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PART FIVE
Below are the fifth group of five songs for this series from the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for 1974.
The songs’ positions on the chart are indicated below. You may notice some numbers missing. There are reasons for that; and there are reviews of the missing songs HERE.
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This time around we start with Gordon Lightfoot playing his hit Sundown. This song made it to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1974; and it was on the annual chart at #27. Read more about this song HERE.
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Next is a bubble-gum hit called Rock Me Gently by Andy Kim. This song climbed all the way to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was on the year-end chart at #29. Find out more about this popular song HERE.
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Third on this list is Ringo Starr’s cover of the song You’re Sixteen (You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine). This ‘retro’ song spent some time at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart; and it appeared on the annual chart at #31. See more information about this song HERE.
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Next on our list is another Olivia Newton-John song, If You Love Me (Let Me Know). This song made it to #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart; and was listed as #32 on the annual chart. Read more about this song HERE.
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The last song on this list is Glady Knight & the Pips’ (You’re the) Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me. This song only made it to #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart; and it was listed on the annual chart at #34. See more about this song HERE.
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Please comment with your opinions about these tunes!
‘Til next time…
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~ Trivial Music Silliness ~ 
I think these particular selections, chart positions aside, are really somewhere in the middle. Sundown is the title track and the first single, but Carefree Highway, in my opinion, is a better song. It’s still one of my favorites.
Andy, I’m sure you did your best, but bubble gum sticks to my dental work.
Ringo has always been the cool Beatle, so I think he brings that to all his work. That’s why you never hear him singing “The Sounds of Silence” or “Zombie.
Olivia is just as nice as pie and so is this song. The big bad booming bass part really makes it.
By: Kenny Nines on April 26, 2024
at 5:02 pm
Honestly, I have never particularly been all that concerned with chart positions; but that structure provides a convenient grid for this blog series. 🙂
I agree with you about Carefree Highway.
Andy Kim… yeah. I guess I put him on the shelf with Tommy Roe, The Archies, Ohio Express, 1910 Fruitgum Company…
Interesting about Ringo covering this ‘classic’ tune from more than a decade earlier – the original version appeared in the movie (and on the soundtrack) of American Graffiti, which released on August 1, 1973; then Ringo’s cover was released on December 3, 1973. Gotta think he was inspired by hearing it again in American Graffiti.
I feel like that ‘booming bass’ in Olivia’s song is nearly identical to the riffs in Let Me Be There…
By: boromax on April 26, 2024
at 6:14 pm
Oops, missed one. I love Love LOVE Gladys Knight. This song is kind of the opposite of “Sundown” in that “Imagination”, the title track, is arguably the best track on the record.
Good post, thanks.
By: Kenny Nines on April 26, 2024
at 5:06 pm
Thank YOU, Kenny. Can’t really go wrong with Gladys Knight. ~Ed.
By: boromax on April 26, 2024
at 6:15 pm
I remember liking all of these
By: John Holton on April 26, 2024
at 11:15 pm
It was a good time of our lives, mostly…. except for that whole Vietnam thing and the Watergate thing… ;)
By: boromax on May 1, 2024
at 7:11 pm
Ed,
Great choices. The only thing better than than the 70s are the 60s in some cases. Thanks,
Gary
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
By: gpavants on April 27, 2024
at 2:28 am
I’d have to agree. For the most part, I’d say – as a decade of popular music – the ’60s wins over just about any other decade. ~Ed.
By: boromax on May 1, 2024
at 7:12 pm
I don’t recall listening to the radio that much in 1974, but apparently I must have because I know all these songs pretty well. The Lightfoot song is the only one of these that I own on some sort of media. I probably have several Gordon Lightfoot cassettes.
Lee
By: Arlee Bird on April 27, 2024
at 5:54 pm
Wow. Cassettes. Once upon a time, I owned somewhere around 2500 cassettes. I spent a couple of years (about 15 years ago) digitizing them to capture the music as .mp3s. Threw all the cassettes themselves in the trash. I may have kept some of the ‘album cover’ inserts. But lost all that in a fire in 2015, including the external hard drive that housed all those .mp3s. >> sigh << Nevertheless, pretty much everything (but not ACTUALLY everything) is available on streaming services and/or YouTube these days, so…
By: boromax on May 1, 2024
at 7:18 pm
I turned 13 before the year ended in 1974. I listened to a lot of Gordon Lightfoot because my uncle did but I always liked his mellow sound. It was great for relaxing by, especially at bedtime. I enjoyed bubblegum rock then and still do. Did Andy Kim do anything else that did well? I had a wee crush on Ringo Starr. Maybe it was because he’s a drummer or that he has a fun sense of humor or both. 🙂 ONJ was such sweetheart! She seemed like such a nice person just from looking at her. She had such a pretty voice and I loved all of her songs! Gladys Knight and the Pips’s is fabulous! All your artists are different but sure do add something special to the sound from the day. Great set of songs!
By: CAAC on April 29, 2024
at 10:33 am
They all bring back good memories, don’t they? Glad you are enjoying. ~Ed.
By: boromax on May 1, 2024
at 7:19 pm
Ringo, but mainly for personal memories that had to do with camping, in a tent, at Garner State Park in Texas.
Gladys Knight is a close 2nd.
By: Texans Jack & Dodie on May 1, 2024
at 7:08 pm
OK, that camping imagery brought a smile to my face… and then a need for repentance in my heart. LOL.
By: boromax on May 1, 2024
at 7:20 pm