, though, Jim Croce in at 15 with Time In A Bottle, poignant is an understatement as he’d died in a plane crash a year or so before and this was his posthumous US chart-topper. Gorgeous song, and that’s a new entry for 3 consecutive weeks for 3 plane crash pop stars posthumously charting. Obviously all the rage…

In at 6, debuting, cool sound of Philadelphia, the cool Three Degrees. They weren’t cool for long, but in early ‘74 they were, as the Philly Sound ruled. It’s their best record, still. In at 14, a debut hit for 50’s doo-wop sounds, glam-stylee, studio session musicians using the name Rubettes. Plugged heavily on Radio Luxembourg it was months before the Beeb and chart entry status beckoned. Jonathan King’s back, never one to turn down a chance for cash, it’s a carbon copy treatment of another Rolling Stones classic to his previous hit, only this misfired. Jimmy Helms gets a third hit in my charts. You might know him better as a member of 90's hit band Londonbeat. I know him better as Jimmy Helms, great UK soul singer who's had his 70's TV performances wiped. They exist only in my memory...

Having another solo hit, the pure-voiced Art Garfunkel Shall Sing, just above Livvie. Yes, Eurovision, a bit military march-y, and I’m not even sure it was the best of her 6 songs that got voted for. Its low chart position (for me) shows I wasn’t that impressed compared to every UK entry from Puppet onwards. I saw Livvie in Bournemouth 2012 and she sang it live for the first time in decades, and it rather surprisingly brought a tear and smile to my face. Aaaahhhh!

1 ( 1 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
2 ( 2 ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
3 ( 3 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
4 ( NEW ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks
5 ( 21 ) I GET A LITTLE SENTIMENTAL The New Seekers
6 ( NEW ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
7 ( 7 ) TIGER FEET Mud
8 ( 9 ) MOCKINGBIRD James Taylor and Carly Simon
9 ( 6 ) BOOGIE DOWN Eddie Kendricks
10 ( 5 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies



11 ( 11 ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
12 ( 20 ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen
13 ( 17 ) JOHNNY AND THE JUKEBOX Pearly Gates
14 ( NEW ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
15 ( NEW ) TIME IN A BOTTLE Jim Croce
16 ( 8 ) BURN BABY BURN Hudson-Ford
17 ( 19 ) SCHOOL LOVE Barry Blue
18 ( NEW ) THERE'LL BE ANOTHER NIGHT Jimmy Helms
19 ( NEW ) EMMA Hot Chocolate
20 ( 22 ) I'VE GOT TO USE MY IMAGINATION Gladys Knight & The Pips





21 ( RE ) I JUST CAN'T GET THE FEELING The Four Tops
22 ( NEW ) GET OFF MY CLOUD Bubble Rock
23 ( 25 ) SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM Brownsville Station
24 ( 14 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
25 ( 10 ) MA MA MA MA BELLE Electric Light Orchestra
26 ( 13 ) YOU'RE SIXTEEN Ringo Starr
27 ( 16 ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
28 ( NEW ) I SHALL SING Art Garfunkel
29 ( NEW ) LONG LIVE LOVE Olivia Newton-John
30 ( RE ) CANDLE IN THE WIND Elton John



31 ( 4 ) RAISED ON ROBBERY Joni Mitchell
32 ( 12 ) (SITTING ON THE) DOCK OF THE BAY Otis Redding
33 ( 15 ) JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING Smokey Robinson
34 ( 31 ) DARK LADY Cher
35 ( 32 ) WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW Melanie

Posted by: popchartfreak 13th March 2014, 07:48 PM

19th March 1974

7 weeks at the top for Wings, making it one of my all-time longest runs at that time, making for a very rock-tastic Top 2 with newcomers Queen at 2. Hot Chocolate get their 7th Top 10, Rubettes their first, and the lead singer shown in the video and on TV, well he wasn't the one with the excruciatingly-pitched voice. It was a session-singer tiff and he emerged in his own right...later in 1974!

Not much new entry-wise, just Sunny rattling on about her medical complaint. I liked this record straight away, for a while, and long-term, errr not so much. A bit of ragtime from big movie The Sting at 30, just behind some 1972 US rock, the fab Listen To The Music, which still needs to be a proper-sized hit in the UK. By now about one-third of my charts were not yet UK Top 40 hits, though some would be later in the month or year.

1 ( 1 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
2 ( 12 ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen
3 ( 4 ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks
4 ( 6 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
5 ( 5 ) I GET A LITTLE SENTIMENTAL The New Seekers
6 ( 2 ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
7 ( 3 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
8 ( 14 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
9 ( 19 ) EMMA Hot Chocolate
10 ( 8 ) MOCKINGBIRD James Taylor and Carly Simon



11 ( 10 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
12 ( 13 ) JOHNNY AND THE JUKEBOX Pearly Gates
13 ( NEW ) DOCTOR'S ORDERS Sunny
14 ( 11 ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
15 ( 15 ) TIME IN A BOTTLE Jim Croce
16 ( 9 ) BOOGIE DOWN Eddie Kendricks
17 ( 28 ) I SHALL SING Art Garfunkel
18 ( 18 ) THERE'LL BE ANOTHER NIGHT Jimmy Helms
19 ( 17 ) SCHOOL LOVE Barry Blue
20 ( 20 ) I'VE GOT TO USE MY IMAGINATION Gladys Knight & The Pips

21 ( 22 ) GET OFF MY CLOUD Bubble Rock
22 ( 21 ) I JUST CAN'T GET THE FEELING The Four Tops
23 ( 16 ) BURN BABY BURN Hudson-Ford
24 ( 27 ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
25 ( 24 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
26 ( 26 ) YOU'RE SIXTEEN Ringo Starr
27 ( 25 ) MA MA MA MA BELLE Electric Light Orchestra
28 ( 23 ) SMOKIN' IN THE BOYS ROOM Brownsville Station
29 ( NEW ) LISTEN TO THE MUSIC The Doobie Brothers
30 ( NEW ) THE STING The Ragtimers

31 ( 7 ) TIGER FEET Mud
32 ( 29 ) LONG LIVE LOVE Olivia Newton-John
33 ( 31 ) RAISED ON ROBBERY Joni Mitchell
34 ( 32 ) (SITTING ON THE) DOCK OF THE BAY Otis Redding
35 ( 34 ) DARK LADY Cher

Posted by: popchartfreak 13th March 2014, 07:54 PM

26th March 1974

At last a new number one - Queen. I was an instant fan, they were fab, and this corker should have been bigger than it was. Bad news for Terry Jacks, who’s Seasons had to settle for runner-up in my charts (Number One everywhere else though!). Late summer chart-topper Sugar Baby Love hits 5 in my charts in Spring, Art Garfunkel gets his first solo Top 10 (after 6 with Paul Simon), and Joni Mitchell gets her 2nd in a row, straight in at 8 with the gorgeous Help Me, a fave on Old Grey Whistle Test, the album-oriented late evening “Later With Jools Holland” of its day, and which I was becoming more interested in.

Talking of Album-oriented - Prog rock pops in at 11, Genesis debut with the wonderfully quirky Wardrobe song, more Peter Gabriel than Phil Collins, but all members were to have chart entries galore for, ooh, the next 30 years. The Three Degrees had yet to chart, but I already was getting into their previous flop single, Dirty Ol’ Man. The lyrics, “You’re a dirty ol’ man, you can’t keep your hands to yourself”, obviously should have been aimed at a certain white-haired DJ in retrospect.

Just below them, the poor ol’ Glitter Band. Gary’s backing band, they had their own career take off as Gary’s was about to decline - maybe they saw the writing on the wall - but seem to have unfairly also been wiped from history for daring to have named themselves Glitter. Angel Face is a great glam-rock pop-song, they wrote their own stuff, and deserve at least the odd radio play! Merlin were one of those pop bands that never made it (not that surprisingly to be honest), but I liked them, and bought the album. So it sold at least one copy. Hooray!



1 ( 2 ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen
2 ( 3 ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks
3 ( 1 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
4 ( 4 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
5 ( 8 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
6 ( 13 ) DOCTOR'S ORDERS Sunny
7 ( 5 ) I GET A LITTLE SENTIMENTAL The New Seekers
8 ( NEW ) HELP ME Joni Mitchell
9 ( 17 ) I SHALL SING Art Garfunkel
10 ( 7 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust



11 ( NEW ) I KNOW WHAT I LIKE (IN YOUR WARDROBE) Genesis
12 ( 14 ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
13 ( 24 ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
14 ( 11 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
15 ( 9 ) EMMA Hot Chocolate
16 ( 21 ) GET OFF MY CLOUD Bubble Rock
17 ( 18 ) THERE'LL BE ANOTHER NIGHT Jimmy Helms
18 ( 10 ) MOCKINGBIRD James Taylor and Carly Simon
19 ( NEW ) DIRTY OL' MAN The Three Degrees
20 ( 29 ) LISTEN TO THE MUSIC The Doobie Brothers



21 ( 19 ) SCHOOL LOVE Barry Blue
22 ( 20 ) I'VE GOT TO USE MY IMAGINATION Gladys Knight & The Pips
23 ( NEW ) ANGEL FACE The Glitter Band
24 ( NEW ) DREAM WORLD Don Downing
25 ( 30 ) THE STING The Ragtimers
26 ( 23 ) BURN BABY BURN Hudson-Ford
27 ( 25 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro
28 ( 26 ) YOU'RE SIXTEEN Ringo Starr
29 ( NEW ) LET ME PUT MY SPELL ON YOU Merlin
30 ( NEW ) THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL Mott The Hoople




31 ( 6 ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
32 ( 12 ) JOHNNY AND THE JUKEBOX Pearly Gates
33 ( 15 ) TIME IN A BOTTLE Jim Croce
34 ( 16 ) BOOGIE DOWN Eddie Kendricks
35 ( 31 ) TIGER FEET Mud

Posted by: popchartfreak 10th April 2014, 05:44 PM

2nd April 1974

second week on top for Queen, and my chart starts to get more volatile as I get exposed to more and more non-chart music. I was still only compiling a 30, but my chart rules meant many a great record was evicted to make way, and far too early, so Ive expanded to 40 to include those that I still really loved from the week before but hadn’t room for.

New peaks for Three Degrees at 2, Rubettes at 3 (yet to chart anywhere else), and highest new entry from Mud at 6. The Cat Crept In is very much Tiger Feet part 2, but great nonetheless, and Mud at the time were on a roll after 3 in a row at the top of my chart. Genesis get a Top 10 hit 4 years before they did it in the real charts, and the Doobie’s almost make it at 11. New at 16 is Elton John. Not Candle, which peaked at 30, but the far superior B Side which hit the top in the USA. Benny & The Jets was a live slow stomping soul record, and should have been an A Side.

The Bee Gees by now were out of fashion completely, their new single Mr Natural stiffing everywhere except in my charts. I’m nothing if not loyal to great pop stars, and this was a perfectly good record, also skirting with smooth soul. R’n’b the way to go boys! Back with a 60’s girl group pastiche, Limmie & The Family Cooking were fun at 20, and rocking it big-time with menacing guitars and a big vocal is the stupendous On The Run, big on radio Luxembourg and nowhere else. Never became a hit sadly, but the lead singer of Scorched Earth became somewhat better known two years later, solo: Billy Ocean. To this day, still his best record.

The Wombles were back, and Mike Batt starting to get into his Womble stride, starting a string of inventive, musically diverse novelty records. Proving that novelty records can be fun and clever. I defy anyone not sing along to this one! At 25, the Luxembourg Eurovision entry, getting hammered on the station, at 26 Ricky Wilde’s glamtastic teenpop final try at a career. Kim’s pop career added synths but essentially used the same formula, so hooray for brother Ricky!

The Chi-Lites were back, 2 years on from some real gems and a number one Oh Girl, with a charming ditty later covered by UB40. Lieutenant Pigeon had had their day, and a number one in my chart with Desperate Dan (Mould Old Dough hit 2) but I had enough affection for the jaunty piano romping to chart this cover of an Irish ballad standard beloved of many a drunk. Finally, at 30, a song about sad DJ’s from storytale songwriter Harry Chapin, who wrote many fab songs only to die young on his way to a charity gig when a huge log came lose from the megatruck in front of his car.

1 ( 1 ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen
2 ( 4 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
3 ( 5 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
4 ( 6 ) DOCTOR'S ORDERS Sunny
5 ( 2 ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks
6 ( NEW ) THE CAT CREPT IN Mud
7 ( 8 ) HELP ME Joni Mitchell
8 ( 11 ) I KNOW WHAT I LIKE (IN YOUR WARDROBE) Genesis
9 ( 7 ) I GET A LITTLE SENTIMENTAL The New Seekers
10 ( 3 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings

11 ( 20 ) LISTEN TO THE MUSIC The Doobie Brothers
12 ( 23 ) ANGEL FACE The Glitter Band
13 ( 25 ) THE STING The Ragtimers
14 ( 29 ) LET ME PUT MY SPELL ON YOU Merlin
15 ( 9 ) I SHALL SING Art Garfunkel
16 ( NEW ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
17 ( NEW ) MR NATURAL The Bee Gees
18 ( 30 ) THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL Mott The Hoople
19 ( 12 ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
20 ( NEW ) A WALKIN' MIRACLE Limmie & The Family Cooking

21 ( NEW ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
22 ( 13 ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
23 ( 24 ) DREAM WORLD Don Downing
24 ( NEW ) REMEMBER (YOU'RE A WOMBLE) The Wombles
25 ( NEW ) BYE BYE I LOVE YOU Irene Shears
26 ( NEW ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde
27 ( 14 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
28 ( NEW ) HOMELY GIRL The Chi-Lites
29 ( NEW ) I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN KATHLEEN Lieutenant Pigeon
30 ( NEW ) W.O.L.D. Harry Chapin



31 ( 15 ) EMMA Hot Chocolate
32 ( 10 ) JEALOUS MIND Alvin Stardust
33 ( 16 ) GET OFF MY CLOUD Bubble Rock
34 ( 17 ) THERE'LL BE ANOTHER NIGHT Jimmy Helms
35 ( 19 ) DIRTY OL' MAN The Three Degrees
36 ( 18 ) MOCKINGBIRD James Taylor and Carly Simon
37 ( 21 ) SCHOOL LOVE Barry Blue
38 ( 31 ) LOVE'S THEME Love Unlimited Orchestra
39 ( 22 ) I'VE GOT TO USE MY IMAGINATION Gladys Knight & The Pips
40 ( 27 ) DEVIL GATE DRIVE Suzi Quatro

Posted by: popchartfreak 11th April 2014, 06:51 PM

9th April 1974

The manic, exciting pace of the music scene stepped up a pace this week with two memorable debuts, and a rare 1-2 new entry from nowhere. It was Eurovision, saturday night and as usual I was babysitting for cash at my regular’s near where I lived at RAF Innsworth. Got the kids to bed early so no interruptions (I hoped!) for a glorious evening entertainment. Olivia Newton-John and Irene Shears I already knew and had charted, but two lept right out at me, the fab Mouth & MacNeal (who had charted 2 years earlier for me on the back of a US hit) and a new act with garish clothes and a striking blonde, and a glampop stomper with a brilliant tune and lyric. It was called Waterloo and it was love at first sight. From this moment on Abba charted everything they released in my charts, and I was soooo happy they won. So good it became an American hit.. Mouth & MacNeal also charted at 24, the 4th from the contest in 1974.

In a normal week, the headline would have been all about Sparks, a quirky American duo of brothers from out of this universe. Tagged along with glam rock, but actually they were (and remain) unique in sound and unclassifiable. This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us came on the radio and blew my mind instantly with it’s insistent keyboard synth sound, the relentless quirky lyrics and flowing melody, and the crescendo of guitars interrupting that manic Russell Mael falsetto vocal. Not to mention brother Ron’s alien staring face when they finally got on telly. OMG! Brilliant.

This was all bad news for my 2nd fave pop group (after Wizzard) Mud, who had to settle for 3 with all my other faves pushed down 3 places. In at 9, though, a Swedish rock version of Jonathan KIng’s 1971 number one Hooked On A Feeling. It went to the top in the States, where they knew it as a bizarre cover of B.J.Thomas’ country pop original. JK added the ooga cha ga’s and it now seems immortality of sorts beckons as it’s selling well ahead of the release of big movie Guardians Of The Galaxy, in which it features prominently. It recharted in my chart a few weeks back. Just remember, ya heard it here first!:)

In at 16, a track no-one recalls, a Radio Luxembourg fave, The Friends Of St Francis with the joyous The Man Who Turned On The World. I’ve been trying to get hold of a copy of this for 40 years, with no luck. Come on itunes! Sweeping strings and choruses of voices over a mediaeval-style soloist. Fab. Elsewhere, another great Stevie Wonder (UK only) single, a solo hit from former Hollies, and Crosby Stills & Nash man, Graham Nash, On The Line, a minor entry for wannabee pop star Simon Jones, and a great Philly soul record from The Intruders. I really really needed to have done a Top 50 minimum by now, but that was still months away!



1 ( NEW ) WATERLOO Abba
2 ( NEW ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
3 ( 6 ) THE CAT CREPT IN Mud
4 ( 1 ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen
5 ( 2 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
6 ( 3 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
7 ( 4 ) DOCTOR'S ORDERS Sunny
8 ( 5 ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks
9 ( NEW ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Blue Swede
10 ( 21 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth



11 ( 8 ) I KNOW WHAT I LIKE (IN YOUR WARDROBE) Genesis
12 ( 7 ) HELP ME Joni Mitchell
13 ( 14 ) LET ME PUT MY SPELL ON YOU Merlin
14 ( 10 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
15 ( 24 ) REMEMBER (YOU'RE A WOMBLE) The Wombles
16 ( NEW ) THE MAN WHO TURNED ON THE WORLD Friends Of St Francis
17 ( 17 ) MR NATURAL The Bee Gees
18 ( 9 ) I GET A LITTLE SENTIMENTAL The New Seekers
19 ( 26 ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde
20 ( 20 ) A WALKIN' MIRACLE Limmie & The Family Cooking

21 ( 18 ) THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL Mott The Hoople
22 ( 28 ) HOMELY GIRL The Chi-Lites
23 ( 12 ) ANGEL FACE The Glitter Band
24 ( NEW ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
25 ( 25 ) BYE BYE I LOVE YOU Irene Shears
26 ( 19 ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
27 ( NEW ) MISSTRA KNOW IT ALL Stevie Wonder
28 ( NEW ) ON THE LINE Graham Nash
29 ( NEW ) SHE WAS JUST A YOUNG GIRL Simon Jones
30 ( NEW ) I'LL ALWAYS LOVE MY MAMA The Intruders

31 ( 11 ) LISTEN TO THE MUSIC The Doobie Brothers
32 ( 13 ) THE STING The Ragtimers
33 ( 15 ) I SHALL SING Art Garfunkel
34 ( 16 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
35 ( 22 ) MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Charlie Rich
36 ( 23 ) DREAM WORLD Don Downing
37 ( 27 ) THE AIR THAT I BREATHE The Hollies
38 ( 29 ) I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN KATHLEEN Lieutenant Pigeon
39 ( 30 ) W.O.L.D. Harry Chapin
40 ( 31 ) EMMA Hot Chocolate

Posted by: popchartfreak 11th April 2014, 08:36 PM

16th April 1974

Still 1-2-3 for Abba, Sparks, Mud and Benny & The Jet shoots up to 4, Elton’s fab B side, all 4 could easily be number one really it was that tight at the time at the top. My charts starting to have less and less in common with the BBC charts, stuffed as they were with TV reality stars and MOR. My tastes were maturing more into albums acts and tracks, not unusual for 16-year-olds.

Highest new entry was fab Native Canadian Buffy at 13, always had a soft spot for her ballads. Graham Nash at 21 joined at 24 by Allan Clarke the other main Hollies vocalist, fresh off Air That I Breathe. Sideshow would be covered 2 years later by the Surprise Sisters, an even better version, and still frustratingly not a big hit. The Stylistics having a rare flop in the UK with Only For The Children, not that they cared they just flipped it over and the B Side became a huge UK and US hit (You Make Me Feel Brand New). Finally, new for Bowie, another old album track. Bowie new stuff was always punctuated with old stuff, not exactly being short of fab back catalogue for RCA and others to bung out in between albums. Then there's Roxy's Eno and his odd debut single. I liked it, ahead of it's time it was, and future legendary record producer or what!

It was around this time I was coerced into agreeing to go what they called school disco (or these days, “Prom”). I was new boy, Suzanne in our class was dateless, we were both nice so everyone reasoned we’d be perfect as a match. Sadly, no-one had counted on sheer terror, panic and cold sweats on my part at having to go out with a girl fro the first time, really. She could tell I was unhappy a couple of days later, and knew I’d been pushed into it, so she had a quiet word which gave me the opportunity to back out. Being a cowardly tit, and being very confused generally at that time, I took it and left her thinking it was her - I’d said it wasn’t that I didn’t like her and she just added in the “enough” on the end of the sentence. I was pretty much left in the cold for the rest of the year by the class, and I’ve felt awful about it for 40 years. As The Hollies (spot the link above) once sang, I’m truly Sorry Suzanne - it wasn’t you, honest, it was me. What a twa*t.


1 ( 1 ) WATERLOO Abba
2 ( 2 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
3 ( 3 ) THE CAT CREPT IN Mud
4 ( 34 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
5 ( 4 ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen
6 ( 5 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
7 ( 7 ) DOCTOR'S ORDERS Sunny
8 ( 8 ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks
9 ( 9 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Blue Swede
10 ( 19 ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde



11 ( 16 ) THE MAN WHO TURNED ON THE WORLD Friends Of St Francis
12 ( 13 ) LET ME PUT MY SPELL ON YOU Merlin
13 ( NEW ) I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE THE FEELING Buffy Sainte-Marie
14 ( 10 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
15 ( 15 ) REMEMBER (YOU'RE A WOMBLE) The Wombles
16 ( 17 ) MR NATURAL The Bee Gees
17 ( 22 ) HOMELY GIRL The Chi-Lites
18 ( 27 ) MISSTRA KNOW IT ALL Stevie Wonder
19 ( 11 ) I KNOW WHAT I LIKE (IN YOUR WARDROBE) Genesis
20 ( 18 ) I GET A LITTLE SENTIMENTAL The New Seekers



21 ( 28 ) ON THE LINE Graham Nash
22 ( NEW ) SEVEN DEADLY FINS Eno
23 ( 21 ) THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL Mott The Hoople
24 ( NEW ) SIDESHOW Allan Clarke
25 ( 24 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
26 ( NEW ) ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN The Stylistics
27 ( NEW ) ROCK 'N' ROLL SUICIDE David Bowie
28 ( 39 ) W.O.L.D. Harry Chapin
29 ( 12 ) HELP ME Joni Mitchell
30 ( 23 ) ANGEL FACE The Glitter Band



31 ( 6 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
32 ( 14 ) JET Paul McCartney & Wings
33 ( 20 ) A WALKIN' MIRACLE Limmie & The Family Cooking
34 ( 25 ) BYE BYE I LOVE YOU Irene Shears
35 ( 26 ) EVERLASTING LOVE Robert Knight
36 ( 29 ) SHE WAS JUST A YOUNG GIRL Simon Jones
37 ( 30 ) I'LL ALWAYS LOVE MY MAMA The Intruders
38 ( 31 ) LISTEN TO THE MUSIC The Doobie Brothers
39 ( 32 ) THE STING The Ragtimers
40 ( 33 ) I SHALL SING Art Garfunkel

Posted by: popchartfreak 15th April 2014, 05:36 PM

23rd April 1974

In which new faves who came straight in at 1 (Abba) are knocked by old faves Wizzard coming straight in at 1, that’s 4 in a row chart-toppers and one more for Roy Wood solo. I always thought they should have hung on till December to issue this single, their last great glamrock record, but hey ho, no-one remembers Rock ‘n’ Roll Winter now anyway. DJ Johnny Walker fave Lucinda pops in at 4, for some reason I went mad on it immediately, I mean it’s good, but not great, and not a hit anywhere.

The Three Degrees replace themselves in the Top 10, in combo with house band at the Philadelphia record label, Mother Father Sister Brother, better known as MFSB. Big US hit that one, all strings n soul. In at 8 a debut hit for the fab Cockney Rebel (essentially Steve Harley of course) and the fab Judy Teen. Steve’s vocal style was unique, and this record sounded like nothing else before it, fresh and exciting.

Nemo are back, 2 years after The Sun Has Got His Hat On, with another 1930’s pastiche cover of an oldie from that period. The song had just become popular again thanks to the movie of that name, and also featured on cool sitcom MASH. Jonathan King didn’t fool me though, it as his 3rd hit in 4 months, the previous under Bubble Rock. Bay City Rollers also are back with soundalike follow-up to Remember, Shang A Lang, on their way to teenybop stardom now that the aforementioned JK wasn’t involved anymore.

Finally, Alvin’s 3rd hit, Andy Williams latest, a big amusing US hit from Jim Stafford and Native American band Redbone finally get a follow-up hit (in my charts) to the awesome atmospheric Witch Queen Of New Orleans. Bizarrely this one became a big US hit, but Witch Queen didn’t. Racism!

1 ( NEW ) ROCK 'N' ROLL WINTER Wizzard
2 ( 1 ) WATERLOO Abba
3 ( 2 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
4 ( NEW ) LUCINDA Howard Werth
5 ( 10 ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde
6 ( NEW ) T.S.O.P. (THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA) M.F.S.B. (featuring the Three Degrees)
7 ( 5 ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen
8 ( NEW ) JUDY TEEN Cockney Rebel
9 ( 9 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Blue Swede
10 ( 3 ) THE CAT CREPT IN Mud

11 ( 4 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
12 ( 13 ) I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE THE FEELING Buffy Sainte-Marie
13 ( 18 ) MISSTRA KNOW IT ALL Stevie Wonder
14 ( 22 ) SEVEN DEADLY FINS Eno
15 ( 6 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
16 ( 7 ) DOCTOR'S ORDERS Sunny
17 ( 8 ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks
18 ( 21 ) ON THE LINE Graham Nash
19 ( NEW ) PAPER MOON Nemo (aka Jonathan King)
20 ( 14 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth

21 ( NEW ) SHANG A LANG Bay City Rollers
22 ( NEW ) RED DRESS Alvin Stardust
23 ( 24 ) SIDESHOW Allan Clarke
24 ( 26 ) ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN The Stylistics
25 ( 27 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL SUICIDE David Bowie
26 ( 11 ) THE MAN WHO TURNED ON THE WORLD Friends Of St Francis
27 ( 15 ) REMEMBER (YOU'RE A WOMBLE) The Wombles
28 ( NEW ) GETTING OVER YOU Andy Williams
29 ( NEW ) SPIDERS AND SNAKES Jim Stafford
30 ( NEW ) COME AND GET YOUR LOVE Redbone



31 ( 12 ) LET ME PUT MY SPELL ON YOU Merlin
32 ( 16 ) MR NATURAL The Bee Gees
33 ( 17 ) HOMELY GIRL The Chi-Lites
34 ( 19 ) I KNOW WHAT I LIKE (IN YOUR WARDROBE) Genesis
35 ( 20 ) I GET A LITTLE SENTIMENTAL The New Seekers
36 ( 23 ) THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL Mott The Hoople
37 ( 25 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
38 ( 28 ) W.O.L.D. Harry Chapin
39 ( 29 ) HELP ME Joni Mitchell
40 ( 30 ) ANGEL FACE The Glitter Band

Posted by: popchartfreak 17th April 2014, 06:51 PM

30th April 1974

2 weeks for Wizzard at 1, presiding over a static chart, being as I was mad on all of the Top 3. The Rubettes re-entered at 6 as it finally started to sell and thus became eligible to re-enter having been cruelly evicted early under my daft rules which penalised non-UK-chart records. Of course it went on to top the UK charts - but not mine! There I’ve given it away!

Alvin, up at 7, a Mansfield lad, and his 3rd top ten in a row with the good glam Red Dress. New ones? Barry White’s relative flop single amongst a run of hits, Honey Please Can’t Ya See was actually as good as the hits, so probably Radio 1 chose not to play it. It charted at 25 in mine, and I’m right. Better, though, was the new entry at 27, the title track off the album, and follow-up to biggest record of 1974 so far (Jet), Band On The Run quietly brought it’s grand and gentle charms into the chart. The style of ballad, huge crescendo, gentle end on a long unedited single popped up the following year on a track nobody recalls, Boheme Rhapperseedee I think it was called. If ever a track could be called Epic, it’s Band On The Run. Macca was on fire!

Alan Price was back on one of his regular come-back hit sojourns, with his ode to home and the famous Jarrow March, The Jarrow Song, all brass-band and sweeping charm. His best tracks, it has to be said, were in the 60’s though. Ike & Tina finally get a follow-up hit to the eternal Nutbush City Limits - at least in my charts that is, rockin’ it big with a song about a chicken. I’m sure it’s poultry of some sort...! Finally, at 30, Arrows, UK-based US-hit-machine-protegees of Chinn-Chapman who were starting to show signs of being past their peak (too many acts vying for the songs!). One of Arrows B Sides eventually became a monster hit though - for Joan Jett. Yes, I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll was one a rare Chinnychap missfire, really shoulda been an A side boys. The link with Joan Jett is Suzi Quatro. Joan loved Suzi, Suzi was Chinn-Chapman’s star lady, Joan Jett gets their song big sales.

1 ( 1 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL WINTER Wizzard
2 ( 2 ) WATERLOO Abba
3 ( 3 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
4 ( 6 ) T.S.O.P. (THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA) M.F.S.B. (featuring the Three Degrees)
5 ( 8 ) JUDY TEEN Cockney Rebel
6 ( RE ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
7 ( 22 ) RED DRESS Alvin Stardust
8 ( 4 ) LUCINDA Howard Werth
9 ( 9 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Blue Swede
10 ( 5 ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde

11 ( 12 ) I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE THE FEELING Buffy Sainte-Marie
12 ( 15 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
13 ( 13 ) MISSTRA KNOW IT ALL Stevie Wonder
14 ( 21 ) SHANG A LANG Bay City Rollers
15 ( 18 ) ON THE LINE Graham Nash
16 ( 26 ) THE MAN WHO TURNED ON THE WORLD Friends Of St Francis
17 ( 10 ) THE CAT CREPT IN Mud
18 ( 19 ) PAPER MOON Nemo (aka Jonathan King)
19 ( 16 ) DOCTOR'S ORDERS Sunny
20 ( 17 ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks



21 ( 20 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
22 ( 29 ) SPIDERS AND SNAKES Jim Stafford
23 ( 11 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
24 ( 31 ) LET ME PUT MY SPELL ON YOU Merlin
25 ( NEW ) HONEY PLEASE CAN'T YA SEE Barry White
26 ( 37 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
27 ( NEW ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
28 ( NEW ) THE JARROW SONG Alan Price
29 ( NEW ) RHODE ISLAND RED Ike & Tina Turner
30 ( NEW ) A TOUCH TOO MUCH Arrows



31 ( 7 ) SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE Queen
32 ( 14 ) SEVEN DEADLY FINS Eno
33 ( 23 ) SIDESHOW Allan Clarke
34 ( 24 ) ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN The Stylistics
35 ( 25 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL SUICIDE David Bowie
36 ( 27 ) REMEMBER (YOU'RE A WOMBLE) The Wombles
37 ( 28 ) GETTING OVER YOU Andy Williams
38 ( 30 ) COME AND GET YOUR LOVE Redbone
39 ( NEW ) I CAN'T STOP The Osmonds
40 ( NEW ) YOU ARE EVERYTHING Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross

Posted by: popchartfreak 13th May 2014, 07:35 PM

7th May 1974

Exams were very much flavour of the month, both CSE’s and GCE O Levels. I ended up doing CSE’s, on the grounds that I’d changed schools inconveniently about 7 months before and the syllabus wasn’t the same as North Kesteven. Boo hoo for me, though it did spread out the revising times (of the few notes I had) over a longer period which meant I could stay at home and revise to Radio One and Radio Luxembourg (many of the obscure chart entries come from them). How did I do? Glad you asked. Took months to get the results, but I got grade 1 for CSE Maths and French (O level equivalent grades) and passed in O levels, English Language, Geography, I think.

My fave comic book Legion Of Super Heroes was well revitalised by now, so it came as a shock to me that they actually killed off one of the heroes, Invisible Kid. Sounds petty, but heroes just didn’t killed in comic books, it wasn’t the done thing when they’d been around for over 10 years. These days they kill off superheroes on a monthly basis and re-invent them monthly too. Invisible Kid, however, stayed dead, despite being previous leader of the Legion and a popular character. He’s still dead. Of course so is the rest of the Legion now, those DC toads killed them off years ago in a pathetic attempt to start from scratch which failed, not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times in 20 years. Think Marvels’ Avengers and X-Men movies, combined, and that’s the Legion, who were there first. Marvel were the copies, there’s no justice sometimes...

Pop music: (at last). Sparks finally do it, after playing subordinate to Abba and Wizzard for 4 weeks, overhaul them both and properly start their career. Fab! Barry White gets to 11 with his flop UK single (it’s good) just ahead of the UK success of Seals & Croft’s song as performed (way better) by the Isley Brothers, Summer Breeze highest new entry at 12 and it’s still brilliant guitar-soul.

In at 13, The Locomotion. Not Kylie, no. Not Little Eva either (she’d peaked Top 3 in 1972 already). No, this was a plodding heavy pop metal cover from Grand Funk that inexplicably hit big in the USA and my charts - I think it was the novelty value of being a totally different cover version. Smiffy at 15, Tranquility at 20, Melanie at 30, all obscure radio faves that sold about 6 copies each. I never managed to find copies, and haven’t heard them for 40 years, so I’m going to treat myself right now - if I can find them on youtube. Back in a jiffy!

Smiffy is pedestrian glam rock. Tranquility is not on the net, sadly, but was their final single release (harmony folkrock) before splitting up. Songwriter Terry Shaddick apparently went on to co-write Physical for Olivia Newton-John, so he prob made a few bob out of it. Melanie’s track is OK, and her final john-chart-hit for 9 years. Showaddywaddy. TV talent-show winners with a record deal, who’d’a thought of that eh? 50’s throwback stylee, this debut hit was actually glamtastically stomping singalong fun. In other words utterly unlike 21st century talent show winners, give or take the odd Olly Murs.

Quo drop by trying to break the rules, but sounding like their earlier boogie hits instead, so pretty much sticking to the rules. Gigliola Cinquetti finally charts some weeks after Eurovision. This one was the main opposition to Abba and Mouth Macneal in the contest (and Olivia) and it was a slow ballad, so I hated it on principle for doing so well against my newly-beloved Abba. After it became the latest of 4 eurovision big hits in 1974, it kinda grew on me. It’s very MOR Italian big ballad, but it’s gorgeous!! Still.

1 ( 3 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
2 ( 1 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL WINTER Wizzard
3 ( 2 ) WATERLOO Abba
4 ( 4 ) T.S.O.P. (THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA) M.F.S.B. (featuring the Three Degrees)
5 ( 5 ) JUDY TEEN Cockney Rebel
6 ( 6 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
7 ( 8 ) LUCINDA Howard Werth
8 ( 7 ) RED DRESS Alvin Stardust
9 ( 9 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Blue Swede
10 ( 22 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John

11 ( 24 ) HONEY PLEASE CAN'T YA SEE Barry White
12 ( NEW ) SUMMER BREEZE The Isley Brothers
13 ( NEW ) THE LOCOMOTION Grand Funk Railroad
14 ( 34 ) ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN The Stylistics
15 ( NEW ) SEE YA LATER (LITTLE BABY LOVE) Smiffy
16 ( 30 ) A TOUCH TOO MUCH Arrows
17 ( NEW ) HEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Showaddywaddy
18 ( 10 ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde
19 ( 12 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
20 ( NEW ) MIDNIGHT FORTUNE Tranquility

21 ( NEW ) BREAK THE RULES Status Quo
22 ( RE ) I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN KATHLEEN Lieutenant Pigeon
23 ( NEW ) GO (BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART) Gigliola Cinquetti
24 ( 26 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
25 ( 21 ) SPIDERS AND SNAKES Jim Stafford
26 ( 29 ) RHODE ISLAND RED Ike & Tina Turner
27 ( 16 ) THE CAT CREPT IN Mud
28 ( 15 ) THE MAN WHO TURNED ON THE WORLD Friends Of St Francis
29 ( 28 ) THE JARROW SONG Alan Price
30 ( NEW ) LOVE TO LOSE AGAIN Melanie




31 ( 11 ) I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE THE FEELING Buffy Sainte-Marie
32 ( 13 ) MISSTRA KNOW IT ALL Stevie Wonder
33 ( 15 ) ON THE LINE Graham Nash
34 ( 14 ) SHANG A LANG Bay City Rollers
35 ( 17 ) PAPER MOON Nemo (aka Jonathan King)
36 ( 19 ) SEASONS IN THE SUN Terry Jacks
37 ( 18 ) DOCTOR'S ORDERS Sunny
38 ( 20 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
39 ( 27 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
40 ( NEW ) THE NIGHT CHICAGO DIED Paper Lace

Posted by: AlexRange 14th May 2014, 09:21 AM

Hello, John

Eurovision 1974 is my favourite contest ever , even not only because ABBA and Olivia. If my charts were compiled in 1974, I could easily have 5 different Eurovision songs at # 1 (mentioned "Waterloo", "Long Live Life" + also German "Die Sommermelodie", Irish "Cross Your Heart" and Norwegian "The First Day of Love")

Also love "Keep Me Warm", "Bye Bye I Love You" (first entry composed by Eurovision veteran Ralph Siegel) and "Mein Ruf Nach Dir".

There is my full ranking . Top 9 is very good.
01. ABBA - Waterloo (Sweden)
02. Cindy and Bert - Die Sommermelodie (Germany)
03. Tina Reynolds - Cross Your Heart (Ireland)
04. Anne-Karine Strom - The First Day Of Love (Norway)
05. Olivia Newton-John - Long Live Love (United Kingdom)
06. Ireen Sheer - Bye, Bye, I Love You (Luxembourg)
07. Carita Holmstrom - Keep Me Warm (Finland)
08. Mouth and MacNeal - I See A Star (Netherlands)
09. Piera Martell - Mein Ruf Nach Dir (Switzerland)
10. Jacques Hustin - Fleur De Liberte (Belgium)
11. Gigliola Cinquetti - Si (Italy)
12. Romuald - Celui Qui Reste Et Celui Qui S'en Va (Monaco)
13. Paulo De Carvalho - E Depois Do Adeus (Portugal)
14. Korni Grupa - Moja Generacija (Yugoslavia)
15. Peret - Canta Y Se Feliz (Spain)
16. Kaveret - Natati La'khayay (Israel)
17. Marinella - Krasi, Thalasa Ke T' Agori Mou (Greece)

I'm never was a fan of Italian Eurovision songs.

Recap of all ESC 1974 songs here :

Posted by: popchartfreak 14th May 2014, 09:56 AM

thanks Alex, Ive been meaning to watch 1974 again, it certainly was the best one of the 20th century, Abba, Gigliola, mouth & macneal, livvie (I had tears in my eyes watching her song LOng Live LOve in concert 2 years ago, big smile at the cheesiness of it, and nostalgiac tears ) and Irene all charted, but actually if id had a Top 75 then quite a few others would, Jugoslavia, Germany and others.

thanks!

Posted by: popchartfreak 14th May 2014, 06:22 PM

14th May 1974

2 weeks on top for Sparks, but it's straight in at 2 for Cozy Powell's drumming instrumental follow-up to Top 3 Dance With The Devil. I loved the hook, it reminded me of a 60's instrumental hit I'm struggling to recall the name of. The even better Judy Teen goes up to 3, and the Isleys get their biggest hit in 5 years with Summer Breeze at 6, while runner-up to Abba overtakes them, shocker! Yes Gigliola up to 7. Melanie goes Top 20, the rest shuffle about overtaken by all the new entries.

In at 12, one of David Essex' minor hits, but it's cool, all bluesy, saxey and multi-track-delayed-vocaley (made up words). I also had a thing about America, the land of my dreams - the pop culture was so much more exciting than the dreary UK pop culture, mostly. Only another 5 years to wait for the reality of it. Even better, though, Bryan Ferry had another solo album of covers out, oldies done modern stylee, and the 60's soul dance hit The In Crowd is turned into a glam sax-full finger-snapping thundering guitar gem. Love it love it.

4 years before the Jacksons Blamed It On The Boogie, and 9 years before Michael Jackson warned of the Thriller, The Jackson released a great funky warning about The Boogie Man (he's gonna get you). Obviously too scary as it bombed except in my chart. It's a goodie. Three Dog Night turn up 5 years after Joy To The World, and show just how good Leo Sayer is by doing an inferior cover (and huge US hit). I was listening to the American charts on the American Forces radio network by this time, in the evenings, which is why there's so many popping up in my charts. Talking of: the fab Staple Singers made 3 in 1972 in my chart (I'll Take You There), so good they decided to do a soundalike follow-up (and huge US hit) 2 years later, popping in at 29 just behind my favourite novelty record maker Ray Stevens. He had loads of funny records, including the one new at 28, The Streak. The craze of taking your clothes off and running round naked in public was big news, so he naturally took the piss. It was hilarious for 2 or 3 weeks, then saturation set in and it stopped being funny. Then annoying. That's the problem with novelty records when you hear them too much.



1 ( 1 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
2 ( NEW ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
3 ( 5 ) JUDY TEEN Cockney Rebel
4 ( 7 ) LUCINDA Howard Werth
5 ( 6 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
6 ( 12 ) SUMMER BREEZE The Isley Brothers
7 ( 23 ) GO (BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART) Gigliola Cinquetti
8 ( 4 ) T.S.O.P. (THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA) M.F.S.B. (featuring the Three Degrees)
9 ( 2 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL WINTER Wizzard
10 ( 3 ) WATERLOO Abba



11 ( 11 ) HONEY PLEASE CAN'T YA SEE Barry White
12 ( NEW ) AMERICA David Essex
13 ( NEW ) THE IN CROWD Bryan Ferry
14 ( NEW ) THE BOOGIE MAN The Jackson 5
15 ( 15 ) SEE YA LATER (LITTLE BABY LOVE) Smiffy
16 ( 13 ) THE LOCOMOTION Grand Funk Railroad
17 ( 17 ) HEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Showaddywaddy
18 ( 30 ) LOSE TO LOVE AGAIN Melanie
19 ( 8 ) RED DRESS Alvin Stardust
20 ( 18 ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde



21 ( 21 ) BREAK THE RULES Status Quo
22 ( 16 ) A TOUCH TOO MUCH Arrows
23 ( 14 ) ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN The Stylistics
24 ( 24 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
25 ( 26 ) RHODE ISLAND RED Ike & Tina Turner
26 ( 19 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
27 ( NEW ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON Three Dog Night
28 ( NEW ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
29 ( NEW ) IF YOU'RE READY (COME GO WITH ME) The Staple Singers
30 ( 22 ) I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN KATHLEEN Lieutenant Pigeon



31 ( 9 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Blue Swede
32 ( 10 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
33 ( 20 ) MIDNIGHT FORTUNE Tranquility
34 ( 25 ) SPIDERS AND SNAKES Jim Stafford
35 ( 27 ) THE CAT CREPT IN Mud
36 ( 28 ) THE MAN WHO TURNED ON THE WORLD Friends Of St Francis
37 ( 29 ) THE JARROW SONG Alan Price
38 ( 31 ) I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE THE FEELING Buffy Sainte-Marie
39 ( 39 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
40 ( 40 ) THE NIGHT CHICAGO DIED Paper Lace

Posted by: AlexRange 15th May 2014, 11:41 AM

QUOTE(popchartfreak @ May 14 2014, 09:56 AM)

thanks Alex, Ive been meaning to watch 1974 again, it certainly was the best one of the 20th century, Abba, Gigliola, mouth & macneal, livvie (I had tears in my eyes watching her song LOng Live LOve in concert 2 years ago, big smile at the cheesiness of it, and nostalgiac tears )

Posted by: popchartfreak 15th May 2014, 06:29 PM

21st May 1974

A big leap to 1 for Ray Stevens comedy hit, his second number one 4 years after his previous whopper, Everything Is Beautiful, not even a novelty hit that one, it’s a gospel song with a gorgeous tune and a kiddie refrain intro. I was mad on that one for years. I was mad on The Streak for at least one week. Sadly, it stops Cozy Powell getting to the top. Boo!

3 classic new entries though, in at 5 1968 Motown flop, now a Northern Soul re-issue, and the best ever record to come out of that scene, R. Dean Taylor’s There’s A Ghost In My House is fabulous. One of the very few white singers on Motown, he was a busy songwriter and had a 1968 hit with Gotta See Jane. So good, The Fall covered this song, but the original is the best, stonkingly dancetastic and frantictastic. At 6, a Lynsey De Paul song, a cinematically epic record by popular back-up singers Thunderthighs (see Walk On The Wild Side, Mott The Hoople etc) it’s a dramatic story song, sweeping strings and it’s a forgotten classic. Lynsey, meanwhile, is in at 27 herself with a delightful 50’s-pop-styled ditty, but it was generous to give away the better song.

At 15 it’s a debut for First Class and the equally epic-sounding Beach Baby, a retro Beach Boys harmonies, Summer Of Love vibing and referencing, sweeping gem. Just as cinematic as Thunderthighs, it’s much poppier, romping along and reminding one of Let’s Go To San Fransisco by The Flowerpot Men, which featured Jon Lord of Deep Purple fame. Actually it samples it, virtually. Actually it’s the same bandmembers, John Carter (who wrote this hit with his wife), and Tony Burrows on vocals. Actually it’s not a debut hit at all for Tony Burrows, who’d topped my chart as Edison Lighthouse in 1970, charted as White Plains, Butterscotch, The Pipkins and long-before-Eurovision Brotherhood Of Man, and sung lead on all of them. His early band links with massive pop songwriters Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook obviously didn’t hurt his career, and to be fair he was a great singer. Still love this summer-sounding record, pure summer of 74 for me.

Other stuff: The Locomotion shoots up to 4. Mystifyingly. Bryan Ferry goes Top 10, 5th in a row for Roxy/Ferry. Aretha Franklin pops in at 28 with a sweet soul ballad, and Showaddywaddy almost get a top 10 hit at 11. They went no higher, at least not till 1975.



1 ( 28 ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
2 ( 2 ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
3 ( 1 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
4 ( 16 ) THE LOCOMOTION Grand Funk Railroad
5 ( NEW ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
6 ( NEW ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
7 ( 6 ) SUMMER BREEZE The Isley Brothers
8 ( 3 ) JUDY TEEN Cockney Rebel
9 ( 4 ) LUCINDA Howard Werth
10 ( 13 ) THE IN CROWD Bryan Ferry



11 ( 17 ) HEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Showaddywaddy
12 ( 12 ) AMERICA David Essex
13 ( 7 ) GO (BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART) Gigliola Cinquetti
14 ( 18 ) LOSE TO LOVE AGAIN Melanie
15 ( NEW ) BEACH BABY First Class
16 ( 14 ) THE BOOGIE MAN The Jackson 5
17 ( 5 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
18 ( 10 ) WATERLOO Abba
19 ( 9 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL WINTER Wizzard
20 ( 23 ) ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN The Stylistics



21 ( 8 ) T.S.O.P. (THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA) M.F.S.B. (featuring the Three Degrees)
22 ( 24 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
23 ( 11 ) HONEY PLEASE CAN'T YA SEE Barry White
24 ( 19 ) RED DRESS Alvin Stardust
25 ( 26 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
26 ( 15 ) SEE YA LATER (LITTLE BABY LOVE) Smiffy
27 ( NEW ) OOH I DO Lynsey De Paul
28 ( NEW ) I'M IN LOVE Aretha Franklin
29 ( RE ) GETTING OVER YOU Andy Williams
30 ( 37 ) THE JARROW SONG Alan Price



31 ( 20 ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde
32 ( 21 ) BREAK THE RULES Status Quo
33 ( 22 ) A TOUCH TOO MUCH Arrows
34 ( 25 ) RHODE ISLAND RED Ike & Tina Turner
35 ( 27 ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON Three Dog Night
36 ( 29 ) IF YOU'RE READY (COME GO WITH ME) The Staple Singers
37 ( 30 ) I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN KATHLEEN Lieutenant Pigeon
38 ( 31 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Blue Swede
39 ( 32 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
40 ( 33 ) MIDNIGHT FORTUNE Tranquility

Posted by: popchartfreak 15th May 2014, 07:26 PM

28th May 1974

There was quite a strong Northern Soul movement around the lads who tended not to stay on at school after 16 (ROSLA kids who wanted to go at 15 - Raising Of School Leaving Age - and get an apprenticeship at the local big employer, or other stuff) so it was sort-of cool. R. Dean Taylor was cool. Deservedly a 60’s classic at the top, and joined by another 2- both of them The Monkees. I was getting fed up with limiting my charts with rules so I opened them up to anything that was available or new. I’d just bought The Monkees budget hits album and was loving every track, revisiting old faves from when I was a kiddie, and finding new gems. The single was out again, and the TV show may even have been having one it’s regular Beeb-edited selective repeats (so many episodes they never broadcast, so many they did broadcast had different songs). Net effect: I’m A Believer in at 4, as perfect as the day it was born, and Monkees Theme (from the TV show) at 22, incredibly every single classic record pre-dated my charts, so this was their chart debut, and the start of my voyage of 60’s rediscovery and discovery which is still ongoing.

Cozy Powell, 3 weeks at 2, all behind a different chart-topper...and he never did get there! The Streak proving to be a flash in the pan drops to 5, and Ronnie Lane’s gorgeous Poacher in at 9, already bigger than How Come. Band On The Run makes a proper entrance at 13 under the new rules, giving a belated follow-up to number 1 Jet for Macca & co. Deservedly, it’s brilliant, sprawling, varied and melodic. Lynsey gets her 4th top 20 hit (and at least 6th or 7th as songwriter), and soul classic Be Thankful is in at 23. Very much in the style of Timmy Thomas’ 1973 classic Why Can’t We Live Together, and almost as good. Smooth, jazzy, soulful, gospelly and wonderful.

Chart notes: 3 eurovision side by side 18,19,20, and two Elton side by side 38, 39. Yet another new underwhelming Elton turgid ballad (though I grew to love it 20 years later) being overshadowed by the ongoing brilliance of Bennie & The Jets, US monster hit single.



1 ( 5 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
2 ( 2 ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
3 ( 3 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
4 ( NEW ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
5 ( 1 ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
6 ( 6 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
7 ( 7 ) SUMMER BREEZE The Isley Brothers
8 ( 10 ) THE IN CROWD Bryan Ferry
9 ( NEW ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
10 ( 12 ) AMERICA David Essex



11 ( 11 ) HEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Showaddywaddy
12 ( 8 ) JUDY TEEN Cockney Rebel
13 ( RE ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
14 ( 4 ) THE LOCOMOTION Grand Funk Railroad
15 ( 15 ) BEACH BABY First Class
16 ( 14 ) LOSE TO LOVE AGAIN Melanie
17 ( 27 ) OOH I DO Lynsey De Paul
18 ( 18 ) WATERLOO Abba
19 ( 13 ) GO (BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART) Gigliola Cinquetti
20 ( 22 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal



21 ( 19 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL WINTER Wizzard
22 ( NEW ) MONKEES THEME The Monkees
23 ( NEW ) BE THANKFUL FOR WAHT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan
24 ( 28 ) I'M IN LOVE Aretha Franklin
25 ( 16 ) THE BOOGIE MAN The Jackson 5
26 ( 17 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
27 ( 30 ) THE JARROW SONG Alan Price
28 ( 29 ) GETTING OVER YOU Andy Williams
29 ( 36 ) IF YOU'RE READY (COME GO WITH ME) The Staple Singers
30 ( 35 ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON Three Dog Night



31 ( 9 ) LUCINDA Howard Werth
32 ( 20 ) ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN The Stylistics
33 ( 21 ) T.S.O.P. (THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA) M.F.S.B. (featuring the Three Degrees)
34 ( 23 ) HONEY PLEASE CAN'T YA SEE Barry White
35 ( 24 ) RED DRESS Alvin Stardust
36 ( 25 ) THE YEAR OF DECISION The Three Degrees
37 ( 26 ) SEE YA LATER (LITTLE BABY LOVE) Smiffy
38 ( 39 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
39 ( NEW ) DON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME Elton John
40 ( 31 ) TEEN WAVE Ricky Wilde

Posted by: popchartfreak 4th June 2014, 06:46 PM

4th June 1974

O level GCE’s drawing to a close, lots of radio listening still, and summer days were here. I had a new friend start at the school, Ian Galloway, who just seemed to rub everyone the wrong way as new boy, but he more or less latched onto me as he lived down the road from us and was into music. I even got him to do a chart in July, but that’ll be a bonus alternative chart to mine then. Ooooh!

In music, Elton’s B side finally topped my chart after yo-yoing up and down randomly as I got to hear it (or not) on radio. Bennie And The Jets is still fab, and it was his second number one (Crocodile Rock being the first). Keeping off The Monkees at 2, it also knocks R. Dean Taylor down prematurely (under my old chart rules that would still be topping). Ronnie Lane goes Top 5, something he’d managed once with the Faces (Stay With Me), and Roy Wood’s album track entry from the start of the year finally gets a single release and enters at 9, bagpipes and all.

Mouth & Macneal go up to 10, thus giving Eurovision 1974 3 top 10 hits. Not to be repeated until well into the 21st century either! The gorgeous Laughter In The Rain is new at 21 for Neil Sedaka, which gave him a new lease of life in the states in 1975 (he was UK based at this time). New also, Mott’s final hit of note, the rather mellow Foxy Foxy; Hudson-Ford’s final hit the very mellow Floating In The Wind; Cher’s Train Of Thought following up a chart-topper, new act Christopher Rainbow with a good (flop) unusual single vocally. Haven’t heard it for 40 years, hoping youtube will help me. 10CC, of course, sneak in at 30 with the very classic Wall Street Shuffle, a song for our times being as it’s a bitter searing attack on bankers greed. See, even pop stars knew it to be a truism, just the equally greedy politicians who felt that people dealing in greed and power were perfectly fine to regulate themselves and do as they please. Should have listened to Godley, Creme, Gouldman and Stewart. 10CC were serious artists, musically versatile and inventive, but having a sense of humour in music (as they often did) really does you no favours with the critics.



1 ( 38 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
2 ( 4 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
3 ( 1 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
4 ( 9 ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
5 ( 3 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
6 ( 2 ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
7 ( 7 ) SUMMER BREEZE The Isley Brothers
8 ( 8 ) THE IN CROWD Bryan Ferry
9 ( RE ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
10 ( 20 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal



11 ( 5 ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
12 ( 6 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
13 ( 13 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
14 ( 23 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan
15 ( 15 ) BEACH BABY First Class
16 ( 17 ) OOH I DO Lynsey De Paul
17 ( 11 ) HEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Showaddywaddy
18 ( 10 ) AMERICA David Essex
19 ( 12 ) JUDY TEEN Cockney Rebel
20 ( 16 ) LOSE TO LOVE AGAIN Melanie



21 ( NEW ) LAUGHTER IN THE RAIN Neil Sedaka
22 ( 22 ) MONKEES THEME The Monkees
23 ( 18 ) WATERLOO Abba
24 ( 29 ) IF YOU'RE READY (COME GO WITH ME) The Staple Singers
25 ( 19 ) GO (BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART) Gigliola Cinquetti
26 ( NEW ) FOXY FOXY Mott The Hoople
27 ( NEW ) SOLID STATE BRAIN Christopher Rainbow
28 ( NEW ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT Cher
29 ( NEW ) FLOATING IN THE WIND Hudson-Ford
30 ( NEW ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.



31 ( 21 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL WINTER Wizzard
32 ( 14 ) THE LOCOMOTION Grand Funk Railroad
33 ( 24 ) I'M IN LOVE Aretha Franklin
34 ( 26 ) SUGAR BABY LOVE The Rubettes
35 ( 25 ) THE BOOGIE MAN The Jackson 5
36 ( 28 ) GETTING OVER YOU Andy Williams
37 ( 27 ) THE JARROW SONG Alan Price
38 ( 30 ) THE SHOW MUST GO ON Three Dog Night
39 ( NEW ) I WON'T LAST A DAY WITHOUT YOU The Carpenters
40 ( NEW ) GUILTY The Pearls

Posted by: popchartfreak 5th June 2014, 05:48 PM

11th June 1974

Oldies dominate the Top end if the chart (and elsewhere) as the Monkees get to the top with I’m A Believer, while in at 2 was the record that won the Radio 1 All-time listeners poll earlier in the year. Reissued on the back of that, and a hit all over again, Young Girl was a gem, and Gary Puckett a magnificent vocalist. Times change, and Young Girl is regarded as a bit lyrically dodgy these obsessively pc days (it wasn’t then, at all, not least by all the girls who voted for it). I don’t know why, as the singer makes it clear his attraction for the girl who’s chasing him is a no no cos she’s far too young (despite looking all grown up). Surely in these rewriting history days it’s a model to hold up for men to follow! Hey ho, my charts right from the get go have featured oldies. If it’s good it’s good...

William De Vaughan’s divine Be Thankful goes up to 8, Band On The Run finally breaks into the top 10 as a single release happens and Elton drops from 1 (out of the 30) as he’d used up his allotted Top 30 weeks-on-chart quota permitted for non-singles-hits. New in at 13, on one listen, Jim Stafford’s follow-up to Spiders and Snakes (though release still a way off in the UK) My Girl Bill. Elton John reviewed the new singles releases in one music mag and said he was all ready to see one bloke about to ravish another, and then end goes and spoils it! Yes, the charts weren’t QUITE ready yet for a gay relationship song describing two men kissing - they were actually fighting over the same girl cos she’s My Girl, comma, Bill. Funny!

In at 18, future hit-makers Pilot with the fabulous debut single Just A Smile. I seem to be alone in loving this track, but it’s fabulous. Still. It took over a year for a re-release to chart, but I was right from the beginning. So there! The gorgeous, still regarded well, jazzy, sultry Midnight At The Oasis enters for Maria Muldaur at 19, already way higher than the rubbish UK chart peaks for so many great records in 1974. The Jackson 5, meanwhile get their last big hit. In the USA that is, stiffed in the UK, sadly, but the funky Dancing Machine deserved better. Radio 1 didn’t play it, so that was that really in those days. No hit. Theme tune to TV Show Zoo Gang pops in at 23 for Jungle Juice. I say theme tune, actually it’s a cover - the original theme tune was a Paul & Linda McCartney instrumental (TV show had Brian Keith, John Mills, Barry Morse) - by Tony Hiller of Brotherhood Of Man songwriter note. Talking of Paul, another of his songs slides in, all pleasantly countrified, courtesy Anne Murray having her first hit for 2 years - You Won’t See Me, a great Beatles album track. Also a big US hit. Bit of a theme going on here, not one single current new UK chart hit entering. No Lena Zavaroni, Peters & Lee, Cliff, Cassidy, Perry Como for me, sorry!





1 ( 2 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
2 ( NEW ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
3 ( 4 ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
4 ( 9 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
5 ( 5 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
6 ( 3 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
7 ( 6 ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
8 ( 14 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WAHT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan
9 ( 13 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
10 ( 7 ) SUMMER BREEZE The Isley Brothers



11 ( 11 ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
12 ( 15 ) BEACH BABY First Class
13 ( NEW ) MY GIRL BILL Jim Stafford
14 ( 12 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
15 ( 10 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
16 ( 27 ) SOLID STATE BRAIN Christopher Rainbow
17 ( 30 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
18 ( NEW ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
19 ( NEW ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
20 ( NEW ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5



21 ( 21 ) LAUGHTER IN THE RAIN Neil Sedaka
22 ( 16 ) OOH I DO Lynsey De Paul
23 ( NEW ) ZOO GANG Jungle Juice
24 ( 8 ) THE IN CROWD Bryan Ferry
25 ( 26 ) FOXY FOXY Mott The Hoople
26 ( 28 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT Cher
27 ( NEW ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
28 ( 17 ) HEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Showaddywaddy
29 ( NEW ) (SITTING ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY Otis Redding
30 ( 22 ) MONKEES THEME The Monkees




31 ( 1 ) BENNY AND THE JETS Elton John
32 ( 18 ) AMERICA David Essex
33 ( 19 ) JUDY TEEN Cockney Rebel
34 ( 20 ) LOSE TO LOVE AGAIN Melanie
35 ( 23 ) WATERLOO Abba
36 ( 24 ) IF YOU'RE READY (COME GO WITH ME) The Staple Singers
37 ( 25 ) GO (BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART) Gigliola Cinquetti
38 ( 29 ) FLOATING IN THE WIND Hudson-Ford
39 ( NEW ) I CAN'T STOP The Osmonds
40 ( NEW ) ONE MAN BAND Leo Sayer

Posted by: popchartfreak 9th June 2014, 05:49 PM

18th June 1974

Another new number one, and it’s Roy Wood’s reggae bagpipes. I was a huge Roy Wood fan, which explains why this peaked above two much better records (Ronnie Lane at 2 and First Class at 3) who deserved to top my chart more. Anyhoo, it was Roy’s second solo topper, plus 4 with Wizzard, 1 with ELO, and 1 with The Move, for a grand total of 8 in just over 5 years.

10CC meanwhile shuffle up again to 4 for a fourth Top 10 hit, and Pilot and Maria Muldaur join them in the Top 10. Anne Murray starts to catch up on Paul McCartney with one of his old songs, Neil Sedaka cracks the 20 with the gorgeous Laughter In The Rain, and there’s a bunch of familiar names popping in. Gary Glitter gets the highest new entry at 11 with his last UK number one, Always Yours (it’s pretty good, though obviously perma-banned from radio and TV), while Suzi Quatro reckons it’s Too Big at 23. Responses on a postcard...

The Wombles get an unlikely 3rd hit, and change style abruptly, Mike Batt opting for Calypso wombling this time at 25. Another unlikely entry from Rolling Stone Bill Wyman and his Monkey Grip Glue. Sadly, he had to wait another 7 years for a UK solo chart hit. Si Si? Je Suis Un Rock Star..

The Scaffold are back, 5 years since Lily The Pink was in my top 3, keeping up the McCartney presence in the charts (Macca’s brother Mike), with Liverpool Lou, a city I was very familiar with from 1965 through to 1989, even went to two primary schools there. The local pride for Scouse stuff rubs off on non-natives! Meanwhile Albert Hammond gets a re-entry (sort of) of his 2-year-old USA hit classic It Never Rains In Southern California. It’s fab. And finally, those one-hit-Eurovision-wonders Abba decide they want more as Ring Ring rings in at 29, following-up instant Number One Waterloo.



1 ( 4 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
2 ( 3 ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
3 ( 12 ) BEACH BABY First Class
4 ( 17 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
5 ( 5 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
6 ( 9 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
7 ( 1 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
8 ( 2 ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
9 ( 18 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
10 ( 19 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur



11 ( NEW ) ALWAYS YOURS Gary Glitter
12 ( 27 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
13 ( 6 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
14 ( 7 ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
15 ( 13 ) MY GIRL BILL Jim Stafford
16 ( 16 ) SOLID STATE BRAIN Christopher Rainbow
17 ( 11 ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
18 ( 8 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan
19 ( 20 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
20 ( 21 ) LAUGHTER IN THE RAIN Neil Sedaka



21 ( 26 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT Cher
22 ( 23 ) ZOO GANG Jungle Juice
23 ( NEW ) TOO BIG Suzi Quatro
24 ( 14 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
25 ( NEW ) BANANA ROCK The Wombles
26 ( 25 ) FOXY FOXY Mott The Hoople
27 ( NEW ) MONKEY GRIP GLUE Bill Wyman
28 ( NEW ) LIVERPOOL LOU The Scaffold
29 ( NEW ) RING RING Abba
30 ( NEW ) IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Albert Hammond



31 ( 10 ) SUMMER BREEZE The Isley Brothers
32 ( 15 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
33 ( 22 ) OOH I DO Lynsey De Paul
34 ( 24 ) THE IN CROWD Bryan Ferry
35 ( 28 ) HEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Showaddywaddy
36 ( 29 ) (SITTING ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY Otis Redding
37 ( 30 ) MONKEES THEME The Monkees
38 ( 31 ) BENNIE AND THE JETS Elton John
39 ( NEW ) I'D LOVE YOU TO WANT ME Lobo
40 ( NEW ) SHE Charles Aznavour

Posted by: popchartfreak 9th June 2014, 07:21 PM

25th June 1974

Another new number one: 10CC’s classic rock track, I still rate this one enormously, hasn’t dated at all and sounds pretty much unlike any other rock band. Crescendo guitars and whopping rhythms and biting lyrics. Brilliant. Keeps off Beach Baby, though, sadly, cos the retro 60’s harmony pop is pure and delightful.

Not much new entry-wise going on so a bit of shuffling, mostly, not quite sure why but if it was nearing term-end-time we may have gone visiting relatives Oop North meaning not so much radio listening (and no reel-to-reel tape listening). Upwards, though, for Maria Muldaur’s Oasis to 4, ahead of Anne Murray’s Beatles cover leaping past Band On The Run. With Zoo Gang at 21 that’s 3 McCartney songs...but’s that not all! Mike Wombles Batt gets his first solo hit (a year ahead of his UK chart debut) with a delightful 1969 cover of Your Mother Should Know - another Macca Beatles track. With his own Wombles at 22, it’s a bit of a Batt n Mac chart!

Paul Da Vinci falsetto’s his way into the charts at 30. Who? Well, he was the actual vocalist on the Rubettes’ Sugar Baby Love, but a session musician infighting strop led to the group and he parting ways, so the Rubettes mimed along for their first single (but became a good songwriting band a few hits down the line) and Paul had his own solo moment in the sun with the very soundalike (to Sugar Baby Love) but fab Your Baby Ain’t Your Baby Anymore. Cher finally chugs her train of thought into the 20, and it was quite a cool state of mind. As opposed to Chris Rainbow’s Solid State Brain which was a little more racing.

Back in at 29, 2 years on, School’s Out - so I’m guessing it was getting radio plays and reissued action cos school was out. For me, that was the end of my 5th year, old enough to leave school, and no plan whatsoever on what I was going to do. Work didn’t appeal much, and my exams promised not so much what with changing schools and all recently. Stay tuned in for results to both after the glorious summer of ’74, when Top Of The Pops and other shows were taken off the air due to strikes at the BBC, and the effect this had on the charts...




1 ( 4 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
2 ( 3 ) BEACH BABY First Class
3 ( 2 ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
4 ( 10 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
5 ( 12 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
6 ( 6 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
7 ( 1 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
8 ( 7 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
9 ( 8 ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
10 ( 5 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks



11 ( 16 ) SOLID STATE BRAIN Christopher Rainbow
12 ( 11 ) ALWAYS YOURS Gary Glitter
13 ( 13 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
14 ( 14 ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
15 ( 9 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
16 ( 19 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
17 ( 17 ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
18 ( 21 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT Cher
19 ( 23 ) TOO BIG Suzi Quatro
20 ( 20 ) LAUGHTER IN THE RAIN Neil Sedaka



21 ( 22 ) ZOO GANG Jungle Juice
22 ( 25 ) BANANA ROCK The Wombles
23 ( 18 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan
24 ( 24 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
25 ( 26 ) FOXY FOXY Mott The Hoople
26 ( 29 ) RING RING Abba
27 ( 30 ) IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Albert Hammond
28 ( NEW ) YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW Mike Batt
29 ( NEW ) SCHOOL'S OUT Alice Cooper
30 ( NEW ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci



31 ( 15 ) MY GIRL BILL Jim Stafford
32 ( 27 ) MONKEY GRIP GLUE Bill Wyman
33 ( 28 ) LIVERPOOL LOU The Scaffold
34 ( 31 ) SUMMER BREEZE The Isley Brothers
35 ( 32 ) I SEE A STAR Mouth and MacNeal
36 ( 33 ) OOH I DO Lynsey De Paul
37 ( 34 ) THE IN CROWD Bryan Ferry
38 ( 35 ) HEY ROCK 'N' ROLL Showaddywaddy
39 ( 38 ) BENNIE AND THE JETS Elton John
40 ( NEW ) DIAMOND DOGS David Bowie

Posted by: popchartfreak 16th July 2014, 04:08 PM

2nd July 1974

School was sort of out, as previously mentioned, but also sort of not, as there wasn’t much in the way of classes left to take, so lots of spare time, great for pop music, playing tennis, watching TV, reading my DC comics purchases (Legion of Super-Heroes and Superman family especially, which all seemed to be on an up with new writers like Cary Bates and the return of child prodigy Jim Shooter imminent) - still babysitting for cash, of course, it was a toss-up between singles, budget albums and comics competing for my money. By a process of elimination, given that I had no idea what I wanted to do (mundane jobs didn’t appeal much), I think I was getting used to the idea of going back to the 6th form to properly take some O Levels and have a full year of study - but hoping I wouldn’t be the only one, which I wasn’t as mate Ian was also planning on doing the same (he came very late in the school year), and we hung around a lot over the summer, he’d drop by at random and put up with my ungrateful moods at being interrupted mid-pop or sci-fi or TV. Yes, I was a bit stroppy at 16. OK a lot stroppy.

Anything that interrupted Top Of The Pops, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Python would send me into a sulk. Sulk sulk sulk. Sulky bleeder! For me, it was a major trauma, cos there was no such thing as video as it was a one-off chance to ever see them, or miss the delight for ever. Well, as regards Top Of The Pops it actually WAS a one-off chance to see them thanks to short-sighted besuited BBC so and so’s, who wiped the tapes, destroying great performances for ever just because it didn’t have Bill Haley or Bing Crosby on the show (yes, they kept those episodes, being old gits and all!) Now that I’m older than they were, I’m allowed to make ageist remarks, honest, they deserve it because it’s true. Kept the music of their youth and wiped mine. Good thing I’m not bitter...

The charts? 2 weeks on top for 10CC, and Paul McCartney up to 2, leapfrogging his own old song at 3, as sung by Anne Murray. The big news is in at 5, new entry, George McCrae and Rock Your Baby. Essentially a KC & The Sunshine Band record with guest vocalist, this was a key record, generally regarded as the start of disco music (although The Sound Of Philadelphia and Barry White might make that claim too), but in topping the UK and US charts it was announcing disco was here in a big way. I think it’s no co-incidence that it topped the UK charts during a period when Top Of The Pops was off the air (BBC strikes of course) so people were judging current pop on the record alone, and this was a great one.

The Jackson 5, meanwhile, almost get a funky top 10 hit, and Abba get their follow-up top 20 hit at 18 with Ring Ring. Just to underline it was the start of a habit of going for the wrong single, Sweet Dreams (aka Polly Brown of Pickettywich and Tony Jackson of The Skatalites) covered Abba’s Honey Honey and enter one-place higher at 17. They also got the UK chart hit and Abba didn’t. New at 14, Charlie James is All Fingers And Thumbs, a sweet girlie pop flop radio hit of the time, while The Sweet abruptly change musical direction and release the ambitious “serious” The Six Teens. It’s a great record, but not poptastic in a glam fashion and more or less ended the first phase of their Chinn-Chapman career - and a run of 5 consecutive number one singles in my chart!

In at 27, Terry Jacks follows-up seasons In The Sun with a well-known 1959 Jacques Brel/Rod McKuen song, If You Go Away, and sounds almost comically breathless, especially compared to great past versions from the likes of Dusty, Glen Campbell, and Scott Walker. This was the hit version, though. Go figure! The Drifters are back, even older than If You Go Away, but revitalised, re-located to the UK and with British songwriters, had a long run of pastiche-60’s hits starting with this one. Not up to the actual 60’s songs, of course, but good enough, and with Johnny Moore still on vocals still had the Drifters sound. They were big in the UK, and has-beens in the USA...



1 ( 1 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
2 ( 6 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
3 ( 5 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
4 ( 4 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
5 ( NEW ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
6 ( 8 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
7 ( 9 ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
8 ( 2 ) BEACH BABY First Class
9 ( 3 ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
10 ( 7 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood



11 ( 16 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
12 ( 15 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
13 ( 11 ) SOLID STATE BRAIN Christopher Rainbow
14 ( NEW ) ALL FINGERS AND THUMBS Charlie James
15 ( 12 ) ALWAYS YOURS Gary Glitter
16 ( NEW ) THE SIX-TEENS The Sweet
17 ( 13 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
18 ( NEW ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
19 ( 26 ) RING RING Abba
20 ( 18 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT Cher



21 ( 14 ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
22 ( 28 ) YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW Mike Batt
23 ( 30 ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci
24 ( 24 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
25 ( 20 ) LAUGHTER IN THE RAIN Neil Sedaka
26 ( 23 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan
27 ( NEW ) IF YOU GO AWAY Terry Jacks
28 ( 19 ) TOO BIG Suzi Quatro
29 ( 17 ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
30 ( NEW ) KISSIN' IN THE BACK ROW OF THE MOVIES The Drifters



31 ( 10 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
32 ( 21 ) ZOO GANG Jungle Juice
33 ( 22 ) BANANA ROCK The Wombles
34 ( 25 ) FOXY FOXY Mott The Hoople
35 ( 27 ) IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Albert Hammond
36 ( 29 ) SCHOOL'S OUT Alice Cooper
37 ( 31 ) MY GIRL BILL Jim Stafford
38 ( 32 ) MONKEY GRIP GLUE Bill Wyman
39 ( 33 ) LIVERPOOL LOU The Scaffold
40 ( NEW ) HAVEN'T GOT TIME FOR THE PAIN Carly Simon

Posted by: popchartfreak 16th July 2014, 07:28 PM

9th July 1974

Macca gets his 2nd Number One of the year, his 3rd with Wings, his 4th since leaving The Beatles, and his 7th in total including 3 from the Fabs. At the time that gave him 7 equal with Roy Wood topping my all-time list. That keeps off George McCrae from the top, and it was so close I kept switching between the two, using a lot of pencil and erasers. I have to give it to Band On The Run, though, cos it’s so classic, a record I love to bits still. Pure summer of ‘74 for me.

Lots of great new entries too, Sparks in at 6 for the follow-up highest entry, Amateur Hour being equally quirky, but not as epic as This Town. In at 10, a reissue from Edwin Starr from 1969, and his first chart hit since War in 1970. Very Motown-ey. Abba get to 15 with Ring Ring, higher than I remembered (happily), momentarily leap-frogging Honey Honey. The Inruders get a 2nd hit with the smooth Philly sound of horse-racing and a lady love. Garfunkel gets his 3rd solo hit, and what a corker it is, Traveling Boy was a chart flop, criminally, but it’s far and away the best record he’s made outside of Simon and Garfunkel, tearfully beautiful and one of the great Paul William’s best songs. Paul Williams? Singer-songwriter, writer of We’ve Only Just Begun, Evergreen, Rainbow Connection, Rainy Days And Mondays and more recently worked with Scissor Sisters and Daft Punk. That’s not enough, though, Paul Williams is also the same diminutive actor who was an Orang-Utan in Battle For The Planet Of The Apes, an alien in Star Trek: Voyager, a guest on the Muppets, writer of Bugsy Malone songs, Penguin on animated Batman Adventures, and most recently featured on Random Access Memories album. Take it from me, it’s a great song!

Jim Capaldi is back, 2 years after non-hit great Eve, and 7 years after Traffic’s heydays, and it’s also a tearjerking Nilsson-esque corker, It’s All Up To You. Only a minor UK hit, it is criminally obscure these days, but again it’s a fabulous song, sung convincingly passionately. Barry Blue gets his 4th solo hit, this time it’s a sweet pop tune. Barry Blue? Aka Barry Green, writer of many hit songs, including stuff for Diana Ross, Celine Dion, Saturdays, Pixie Lott. I’m not making this up, he is still writing pop songs! He’s also responsible for I Eat Cannibals, of which the less said the better! I was always a fan though (of most of his varied pop stuff). I also bought a budget album this week, R. Dean Taylor’s with new entry Don’t Fool Around On it. While it had some of his old hits on it, it didn’t have the version of Ghost In My House I was expecting. Boo! It goes back up anyway to 7 as a result.



1 ( 2 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
2 ( 5 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
3 ( 3 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
4 ( 4 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
5 ( 1 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
6 ( NEW ) AMATEUR HOUR Sparks
7 ( 17 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
8 ( 6 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
9 ( 7 ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
10 ( NEW ) STOP HER ON SIGHT (SOS) Edwin Starr



11 ( 11 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
12 ( 12 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
13 ( 16 ) THE SIX-TEENS The Sweet
14 ( 10 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
15 ( 19 ) RING RING Abba
16 ( 8 ) BEACH BABY First Class
17 ( 9 ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
18 ( 18 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
19 ( 23 ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci
20 ( 13 ) SOLID STATE BRAIN Christopher Rainbow



21 ( 24 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
22 ( NEW ) (WIN PLACE SHOW) SHE'S A WINNER The Intruders
23 ( 14 ) ALL FINGERS AND THUMBS Charlie James
24 ( 27 ) IF YOU GO AWAY Terry Jacks
25 ( 22 ) YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW Mike Batt
26 ( 26 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan
27 ( NEW ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
28 ( NEW ) IT'S ALL UP TO YOU Jim Capaldi
29 ( NEW ) MISS HIT AND RUN Barry Blue
30 ( NEW ) DON'T FOOL AROUND R. Dean Taylor



31 ( 15 ) ALWAYS YOURS Gary Glitter
32 ( 20 ) TRAIN OF THOUGHT Cher
33 ( 21 ) THE MAN IN BLACK Cozy Powell
34 ( 25 ) LAUGHTER IN THE RAIN Neil Sedaka
35 ( 28 ) TOO BIG Suzi Quatro
36 ( 29 ) THE STREAK Ray Stevens
37 ( 30 ) KISSIN' IN THE BACK ROW OF THE MOVIES The Drifters
38 ( 31 ) THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US Sparks
39 ( NEW ) JUST DON'T WANT TO BE LONELY The Main Ingredient
40 ( NEW ) THE BANGIN' MAN Slade

Posted by: popchartfreak 18th July 2014, 06:20 PM

16th July 1974

My chart heavily influenced by a radio show and a comeback 60’s star. Mama Cass (now Cass Elliot, once of the great Mamas & Papas) was releasing a fab tuneful Albert Hammond ballad single, and in the UK recording, so dropped by the weekly Radio 1 new singles review show, Emperor Rosko’s Roundtable. Rosko was cool, American and had pop star guests listening to new singles and giving opinions. Cass was on, and I was excited enough to record it. I fell instantly in love with her new single, a number one new entry. It wasn’t playlisted though, so it had an up and chart career according to when I got to hear it, buy it, and then affected by her sudden young tragic death in London a few weeks later. Dad shouted upstairs to me about the news (she was a family fave) while my visiting mate Ian was a bit bemused, I think, at my feeling so bad about a celebrity death. Cass was the first popstar death that affected me.

On the show, she was enthusiastic about Hues Corporation US smash Rock The Boat, a disco classic, duly in at number 2 behind her, and still sounding great. Mud were back and on the show with an Elvis glamrock imitation, Rocket. Cass and Rosko both wished Elvis would do something anywhere near as exciting, cos it was a great pop song, in at 24. I think Rock Me Gently was also on the show, a forthcoming soul smash for Andy Kim. Who? Writer of many a hit record, including my Singapore obsession Sugar Sugar and other Archies tracks. Of course I liked it! In at 30.

Other newies, Nilsson is back again with a Dracula movie song, amusing and catchy, Daybreak new in at 28, while a song that became better known in cover versions for a while, Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing, is in for Stevie Wonder at 29 for nearly 6 years of chart hits. Bob & Marcia’s 1970 reggae black-pride classic, which I didn’t get to hear at the time (being in Singapore) is re-issued and I love it, in at 21. Leaving The Settlers at 19, last seen with the fab folkpop TV theme tune to Follyfoot, a kids show, The Lightning Tree in 1971, but now sounding like The New Seekers. All this activity meant tough luck for Garfunkel, who’s marvellous Traveling Boy would otherwise be at number 1, The Jackson 5 stuck at 11 for 3 weeks, and some big fallers.



1 ( NEW ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
2 ( NEW ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
3 ( 27 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
4 ( 1 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
5 ( 2 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
6 ( 6 ) AMATEUR HOUR Sparks
7 ( 5 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
8 ( 4 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
9 ( 3 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
10 ( 8 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees



11 ( 11 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
12 ( 12 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
13 ( 13 ) THE SIX-TEENS The Sweet
14 ( 19 ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci
15 ( 22 ) (WIN PLACE SHOW) SHE'S A WINNER The Intruders
16 ( 14 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
17 ( 9 ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
18 ( 16 ) BEACH BABY First Class
19 ( NEW ) ON TOP OF THE WORLD The Settlers
20 ( 28 ) IT'S ALL UP TO YOU Jim Capaldi



21 ( NEW ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
22 ( 15 ) RING RING Abba
23 ( 10 ) STOP HER ON SIGHT (SOS) Edwin Starr
24 ( NEW ) ROCKET Mud
25 ( 30 ) DON'T FOOL AROUND R. Dean Taylor
26 ( 20 ) SOLID STATE BRAIN Christopher Rainbow
27 ( 17 ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
28 ( NEW ) DAYBREAK Nilsson
29 ( NEW ) DON'T YOU WORRY 'BOUT A THING Stevie Wonder
30 ( NEW ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim



31 ( 7 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
32 ( 18 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
33 ( 21 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
34 ( 23 ) ALL FINGERS AND THUMBS Charlie James
35 ( 24 ) IF YOU GO AWAY Terry Jacks
36 ( 25 ) YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW Mike Batt
37 ( 26 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan
38 ( 29 ) MISS HIT AND RUN Barry Blue
39 ( NEW ) YOU MAKE ME FEEL BRAND NEW The Stylistics
40 ( NEW ) TONIGHT The Rubettes

Posted by: popchartfreak 18th July 2014, 07:37 PM

23rd July 1974

This was (more or less) the week I convinced my mate Ian to do his own chart, his music tastes were a lot more album-rock-oriented than my more pop-oriented tastes, but there were some overlapping tracks we both liked. He was absolutely insanely mad on T.Rex, had everything he could get his hands on, while I was more of a lapsed fan with the distinctly underwhelming new T.Rex record Light Of Love, a bit too lightweight for me, though his album track entry Venus Loon was more classic T.Rex and would have charted in mine if I was allowing them in at the time. My number one Rocket, was Mud’s 4th, while his chart-topper I Shot The Sheriff was Clapton’s first solo hit, in my chart at 26, his first since Layla in 1972, and the first Bob Marley song to chart since Stir It Up in 1972.

A Horse With No Name, meanwhile is in Ian’s chart (from 1972, also) and is my current Number One as I type, thanks to an advert on TV - now that’s spooky! He probably charted Wizzard, Mud and Cher for my benefit, I’d guess, although Cher was an item with Greg Allman at the time so that might have been an influence too! Ian had an older brother with rock albums so I blame him for Ian’s lack of love for pop

Elsewhere: Nilsson gets his 4th Top 10 hit (which is 3 more than he managed in real life); The Three Degrees get their 4th chart entry, with a change in direction, a smooth Philly ballad, just ahead of MFSB (who they had just guested with) at 28. Stevie goes Top 20, along with Jim Capaldi and Bob & Marcia. The Sweet can’t quite break into the 10, for the first time since Alexander Graham Bell in 1971 and Barry Blue bounces back up to 27.



1 ( 24 ) ROCKET Mud
2 ( 1 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
3 ( 5 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
4 ( 2 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
5 ( 3 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
6 ( 7 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
7 ( 10 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
8 ( 4 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
9 ( 6 ) AMATEUR HOUR Sparks
10 ( 28 ) DAYBREAK Nilsson



11 ( 14 ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci
12 ( 13 ) THE SIX-TEENS The Sweet
13 ( 12 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
14 ( 20 ) IT'S ALL UP TO YOU Jim Capaldi
15 ( 21 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
16 ( 9 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
17 ( 11 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
18 ( 8 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
19 ( 19 ) ON TOP OF THE WORLD The Settlers
20 ( 29 ) DON'T YOU WORRY 'BOUT A THING Stevie Wonder



21 ( 30 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
22 ( 18 ) BEACH BABY First Class
23 ( 17 ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
24 ( 23 ) STOP HER ON SIGHT (SOS) Edwin Starr
25 ( 15 ) (WIN PLACE SHOW) SHE'S A WINNER The Intruders
26 ( NEW ) I SHOT THE SHERIFF Eric Clapton
27 ( 38 ) MISS HIT AND RUN Barry Blue
28 ( NEW ) WHEN WILL I SEE YOU AGAIN The Three Degrees
29 ( NEW ) LOVE IS THE MESSAGE MFSB
30 ( NEW ) LIGHT OF LOVE T.Rex



31 ( 16 ) GOING DOWN THE ROAD Roy Wood
32 ( 22 ) RING RING Abba
33 ( 25 ) DON'T FOOL AROUND R. Dean Taylor
34 ( 26 ) SOLID STATE BRAIN Christopher Rainbow
35 ( 27 ) THE POACHER Ronnie Lane
36 ( 31 ) THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE R. Dean Taylor
37 ( 32 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
38 ( 33 ) CENTRAL PARK ARREST Thunderthighs
39 ( 40 ) TONIGHT The Rubettes
40 ( 37 ) BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT William De Vaughan




IAN GALLOWAYS TOP 20
1 I SHOT THE SHERIFF Eric Clapton
2 LIGHT OF LOVE T.Rex
3 BAND ON THE RUN Wings
4 WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10 C.C.
5 IT'S ALL UP TO YOU Jim Capaldi
6 MIKE OLDFIELD'S SINGLE Mike Oldfield
7 TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS Bachman-Turner Overdrive
8 VENUS LOON T.Rex
9 BACK STREET LUV Curved Air
10 HORSE WITH NO NAME America
11 MIDNIGHT Greg Allman
12 TEENAGE DREAM T.Rex
13 7 SEAS OF RHYE Queen
14 PSYCHEDELIC WARLORDS (DISAPPEAR IN SMILES) Hawkwind
15 DARK LADY Cher
16 ROCK 'N' ROLL WINTER Wizzard
17 SIX-TEENS Sweet
18 IT'S ONLY ROCK AND ROLL The Rolling Stones
19 ROCKET Mud
20 THE LEOPARDS FEATURING GARDENIA AND THE MIGHTY SLUG T.Rex

Posted by: popchartfreak 19th July 2014, 03:24 PM

30th July 1974

In which it becomes apparent that if you want to make my top 10, have “Rock” in the title, or if you want to chart, TV theme tunes help, Beatles songs help, or being a future UK number one helps..

Yes, half the top 10 have a “rock” in the title, including highest new entry Rock ‘N’ Roll by a choir of kids chanting catchily to a rockpop backdrop, a great record that’s so obscure I can find little about it on the internet, other than it’s an Albert Hammond song, giving him a 1-2 wham! on my chart as Cass Elliot goes back up to 1 ahead of them for a second week on top. If you don’t know Albert Hammond I suggest googling the list of songs he’s written, and prepare to be surprised! I know a great songwriter when I hear one, even if they aren’t all hits! The other songwriting credit is “Paul” which makes me suspect (but I can’t confirm) a certain Lynsey De Paul, who’s not bovvered if it isn’t as she has a new songwriter entry at 27 (Golden Day, theme tune to the Golden Shot TV show) a co-write with Barry Blue (who’s still in the chart as pop star). Just to keep the incestuous popstar cohabiting going on, Rain, the band has Stephanie De Sykes as lead singer, herself a new entry at 26 with theme tune to New Faces. She herself had a go at hit songs with the UK Eurovision entries in 1978 and 1980. Not a lot of people know that, as Michael Caine might say...

Andy Kim gently rocks up to 6, and two future UK chart-toppers get an early chart entry in my charts in place of another which underperformed at 28 (Three Degrees). Sad Sweet Dreamer was a UK smooth soul record and band, that everyone though was a Michael Jackson soundalike, Radio Luxembourg plugged it for ages till it finally sold enough to chart and get picked up by Radio 1. In at 9 in my chart. John Denver gets his first hit song as artist, and it’s his recent reissued UK hit Annie’s Song, sweet and pure country ballad-ing, still a lovely song. In at 22.

Returning? Bay City Rollers, 3 years on, but no longer charting as high as their early releases, as Rollermania takes a hold as they get increasingly more banal, albeit teenypop successful. Wizzard, heroes, are back, and it’s a T.Rex-style disappointment for me, not epic-sounding at all, mostly just an OK ballad at best new at 23. 60’s Motown classic What Becomes Of The Broken-Hearted gets Jimmy Ruffin back charting after a 4-year break, a true great and famous single that one, and a hit all over again in the UK. Another Motown hit for R. Dean Taylor (his 3rd of the year) who’s Window Shopping at 28, just ahead of Mouth and MacNeal’s great Dutchpop follow up to their Eurovision hit. We’re Gonna Have A Party is their best single, but for some inexplicable reason (well, pretty explicable, Radio 1 didn’t play it, Radio Luxembourg did) wasn’t a hit. Lastly, David Cassidy’s back with a Beatles song, a fairly soundalike live cover of Please Please Me. Sadly, due to a tour crush-related fan-death, Cassidy pretty much didn’t tour again for some years.

Neither Rainbow Children nor Mouth And MacNeal are on youtube so I may have to work out how to post them myself someday!




1 ( 2 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
2 ( NEW ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
3 ( 4 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
4 ( 3 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
5 ( 5 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
6 ( 21 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
7 ( 1 ) ROCKET Mud
8 ( 13 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
9 ( NEW ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
10 ( 10 ) DAYBREAK Nilsson



11 ( 15 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
12 ( 8 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
13 ( 6 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
14 ( 7 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
15 ( 9 ) AMATEUR HOUR Sparks
16 ( 12 ) THE SIX-TEENS The Sweet
17 ( 11 ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci
18 ( 16 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
19 ( 18 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
20 ( 17 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5



21 ( NEW ) SUMMERLOVE SENSATION The Bay City Rollers
22 ( NEW ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver
23 ( NEW ) THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE (BABY) Wizzard
24 ( 37 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
25 ( NEW ) WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED Jimmy Ruffin
26 ( NEW ) BORN WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE Stephanie De Sykes
27 ( NEW ) GOLDEN DAY Rain
28 ( NEW ) WINDOW SHOPPING R. Dean Taylor
29 ( NEW ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
30 ( NEW ) PLEASE PLEASE ME David Cassidy



31 ( 14 ) IT'S ALL UP TO YOU Jim Capaldi
32 ( 19 ) ON TOP OF THE WORLD The Settlers
33 ( 20 ) DON'T YOU WORRY 'BOUT A THING Stevie Wonder
34 ( 22 ) BEACH BABY First Class
35 ( 23 ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
36 ( 24 ) STOP HER ON SIGHT (SOS) Edwin Starr
37 ( 25 ) (WIN PLACE SHOW) SHE'S A WINNER The Intruders
38 ( 26 ) I SHOT THE SHERIFF Eric Clapton
39 ( 27 ) MISS HIT AND RUN Barry Blue
40 ( NEW ) STOP LOOK LISTEN (TO YOUR HEART) Diana Ross And Marvin Gaye

Posted by: AlexRange 21st July 2014, 07:00 PM

QUOTE(popchartfreak @ Jun 5 2014, 09:48 PM)

Posted by: popchartfreak 17th August 2014, 12:34 PM

6th August 1974

3rd week on top for the now tragically late Mama Cass, while Sweet Sensation hit 3 2 months ahead of topping the UK chart, and Annie’s Song puts John Denver into my Top 10 for the first time also 2 months ahead of hitting the UK number 1 spot. Just saying.....

Not hitting the top spot anywhere, Mouth and MacNeal’s fab We’re Gonna Have A Party hits 9 and becomes the highest-charting of their 3 chart entries. At 10, Bay City Rollers return to the Top 10 for the first time since they started having UK hits again - I’ll be honest, the best Rollers pop records were all of their singles released from 1971 through to 1973, all bar one flops. Summerlove Sensation was a good tune though.

Oldies take over numbers 11 to 15, Jimmy Ruffin’s classic up to 12 as it climbs the UK chart, and two new entries with Lady Willpower for Gary Puckett & The Union Gap following up Young Girl, and returning to my charts 6 years on, and Scott McKenzie’s classic John Phillips song and hippie anthem (Mamas and Papas - spot the link with Cass Elliot) in at 15. San Fransisco was on CBS, who along with Warner Brothers were on a bit of reissue campaign, some I bought some I couldn’t afford, but at the age of 16 I now had a decade of familiar back catalogue to chart and try to buy, as I really started to get into the 60’s as retro faves. Like most 16-year-old’s, though, not too fussed about stuff from before I was born, apart from a few odd ones.

Wizzard’s new single catastrophically only hits 16 while a much catchier album track Come Back Karen (all 50’s-styled) enters at 24, and The Rolling Stones, and the great bubble-machine video, pop in at 29 announcing It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll - well I like it at any rate! This is the last chart to contain oldies until the new year, as the volume just got to be too much and started to swamp the new stuff from next week - so I had to take the practical viewpoint of compiling a separate Oldies chart till the reissues ebbed down a bit. They still deserved to chart, but I thought it fairer they should compete with other oldies rather than current stuff. How exciting!


1 ( 1 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
2 ( 2 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
3 ( 9 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
4 ( 4 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
5 ( 3 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
6 ( 6 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
7 ( 22 ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver
8 ( 5 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
9 ( 29 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
10 ( 21 ) SUMMERLOVE SENSATION The Bay City Rollers

11 ( 11 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
12 ( 25 ) WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED Jimmy Ruffin
13 ( 14 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
14 ( NEW ) LADY WILLPOWER Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
15 ( NEW ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
16 ( 23 ) THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE (BABY) Wizzard
17 ( 7 ) ROCKET Mud
18 ( 15 ) AMATEUR HOUR Sparks
19 ( 12 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
20 ( 10 ) DAYBREAK Nilsson

21 ( 8 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
22 ( 16 ) THE SIX-TEENS The Sweet
23 ( 28 ) WINDOW SHOPPING R. Dean Taylor
24 ( NEW ) COME BACK KAREN Wizzard
25 ( 17 ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci
26 ( 24 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
27 ( 18 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
28 ( 20 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
29 ( NEW ) IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL (BUT I LIKE IT) The Rolling Stones
30 ( 27 ) GOLDEN DAY Rain




31 ( 13 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
32 ( 19 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
33 ( 26 ) BORN WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE Stephanie De Sykes
34 ( 30 ) PLEASE PLEASE ME David Cassidy
35 ( 31 ) IT'S ALL UP TO YOU Jim Capaldi
36 ( 32 ) ON TOP OF THE WORLD The Settlers
37 ( NEW ) SUNDOWN Gordon Lightfoot
38 ( NEW ) (I'M) LEAVIN' IT ALL (UP TO YOU) Donny And Marie Osmond
39 ( NEW ) HELLO SUMMERTIME Bobby Goldsboro
40 ( NEW ) JUST FOR YOU The Glitter Band

Posted by: popchartfreak 17th August 2014, 12:34 PM

13th August 1974 Charts

George McCrae’s Rock Your Baby finally grabs the top slot, although it had actually peaked earlier in my affections, it still deserved to be a number one even though Mama Cass’ death continued to sadden me when playing her old and new records. Mouth and MacNeal hit 4, and new in at 7 is a Radio Luxembourg playlist track Pepperbox, an instrumental with a hint of the Rockford Files theme tune, a bit clappy, a bit synthy, which sounded unlike anything I’d heard before, and loved instantly. The UK record-buying public eventually agreed with me 3 months later.

In at 9, Ray Stevens taking the pee again, this time the US TV show Midnight Special, not instant like The Streak, but not as tiresome after repeat listens, and the Mildred Queen And The Dips bit is still funny (Gladys Knight And The Pips pastiche). The man behind Rock Your Baby, Harry Casey, gets his own band to debut at 11, with the awesome Queen Of Clubs. The pace, the exciting new TK disco sounds, and the passionate delivery announced a new sort of dance music was about to take over from the slick Philly soul sounds that dominated. Funkier and grittier, and spearheaded by a white boy with funk attitude. Rock journos of the time failed to appreciate how influential and timeless KC & co would be. I was incensed when a very expensive 80’s History Of Rock weekly volume of all important Music acts from Bill Haley onwards didn’t even mention KC. So, a big raspberry to them. Wrong again, as journalists often are with pop music.

Firebird enter at 12. Who? No idea, only that they appeared on Lift Off With Ayshea (ITV music show) the week before and I like it enough to chart it. Haven’t heard it in 40 years, just youtubed it...and it’s Rubettes-styled pop. Cockney Rebel follow-up Judy Teen with Mr. Soft, not as good but not bad at 25, ahead of Paper Lace’s third single, The Black-Eyed Boys, which fits in with the motorcycle theme of Firebird.





1 ( 4 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
2 ( 1 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
3 ( 5 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
4 ( 9 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
5 ( 2 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
6 ( 3 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
7 ( NEW ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
8 ( 6 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
9 ( NEW ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens
10 ( 8 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel




11 ( NEW ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
12 ( NEW ) 2 WHEELS Firebird
13 ( 10 ) SUMMERLOVE SENSATION The Bay City Rollers
14 ( 27 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
15 ( 21 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
16 ( 26 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
17 ( 16 ) THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE (BABY) Wizzard
18 ( 7 ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver
19 ( 17 ) ROCKET Mud
20 ( 28 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5



21 ( 18 ) AMATEUR HOUR Sparks
22 ( 19 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
23 ( 24 ) COME BACK KAREN Wizzard
24 ( 23 ) WINDOW SHOPPING R. Dean Taylor
25 ( NEW ) MR. SOFT Cockney Rebel
26 ( NEW ) THE BLACK-EYED BOYS Paper Lace
27 ( 29 ) IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL (BUT I LIKE IT) The Rolling Stones
28 ( 20 ) DAYBREAK Nilsson
29 ( 25 ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci
30 ( 30 ) GOLDEN DAY Rain

31 ( 22 ) THE SIX-TEENS The Sweet
32 ( 31 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.
33 ( 32 ) MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS Maria Muldaur
34 ( 34 ) PLEASE PLEASE ME David Cassidy
35 ( 35 ) IT'S ALL UP TO YOU Jim Capaldi
36 ( 36 ) ON TOP OF THE WORLD The Settlers
37 ( 37 ) SUNDOWN Gordon Lightfoot
38 ( 38 ) (I'M) LEAVIN' IT ALL (UP TO YOU) Donny And Marie Osmond
39 ( 39 ) HELLO SUMMERTIME Bobby Goldsboro
40 ( 40 ) JUST FOR YOU The Glitter Band


ARCHIVE CHART 13th Aug 1974

Meanwhile, on the brand new oldies chart, the new entry at number one is Be My Baby, Phil Spector’s genius creation for the Ronettes. Dad bought this single in 1966, in a batch of oldie 45’s for the new record player, so I grew up with it really. Dirty Dancing made it immortal, but it’s a perfect pop single. Another 60’s girl group at 2, Baby Love, a famous record for 10 years by this time, and a hit all over again in the UK (with the added Diana Ross not being there on the label back when they were a band as opposed to a vehicle for her superstardom). The rest of the chart is made up of carry-overs from the previous week’s chart, and a host of tracks that had been hits before in my charts, so I’ll just mention those that hadn’t been - The Crystals Da Do Ron Ron, also Phil Spector, and this time one that also made the UK charts again in 1974. Should have been Be My Baby! Frank Sinatra’s lovely Strangers In The Night from 1966 pops in at 19 in it’s MOR huggableness. The repeat hits from The Faces and Alice Cooper were tracks on EP’s split up into individual entries, I think.



1 ( NEW ) BE MY BABY The Ronettes
2 ( NEW ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
3 ( 11 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
4 ( 12 ) WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED Jimmy Ruffin
5 ( NEW ) BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE The Bandwagon
6 ( 13 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
7 ( 15 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
8 ( NEW ) GENTLE ON MY MIND Dean Martin
9 ( NEW ) WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) Peter Sarstedt
10 ( 14 ) LADY WILLPOWER Gary Puckett And The Union Gap

11 ( NEW ) BOTH SIDES NOW Judy Collins
12 ( NEW ) A HORSE WITH NO NAME America
13 ( NEW ) I AM WHAT I AM Greyhound
14 ( NEW ) BACK STREET LUV Curved Air
15 ( NEW ) STAY WITH ME The Faces
16 ( NEW ) CINDY INCIDENTALLY The Faces
17 ( NEW ) POOL HALL RICHARD The Faces
18 ( NEW ) DA DO RON RON The Crystals
19 ( NEW ) STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT Frank Sinatra
20 ( NEW ) YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND James Taylor

21 ( RE ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
22 ( RE ) SCHOOL'S OUT Alice Cooper
23 ( NEW ) ELECTED Alice Cooper
24 ( NEW ) NO MORE MR. NICE GUY Alice Cooper

Posted by: popchartfreak 20th August 2014, 03:59 PM

20th August 1974


With their first number one it’s KC And The Sunshine Band and the whooping fantastic Queen Of Clubs. How good was KC? He knocked off his own number one, Rock Your Baby, which he kindly gave away. Highest new entry at 6 though is from The Yamasukis. Who? Technically it’s a 1971 reissue (I wasn’t aware it was an oldie or it would have been in my oldies chart, on John Peel’s Dandelion label, of a French-production duo experimenting with world sounds under the name Yamasuki. This single has Japanese-language shouting over Japanese language chorus of children, and it’s terrific World pop music that never was a hit. Influential? Well, the B Side is Aieaoa, which would eventually become a hit for Black Blood, Bananarama and a theme tune of the 2010 World Cup under the title Aie-a-mwana. The duo worked with many European hit acts writing and producing for the likes Sheila B. Devotion, Gibson Brothers, Ottawan. For current music fans, Daniel Vangarde (real name Bangalter) is the father and early supporter of his son, Thomas. You might know him better as a Daft Punk member....

After weeks of up and downs, Sweet Dreams reach a new peak of 11, oh Abba really should released it! New at 17 it’s The Pearls 5th hit, a tribute (honestly) to Roy Wood, who appropriately is one place higher with Wizzard. It’s almost as if I knew! (I did). At 18, Swedish Sylvia sings the first international European package holiday hit, Y Viva Espana. I got so sick of hearing it months later that I avoided Spain and package holidays for a good 30 years, till I saw the error of my ways. Spain is fab.

In at 25, his 4th chart hit, and the man who just sold his guitar for over a million pounds, Alvin Stardust. He paid £1 and got Buddy Holly and The Beatles to sign it, and he’s from Mansfield, so I consider that a better investment than going down the pits. Behind it’s Cat Stevens, long a fave of mine since Matthew And Son, here with a cover of Sam Cooke’s Another Saturday Night, and his 6th or 7th hit since 1970. 10CC follow up a chart-topper with Silly Love, quirky and playful as ever at 28, while Rufus Tell Me Something Good and debut at 29, Chaka Khan’s chart debut 4 years ahead of her UK singles debut. A Stevie Wonder song and a huge US hit. At 30, though, a novelty hit that became an anthem, Carl Douglas and Kung Fu Fighting, a UK record that broke big for Carl and Biddu worldwide, on the back of 1974’s absolute kung fu mania. Trust me, it was HUGE that year, on the back of the death of Bruce Lee, who was idolised by some schoolmates.

On The Oldies chart Bob & Marcia get that topper, the rest mostly shuffle a bit.




1 ( 11 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
2 ( 2 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
3 ( 1 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
4 ( 3 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
5 ( 4 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
6 ( NEW ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
7 ( 5 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
8 ( 9 ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens
9 ( 6 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
10 ( 7 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers



11 ( 16 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
12 ( 10 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
13 ( 12 ) 2 WHEELS Firebird
14 ( 26 ) THE BLACK-EYED BOYS Paper Lace
15 ( 8 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
16 ( 17 ) THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE (BABY) Wizzard
17 ( NEW ) THE WIZARD OF LOVE The Pearls
18 ( NEW ) Y VIVA ESPANA Sylvia
19 ( 22 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
20 ( 14 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray

21 ( 20 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
22 ( 15 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
23 ( 25 ) MR. SOFT Cockney Rebel
24 ( 30 ) GOLDEN DAY Rain
25 ( NEW ) YOU YOU YOU Alvin Stardust
26 ( NEW ) ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT Cat Stevens
27 ( 18 ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver
28 ( NEW ) SILLY LOVE 10C.C.
29 ( NEW ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus
30 ( NEW ) KUNG FU FIGHTING Carl Douglas



31 ( 13 ) SUMMERLOVE SENSATION The Bay City Rollers
32 ( 19 ) ROCKET Mud
33 ( 21 ) AMATEUR HOUR Sparks
34 ( 23 ) COME BACK KAREN Wizzard
35 ( 24 ) WINDOW SHOPPING R. Dean Taylor
36 ( 27 ) IT'S ONLY ROCK 'N' ROLL (BUT I LIKE IT) The Rolling Stones
37 ( 28 ) DAYBREAK Nilsson
38 ( 29 ) YOUR BABY AIN'T YOUR BABY ANYMORE Paul Da Vinci
39 ( 31 ) THE SIX-TEENS The Sweet
40 ( 32 ) WALL STREET SHUFFLE 10C.C.





1 ( 3 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
2 ( 2 ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
3 ( 7 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
4 ( 1 ) BE MY BABY The Ronettes
5 ( 9 ) WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) Peter Sarstedt
6 ( 6 ) I'M A BELIEVER The Monkees
7 ( 8 ) GENTLE ON MY MIND Dean Martin
8 ( 5 ) BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE The Bandwagon
9 ( 4 ) WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED Jimmy Ruffin
10 ( 10 ) LADY WILLPOWER Gary Puckett And The Union Gap

11 ( 11 ) BOTH SIDES NOW Judy Collins
12 ( 12 ) A HORSE WITH NO NAME America
13 ( 13 ) I AM WHAT I AM Greyhound
14 ( 14 ) BACK STREET LUV Curved Air
15 ( 19 ) STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT Frank Sinatra
16 ( 15 ) STAY WITH ME The Faces
17 ( 16 ) CINDY INCIDENTALLY The Faces
18 ( RE ) MONKEES THEME The Monkees
19 ( 22 ) SCHOOL'S OUT Alice Cooper
20 ( 18 ) DA DO RON RON The Crystals

21 ( 20 ) YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND James Taylor
22 ( 23 ) ELECTED Alice Cooper
23 ( 17 ) POOL HALL RICHARD The Faces
24 ( 21 ) YOUNG GIRL Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
25 ( 24 ) NO MORE MR. NICE GUY Alice Cooper

Posted by: popchartfreak 20th August 2014, 06:32 PM

27th August 1974

The summer was drawing to a close, and both my mate Ian and myself had no employment plans or prospects so we decided to go back to school and do O Levels again, as grades weren’t enough for CSE’s to do A levels. I think. To be honest, the exact reason is hazy, and A levels would have been fine for me, the only reason I ended up doing CSE’s was being a late school arrival and trying to catch up in 7 or 8 subjects. I would have been fine on a level playing field.

Hey ho, I enjoyed life not being at school though, and all my hobbies. Cass Elliot goes back up again to number one for the 4th week. 3 weeks at 2 were a bonus. Yamasuki (haaaaaiya!) is up to 3, and it’s an Abba-tastic week as Honey Honey breaks into the top 10, while B side of Ring Ring (which i’d bought in the ex-chart singles box from my regular post-chart-rundown record shop checkout on Thursdays) Rock ‘n’ Roll Band gives the Abba boys lead-vocal duties for the first time, and adds yet another record with “rock” in the title to the charts. Ring Ring meanwhile bounces back at 27.

Highest new entry is a Motown instrumental funk goodie, Machine Gun, and a debut hit for a band called The Commodores. No Lionel Richie ballading on show here at all, though, he’s busy doing the synth hooky bits! Big climbs for Rufus and Chaka Khan, and Carl Douglas, a new entry for ex-Soft Machine vocalist, the late Kevin Ayers and his very sweet After The Show, a non-hit everywhere, sadly. Keeping up with the album tracks theme, Mrs Vandibilt, a great Band On The Run non-single, gives Macca his 3rd hit of the year. The hook goes Hey! Hey Ho! Think someone else borrowed that one eventually.

Oldies? Baby Love gets on top, Diana Ross’ first number one since Surrender topped in 1971, and the Supremes first ever, shockingly. Curved Air take those delicious Back Street Luv progrock vibes into the 10, along with Judy Collins’ gorgeous Joni Mitchell folk cover of Both Sides Now.The chart gets cut down to 20 tracks as there are no new reissues to supply the chart with new entries.



1 ( 2 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
2 ( 3 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
3 ( 6 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
4 ( 1 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
5 ( 4 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
6 ( 7 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
7 ( 9 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
8 ( 5 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
9 ( 11 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
10 ( 8 ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens



11 ( 30 ) KUNG FU FIGHTING Carl Douglas
12 ( 29 ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus
13 ( 12 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
14 ( NEW ) MACHINE GUN The Commodores
15 ( 10 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
16 ( NEW ) ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND Abba
17 ( 13 ) 2 WHEELS Firebird
18 ( 17 ) THE WIZARD OF LOVE The Pearls
19 ( 18 ) Y VIVA ESPANA Sylvia
20 ( NEW ) AFTER THE SHOW Kevin Ayers



21 ( 15 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
22 ( NEW ) MRS VANDIBILT Paul McCartney and Wings
23 ( 26 ) ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT Cat Stevens
24 ( 24 ) GOLDEN DAY Rain
25 ( 25 ) YOU YOU YOU Alvin Stardust
26 ( 14 ) THE BLACK-EYED BOYS Paper Lace
27 ( RE ) RING RING Abba
28 ( 28 ) SILLY LOVE 10C.C.
29 ( 16 ) THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE (BABY) Wizzard
30 ( 27 ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver



31 ( 19 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
32 ( 20 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
33 ( 21 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
34 ( 22 ) JUST A SMILE Pilot
35 ( 23 ) MR. SOFT Cockney Rebel
36 ( 31 ) SUMMERLOVE SENSATION The Bay City Rollers
37 ( 32 ) ROCKET Mud
38 ( 33 ) AMATEUR HOUR Sparks
39 ( 34 ) COME BACK KAREN Wizzard
40 ( 35 ) WINDOW SHOPPING R. Dean Taylor



1 ( 2 ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
2 ( 1 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
3 ( 3 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
4 ( 5 ) WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) Peter Sarstedt
5 ( 4 ) BE MY BABY The Ronettes
6 ( 14 ) BACK STREET LUV Curved Air
7 ( 8 ) BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE The Bandwagon
8 ( 10 ) LADY WILLPOWER Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
9 ( 9 ) WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED Jimmy Ruffin
10 ( 11 ) BOTH SIDES NOW Judy Collins
11 ( 12 ) A HORSE WITH NO NAME America
12 ( 7 ) GENTLE ON MY MIND Dean Martin
13 ( 18 ) MONKEES THEME The Monkees
14 ( 13 ) I AM WHAT I AM Greyhound
15 ( 19 ) SCHOOL'S OUT Alice Cooper
16 ( 16 ) STAY WITH ME The Faces
17 ( 17 ) CINDY INCIDENTALLY The Faces
18 ( 15 ) STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT Frank Sinatra
19 ( 20 ) DA DO RON RON The Crystals
20 ( 21 ) YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND James Taylor

Posted by: popchartfreak 29th September 2014, 07:50 PM

3rd September 1974

Time was up: no job, so back to school for me along with a group of other re-takers for a year of GSE’s proper this time, and including mate Ian. Based in a newly-built 6th-form block, the teachers were much less condescending and willing to regard the students as not kids. All in all, a massive leap forward, even if a school uniform of sorts (albeit less strict and non-green-blazered, hooray!) was required. This was to become the first year of school I’d enjoyed since leaving Singapore.

In the charts, Mama Cass gets a 5th non-consecutive week on top while Mama Come Out is the highest entry at 12, Medicine Head’s 4th hit (in my charts - in the world it was a floppy) and rather fab. Kung Fu Fighting hits 7 - haiiii-ya! - while Abba’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Band replaces Abba’s song Honey Honey in the Top 10. I’ll say it again: I said I was an Abba fan from the moment I saw them!

Pans People get a new entry at 13. No, you’re not imagining things, they had an actual stab at being pop stars, and it was written and produced by Mike Batt, a bit moody, a bit rockpop. I loved it, the vocals could have been better of course, but I forgive them! Alvin You You You’s up to 18, meanwhile, while it’s pure Silly Love at 20 for 10CC, his 4th Top 20, their 6th. New entries for soulster songwriter Johnny Bristol and his wonderful Hang On In There Baby at 27, while his terrific song Love Me For A Reason, as covered by the Osmonds, slips in at 40, under-appreciated by me at the time (but loved by me now). Leo Sayer gets his 3rd hit with the jolly-sounding Long Tall Glasses, Syreeta debuts at 29 with the sweet Spinnin’ and Spinnin’, not only Stevie Wonder’s missus of the time and written by both, but a great singer. Finally, Mike McGear’s in at 30 (aka Mike McCartney, Paul’s bruv) with Paul’s very-Wings-tastic song Leave It, just a few places lower than the actual Wings-tastic Mrs Vandebilt.

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In the diminishing oldies chart JK’s Hooked On A Feeling is reissued following its cover-version by Blue Swede - and it tops my chart for the 2nd time. Oogachagga oogachagga...!


1 ( 1 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
2 ( 3 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
3 ( 6 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
4 ( 8 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
5 ( 2 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
6 ( 5 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
7 ( 11 ) KUNG FU FIGHTING Carl Douglas
8 ( 16 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND Abba
9 ( 7 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
10 ( 4 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band



11 ( 14 ) MACHINE GUN The Commodores
12 ( NEW ) MAMA COME OUT Medicine Head
13 ( NEW ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
14 ( 13 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
15 ( 9 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
16 ( 12 ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus
17 ( 10 ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens
18 ( 25 ) YOU YOU YOU Alvin Stardust
19 ( 20 ) AFTER THE SHOW Kevin Ayers
20 ( 28 ) SILLY LOVE 10C.C.



21 ( 18 ) THE WIZARD OF LOVE The Pearls
22 ( 22 ) MRS VANDEBILT Paul McCartney and Wings
23 ( 15 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
24 ( 23 ) ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT Cat Stevens
25 ( 17 ) 2 WHEELS Firebird
26 ( 21 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
27 ( NEW ) HANG ON IN THERE BABY Johnny Bristol
28 ( NEW ) LONG TALL GLASSES Leo Sayer
29 ( NEW ) SPINNIN' AND SPINNIN' Syreeta
30 ( NEW ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear



31 ( 19 ) Y VIVA ESPANA Sylvia
32 ( 24 ) GOLDEN DAY Rain
33 ( 26 ) THE BLACK-EYED BOYS Paper Lace
34 ( 27 ) RING RING Abba
35 ( 29 ) THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE (BABY) Wizzard
36 ( 30 ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver
37 ( 31 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
38 ( 32 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray
39 ( 33 ) DANCING MACHINE The Jackson 5
40 ( NEW ) LOVE ME FOR A REASON The Osmonds





1 ( NEW ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Jonathan King
2 ( 3 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
3 ( 1 ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
4 ( 2 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
5 ( 4 ) WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) Peter Sarstedt
6 ( 5 ) BE MY BABY The Ronettes
7 ( 6 ) BACK STREET LUV Curved Air
8 ( 7 ) BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE The Bandwagon
9 ( 8 ) LADY WILLPOWER Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
10 ( 9 ) WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED Jimmy Ruffin
11 ( 10 ) BOTH SIDES NOW Judy Collins
12 ( 11 ) A HORSE WITH NO NAME America
13 ( 13 ) MONKEES THEME The Monkees
14 ( 12 ) GENTLE ON MY MIND Dean Martin
15 ( 14 ) I AM WHAT I AM Greyhound
16 ( 15 ) SCHOOL'S OUT Alice Cooper
17 ( 18 ) STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT Frank Sinatra
18 ( 16 ) STAY WITH ME The Faces

Posted by: fiesta 30th September 2014, 11:56 AM

Hooked on a feeling is such a good tune, I first became aware of it when Tarrantino used the Blue Swede version on the soundtrack to the Resiviour Dogs.

It was written by Mark James who famously wrote a ton of hits for Elvis including Suspicuos Minds, Always On My Mind, Moody Blue etc.

Posted by: popchartfreak 30th September 2014, 04:20 PM

QUOTE(fiesta @ Sep 30 2014, 12:56 PM)

Posted by: popchartfreak 30th September 2014, 06:33 PM

10th September 1974

A brand new entry at 1 for Magpie presenter Mick Robertson, like Pans People at 3 trying to have a pop career. Both were good tries, though the tango wasn’t exactly in vogue in 1974, the record managed to get on TOTP and I was mad on it for a while. Other TV shows having less of an impact on my charts would have been: Doctor Who (of course!), Rising Damp, Planet Of The Apes, Rhoda and The Goodies, whereas at the movies the disaster movie was taking over, notably The Towering Inferno which was terrific when it came out.

Ray Stevens goes back up to a new peak of 4 with his novelty track giving my entire Top 5 a non-UK-hit-floptastic quality (and 7 of the 10 failed to chart, as my tastes and the singles chart went their own ways). That said, Andy Fairweather-Low’s fab Reggae Tune did chart in both, and in at 14 here, his first chart hit since Hello Susie when Amen Corner charted with Roy Wood’s song 5 years earlier. Elton has another go at a rocking single, for a change, and it wasn’t bad, the title Bitch Is Back hinting at future campness, and in at 17.

I Am Missing You is in at 27, another non-hit, and very Indian-sounding to my delight, from Ravi Shankar and his friends: one in particular being George Harrison, who gave it a Phil Spector production, joined in, and released it on his own Dark Horse label. Sadly, I was one of the few to bother buying it! Ravi wrote a top notch toon, and of course donated Norah Jones to the world 5 years later, and a much longer chart career and sales than her dad. At 28, the one-hit (UK charts) wonder that is Brian Protheroe with the absolutely gorgeous Pinball, sounds as good as it did 40 years ago. Joni Mitchell meanwhile grabs another popchartfreak hit single with the delicious Free Man In Paris, her 3rd of the year and taken again from the wonderful Court And Spark album. Finally, sneaking in at 30 is Noosha Fox and the very odd and unusual breathless pop of Only You Can, which I loved right away. It took the UK record buyer 3 months to decide they liked it too.




1 ( NEW ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson
2 ( 1 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
3 ( 13 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
4 ( 17 ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens
5 ( 4 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
6 ( 5 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
7 ( 12 ) MAMA COME OUT Medicine Head
8 ( 6 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
9 ( 14 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
10 ( 10 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band



11 ( 7 ) KUNG FU FIGHTING Carl Douglas
12 ( 11 ) MACHINE GUN The Commodores
13 ( 3 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
14 ( NEW ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
15 ( 15 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
16 ( 9 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
17 ( NEW ) THE BITCH IS BACK Elton John
18 ( 16 ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus
19 ( 29 ) SPINNIN' AND SPINNIN' Syreeta
20 ( 27 ) HANG ON IN THERE BABY Johnny Bristol



21 ( 28 ) LONG TALL GLASSES Leo Sayer
22 ( 22 ) MRS VANDEBILT Paul McCartney and Wings
23 ( 26 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
24 ( 20 ) SILLY LOVE 10C.C.
25 ( 19 ) AFTER THE SHOW Kevin Ayers
26 ( 8 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND Abba
27 ( NEW ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
28 ( NEW ) PINBALL Brian Protheroe
29 ( NEW ) FREE MAN IN PARIS Joni Mitchell
30 ( NEW ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox



31 ( 18 ) YOU YOU YOU Alvin Stardust
32 ( 21 ) THE WIZARD OF LOVE The Pearls
33 ( 23 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
34 ( 24 ) ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT Cat Stevens
35 ( 25 ) 2 WHEELS Firebird
36 ( 30 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear
37 ( 37 ) BAND ON THE RUN Paul McCartney & Wings
38 ( 34 ) RING RING Abba
39 ( 36 ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver
40 ( 38 ) YOU WON'T SEE ME Anne Murray



Over in the oldies chart, Jonathan King gets a 2nd week on top, and new in at 7 is The Yamasukis - I say new, but actually it’s a drop from 2 in the actual singles chart having suddenly found out it’s an old record and transferred it over. A minor follow-up hit in the UK, and second-time around, it’s 1968 Motown gem Gotta See Jane from R.Dean Taylor, a literally driving dance number, “mmmm red lights green lights speeding through the dark nights”, ahhh just fab fab fab. In at 9, and on the budget album wot I bought, it was. Lastly, as hilariously parodied by The Goodies the following year, in at 13 it’s Presley: Reg Presley and the terrific Wild Thing. (Goodies: Hold me...tight. (strangling sound) Not. Quite. That. Tight). The Troggs became better known for allowing Wet Wet Wet to ruin one of Reg’s sweetest songs - though he WAS laughing all the way to the crop circles.

1 ( 1 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Jonathan King
2 ( 4 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
3 ( 3 ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
4 ( 2 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
5 ( 6 ) BE MY BABY The Ronettes
6 ( 5 ) WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) Peter Sarstedt
7 ( NEW ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
8 ( 8 ) BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE The Bandwagon
9 ( NEW ) GOTTA SEE JANE R. Dean Taylor
10 ( 7 ) BACK STREET LUV Curved Air

11 ( 10 ) WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED Jimmy Ruffin
12 ( 9 ) LADY WILLPOWER Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
13 ( NEW ) WILD THING The Troggs
14 ( 14 ) GENTLE ON MY MIND Dean Martin
15 ( 12 ) A HORSE WITH NO NAME America
16 ( 15 ) I AM WHAT I AM Greyhound

Posted by: popchartfreak 1st October 2014, 07:25 PM

17th September 1974

My singles-buying was helped heavily by my blagging my way to continue doing swimming in Gloucester town centre swimming pool, along with mate Ian, as a means of avoiding rugby and cricket - there weren’t any other sports on the agenda, and they were the two most-hated sports of all as far as I’m still concerned. That meant I could continue to get cheap ex-chart singles as soon as they hit the bargain bins. Yay!

It’s 2 weeks for Mick Robertson and his frizzy hair on top. If only Susan Stranks had joined him in a duet on a record! Up to 4, ex-Amen Corner singer Andy gets his 2nd-biggest hit, after Half As Nice topped the chart in 1969. The Commodores fabby funky instrumental jumps to 6, machine gunning Syreeta at 7, who’s left spinnin’ and spinnin’ in a very melodic Stevie-Wonder-fashion. Rufus almost make the 10, though Chaka and Rufus had bigger hits ahead, as did Elton at 12.

In at 18, Sparks make it 3 out of 3 with the fab insistent Something For The Girl With Everything, a future single in 1975, but here an early album track hit as I am left bemused as to why they went with a different 3rd UK hit single. Same goes for Macca, Mrs Vandebilt at 20, such an obviously great single-that-wasn’t. At 22 is Reunion, a group of studio musicians based around Joey “Yummy Yummy Yummy” Levine, 60’s bubblegum act Ohio Express. The song is regarded as a novelty, but it’s much better than that, it’s a speed-rap history of rock, pop, soul, blues in 3 minutes, the number of acts name-checked is (literally) breath-taking to try keeping up with, and the chorus is singalong delight. It was an actual UK chart hit too, as well as the USA.

Elton’s gal (on his Rocket record label) Kiki Dee gets a second hit with the rocking Music In Me, still sounds terrific. Don Covay funks in with It’s Better To have, and Polly Brown gets her 2nd hit in the chart with Up In A Puff Of Smoke (that’s her in Sweet Dreams), minus the black make-up this time. Over in the oldies chart, JK gets a 3rd week on top, his 4th in total, but R. Dean is nipping at his heels. Splishing splashing - calling out her name I gotta see Jane. Fan-bloody-tastic.


1 ( 1 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson
2 ( 2 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
3 ( 3 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
4 ( 14 ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
5 ( 5 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
6 ( 12 ) MACHINE GUN The Commodores
7 ( 19 ) SPINNIN' AND SPINNIN' Syreeta
8 ( 4 ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens
9 ( 16 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
10 ( 7 ) MAMA COME OUT Medicine Head



11 ( 18 ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus
12 ( 17 ) THE BITCH IS BACK Elton John
13 ( 10 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
14 ( 28 ) PINBALL Brian Protheroe
15 ( 20 ) HANG ON IN THERE BABY Johnny Bristol
16 ( 13 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
17 ( 21 ) LONG TALL GLASSES Leo Sayer
18 ( NEW ) SOMETHING FOR THE GIRL WITH EVERYTHING Sparks
19 ( 15 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
20 ( 22 ) MRS VANDEBILT Paul McCartney and Wings



21 ( 23 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
22 ( NEW ) LIFE IS A ROCK (BUT THE RADIO ROLLED ME) Reunion
23 ( RE ) THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE (BABY) Wizzard
24 ( 29 ) FREE MAN IN PARIS Joni Mitchell
25 ( 30 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
26 ( 27 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
27 ( 36 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear
28 ( NEW ) (I GOT THE) MUSIC IN ME The Kiki Dee Band
29 ( NEW ) UP IN A PUFF OF SMOKE Polly Brown
30 ( NEW ) IT'S BETTER TO HAVE Don Covay



31 ( 6 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
32 ( 8 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
33 ( 9 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel
34 ( 11 ) KUNG FU FIGHTING Carl Douglas
35 ( 24 ) SILLY LOVE 10C.C.
36 ( 25 ) AFTER THE SHOW Kevin Ayers
37 ( 26 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND Abba
38 ( 31 ) YOU YOU YOU Alvin Stardust
39 ( 32 ) THE WIZARD OF LOVE The Pearls
40 ( 33 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers



1 ( 1 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Jonathan King
2 ( 9 ) GOTTA SEE JANE R. Dean Taylor
3 ( 2 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia
4 ( 4 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
5 ( 3 ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
6 ( 7 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
7 ( 6 ) WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) Peter Sarstedt
8 ( 5 ) BE MY BABY The Ronettes
9 ( 8 ) BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE The Bandwagon
10 ( 13 ) WILD THING The Troggs
11 ( 10 ) BACK STREET LUV Curved Air
12 ( 11 ) WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED Jimmy Ruffin
13 ( 15 ) A HORSE WITH NO NAME America
14 ( 14 ) GENTLE ON MY MIND Dean Martin

Posted by: popchartfreak 2nd October 2014, 07:07 PM

24th September 1974

3 weeks on top Tango-ing, and Pans People dance into 2nd place. Up 22 places to 4 though, it’s Ravi Shankar, as the melody kicks into my mind, leapfrogging Syreeta who gets a Top 5 hit with a Stevie Wonder co-write, as a full-write Wonder song hits 10 for Rufus. Stevie was so prolific during this period he could afford to give away loadsa great songs. Elton bitches his way to 9, love those buzzsaw guitars and the venom-in-cheek. Mike McGear replaces his brother at 20, and there’s a bunch of new entries..

The first of only two examples of an album making my chart pops in at 7 - a schoolmate took it into the 6th form revision area and played it, and it blew my mind it was so unusual. It was a follow-up album, instrumental, and a complete work, no tracks, so I allowed it in. It was called Hergest Ridge and the young whippersnapper was called Mike Oldfield on new label Virgin run by a young hippie called Richard Branson. I wonder if he became a high-flyer...?

Highest new single entry is Pilot’s follow-up hit, the less good (but more commercial, and debut UK/US hit) Magic. Very catchy though. At 22, an utterly obscure unobtainable single on RAK records by Barry Reynolds, Outsiders Point Of View: more of a prog rock act, this was one slow sultry falsetto soul-rock fusion that deserved to be big. I’ve just heard it for the first time in 40 years on youtube, and it’s fab, not dated at all. I believe young Barry went on to guide Marianne Faithful’s Broken English phase and onwards. I want this single badly!

At 23, the recently late folk semi-legend Dory Previn with Coldwater Canyon, a Joni Mitchell-esque appeal to me, while at 25 Thunderthighs return with a second hit, not quite the dramatic cinematic Lynsey De Paul song this time (nor Walk On The Wild Side either), but a halloween novelty song that’s a barrel of laughs. It’s cheesy in a great way, and really should be played each year at the end of October right after Monster Mash. It’s Dracula’s Daughter and sounds like you’d imagine it would, horror effects and girlie vocals and monster-movie lyrics. Suzi Quatro, meanwhile, gets her 6th straight Top 30 hit with The Wild One and at 30 it’s Alaska. Who? No idea, google doesn’t help me, it’s that obscure. I never bought it, and just have an image of a sort of pleasant harmony track. It was a long time ago...!

1 ( 1 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson
2 ( 3 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
3 ( 4 ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
4 ( 26 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
5 ( 7 ) SPINNIN' AND SPINNIN' Syreeta
6 ( 9 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
7 ( NEW ) HERGEST RIDGE Mike Oldfield
8 ( 5 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
9 ( 12 ) THE BITCH IS BACK Elton John
10 ( 11 ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus



11 ( 13 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
12 ( 15 ) HANG ON IN THERE BABY Johnny Bristol
13 ( 14 ) PINBALL Brian Protheroe
14 ( 6 ) MACHINE GUN The Commodores
15 ( 8 ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens
16 ( 18 ) SOMETHING FOR THE GIRL WITH EVERYTHING Sparks
17 ( 22 ) LIFE IS A ROCK (BUT THE RADIO ROLLED ME) Reunion
18 ( 21 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
19 ( 10 ) MAMA COME OUT Medicine Head
20 ( 27 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear



21 ( NEW ) MAGIC Pilot
22 ( NEW ) OUTSIDERS POINT OF VIEW Barry Reynolds
23 ( NEW ) COLDWATER CANYON Dory Previn
24 ( 19 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
25 ( NEW ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
26 ( NEW ) THE WILD ONE Suzi Quatro
27 ( 28 ) (I GOT THE) MUSIC IN ME The Kiki Dee Band
28 ( 29 ) UP IN A PUFF OF SMOKE Polly Brown
29 ( 30 ) IT'S BETTER TO HAVE Don Covay
30 ( NEW ) I DON'T KNOW WHY Alaska



31 ( 2 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
32 ( 16 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
33 ( 17 ) LONG TALL GLASSES Leo Sayer
34 ( 20 ) MRS VANDEBILT Paul McCartney and Wings
35 ( 23 ) THIS IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE (BABY) Wizzard
36 ( 24 ) FREE MAN IN PARIS Joni Mitchell
37 ( 25 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
38 ( 31 ) ROCK YOUR BABY George McCrae
39 ( 32 ) ROCK THE BOAT The Hues Corporation
40 ( 33 ) TRAVELING BOY Garfunkel


On the oldies chart, R. Dean Taylor gets his 2nd Number 1 of the year the poundingly brilliant Gotta See Jane, while Dave Edmunds enters at 2 with his classic 4-year-old I Hear You Knocking, a song I missed at the time (being in Singapore) but caught in the year-end chart rundowns of late 1971 and loved. A kiddie-fave of mine from 1968 pops in at 6, the charmingly quirky, and so-so 60’s Judy In Disguise, taking me back to RAF Swinderby days. With Glasses! At 12, it’s a future ELO USA hit (1976ish) but here it’s a Move B Side to California Man from 1972. That’s very fair though, as Jeff Lynne wrote it, it’s the last side of the last Move single, and the next thing he did was ELO’s 10538 Overture, so it’s beautifully connectivizing. Made-up word! Do Ya? Not ‘arf pop-pickers!



1 ( 2 ) GOTTA SEE JANE R. Dean Taylor
2 ( NEW ) I HEAR YOU KNOCKING Dave Edmunds
3 ( 1 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Jonathan King
4 ( 4 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
5 ( 5 ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
6 ( NEW ) JUDY IN DISGUISE (WITH GLASSES) John Fred And His Playboy Band
7 ( 7 ) WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) Peter Sarstedt
8 ( 6 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
9 ( 8 ) BE MY BABY The Ronettes
10 ( 9 ) BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE The Bandwagon
11 ( 10 ) WILD THING The Troggs
12 ( NEW ) DO YA The Move

Posted by: popchartfreak 23rd October 2014, 06:14 PM

1st October 1974

In amongst playing bridge at break-time’s in the 6th form block, and feeling quite adult these days, someone brought in tapes of some odd semi-experimental album music, one of which had been featured in the scariest, most disturbing film I was to see (5 years later) in my life: The Exorcist. The music was jaw-dropping, especially the spoken-word sequence where instruments add in announced one by one, before climaxing together in a fabulous folkrock hippie majesty. I heard Hergest Ridge first, the follow-up, but it was Tubular Bells that astounded me. As they are essentially one piece, I just called them very long singles and charted them briefly. So here they are, at 1 and 2, Mike Oldfield’s first (instant) number one, and the first act to hold down the top 2 in my chart, and the only albums ever to chart.

That means, with Ravi Shankar at 3, Thunderthighs grabbing a second Top 10 hit at 6, and others hanging in there, that the first UK singles chart hit is at 7 (and that had peaked in my charts long before it was a hit). I really was more and more interested in non-chart stuff! Paul McCartney’s bruv goes up to 10, his first since Lily The Pink to get that high, while highest actual single new entry is George McCrae’s follow-up to Rock You Baby, at 13, one place lower than the man who wrote and produced it: KC. Barry Blue enters at 14 with his 5th hit, Hot Shot, all chanting glam-rock cossack stylee, while at 15 it’s First Choice getting a 3rd hit (but UK flop) with the The Player, and at 16 it’s John Lennon back with a bang, an American chart-topper, a minor UK hit, and more than a little Elton John in it. Hey, whatever gets you thru the night! Elton bet John it would get to number one, and if it did John had to join Elton on stage (and which he did for his last-ever concert-performance - the one that got him back-together with Yoko).

The fab Barry Reynolds record that I still desperately want is at 17, Polly Brown I’m playing a lot at the moment, it’s much better than I remembered, jolly thumping soulpop, and at 18, and at 21 Fox pop back in again with the odd Only You Can (breathe in “oh oh oh oh o only you”) still 3 months away from charting in the UK. Lastly, but not leastly, taking a leaf out of Bryan Ferry’s book, retro lounge-lizard stylee, Australian Gary Shearston covers Cole Porter’s sophisticated 1934 classic I Get A Kick Out Of You. Whereas Smoke Gets In Your Eyes left me cold, Ferry’s first mis-step, this was something else entirely: it’s the definitive version, from the 40‘s-styled vocal phrasing, and the drug-referenced wonderful lyrics, to the violin accentuating and underpinning and dominating the track, it’s a forgotten piece of minor genius. I never get tired of hearing it, and it was a huge hit, thankfully, in the UK.

In the oldies chart 1971 Japanese-language, kiddie-chanting, drum-heavy oddity Yamasuki finally gets to the top as it gets cut down to 10, with Mouth and MacNeal’s 1972 hit (but not in the UK) reissued and in at 7, giving them 3 Top 10’s inside 6 months. Then nothing ever again....



1 ( NEW ) TUBULAR BELLS (LP) Mike Oldfield
2 ( 7 ) HERGEST RIDGE (LP) Mike Oldfield
3 ( 4 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
4 ( 1 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson
5 ( 2 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
6 ( 25 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
7 ( 6 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
8 ( 3 ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
9 ( 8 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
10 ( 20 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear



11 ( 14 ) MACHINE GUN The Commodores
12 ( 11 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
13 ( NEW ) I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE George McCrae
14 ( NEW ) HOT SHOT Barry Blue
15 ( NEW ) THE PLAYER First Choice
16 ( NEW ) WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Nuclear Band (aka Elton John)
17 ( 22 ) OUTSIDERS POINT OF VIEW Barry Reynolds
18 ( 10 ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus
19 ( 28 ) UP IN A PUFF OF SMOKE Polly Brown
20 ( 18 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim



21 ( 37 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
22 ( 5 ) SPINNIN' AND SPINNIN' Syreeta
23 ( 15 ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens
24 ( 9 ) THE BITCH IS BACK Elton John
25 ( 23 ) COLDWATER CANYON Dory Previn
26 ( 12 ) HANG ON IN THERE BABY Johnny Bristol
27 ( 21 ) MAGIC Pilot
28 ( 27 ) (I GOT THE) MUSIC IN ME The Kiki Dee Band
29 ( 19 ) MAMA COME OUT Medicine Head
30 ( NEW ) I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU Gary Shearston



31 ( 13 ) PINBALL Brian Protheroe
32 ( 16 ) SOMETHING FOR THE GIRL WITH EVERYTHING Sparks
33 ( 17 ) LIFE IS A ROCK (BUT THE RADIO ROLLED ME) Reunion
34 ( 24 ) HONEY HONEY Sweet Dreams
35 ( 26 ) THE WILD ONE Suzi Quatro
36 ( 29 ) IT'S BETTER TO HAVE Don Covay
37 ( 30 ) I DON'T KNOW WHY Alaska
38 ( 31 ) IF YOU'RE GONNA BREAK ANOTHER HEART Cass Elliot
39 ( 32 ) ROCK 'N' ROLL (WHO NEEDS ROCK 'N' ROLL) Rainbow Children
40 ( 34 ) MRS VANDEBILT Paul McCartney and Wings

OLDIES CHART 1st October 1974

1 ( 8 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
2 ( 2 ) I HEAR YOU KNOCKING Dave Edmunds
3 ( 3 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Jonathan King
4 ( 1 ) GOTTA SEE JANE R. Dean Taylor
5 ( 4 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
6 ( 5 ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
7 ( NEW ) HOW DO YOU DO Mouth And MacNeal
8 ( 7 ) WHERE DO YOU GO TO (MY LOVELY) Peter Sarstedt
9 ( 10 ) BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE The Bandwagon
10 ( 9 ) BE MY BABY The Ronettes

Posted by: popchartfreak 23rd October 2014, 08:12 PM

8th October 1974

From Tubular Bells folk to Beatlestastic Indian Spector, as George Harrison’s definitively-produced version of Ravi Shankar’s I Am Missing You hits the top. That’s something Norah Jones has yet to do....! The 2 Mike Oldfield albums drop heavily, not from lack of love, it’s from lack of hearing - I couldnt afford to buy them so had to make do with hearing them once or twice at school, then that was it till I was older and could buy them. Shankar Family I could afford, though. Mike McCartney hits a new peak of 6 with Paul’s very Wings-tastic track (pity he didn’t stick his version on the fab Venus & Mars album), while Barry Reynolds grows to 8, outsider or not, it’s a terrific point of view and should have been a hit. Barry Blue, which WAS a minor hit, hot shots it to 2, his 3rd Top 3 hit, and the late Lynsey De Paul gets a co-writer credit on it.



New at 11, it’s a 4th fab big hit for David Essex, the terrific Gonna Make You A Star (on TOTP Paul & Linda I recall were on, and mimed along to the I Don’t Think So line. That’s probably better than my half-recall of DLT miming-along to it, cos if that’s true, and if it hasn’t been wiped, it’ll never get broadcast again thanks to the nutjobs at the BBC). At 12, it’s a second hit for KC, sounding his funky horn, replacing his own Queen Of Clubs, and keeping his own I Can’t Leave You Alone at 13. In 1974/5, KC WAS disco music, no question.

In at 17, back with Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry gets a 5th Top 20 hit, with the fantastic All I Want Is You, exciting, sax-y, and building, I love it to bits still. In at 18, his 3rd hit in 12 months, it’s Robert Knight’s 60’s retro northern soul version of My Rainbow Valley - a song that was a hit for the Love Affair in 1968, yes them what had a huge massive number one with his Everlasting Love. This sounds like an original version to me, unless he was getting some sweet revenge, but either way it’s not quite as good as vocalist Steve Ellis’ Love Affair version. Great song though. Pilot, meanwhile get a 2nd top 20 hit. Ho ho ho, it’s magic!

New at 23, OK Chicago from studio group Resonance, a funky, police-siren, almost jazz avante-garde French producers who seem to be the same ones behind Pepperbox (hit my chart a few weeks back, and a few weeks into the future). Forgotten goodie! In at 24 another instrumental, Santana’s debut hit with the 1970 track, Samba Pa Ti, a gorgeous sultry guitar-based latin-rock classic, with The Commodores making it 3 instrumentals in a row. Dave Edmunds get a new rocking hit at 29, his 4th, while his first hits 1 on my oldies chart 4 years late. I Hear You Knocking, but you can’t come in, 50’s stylee fabulousness. At 30, Garfunkel gets his 3rd of the year, all off the same album, and lastly on the oldies Eddie Holman’s 1970 hit Hey There Lonely Girl soul classic enters at 3, as it enters the UK charts, like Santana 4 years late. Main difference being I didn’t know Samba Pa Ti was old.. Santana did eventually grab a number one, and then another, 25 years into the future.



1 ( 3 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
2 ( 14 ) HOT SHOT Barry Blue
3 ( 6 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
4 ( 4 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson
5 ( 5 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
6 ( 10 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear
7 ( 8 ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
8 ( 17 ) OUTSIDERS POINT OF VIEW Barry Reynolds
9 ( 1 ) TUBULAR BELLS (LP) Mike Oldfield
10 ( 7 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation



11 ( NEW ) GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR David Essex
12 ( NEW ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
13 ( 13 ) I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE George McCrae
14 ( 2 ) HERGEST RIDGE (LP) Mike Oldfield
15 ( 15 ) THE PLAYER First Choice
16 ( 16 ) WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Nuclear Band (aka Elton John)
17 ( NEW ) ALL I WANT IS YOU Roxy Music
18 ( NEW ) MY RAINBOW VALLEY Robert Knight
19 ( 21 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
20 ( 27 ) MAGIC Pilot



21 ( 20 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
22 ( 12 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
23 ( NEW ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance
24 ( NEW ) SAMBA PA TI Santana
25 ( 11 ) MACHINE GUN The Commodores
26 ( 9 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
27 ( 19 ) UP IN A PUFF OF SMOKE Polly Brown
28 ( 30 ) I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU Gary Shearston
29 ( NEW ) NEED A SHOT OF RHYTHM AND BLUES Dave Edmunds
30 ( NEW ) SECOND AVENUE Garfunkel



31 ( 18 ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus
32 ( 22 ) SPINNIN' AND SPINNIN' Syreeta
33 ( 23 ) MOONLIGHT SPECIAL Ray Stevens
34 ( 24 ) THE BITCH IS BACK Elton John
35 ( 25 ) COLDWATER CANYON Dory Previn
36 ( 26 ) HANG ON IN THERE BABY Johnny Bristol
37 ( 28 ) (I GOT THE) MUSIC IN ME The Kiki Dee Band
38 ( 29 ) MAMA COME OUT Medicine Head
39 ( 31 ) PINBALL Brian Protheroe
40 ( 32 ) SOMETHING FOR THE GIRL WITH EVERYTHING Sparks




OLDIES CHART 8th October




1 ( 2 ) I HEAR YOU KNOCKING Dave Edmunds
2 ( 1 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
3 ( NEW ) HEY THERE LONELY GIRL Eddie Holman
4 ( 7 ) HOW DO YOU DO Mouth And MacNeal
5 ( 3 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Jonathan King
6 ( 5 ) SAN FRANSISCO (BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) Scott McKenzie
7 ( 6 ) BABY LOVE Diana Ross And The Supremes
8 ( 4 ) GOTTA SEE JANE R. Dean Taylor

Posted by: popchartfreak 24th October 2014, 08:53 PM

15th October 1974

Another new number 1: Dracula’s Daughter! Yes, the previous year Monster Mash had almost become the first Halloween song to top my charts, but Thunderthighs went ahead and did it almost a decade before Thriller did it as well. Their follow-up to the much-better Central Park Arrest, Dracula’s Daughter had little BBC airplay to mention, so it was doomed to failure really, but it was a great cheesy tongue-in-cheek girlgroup novelty that desrves to join the rather limited number of perennial Halloween Faves. In my dreams, of course, but it would make a change from Ghostbusters year after bloody year!

Rocketing up to 3, Roxy Music get their 2nd top 3 hit, cos all i want is them, and David Essex gets his biggest hit at 4 cos he’s gonna make you a star. I don’t think so! Highest new entry at 5, and following-up a number one, sounding NOTHING like it’s rocking predecessor it’s a Killer Queen, a sophisticated 40’s pastiche rock generation stylee, and oh what a fantastic record too. KC, meanwhile, follows-up his 2 number ones (one with George McCrae) with 2 more top 10 hits (one with George McCrae).

Santana smoothly guitar slide it to 11, Gary Shearston kicks it up to 13 smoothly, and a batch of new entries pop in between 24 and 30: Stevie Wonder’s vitriolic (and grammatically incorrect) You Haven’t Done Nothing rips into Tricky Dicky, all funk vitriol, and one of his forgotten classics, possibly due to the specifically politically 1974 nature of the lyrics. Nixon resigned when he heard it. Probably. The Hues Corporation follow up Rock The Boat with the identikit (but fun) Rockin’ Soul, while The Wombles (and Mike Batt’s) best record adds a bit of kiddy Mozart classical to the charts with the wonderful Minuetto Allegretto. We were minuetting mad, back in 1718 when Bulgaria was a lad. Sparks get a 4th hit with their 3rd single, the slow ballad Mother Earth as my 3rd hit (and their 4th single) drops out of the chart (for now). I still say Island Records got them the wrong way round. Bay City Rollers now pop in very briefly and lowly, where once they had big hits, and it’s not hard to see why when All Of Me Loves All Of You is basically (non-UK-hit, US Number-one) Saturday Night part 4. Livvy is back, though, with a huge US chart-topper, the touching I Honestly Love You, signalling a new phase in her now-US-based career.

It’s the last oldies chart, down to 6, with dave Edmunds at 1, Eddie Holman’s fab Lonely Girl at 2, and the UK hit release of Phil Spector’s Da Doo Ron Ron bringing The Crystals in at 6.


So, as TV pundits like to start their sentences these days, what about politics ’74 (albeit mine grammatically having a point rather than a dramatic pause while brain gets in gear). So. As it turns out Harold Wilson’s Labour Party scraped a victory together this week, dumping the Lib Lab pact partners, and causing a minor amount of approval in our working class household. Yes, those were the days when Labour stood for the less-well-off. I was in the process of becoming a little more politically interested, taking on an O Level in British Constitution in the 6th form, which informed me somewhat more than I was before on the history of British politics. Our (very likely) gay teacher was pretty fair in party presentation, which led me to lean in a sort of vague Liberal/Labour way, and a way in which I’ve more or less continued to lean ever since. Of course, it all went horribly wrong after Harold Wilson bailed out, and UK politics has since left much to be desired, albeit amongst the betterment of society generally, it must be said.

The USA of course, had Gerald “watch that step” Ford in charge, as Watergate trials took over the news, and Nixon had a bright future as a disembodied head on Futurama to look forward to. Meanwhile at the movies, Airport ’75 was out in the USA, the sequel to Airport, and a jumbo-sized (literally) disaster movie with a cast of veterans introduced to me, amongst current ones like Helen Reddy, pop star and singing nun. It’s hard to take her seriously now, after the way-better Airplane! parodied it hilariously, the nun’s guitar periodically wacking-out the life-support drip of an ailing smiling little girl. Fab! From TV, Ed Sullivan moved on to the final Variety Show in the sky, his passing largely unknown in the UK, but known to me from my Singapore days where TV showed USTV re-runs. I mostly recall Topo Gigio though, not The Beatles debut (being as it was 1969/70). I hated Topo Gigio. Pop onto Youtube and see why....





1 ( 3 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
2 ( 1 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
3 ( 17 ) ALL I WANT IS YOU Roxy Music
4 ( 11 ) GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR David Essex
5 ( NEW ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
6 ( 2 ) HOT SHOT Barry Blue
7 ( 13 ) I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE George McCrae
8 ( 4 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson
9 ( 12 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
10 ( 5 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People



11 ( 24 ) SAMBA PA TI Santana
12 ( 18 ) MY RAINBOW VALLEY Robert Knight
13 ( 28 ) I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU Gary Shearston
14 ( 8 ) OUTSIDERS POINT OF VIEW Barry Reynolds
15 ( 7 ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
16 ( 6 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear
17 ( 9 ) TUBULAR BELLS (LP) Mike Oldfield
18 ( 10 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
19 ( 23 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance
20 ( 14 ) HERGEST RIDGE (LP) Mike Oldfield



21 ( 16 ) WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Nuclear Band (aka Elton John)
22 ( 21 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
23 ( 20 ) MAGIC Pilot
24 ( NEW ) YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHIN' Stevie Wonder
25 ( NEW ) ROCKIN' SOUL The Hues Corporation
26 ( RE ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver
27 ( NEW ) MINUETTO ALLEGRETTO The Wombles
28 ( NEW ) NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON MOTHER EARTH Sparks
29 ( NEW ) ALL OF ME LOVES ALL OF YOU The Bay City Rollers
30 ( NEW ) I HONESTLY LOVE YOU Olivia Newton-John



31 ( 15 ) THE PLAYER First Choice
32 ( 19 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
33 ( 22 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
34 ( 25 ) MACHINE GUN The Commodores
35 ( 26 ) WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY Mouth And MacNeal
36 ( 27 ) UP IN A PUFF OF SMOKE Polly Brown
37 ( 29 ) NEED A SHOT OF RHYTHM AND BLUES Dave Edmunds
38 ( 30 ) SECOND AVENUE Garfunkel
39 ( 31 ) TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD Rufus
40 ( 32 ) SPINNIN' AND SPINNIN' Syreeta


OLDIES CHART 15th Oct 1974



1 ( 1 ) I HEAR YOU KNOCKING Dave Edmunds
2 ( 3 ) HEY THERE LONELY GIRL Eddie Holman
3 ( 2 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
4 ( 4 ) HOW DO YOU DO Mouth And MacNeal
5 ( 5 ) HOOKED ON A FEELING Jonathan King
6 ( NEW ) DA DO RON RON The Crystals

Posted by: Outcast 25th October 2014, 03:06 AM

John, your last # 1 is great.
Don't now why I never heard about this group.
It's even more strange, because their first single "Central Park Arrest" (wrote by Lynsey De Paul) even was in official UK chart.

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th October 2014, 08:56 AM

QUOTE(Outcast @ Oct 25 2014, 04:06 AM)

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th October 2014, 12:41 PM

22nd October 1974

Queen get their 2nd number one in a row with the fabulous Killer Queen, and I had no idea what Moet Chandon was till I heard the lyric. Champagne wasn’t something you came across much in the RAF world. At runners-up for the 2nd time, The Hues Corporation follow-up Rockin’ Soul rocks the boat. Fab Gary Shearston opines mere alcohol doesn’t thrill him at all. Me neither, but I certainly get a kick out of his record being at 5. As the Oldies chart fades away, a batch of tracks in it turn up as new entries and re-entries in the Top 40, but you can assume they would have been higher in previous weeks than the chart positions this week, headed by Dave Edmunds at 7 kicking out his own new record.

Stevie goes 20, Pepperbox pops back as it starts to make the UK charts, and Fox continue to yo-yo about. New at 30 are the Netherlands band The Cats, Be My Day being a Caribbean-styled singalong Ditch and German Number One, and catchy enough. Peter Shelley had a sweet Uk hit with Gee Baby, though he impressed me more as the writer/producer of Alvin Stardust records, Alvin very sadly passed away this week just ahead of his last album being released.

At school, one of the new subjects I’d taken on was O Level geology, which turned out to be quite dry and name-heavy. I actually love the subject these days, but all the bloody essays about Orthoclase Feldspar and Quartz and this mineral and that mineral got a bit tedious, I didn’t do very well, and eventually approached the teacher to give him the bad news that I was giving it up. I actually liked the teacher, or Nick The Prick as his nickname went (he had a habit of unconsciously scratching as if he had crabs), and regret that now. Hey ho. In sports, which seldom interested me outside tennis and the Olympics, Muhammed Ali had a bit of a rumble in the jungle coming up. He was also a family hero dating back to the days of Cassius Clay, dad being a big boxing fan. In those days you could convert to Islam without being thought a potential terrorist, and still be a big media darling hero beloved of millions. Ah those were the days....




1 ( 5 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
2 ( 25 ) ROCKIN' SOUL The Hues Corporation
3 ( 1 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
4 ( 3 ) ALL I WANT IS YOU Roxy Music
5 ( 13 ) I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU Gary Shearston
6 ( 2 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
7 ( NEW ) I HEAR YOU KNOCKING Dave Edmunds
8 ( RE ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
9 ( 9 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
10 ( 8 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson



11 ( 11 ) SAMBA PA TI Santana
12 ( 7 ) I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE George McCrae
13 ( 4 ) GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR David Essex
14 ( 14 ) OUTSIDERS POINT OF VIEW Barry Reynolds
15 ( 24 ) YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHIN' Stevie Wonder
16 ( 10 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
17 ( 12 ) MY RAINBOW VALLEY Robert Knight
18 ( 18 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
19 ( 19 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance
20 ( 6 ) HOT SHOT Barry Blue

21 ( NEW ) HEY THERE LONELY GIRL Eddie Holman
22 ( 15 ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
23 ( RE ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
24 ( 32 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
25 ( 27 ) MINUETTO ALLEGRETTO The Wombles
26 ( 16 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear
27 ( 29 ) ALL OF ME LOVES ALL OF YOU The Bay City Rollers
28 ( 28 ) NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON MOTHER EARTH Sparks
29 ( 23 ) MAGIC Pilot
30 ( NEW ) BE MY DAY The Cats



31 ( 17 ) TUBULAR BELLS (LP) Mike Oldfield
32 ( 20 ) HERGEST RIDGE (LP) Mike Oldfield
33 ( 21 ) WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Nuclear Band (aka Elton John)
34 ( 22 ) ROCK ME GENTLY Andy Kim
35 ( 26 ) ANNIE'S SONG John Denver
36 ( 30 ) I HONESTLY LOVE YOU Olivia Newton-John
37 ( NEW ) DA DOO RON RON The Crystals
38 ( 31 ) THE PLAYER First Choice
39 ( 33 ) QUEEN OF CLUBS KC And The Sunshine Band
40 ( NEW ) GEE BABY Peter Shelley

Posted by: popchartfreak 25th October 2014, 02:28 PM

29th October 1974


2 weeks at one, equalling 7 Seas Of Rhye, for Queen, while Pepperbox makes the Top 10 for the second time just ahead of Resonance’s OK Chicago at 11 - they had a double-album package once upon a time, so it’s fair enough they chart together. Highest new entry is Ken Boothe and his delicious reggae working of Bread’s Everything I Own. David Gates was a terrific songwriter, but Bread hardly had any hits, being lumped into a sweet MOR bracket along with the equally derided Carpenters by the rock fraternity. Yah Boo Sucks to them, it’s a great record (the original) and this version is just as good in a totally different way, the mark of a good song. Boy George of course copied Ken’s version and grabbed a second UK chart-topper for the song.

Rod Stewart says Farewell at 23 - not to us, that is, but to The Faces (shortly) and his credibility, for the most part, but this was a great little gem in the style of his previous solo hits. Billy Ocean is back at 24 for a second attempt at a UK hit with his previously John-charted great record On The Run. It didn’t work, but he got there 18 months later anyway with another one, under a new name (as opposed to Scorched Earth). The Glitter Band are at 30 with the fun glam Let’s Get Together Again. Nothing to do with their (soon-to-be-former) boss, but they have been equally banished by association from musical history. Not by me, though. One of Slade’s best records for some bizarre reason didn’t do well in my charts, Far Far Away is a great song from a largely dull, but not bad, movie Slade In Flame, but the singles so far in 1974 had not impressed me much and they’d fallen off my fan radar a bit by this time. Pity, it’s terrific! Finally, veteran 60’s group The Tymes comeback with a catchy sweet soul shuffler, matching The Drifters UK-based revival, but the effect is somewhat reduced when it sounds like they are singing You Little Trussmaker. I mean, someone has to make trusses, but a tribute song is a little OTT.


1 ( 1 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
2 ( 2 ) ROCKIN' SOUL The Hues Corporation
3 ( 7 ) I HEAR YOU KNOCKING Dave Edmunds
4 ( 6 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
5 ( 5 ) I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU Gary Shearston
6 ( 3 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
7 ( 4 ) ALL I WANT IS YOU Roxy Music
8 ( 23 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
9 ( 9 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
10 ( 10 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson



11 ( 19 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance
12 ( 8 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
13 ( 15 ) YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHIN' Stevie Wonder
14 ( NEW ) EVERYTHING I OWN Ken Boothe
15 ( 24 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
16 ( 21 ) HEY THERE LONELY GIRL Eddie Holman
17 ( 17 ) MY RAINBOW VALLEY Robert Knight
18 ( 26 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear
19 ( 16 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
20 ( 14 ) OUTSIDERS POINT OF VIEW Barry Reynolds



21 ( 25 ) MINUETTO ALLEGRETTO The Wombles
22 ( 22 ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
23 ( NEW ) FAREWELL Rod Stewart
24 ( RE ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
25 ( 12 ) I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE George McCrae
26 ( RE ) LIFE IS A ROCK (BUT THE RADIO ROLLED ME) Reunion
27 ( 20 ) HOT SHOT Barry Blue
28 ( 13 ) GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR David Essex
29 ( 18 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
30 ( NEW ) LET'S GET TOGETHER AGAIN The Glitter Band



31 ( 11 ) SAMBA PA TI Santana
32 ( 27 ) ALL OF ME LOVES ALL OF YOU The Bay City Rollers
33 ( 28 ) NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON MOTHER EARTH Sparks
34 ( 29 ) MAGIC Pilot
35 ( 30 ) BE MY DAY The Cats
36 ( 31 ) TUBULAR BELLS (LP) Mike Oldfield
37 ( 32 ) HERGEST RIDGE (LP) Mike Oldfield
38 ( NEW ) FAR FAR AWAY Slade
39 ( NEW ) DOWN ON THE BEACH TONIGHT The Drifters
40 ( NEW ) YOU LITTLE TRUSTMAKER The Tymes

Posted by: popchartfreak 2nd December 2014, 07:17 PM

5th November 1974

3 weeks on top for Killer Queen, holding off an instant oldie challenge from Marvin Gaye’s Top 10 hit from 1969, I Heard It Through The Grapevine going even better second-time around to 2. That’s not the last time it will chart either, being as it’s such an all-time classic. KC gets a second top 5, as Scorched Earth (Billy Ocean) returns to the top 10 for the second time in 1974.

The Glitter Band get a good jump to 14, their second top 20 hit of the year, while newly entering all in a neat row behind Mike McGear’s Paul McCartney song...it’s 3 Beatles tracks from the reactivated Magical Mystery Tour EP, giving me an opportunity to chart 3 non-singles that should all have been singles: Paul’s gorgeous Fool On The Hill at 17, John’s powerful I Am The Walrus at 18, and Paul’s sweet Your Mother Should Know at 19, Mike Batt having just charted with it before the Fabs.

Proper new stuff is relegated to the lower end, Fancy return with their second chart-entry, a USA hit, Touch Me at 23, while The Three Degrees get their FIFTH chart entry of 1974, as Get Your Love Back sees them back in uptempo mode at 25. Elton’s back with an epic version of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, keeping up The Beatles theme. I AM rather a fan, if it’s not obvious yet! The Chi-Lites get their 4th hit, Too Good To Be Forgotten not as big as earlier ones, ditto Lynsey De Paul’s No Honestly, her 5th hit, getting on for 10th as a songwriter, and TV sitcom theme tune. Husband & Wife John Alderton and Pauline Collins starred, it was mildly amusing mostly for Pauline Collins. Finally Dionne Warwick gets her first actual chart entry in my charts, bizarrely, long after her great Bacharach/David period had ended, here with US number one Then Came You, jointly with the Spinners, their 3rd hit.

Earthquake had come out in the States, an exciting, big-budget all-star cast disaster movie with Charlton Heston headlining. He’d switched from biblical blockbusters to sci-fi and disaster blockbusters with Planet Of The Apes, and although this one wasn’t in the same league, it did provide a faaab Universal Studios theme park ride for a few decades which I saw many times. My record collection (singles mostly) was growing quite fast these days, as I’d come across some more back-street ex-chart singles shops, some as low as 5 pence, or 10% of a full price single. 10 for the price of 1! Bargain! Usually 20p or 25p was more usual though. To put that into context in 2014 prices, that’s about £5 for a single or 50p for a bargain cut rate bargain bin single. Downloads are twice that absolute bargain bin price. Music has never been cheaper: fact!


1 ( 1 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
2 ( NEW ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
3 ( 3 ) I HEAR YOU KNOCKING Dave Edmunds
4 ( 2 ) ROCKIN' SOUL The Hues Corporation
5 ( 9 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
6 ( 4 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
7 ( 8 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
8 ( 5 ) I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU Gary Shearston
9 ( 6 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
10 ( 24 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth



11 ( 14 ) EVERYTHING I OWN Ken Boothe
12 ( 15 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
13 ( 11 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance
14 ( 30 ) LET'S GET TOGETHER AGAIN The Glitter Band
15 ( 10 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson
16 ( 18 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear
17 ( NEW ) FOOL ON THE HILL The Beatles
18 ( NEW ) I AM THE WALRUS The Beatles
19 ( NEW ) YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW The Beatles
20 ( 7 ) ALL I WANT IS YOU Roxy Music



21 ( 19 ) YOU CAN REALLY ROCK 'N' ROLL ME Pans People
22 ( 12 ) YAMASUKI The Yamasukis
23 ( NEW ) TOUCH ME Fancy
24 ( RE ) THE WILD ONE Suzi Quatro
25 ( NEW ) GET YOUR LOVE BACK The Three Degrees
26 ( 23 ) FAREWELL Rod Stewart
27 ( 21 ) MINUETTO ALLEGRETTO The Wombles
28 ( 17 ) MY RAINBOW VALLEY Robert Knight
29 ( 29 ) SAD SWEET DREAMER Sweet Sensation
30 ( 20 ) OUTSIDERS POINT OF VIEW Barry Reynolds



31 ( 13 ) YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHIN' Stevie Wonder
32 ( 16 ) HEY THERE LONELY GIRL Eddie Holman
33 ( 22 ) REGGAE TUNE Andy Fairweather-Low
34 ( 25 ) I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE George McCrae
35 ( 40 ) YOU LITTLE TRUSTMAKER The Tymes
36 ( NEW ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
37 ( 38 ) FAR FAR AWAY Slade
38 ( NEW ) TOO GOOD TO BE FORGOTTEN The Chi-Lites
39 ( NEW ) NO HONESTLY Lynsey De Paul
40 ( NEW ) THEN CAME YOU Dionne Warwick & The Detroit Spinners

Posted by: popchartfreak 2nd December 2014, 08:27 PM

12th November 1974

4 weeks on top for Queen, but just at those Beatles! I’d picked up an ex-chart copy of Get Back, which led me to think it was re-issued in amongst all the glam rock and soul records, which was enough for me to rechart it at 4, Top 5 5 years after first doing the business. Not only that but B side Don’t Let Me Down, also on that famous rooftop goodbye performance, John’s song, charts at 18. So, that means George’s production of Ravi Shankar at 6, Magical Mystery Tour tracks at 15, 16, 17, Elton John’s version of John’s Lucy In The Sky up to 19, and Macca’s new single under-performing at 28 - Junior’s farm just wasn’t up to par, not even as good as most of the tracks off Band On The Run, never mind The Beatles invasion of my charts long before it was fashionable (eg 1976) - and finally Macca’s better song for his brother Mike at 29. Phew!

On Top Of The Pops we had amusingly-named and ground-breaking Javells FEATURING Nosmo King and his Northern Soul hit new at 9 - there are probably earlier examples of “featuring” but that was the first one to me, and just ahead of The Guess Who at 10 - or Bachman-Turner Overdrive as they were now called, and the epic metal pop classic You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet. Not arf! Brilliance. Bad news for Ken Boothe who just can’t break the 10, while some Latin chanting pops back in for Steeleye Span as Christmas was in the air, a year on. Gaudete. Russ Ballard, ex of Argent, and before he became a smash songwriter, debuts at 30 with Fly Away, annoyingly not on itunes. Jimmy Ruffin follows up his oldie hit with a 1970 oldie re-issue, Farewell Is A Lonely Sound at 33. 50’s popstar Paul Anka’s back with his MOR You’re Having My Baby, which seemed to offend feminists at the time, largely for the use of “My” rather than “Our” as far as I can tell. Finally, Barry White’s biggest, best, and most-famous song struggles in at 37, his 6th hit but the formula was wearing thin for me at the time. Pity cos it’s fab, actually!

On TV, The Six Million Dollar Man was thrilling kids, but Lee Majors was always the sexy young Heath Barklay to me, in Barbara Stanwyck’s 60‘s TV western The Big Valley, not the moustachio’d rebuilt bland hero, nor the man lending his missus his surname for Charlie’s Angels. The Time Tunnel fave of 1967/8 was being repeated, I was big on 60’s nostalgia, still babysitting for cash to feed my vinyl and DC Comics habits, which were getting quite pricey, so I got to watch a lot of Saturday Night TV. I still have nightmares of having to watch Match Of The Day and Parkinson cos nothing else was on the 3 channels (yes count ‘em, 3!!!). Parkinson’s constant slagging off of pop and lamenting on the good old days when music was music used to piss me off, though he was actually good at his job and let the stars come through at ease. Match Of The Day is an hour of my weekly life wasted, I tended to read Planet Of The Apes comics or anything else that was to hand really.

1 ( 1 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
2 ( 3 ) I HEAR YOU KNOCKING Dave Edmunds
3 ( 2 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
4 ( NEW ) GET BACK The Beatles
5 ( 7 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
6 ( 6 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
7 ( 4 ) ROCKIN' SOUL The Hues Corporation
8 ( 5 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
9 ( NEW ) GOODBYE NOTHIN' TO SAY The Javells featuring Nosmo King
10 ( NEW ) YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET Bachman-Turner Overdrive



11 ( 11 ) EVERYTHING I OWN Ken Boothe
12 ( 15 ) THE TANGO'S OVER Mick Robertson
13 ( 14 ) LET'S GET TOGETHER AGAIN The Glitter Band
14 ( 10 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
15 ( 18 ) I AM THE WALRUS The Beatles
16 ( 17 ) FOOL ON THE HILL The Beatles
17 ( 19 ) YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW The Beatles
18 ( NEW ) DON'T LET ME DOWN The Beatles
19 ( 36 ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
20 ( 20 ) ALL I WANT IS YOU Roxy Music



21 ( 9 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
22 ( 13 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance
23 ( 12 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
24 ( 24 ) THE WILD ONE Suzi Quatro
25 ( 23 ) TOUCH ME Fancy
26 ( NEW ) GAUDETE Steeleye Span
27 ( RE ) MAGIC Pilot
28 ( NEW ) JUNIOR'S FARM Paul McCartney & Wings
29 ( 16 ) LEAVE IT Mike McGear
30 ( NEW ) FLY AWAY Russ Ballard



31 ( 8 ) I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU Gary Shearston
32 ( 35 ) YOU LITTLE TRUSTMAKER The Tymes
33 ( NEW ) FAREWELL IS A LONELY SOUND Jimmy Ruffin
34 ( NEW ) YOU'RE HAVING MY BABY Paul Anka
35 ( 37 ) FAR FAR AWAY Slade
36 ( 39 ) NO HONESTLY Lynsey De Paul
37 ( NEW ) YOU'RE THE FIRST, THE LAST, MY EVERYTHING Barry White
38 ( RE ) GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR David Essex
39 ( 32 ) HEY THERE LONELY GIRL Eddie Holman
40 ( 34 ) I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE George McCrae

Posted by: steve201 3rd December 2014, 12:07 AM

Guadete

Posted by: popchartfreak 3rd December 2014, 04:35 PM

19th November 1974

B-b-b-baby, You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet knocks Queen off the top, as rock, and indeed rock and roll, takes over the chart. The soaring guitar riffs and the pounding driving rhythm is the key to this record, it sounded like nothing else when it came out fresh and exciting. Familiarity (and Smashie and Nicie) may have dulled that somewhat, but it’s still a cracker. Pepperbox, after a long climb, gets to 3, they synthy catchy instrumental all but forgotten these days, sadly.

It’s a top 10 clear-out, headed by one of Gary Glitter’s better singles at 4, Oh Yes You’re Beautiful, highest new entry, joining The Glitter Band in my charts and a dilemma for me - do I feature the youtube video (assuming one is on there) or do I pretend he never existed for the convenience of history re-writers...? Hmmm. New at 6, 50’s stylee, and a second top 10 hit for The Rubettes with Jukebox Jive, retro pop, 50’s actual song cover for Sha Na Na, an American 50’s covers band who had a hit with Shboom (Life Could Be A Dream), and who have many tracks on itunes - but not this one! Doh! So many great old records are still not available in the digital universe.

In at 9, a third hit for The Equals (aka Eddy Grant) as Baby Come Back makes my top 10 6 years late - it just predated my charts, but was a properly famous record in those days in the UK, and it was good to see it in the top 10. Merlin get a second chart hit, with Wildcat, T.Rex pop in with a Zip Gun Boogie at 29, having yet to fail to chart in 4 years. Not one of Bolan’s best though, to be fair! Ace enter at 35. How Long? Yes, it’s Paul Carrack’s debut hit, the terrific ballad that became a US hit and kickstarted a long career that sees him still charting in my charts 40 years on. Never made it big, or famous, but he kept on going where others fell by the wayside, with his great soulful voice and melodic ballads, mostly. Talking of soul, Al Green gets a comeback 5th hit with Sha La La, while glam rockers Hello cover 60’s pop hit Tell Him, originally by The Exciters.

In the news, atrocious pub bombings, and some murderous Lord killed his nanny and disappeared famously. People do seem to enjoy killing other people for no good reason. Hateful. On a happier note, DJ Sarah Cox popped into the world this week, good for her and now good for Radio 2. On TV Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Rhoda, with the sharp loveable Valerie Harper as star, debuted. Playing her sister? Future Marge Simpson, Julie Kavner! Hong Kong Phooey upped the Kung Fu mania a level, from Hannah-Barbera - a last fling of the career dice I think. The fantastic Rockford Files, made James Garner a household name all over again, and Harry O, another classy detective show, kept The Fugitive’s David Janssen in work. Both had great supporting casts of character actors. The Night Stalker was a pre-X-Files show about vampires and aliens, with Darren McGavin, who guested nicely in X-Files in tribute to this largely-forgotten (but good) show. Sadly, Star Trek: The Animated Series (actual original cast actors and proper scripts) ended, but hey ho, give it 5 years and a movie will possible come along, I say!



1 ( 10 ) YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET Bachman-Turner Overdrive
2 ( 1 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
3 ( 5 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
4 ( NEW ) OH YES YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL Gary Glitter
5 ( 9 ) GOODBYE NOTHIN' TO SAY The Javells featuring Nosmo King
6 ( NEW ) JUKEBOX JIVE The Rubettes
7 ( 3 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
8 ( 4 ) GET BACK The Beatles
9 ( NEW ) BABY COME BACK The Equals
10 ( NEW ) SHBOOM (LIFE COULD BE A DREAM) Sha Na Na



11 ( 8 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
12 ( 21 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
13 ( 15 ) I AM THE WALRUS The Beatles
14 ( 19 ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
15 ( 11 ) EVERYTHING I OWN Ken Boothe
16 ( 13 ) LET'S GET TOGETHER AGAIN The Glitter Band
17 ( 16 ) FOOL ON THE HILL The Beatles
18 ( 17 ) YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW The Beatles
19 ( 20 ) ALL I WANT IS YOU Roxy Music
20 ( 22 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance



21 ( NEW ) WILDCAT Merlin
22 ( 23 ) ONLY YOU CAN Fox
23 ( 25 ) TOUCH ME Fancy
24 ( 26 ) GAUDETE Steeleye Span
25 ( 24 ) THE WILD ONE Suzi Quatro
26 ( 14 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
27 ( 27 ) MAGIC Pilot
28 ( 30 ) FLY AWAY Russ Ballard
29 ( NEW ) ZIP GUN BOOGIE T.Rex
30 ( 18 ) DON'T LET ME DOWN The Beatles

31 ( 6 ) I AM MISSING YOU Shankar Family & Friends
32 ( 37 ) YOU'RE THE FIRST, THE LAST, MY EVERYTHING Barry White
33 ( 35 ) FAR FAR AWAY Slade
34 ( 36 ) NO HONESTLY Lynsey De Paul
35 ( NEW ) HOW LONG Ace
36 ( NEW ) TELL HIM Hello
37 ( NEW ) SHA LA LA LA (MAKES ME HAPPY) Al Green
38 ( 38 ) GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR David Essex
39 ( 28 ) JUNIOR'S FARM Paul McCartney & Wings
40 ( RE ) TOO GOOD TO BE FORGOTTEN The Chi-Lites

Posted by: popchartfreak 3rd December 2014, 04:41 PM

QUOTE(steve201 @ Dec 3 2014, 12:07 AM)

Guadete

Posted by: popchartfreak 3rd December 2014, 05:49 PM

26th November 1974

The first record to return to number one in my charts (after a chart absence)? John & Yoko with their Christmas classic, 2 years after topping my chart and being one of my christmas single purchases, it was back again, selling well and getting airplay as pop christmas songs really did get a hold of Radio 1 from hereon in - Phil Spector’s christmas album peppered around with newer and older xmas tracks. I was still mad on BTO though, at 2. More oldies appear: Johnny Nash’s 1968 Top 5 reggae (forgotten) great Hold Me Tight is back at 8, The Supremes debut UK hit follows up Baby Love this time round, as Where Did Our Love Go enters at 19, having also been a 1972 chart-topper - for Donnie Elbert. Obscurity of the week? Beano at 27 with doo-wop-ish teen pop Candy Baby - they later turned up UK Eurovision heats as Scramble, and this was an Italian chart hit.

One of the catchiest, campest, maddest disco hits enters at 14 for the brilliantly-named Disco Tex and the Sex-o-lettes, if that doesn’t scream out tongue-in-cheek I’d like to know what does! Hot Chocolate do mellow pop at 18 with Cheri Baby for 4 straight years of top 20 hits, The Wombles get an unimaginable 5th Top 30 hit in under a year with the great Wombling Merry Christmas. All day long we will be wombling in the snow? Snow? In these global warming UK days! Hah! 25 showcases one of my fave Bond themes, but not one that the public went for, The Man With The Golden Gun, Lulu’s 5th chart hit in 6 years. I also loved the movie, Christopher Lee, fabulous Asian locales, Britt Ekland, what’s not to love! Finally Ringo and Elvis pop in with covers, of The Platters and Richard Harris respectively, though Ringo is leapfrogged by John at 1, Paul at 13 with Junior’s Farm and some Beatles tracks above him! Where’s George? Not far off actually....

How about a school story? Errr, hmm, well Bachman-Turner Overdrive were quite popular in the 6th form block, and I got some brownie points knowing the B side to Roxy Music’s streetlife from a sporty cool kid I admired a fair bit, not to mention finishing off a song-line he started singing: Sunshine... “on my shoulder”. John Denver UK flop, showing that not only was I obsessive before, during and since 1974 about pop music, the fact that I recall these instances and I’ve forgotten his name says something about me. Oops! I associate people with the music they like I’m afraid, and it tends to stick in my mind for years n years!





1 ( NEW ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir
2 ( 1 ) YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET Bachman-Turner Overdrive
3 ( 3 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
4 ( 2 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
5 ( 4 ) OH YES YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL Gary Glitter
6 ( 6 ) JUKEBOX JIVE The Rubettes
7 ( 7 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
8 ( NEW ) HOLD ME TIGHT Johnny Nash
9 ( 10 ) SHBOOM (LIFE COULD BE A DREAM) Sha Na Na
10 ( 11 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band

11 ( 5 ) GOODBYE NOTHIN' TO SAY The Javells featuring Nosmo King
12 ( 12 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
13 ( 39 ) JUNIOR'S FARM Paul McCartney & Wings
14 ( NEW ) GET DANCING Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes
15 ( 9 ) BABY COME BACK The Equals
16 ( 13 ) I AM THE WALRUS The Beatles
17 ( 8 ) GET BACK The Beatles
18 ( NEW ) CHERI BABE Hot Chocolate
19 ( NEW ) WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? The Supremes
20 ( 20 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance



21 ( 26 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
22 ( 15 ) EVERYTHING I OWN Ken Boothe
23 ( 24 ) GAUDETE Steeleye Span
24 ( NEW ) WOMBLING MERRY CHRISTMAS The Wombles
25 ( NEW ) THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN Lulu
26 ( NEW ) ONLY YOU Ringo Starr
27 ( NEW ) CANDY BABY Beano
28 ( 14 ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
29 ( 21 ) WILDCAT Merlin
30 ( 17 ) FOOL ON THE HILL The Beatles



31 ( 36 ) TELL HIM Hello
32 ( 35 ) HOW LONG Ace
33 ( 37 ) SHA LA LA LA (MAKES ME HAPPY) Al Green
34 ( 27 ) MAGIC Pilot
35 ( 38 ) GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR David Essex
36 ( 32 ) YOU'RE THE FIRST, THE LAST, MY EVERYTHING Barry White
37 ( 25 ) THE WILD ONE Suzi Quatro
38 ( NEW ) MY BOY Elvis Presley
39 ( 34 ) NO HONESTLY Lynsey De Paul
40 ( NEW ) COSTAFINE TOWN Splinter

Posted by: popchartfreak 1st January 2015, 05:19 PM

3rd December 1974

Winter draws on, christmas shopping for gifts starting, and the annual inrush of christmas classic pop songs had started. No it’s not 2014, it’s my charts in 1974 as I start the tradition of classic pop oldies invasions of the charts. I’m going to put modesty aside and declare I did it ahead of the UK charts, as John & Yoko drop to 2 behind new entry at 1 for christmas classic Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, a whole 12 months actual old! That gives it 3 weeks at 1 in total, and the first time a record came back in under a year to top my chart again. Of course it charts every single year in the UK for the last decade, but you can see why I don’t chart it highly anymore - been there done that many times already.

In at 4, and it’s an influential disco classic, pumping up the bpm’s, a disco diva in the making in Gloria Gaynor, and an exciting cover of The Jackson 5’s Top 5 (in my chart) 1971 ballad, given a very different treatment. I loved it immediately, and I loved Gloria. In at 6, it’s one of those “eh?” moments as an odd reggae obscurity announces itself with echo-effects, whooping, and unusual lyrics, to say the least. I also loved this Rupie Edwards track as it sounded like nothing before, except maybe a more laid back sort of Dave And Ansel Collins. Ire Feelings (Skanga). Skanga! Skanga! I’m feeling high...you know I suspect it might have something to do with substances now I think about it...

Disco Tex, Hot Choc and The Supremes pop up a few mid-table places, as George McRae is back at 16 with another very-KC (of Sunshine Band) disco hit, You Can Have It All, his third in 6 months, and KC’s 5th song. Ringo takes his Only You cover to 20, his 5th solo hit, ahead of his old band’s tracks, The Wombles pop up a christmas place, and TV’s family-friendly comedy-troop The Goodies move over to the singles chart with some very christmassy naughtiness, Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me. Actually the nominal A side was The Inbetweenies, Bill Oddie’s song which grabbed the airplay by default, basically a kiddie novelty hit. The other side was for the grown-up’s, Pythonesque rabble-rousing drunken-singing, as the lads sing the chorus each time omitting a word or syllable. I still find it funny, and the final line sort of puts it into moral context: he’s a most immoral Santa, they aren’t promoting that sort of behaviour! Honest! Finally John Christie pops in with 60’s fave Everybody Knows, a cover of the tuneful Dave Clark 5 big hit from 1967. Dave didn’t mind, I know that cos he produced the record.



1 ( NEW ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY Wizzard
2 ( 1 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir
3 ( 2 ) YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET Bachman-Turner Overdrive
4 ( NEW ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
5 ( 3 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers
6 ( NEW ) IRE FEELINGS (SKANGA) Rupie Edwards
7 ( 4 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
8 ( 8 ) HOLD ME TIGHT Johnny Nash
9 ( 7 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
10 ( 6 ) JUKEBOX JIVE The Rubettes



11 ( 5 ) OH YES YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL Gary Glitter
12 ( 14 ) GET DANCING Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes
13 ( 18 ) CHERI BABE Hot Chocolate
14 ( 19 ) WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? The Supremes
15 ( 10 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
16 ( NEW ) YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL George McRae
17 ( 9 ) SHBOOM (LIFE COULD BE A DREAM) Sha Na Na
18 ( 13 ) JUNIOR'S FARM Paul McCartney & Wings
19 ( 21 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
20 ( 26 ) ONLY YOU Ringo Starr



21 ( 25 ) THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN Lulu
22 ( 11 ) GOODBYE NOTHIN' TO SAY The Javells featuring Nosmo King
23 ( 24 ) WOMBLING MERRY CHRISTMAS The Wombles
24 ( 16 ) I AM THE WALRUS The Beatles
25 ( 17 ) GET BACK The Beatles
26 ( 15 ) BABY COME BACK The Equals
27 ( 27 ) CANDY BABY Beano
28 ( NEW ) THE INBETWEENIES/ FATHER CHRISTMAS DO NOT TOUCH ME The Goodies
29 ( 20 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance
30 ( NEW ) EVERYBODY KNOWS John Christie



31 ( 12 ) DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Thunderthighs
32 ( 22 ) EVERYTHING I OWN Ken Boothe
33 ( 23 ) GAUDETE Steeleye Span
34 ( 28 ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
35 ( 29 ) WILDCAT Merlin
36 ( 30 ) FOOL ON THE HILL The Beatles
37 ( 36 ) YOU'RE THE FIRST, THE LAST, MY EVERYTHING Barry White
38 ( 31 ) TELL HIM Hello
39 ( 33 ) SHA LA LA LA (MAKES ME HAPPY) Al Green
40 ( 32 ) HOW LONG Ace



In real life, musician Nick Drake had quietly passed away with little publicity, Python was drawing to a close on TV, and the IRA had been outlawed. In my world of hobbies, DC Comics had kept on getting more fun and glossy, the Legion especially with new artist Dave Cockrum just getting better and better - at least until his strop with DC Comics, before pissing off to Marvel with his great costumes, artwork and ideas for X-Men, the classic years. I loved it so much I started buying multiple copies and keeping them in mint condition in bags. Fanboy!! Still got them mint though.

Big film at the cinema was the third disaster movie blockbuster in three months, and the best one, as Irwin Allen followed up Poseidon Adventure with the spectacle of The Towering Inferno. If a film ever inspired a fear of disaster in me it was this one, the thought of being trapped above a burning fire helpless in a skyscraper. Never felt comfortable with the thought of living or working way on high, subsequently. The film had Steve McQueen and Paul Newman together for the first time, a host of golden oldies like Fred Astaire, and it became an instant fave, though it wouldn’t make my lists these days. Scene of the film was poor old veteran Jennifer Jones falling out of a glass lift just after helping a kiddie. There’s gratitude for you, do a good deed etc.!

Posted by: popchartfreak 1st January 2015, 09:05 PM

10th December 1974

After 2 weeks shoved down by xmas oldies, Bachman-Turner Overdrive reassert themselves on top, it was pretty popular at school and still sounded exciting. You Ain’t Seen N-n-n-n-nothing Yet! 2 weeks at 1 instead of 4 thanks to the oldies, it seems strange saying oldies for records that were 1 and 2 years old! These days records stay in the chart for 1 to 2 years! Those days they were golden oldies!

The christmas records keep on coming though, The Goodies get listed separately on the chart, and brand new christmas songs from Mud, at 20, with UK chart-topper Lonely This Christmas, and Les Grey doing a whimsical Elvis impersonation for their 4th hit of the year, but a major change in sound as they see the Glam Rock writing on the wall for all pop stars, this time it’s a charming, sad love song, and one that still hangs about at christmas time. The Wombles shoot up to 7, Wombling Merry Christmas giving them their biggest Wombling hit, and one of many songs written by Mike Batt in my charts this year. Showaddywaddy come back with a follow-up hit to Hey Rock ‘n’ Roll (I wasn’t keen on previous singles) with the sweet Hey Mr. Christmas, a xmas record you never hear anywhere these days. Mr. Big debut at 29 with the charming cockney Christmas with Dicken, a xmas flop, though Mr. Big finally got a UK chart hit with the fab Romeo in 1977.

Phil Spector’s classic early 60’s xmas album gets it’s first chart entry as Darlene Love takes Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) in at 30 as radio plays quite a few of it’s tracks. Darlene was actually the singer of He’s A Rebel, the brilliant cover of Gene Pitney’s song masterminded by Phil Spector, but it was credited to another entirely different act, The Crystals. In my charts she’d already appeared on backing vocals on Be My Baby, Monster Mash and Da Do Ron Ron, but she wouldn’t get another new go till the 90’s, following U2 grabbing her for backing vocals on their cover of the song - and it was another christmas goodie from Home Alone movies.

Away from christmas, Abba come back with their only single to fail to chart in the UK, So Long. It wasn’t playlisted by the BBC, though Radio Luxembourg did and it was fab, should have been a glam-tastic hit, in at 17 for their 4th hit of the year, 5th as songwriters. I had faith in Abba. Also The Faces, and what turned out to be their last record with Rod Stewart - You Can Make Me Dance Sing Or Anything (etc) might have been amusingly titled but it was more groovy Rod than rocky Faces, and the writing was on the wall for the split. In at 13, a forgotten gem, the single from Deep Purple’s Roger Glover’s Butterfly Ball album, a thematic work with guest vocalists and an animated video. The great vocalist on Love Is All is Ronnie James Dio, of Rainbow and other metal bands - spot the connections? Ex-Deep Purple members mostly! It was a kids TV fave and bubbled under the charts but never broke into the 50, sadly.

Finally, Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus, a very naughty 1969 UK number one that I’d never heard in my life (it had been banned) started to get plays on Radio Luxembourg after being reissued and a hit all over again. Jane Birkin was the actress partner of French cult star Serge Gainsbourg, and they both provided a lot of breathy noises over the top of a lovely sultry melody. I rather liked it, and as I’d never be able to tape it onto my reel-to-reel tape recorder off the BBC I bought the single - Radio Luxembourg, being so far away, tended to be a medium-wave fading in and fading out and whining and hissing and screeching of broadcasts - but it was worth persevering to get to hear new songs not chosen by the BBC. At 40, one classic I didn’t get until years later, Ralph McTell’s Streets Of London, busker-song-classic, and already 4 years old or so before it charted. It’s a lovely lyric and wistful melody.


1 ( 3 ) YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET Bachman-Turner Overdrive
2 ( 2 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir
3 ( 1 ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY Wizzard
4 ( 4 ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
5 ( 12 ) GET DANCING Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes
6 ( 6 ) IRE FEELINGS (SKANGA) Rupie Edwards
7 ( 23 ) WOMBLING MERRY CHRISTMAS The Wombles
8 ( 28 ) THE INBETWEENIES The Goodies
9 ( 16 ) YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL George McRae
10 ( 5 ) PEPPERBOX The Peppers




11 ( 9 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
12 ( 8 ) HOLD ME TIGHT Johnny Nash
13 ( NEW ) LOVE IS ALL Roger Glover and Guests (featuring Ronnie Dio)
14 ( NEW ) FATHER CHRISTMAS DO NOT TOUCH ME The Goodies
15 ( 7 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
16 ( NEW ) YOU CAN MAKE ME DANCE SING OR ANYTHING (EVEN TAKE THE DOG FOR A WALK MEND A FUSE FOLD AWAY THE IRONING BOARD OR ANY OTHER DOMESTIC SHORTCOMINGS) The Faces featuring Rod Stewart
17 ( NEW ) SO LONG Abba
18 ( 14 ) WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? The Supremes
19 ( 13 ) CHERI BABE Hot Chocolate
20 ( NEW ) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Mud




21 ( NEW ) HEY MR CHRISTMAS Showaddywaddy
22 ( 24 ) I AM THE WALRUS The Beatles
23 ( 21 ) THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN Lulu
24 ( NEW ) JE T’AIME...MOI NON PLUS Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
25 ( 17 ) SHBOOM (LIFE COULD BE A DREAM) Sha Na Na
26 ( 26 ) BABY COME BACK The Equals
27 ( 34 ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
28 ( 10 ) JUKEBOX JIVE The Rubettes
29 ( NEW ) CHRISTMAS WITH DICKEN Mr. Big
30 ( NEW ) CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME) Darlene Love




31 ( 11 ) OH YES YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL Gary Glitter
32 ( 15 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
33 ( 18 ) JUNIOR'S FARM Paul McCartney & Wings
34 ( 19 ) ON THE RUN Scorched Earth
35 ( 20 ) ONLY YOU Ringo Starr
36 ( 22 ) GOODBYE NOTHIN' TO SAY The Javells featuring Nosmo King
37 ( 25 ) GET BACK The Beatles
38 ( 27 ) CANDY BABY Beano
39 ( 29 ) O.K. CHICAGO Resonance
40 ( NEW ) STREETS OF LONDON Ralph McTell





School was about to break up any week now, and I’d made some newer friends that I didn’t really know the previous school year, which was great, and I’d obviously turn the conversation over to pop given the opportunity, though cards was the main social activity still. Given my enthusiasm for Queen, Gloria Gaynor, Abba and the very camp Disco Tex at this time, it was just as well I had Beatles, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and others to point to my less-girlie tastes in music. Not that I considered them girlie at all, who cares about categories anyway!

Posted by: popchartfreak 2nd January 2015, 08:46 PM

17th December 1974

It’s a new number one for Disco Tex and his Sex-o-lettes, one of the great pop band names of all-time, Tex was on Top Of The Pops on film in his hat and flamboyant scarf, camping it up something cruel, it was great fun, funny, and tongue-in-cheek all in one, not to mention falsetto-catchy backing singing. Some people hated it, of course. The ones with no sense of humour. Gloria Gaynor, meantime, is in runners-up spot with a serious disco classic.

The christmas songs keep on a-coming, as I really get into the christmas spirit big-time on newies and oldies alike: Showaddywaddy hit the top 10, Gilbert O’Sullivan enters with Christmas Song, his first chart entry in over a year, and his best record since Alone Again (Naturally). As Gilbert has always been over-protective of his back catalogue you won’t find it on any compilation albums I suspect, or else it might have become better known as a christmas classic. Wizzard, meanwhile, stay top 5 with you-know-what as their last UK hit single enters my chart at 14 - are you ready to rock? Too right!

All four Beatles find themselves in the top 40, both all together, and solo, as George enters at 30 with Ding Dong, one of the few New Year pop singles to pop up over the years. I heard it on Radio 2 New Years Eve (2014) so hooray for keeping it vaguely-known, as it’s decent enough. My other fave band, other than The Beatles, and Roy Wood/Wizzard, who were on the decline after a hot streak, was soon to be Abba, doing well at 7 with So Long, their highest chart position since Waterloo hit 1.

KC goes back up to 11, Ray Stevens gets his 3rd hit of the year, this time with the very serious, slightly twee, Everybody Needs A Rainbow, Status Quo enter at 29 with their future UK chart-topper, the fabulous Down Down, and The Trammps debut at 28 with a romping disco version of the 30’s standard Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart. Judy Garland had the first well-known version, though the 50’s doo-wop flavour to The Trammps version shows where they took it from. Fab!

As school term ended, daytime TV was about to open to me - not that there was much in those days - as well as the evenings so that meant The Virginian, a great Western series, Tom & Jerry, still classic, Josie And The Pussycats In Outer Space (cartoon singing all-girl group on a spaceship with a cat. Honest!), the new animated Star Trek series (which I loved), The Generation Game (with Bruce Forsyth, of course, good game, good game), bald cop Kojak (Telly Savalas was huge in the UK), Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, Cannon (US PI), Top Of The Pops (of course), Jackanory had Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man (one of my future all-time fave films), Johnny Morris was still producing Animal Magic for kids, and had been my whole life as far as I could recall by then, Mission:Impossible was still chock full of plot-twisting, and The Magic Roundabout was still wondering about Florence.



1 ( 5 ) GET DANCIN’ Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes
2 ( 4 ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
3 ( 1 ) YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET Bachman-Turner Overdrive
4 ( 2 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir
5 ( 3 ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY Wizzard
6 ( 7 ) WOMBLING MERRY CHRISTMAS The Wombles
7 ( 17 ) SO LONG Abba
8 ( 8 ) THE INBETWEENIES The Goodies
9 ( 13 ) LOVE IS ALL Roger Glover and Guests (featuring Ronnie Dio)
10 ( 21 ) HEY MR CHRISTMAS Showaddywaddy




11 ( 32 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
12 ( 16 ) YOU CAN MAKE ME DANCE SING OR ANYTHING (EVEN TAKE THE DOG FOR A WALK MEND A FUSE FOLD AWAY THE IRONING BOARD OR ANY OTHER DOMESTIC SHORTCOMINGS) The Faces featuring Rod Stewart
13 ( 14 ) FATHER CHRISTMAS DO NOT TOUCH ME The Goodies
14 ( NEW ) ARE YOU READY TO ROCK Wizzard
15 ( 24 ) JE T’AIME...MOI NON PLUS Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
16 ( 11 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
17 ( 12 ) HOLD ME TIGHT Johnny Nash
18 ( 6 ) IRE FEELINGS (SKANGA) Rupie Edwards
19 ( 9 ) YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL George McRae
20 ( 20 ) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Mud




21 ( 30 ) CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME) Darlene Love
22 ( 38 ) CANDY BABY Beano
23 ( 22 ) I AM THE WALRUS The Beatles
24 ( 18 ) WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? The Supremes
25 ( NEW ) EVERYBODY NEEDS A RAINBOW Ray Stevens
26 ( NEW ) CHRISTMAS SONG Gilbert O’Sullivan
27 ( 25 ) SHBOOM (LIFE COULD BE A DREAM) Sha Na Na
28 ( NEW ) ZING WENT THE STRINGS OF MY HEART The Trammps
29 ( NEW ) DOWN DOWN Status Quo
30 ( NEW ) DING DONG George Harrison



31 ( 15 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
32 ( 19 ) CHERI BABE Hot Chocolate
33 ( 23 ) THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN Lulu
34 ( 26 ) BABY COME BACK The Equals
35 ( 27 ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
36 ( 28 ) JUKEBOX JIVE The Rubettes
37 ( 29 ) CHRISTMAS WITH DICKEN Mr. Big
38 ( 33 ) JUNIOR'S FARM Paul McCartney & Wings
39 ( 35 ) ONLY YOU Ringo Starr
40 ( 40 ) STREETS OF LONDON Ralph McTell

Posted by: popchartfreak 3rd January 2015, 08:15 PM

24th December 1974

It was Christmas Eve and all through the house not a thing was stirring not even a mouse. Well, a hamster was, my brothers pet. I was doing my charts, meanwhile, and Gloria Gaynor gets her first week on top with the awesome Never Can Say Goodbye, a hectic dance with a tune and soaring strings, even better than the original achingly sweet and mournful Jackson 5 version, which had peaked at 2 in my charts. The Wombles go christmassy at 4, and Abba go top 5 for the second time. So Long? No chance!

George Harrison rings in the new, just behind old mucker John at 7, his 4th hit in 4 years, and biggest since My Sweet Lord hit 1. Never was prolific, George. It wouldn’t be christmas without Slade would it? Of course not! So it’s back in at 18 a year after hitting my top 3 - remember it all started here in popchartfeak world. Just saying it like it is, you can blame me it’s still doing the same 40 years later if that helps! Another regular classic bubbling under the UK 75 is The Ronettes fabulous Sleigh Ride. Ronnie Spector undoubtably glad she got away from Phil in the end, but here’s her 2nd hit of the year, after Be My Baby hit 1, with the track off A Christmas Gift For You, and just ahead of the other track at 20 for Darlene Love.

At 21, David Essex gets his 4th hit of 1974 with the title track from his 2nd movie Stardust, almost menacing and serious, in contrast to Gonna Make You A Star. David continues to be under-rated as a writer and performer, what he lacked in vocal dexterity he made up for in spades with conviction. The thinking schoolgirl’s popstar was Mr. Essex. Mud take a shock tumble, peaking at 20 after a run of 6 top 3’s (including 4 chart-toppers), I just preferred them glam and laddy to be honest at the time, though it will be back in christmas future to make amends. Billy Swan’s country-pop classic, covered by Elvis, and a minor anthem, I Can Help enters at 30, and it’s still a great song. Finally The Tymes scrape in at 40 with their UK number one in January 1975, Ms Grace. I like it now, but then it pissed me off for keeping Gloria Gaynor off the UK charts top spot. Bah!




1 ( 2 ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
2 ( 1 ) GET DANCIN’ Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes
3 ( 3 ) YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET Bachman-Turner Overdrive
4 ( 6 ) WOMBLING MERRY CHRISTMAS The Wombles
5 ( 7 ) SO LONG Abba
6 ( 4 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir
7 ( 30 ) DING DONG George Harrison
8 ( 10 ) HEY MR CHRISTMAS Showaddywaddy
9 ( 9 ) LOVE IS ALL Roger Glover and Guests (featuring Ronnie Dio)
10 ( 5 ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY Wizzard

11 ( 16 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
12 ( 8 ) THE INBETWEENIES The Goodies
13 ( 13 ) FATHER CHRISTMAS DO NOT TOUCH ME The Goodies
14 ( 14 ) ARE YOU READY TO ROCK Wizzard
15 ( 15 ) JE T’AIME...MOI NON PLUS Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
16 ( 12 ) YOU CAN MAKE ME DANCE SING OR ANYTHING (EVEN TAKE THE DOG FOR A WALK MEND A FUSE FOLD AWAY THE IRONING BOARD OR ANY OTHER DOMESTIC SHORTCOMINGS) The Faces featuring Rod Stewart
17 ( 11 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
18 ( NEW ) MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY Slade
19 ( NEW ) SLEIGH RIDE The Ronettes
20 ( 21 ) CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME) Darlene Love



21 ( NEW ) STARDUST David Essex
22 ( 17 ) HOLD ME TIGHT Johnny Nash
23 ( 26 ) CHRISTMAS SONG Gilbert O’Sullivan
24 ( 20 ) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Mud
25 ( 25 ) EVERYBODY NEEDS A RAINBOW Ray Stevens
26 ( 22 ) CANDY BABY Beano
27 ( 29 ) DOWN DOWN Status Quo
28 ( 18 ) IRE FEELINGS (SKANGA) Rupie Edwards
29 ( 19 ) YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL George McRae
30 ( NEW ) I CAN HELP Billy Swan



31 ( 23 ) I AM THE WALRUS The Beatles
32 ( 24 ) WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? The Supremes
33 ( 27 ) SHBOOM (LIFE COULD BE A DREAM) Sha Na Na
34 ( 28 ) ZING WENT THE STRINGS OF MY HEART The Trammps
35 ( 31 ) KILLER QUEEN Queen
36 ( 32 ) CHERI BABE Hot Chocolate
37 ( 33 ) THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN Lulu
38 ( 36 ) JUKEBOX JIVE The Rubettes
39 ( 35 ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
40 ( NEW ) MS GRACE The Tymes






TV at christmas was always a huge treat for me, so many great films and specials - this week there was The Time Machine, still a fave film version of the H.G. Wells novel, and The Marx Brothers in Go West. I love the Marx Brothers, especially Groucho, a major hero of mine at the time with his one-liners and put-downs. Top Of The Pops, of course, and future christmas regular (for a decade or so at any rate) The Goodies And The Beanstalk, a repeat of brilliant TV western comedy Alias Smith And Jones, and some bonus holiday Star Trek episodes (hooray!) each day. On BBC2, the fantastic MASH, the watchable Call My Bluff, Film Night has interviews with the Python team on location for The Holy Grail (that would be good to see again, probably wiped like everything else from this era, though), and I first watched the disturbing film “If” with Malcolm McDowell, which had an effect on me in more than one way, not the violence, which shocked, but the elite school life scenes.

The Radio Times, from whence this information comes (I don’t have THAT good a memory) had printed a letter from 15-year-old Peter Capaldi earlier in the year praising Doctor Who, though I take issue with the insistence of the BBC calling the TV animated great Top Cat “Boss Cat”. On every day, the title theme is Top cat, the cat is called Top cat and TC in the show, and it was called Top Cat when first shown in the early 60’s (inspired by Sgt Bilko), but no, there was a cat food called Top Cat and they wouldn’t want to be seen advertising. Mad BBC, absolutely insane. No idea what was on ITV, but probably a James Bond film at sometime and an episode of Rising Damp, a great cast, great script, great characters.

Posted by: popchartfreak 3rd January 2015, 09:54 PM

31st December 1974

New Years Eve, and I was at home watching TV. I know this because I saw the new year in (for the first time, almost sweet seventeen years old) watching Billy Wilder’s classic bittersweet comedy The Apartment on my black & white TV in my bedroom. It became an instant tearjerking (yet feelgood) fave, and I loved Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon already anyway (and Fred MacMurray playing a non-Disney nastier role than we were used to). I’d also bought myself a brand new proper spiral-bound notepad to make my charts more official-looking, and to be able to incorporate more records in my first official top 50 - just like Record Mirror which published all the charts that mattered at that time, including the UK Top 50 singles chart, and which was my must-buy bible.

So, first top 50 number one? I bought the record, and made it my top record in protest at the BBC not playing it (it was just outside the top 30), and cos I loved it anyway: naughty Je T’Aime..Moi Non Plus, completely absent from my 1969 charts age 11, completely owned 5 years on aged 16. Yay! With the extra 10 places lots of new entries for records that would otherwise not have charted, and quite a few re-entries showing just how many records were missing out on decent chart runs with the restricted slots available. To be honest even 50 wasn’t enough, really, but it was good enough for the BBC....

David Essex gets his 5th consecutive top 10 single, Billy Swan his first, christmas records suffer a decline, and highest new entry is Australian MOR I Am Woman and Delta Dawn big American star, Helen Reddy. Not eligible for my charts pre-1974 (as she’d had no UK hits) but Angie Baby changed all that, a spooky, swirling, disturbing minor classic and US number one. In at 16. At 18, Stevie Wonder gets his 5th chart hit of 1974 with the groovy Boogie On Reggae Woman, while actual reggae men popped in lower down, Ken Boothe’s follow-up to Everything I Own (Crying Over You) and John Holt’s jolly version of Gladys Knight’s weepy 1972 ballad hit Help Me Make It Through The Night.

The Jackson 5 near the end of their Motown career, with Life Of The Party, a flop single, in at 29 and almost 5 years of hits. For the first time (and last?) I chart an extended dance record twice, as the second half was on the B side (as was the fashion in those days, it was cut in half, faded out, and faded in on the B side) - Disco Tex’ Get Dancin’ Part 2. At 40, it’s a genuine huge American hit, his 2nd chart entry of the year for Harry Chapin, and the powerful, touching song Cats In The Cradle, the story of a dad with no time for his kid getting his comeuppance when old. I loved it to bits, and still do, despite the UK hit version being the trashy 1992 Ugly Kid Joe bloated monster. It lacks the subtlety and feeling of the original entirely.

Also in, Kenny with The Bump, a monster dance craze of the time, and this was the buttock-clashing cash-in pop single from the Bay City Rollers writer-producers Martin and Coulter, they of Puppet On A String, and many a hit record fame. They had even had a great 1973 number one for me with Irish singer Kenny, Heart Of Stone. Knowing they were onto a good thing, they nicked the name, gave it to a young band, and new pop stars were born. I wasn’t a huge fan though. The Carpenters I was a huge fan of, but the sudden change to jolly pop instead of classy ballad pop (like jolly Top Of The World and Jambalaya) had disappointed me, so this jolly cover of the Marvelettes 60’s song took a bit of getting used to, but it won me over in the end.



1 ( 15 ) JE T’AIME...MOI NON PLUS Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
2 ( 1 ) NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE Gloria Gaynor
3 ( 2 ) GET DANCIN’ Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes
4 ( 3 ) YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET Bachman-Turner Overdrive
5 ( 6 ) HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) John & Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir
6 ( 7 ) DING DONG George Harrison
7 ( 5 ) SO LONG Abba
8 ( 9 ) LOVE IS ALL Roger Glover and Guests (featuring Ronnie Dio)
9 ( 21 ) STARDUST David Essex
10 ( 30 ) I CAN HELP Billy Swan

11 ( 4 ) WOMBLING MERRY CHRISTMAS The Wombles
12 ( 10 ) I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY Wizzard
13 ( 8 ) HEY MR CHRISTMAS Showaddywaddy
14 ( 14 ) ARE YOU READY TO ROCK Wizzard
15 ( 16 ) YOU CAN MAKE ME DANCE SING OR ANYTHING (EVEN TAKE THE DOG FOR A WALK MEND A FUSE FOLD AWAY THE IRONING BOARD OR ANY OTHER DOMESTIC SHORTCOMINGS) The Faces featuring Rod Stewart
16 ( NEW ) ANGIE BABY Helen Reddy
17 ( 17 ) SOUND YOUR FUNKY HORN KC And The Sunshine Band
18 ( NEW ) BOOGIE ON REGGAE WOMAN Stevie Wonder
19 ( 11 ) I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE Marvin Gaye
20 ( 12 ) THE INBETWEENIES The Goodies



21 ( 13 ) FATHER CHRISTMAS DO NOT TOUCH ME The Goodies
22 ( 27 ) DOWN DOWN Status Quo
23 ( 22 ) HOLD ME TIGHT Johnny Nash
24 ( 18 ) MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY Slade
25 ( 19 ) SLEIGH RIDE The Ronettes
26 ( 26 ) CANDY BABY Beano
27 ( 23 ) CHRISTMAS SONG Gilbert O’Sullivan
28 ( 20 ) CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME) Darlene Love
29 ( NEW ) LIFE OF THE PARTY The Jackson 5
30 ( 28 ) IRE FEELINGS (SKANGA) Rupie Edwards

31 ( 39 ) LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS Elton John
32 ( 29 ) YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL George McRae
33 ( 38 ) JUKEBOX JIVE The Rubettes
34 ( RE ) OH YES YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL Gary Glitter
35 ( 24 ) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Mud
36 ( 25 ) EVERYBODY NEEDS A RAINBOW Ray Stevens
37 ( NEW ) GET DANCIN’ PART 2 Disco Tex and The Sex-o-lettes
38 ( NEW ) CRYING OVER YOU Ken Boothe
39 ( NEW ) HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT John Holt
40 ( NEW ) CATS IN THE CRADLE Harry Chapin



41 ( RE ) GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR David Essex
42 ( NEW ) THE BUMP Kenny
43 ( NEW ) PLEASE MR POSTMAN The Carpenters
44 ( RE ) MY BOY Elvis Presley
45 ( RE ) WILDCAT Merlin
46 ( 37 ) THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN Lulu
47 ( RE ) ONLY YOU Ringo Starr
48 ( RE ) SHA LA LA LA (MAKES ME HAPPY) Al Green
49 ( 34 ) ZING WENT THE STRINGS OF MY HEART The Trammps
50 ( 36 ) CHERI BABE Hot Chocolate




On TV Christmas day Top Of The Pops had Jimmy Saliva hosting so I guess it’ll never be broadcast ever again, though it is in the vaults. Ditto Part 2 as DLT was hosting, convicted of the ban-worthy crime of copping a feel. Santa had brought me gifts, though none of them spring to mind - I think Partridge Family Greatest Hits was probably one, record vouchers another (grandma often used to get me those), and on telly a fave film from Singapore RAF cinema days, True Grit, with John Wayne, the fab Kim Darby, and even fabber when non-acting Glen Campbell. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Race, were other film feast faves and the great Harry O David Janssen TV detective show was on along with some Doctor Who repeats.