I made this mix of 1974 lost classics by systematically listening to every Billboard Hot 100 single of that year and picking the best songs I had never heard before. I was inspired by Casey Kasem’s American Top 40, which always seems to be full of once-popular songs that no one remembers. These 16 songs, which all had their chart peak in 1974, sound just as good as the better known hits, plus they feel shiny and new!
1. Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes — “Get Dancin’”
Chart peak: #68, December 7, 1974
It’s a shambolic, early disco mess, but the main hook of the chorus — “TRUCKIN’ with his Sex-O-Lettes” — is terrific, especially with the little harmony overlaid on that line. Tex’s “real” name was Sir Monti Rock III, and he was a celebrity hairdresser turned staple of ’70s New York, appearing frequently on Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin. I love his call outs, especially “Nobody cares how you wear your hair, darling!”
2. Hoyt Axton — “When the Morning Comes”
Chart peak #54, June 29, 1974
The perfect example of the kind of smooth, classy country that could be found the ’70s. There’s a gentle humor that’s very appealing as well. The female singer here is Linda Ronstadt, shining on her solo and harmony vocals. More of a country staple, Axton is perhaps best known in the pop world for writing “Joy to the World” for Three Dog Night.
3. William DeVaughn — “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got”
Chart peak: #4, June 29, 1974
“Be Thankful for What You’ve Got” went to #4 — the biggest hit on this mix — so I’m surprised I’d never heard it. The lines “Diamond in the back/Sunroof top/Diggin’ the scene/With a gangsta lean/Ooh-ooh” are the centerpiece of the song and an excellent hook despite being almost an afterthought to the chorus. And while it’s not a radio staple, this song has clearly been an influence on R&B and hip-hop. It may be one of the earlier uses of the word “gangsta” in a song and the phrase “diggin’ the scene” has also made its way into the lexicon, notably on TLC’s “Creep.”
4. The Bee Gees — “Mr. Natural”
Chart peak: #93, March 23, 1974
This is my one cheat for this mix, as “Mr. Natural” is a song that I’ve grown to love in the past year. However, it barely squeaked into the Hot 100 and the only reason I know it is because I fell in love with The Bee Gees and decided to actively listen to all their albums. I’ve never heard it in the wild. 1974 was really The Bee Gees’ forgotten year, coming right before their transition to disco superstars. But “Mr. Natural” and its eponymous album are fantastic and deserve to be more well-known. I’ve already covered this topic extensively on my blog, so let me just sum it up here: hooks, melody, harmony, pop perfection.
5. Joni Mitchell — “Free Man in Paris”
Chart peak: #22, September 28, 1974
“Free Man in Paris” was Joni Mitchell’s second biggest chart hit, even bigger than “Big Yellow Taxi.” It just goes to show that sometimes the charts are a bad predictor of which songs make the jump to mass culture. This one was a grower for me, but after two or three listens, I found myself really enjoying the melody of the chorus, particularly the “star-maker machinery” line. It’s beautifully produced by Mitchell herself, with lots of clear, bright instrumentation and subtle backing vocals by David Crosby and Graham Nash. I like how the male perspective (based on her friend David Geffen) breaks down the expectation that a first-person song necessarily has to express the direct experiences of the singer.
6. Golden Earring — “Candy’s Going Bad”
Chart peak: #91, November 2, 1974
I struggled to include rock music on this mix, and “Candy’s Going Bad” was the only song that made the cut. My theory is that a pro-rock bias has resulted in almost every good rock song of 1974 being fairly well-remembered today, leaving mainly the dregs as potential lost classics. Golden Earring are actually pretty good English lyricists for being Dutch. Individual phrases like “champagne desert” or “the studs and mares of the night” conjure a seedy alternate reality. The instrumental outro is intriguingly moody.
7. Tom T. Hall — “I Love”
Chart peak: #12, March 2, 1974
I challenge you to listen to this song all the way through without smiling. Go on, try it. If you’re not grinning like an idiot by the time you get to “little fuzzy pups,” you might want to take a serious look at your ability to enjoy life. Actually, “I Love” is deceptively good lyrically, ostensibly sung from the perspective of some kind of simpleton, but employing a perfectly balanced mix of country life, cute animals, non-sequiturs (“onions”??), and a few more adult pleasures (“bourbon in a glass and grass,” a line that was actually censored). Musically the strings are a bit schmaltzy, but overall an enjoyable and unique song.
8. Eddie Kendricks — “Son of Sagittarius”
Chart peak: #28, June 15, 1974
Kendricks, one of the original Temptations, was known for his falsetto, and it’s a great one, especially in conjunction with the backing vocalists. Good songwriting here too, by dark horse Motown player Frank Wilson and a couple others. The minor key and planetary/astrological references give it an air of mystery.
9. Seals and Crofts — “King of Nothing”
Chart peak: #60, June 22, 1974
“King of Nothing” starts out as an jangly, acoustic pop ditty, but has a surprising build around the midpoint with the horn arrangement taking on depth and some nice key changes, too. The trumpet is superb throughout. I also find the lyrics really relatable. I think it’s easy as a young person to assume your life will naturally develop into something incredible, only to come to terms with your relative ordinariness as you get a bit older. The switch from minor to major key between the verse and chorus suggests there can be a joy and freedom that comes with this realization.
10. Barbra Streisand — “All in Love is Fair”
Chart peak: #63, April 20, 1974
You have to give ’74 Babs some credit for song choice. (Seriously, you need to hear her version of Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” recorded later that same year, but unfortunately not a hit.) This Stevie Wonder ballad is great any way you slice it, and Streisand adds her trademark melodrama and vocal flourishes. There’s a certain iciness to the vocal that’s not inappropriate for the subject matter, but it does make me miss the warmth of the original just a little.
11. Lamont Dozier — “Fish Ain’t Bitin’”
Chart peak: #26, July 27, 1974
One-third of the legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland Motown songwriting team, Lamont Dozier had some solo chart success in the mid-70s. “Fish Ain’t Bitin’” is explicitly political, addressing itself directly to “Tricky Dick,” but it still has plenty of hooks and a great arrangement with lots of pre-disco strings.
12. Jerry Reed — “Crude Oil Blues”
Chart peak: #91, March 9, 1974
Along with Nixon resigning, the energy crisis was one of the major national news stories of 1974. It had a surprising impact on the charts, with three energy-crisis themed songs making the Hot 100. “The Crude Oil Blues” is probably the best of them. It’s undeniably silly, but catchy and good-humored. And as someone who hates being cold, I respond deeply to the line “Honey, when you’re cold, you’re cold.”
13. The Main Ingredient — “California My Way”
Chart peak #75, November 30, 1974
This song has so many brilliant little flourishes in the interplay between the main vocalist and back-up singers. Among the best ones: the low and high “yeahs” on the line “I’ve got my bags packed, yeah (yeah),” the whoa-oh after “any day”/“right away,” and the comic “Hollywoooood.” Another stellar trumpet line here too. There’s an earlier recording of this song by the Fifth Dimension provides a useful counterpoint to illustrate just how cool and smooth this version really is.
14. The Wombles — “Wombling Summer Party”
Chart peak #55, August 31, 1974
It’s a good thing “Wombling Summer Party” is fun and catchy, because it would have been very hard for me not to include it. For some reason, I cannot seem to avoid the Wombles in my life. I first became aware of them through a WFMU-produced DVD of bubblegum performances on ’70s variety shows. Then, I became obsessed with a car in my neighborhood with a “Wombles” license plate. Then, I traveled to England and ended up at an AFC Wimbledon football match — their mascot is a Womble! For Americans, The Wombles are British children’s book characters. They are mole-like creatures that live on Wimbledon common and clean up trash and recycle it. In the ’70s, they got translated into a bubblegum group, churning out decently well-crafted Womble-themed songs. This one is a straight-up Beach Boys pastiche, impressive for its ability use the word “Womble” in nearly every line.
15. First Choice — “The Player”
Chart peak: #70, October 19 1974
First Choice was turning out fully-formed disco throughout 1974. It’s a shame they were a little early, because they represent the genre at it’s best: powerhouse vocals, extravagant horn and string arrangements, plenty of hi-hat.
16. The Isley Brothers — “What It Comes Down To”
Chart peak: #55, March 2, 1974
It’s instructive that my favorite soul group, The Isley Brothers, made a cottage industry out of recording transformative covers of soft-rock hits in early ’70s. Their music takes some of the melody and lightness of the Laurel Canyon sound and marries it to rhythm, dynamic vocals, and the extraordinary, burbling guitar sound of Ernie Isley. This lesser-known original ticks all the same boxes. I especially love how Ronald Isley’s vocal on the affected low notes (“I got moi-ine”) picks up something of the tone of the guitar.
Fascinating mix