The Top Hits Of 1974 - Volume II Quiz

Answer: Seasons In The Sun

This composition, written in 1961 by Jacques Brel and originally entitled "Le Moribund", spoke of a dying man reminiscing about the good times he had as a youth. Born in Belgium in 1929, Brel was a poet/singer/songwriter who was enormously popular in France from the early 1950s and thereafter. Before doing this research, I thought that it might have been autobiographical in nature but clearly it wasn't. Brel did die relatively young, however, aged 49 of lung cancer in 1978. Rod McKuen adapted it into English shortly after it was composed and he was among the several who recorded it. Others included Andy Williams, The Fortunes and The Kingston Trio, the latter my favorite interpretation.

This hit rendition was recorded by Canadian Terry Jacks. Besides its three week run at the top of the Billboard charts, it also topped the charts in Australia and the U.K. for four weeks but oddly enough, only for one week in his native country where it first achieved Number One status. Jacks formed The Poppy Family with his soon-to-be wife Susan Pesklivitz in the late 1960s and they had several hits in Canada. One of them, the million selling "Which Way You Going Billy" was also a major success in the States, peaking at Number Two in 1970. Jacks was never keen on performing live and touring. This created tension within the group and stress on the marriage. Both dissolved in 1973. Later that year, he was doing session work with the Beach Boys and recommended this song to them. They recorded it but when they declined to release it, Jacks recorded it on his own label and reaped the rewards. He continued to record for a number of years, without much fanfare, before finally retiring from the industry altogether in 1987. Since then, he has been extremely active as an environmentalist striving to counter industrial pollution in his home province of British Columbia.

Answer: The Joker

Finally, after years in the business, Steve Miller struck gold with "The Joker". Miller formed his first band in Michigan in the late 1950s while still a teenager and among his band mates was close friend Boz Scaggs. In 1966, now in San Francisco, he formed the first incarnation of the Steve Miller Band and eventually Scaggs became part of that combo as well. The band focused on a blues-rock format that wasn't particularly AM radio friendly. From 1968 to 1972, they released eight albums and six of them managed to place within the top 100 on the album charts. Many of the album cuts became FM radio staples and a few charted in the lower spectrum of the Hot 100 but none cracked the Top 40. In 1972-3, while recuperating from a broken neck sustained in an auto accident, Miller decided to adapt to a more pop-rock orientation and the result was this hit. The group would have two more Number Ones with "Rock'n Me" in 1976 and "Abracadabra" in 1982, his final Top 40 entry. Miller produced several more records over the next decade but none of them were particularly successful critically or commercially. He seems to have abandoned studio work altogether now, his last album of that ilk being released in 1993 but he does continue to tour regularly with an ever-shifting group of sidemen.

With respect to your other choices for answers, all those titles were songs from previous Miller albums and it's interesting how he incorporated them into this lyric.

Answer: The Streak

After a four year absence from the pop charts, Ray Stevens marked his return with "The Streak", the biggest hit of his long career. In the song, Stevens assumes the role of Ethel's husband and narrates the incidents as they evolve. He and Ethel were together at a supermarket, a service station and a basketball game when a streaker appears at all three venues. He implores Ethel not to look as the fellow "streaks" by but it's always just a bit too late... in the last scenario, Ethel does something left to our imagination but it's enough for hubby to call her a "shameless hussy".

Just as the song was ascending up the charts, arguably the most famous streaker of all-time, Robert Opel, did his thing at the Academy Awards presentation on April 2, 1974. He was a photographer and gay-rights advocate and purportedly did the stunt to protest the impending ban on nudity at public beaches proposed by L.A. city counsel. No doubt the incident did much to promote the song. Later, Opel would open up a risqué art gallery in San Francisco and was slain during a robbery of the gallery seven years later.

This would be Stevens' last big hit on the pop charts although his rendition of "Misty" charted a commendable Number 14 in 1975. From the early 1970s onward, most of his releases were Country oriented and throughout the 1980s, many of his songs made an impact on those charts. His last charting hit, as of this writing, was the 2001 "Osama Yo-Mama", released shortly after the Trade Center attacks.

Answer: Band On The Run

Following a Wings tour throughout the U.K. in support of the single "Live And Let Die", Paul McCartney decided to record their next project some place more exotic than London or New York. Totally naïve about the climate, the political situation or the risks involved, he chose Lagos, Nigeria where EMI had a studio. Things did not go well right from the start. During the tour, guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell were having differences with McCartney and declined the offer to participate at the last moment. Effectively, from a quintet, The Wings were clipped to a trio - Paul and Linda McCartney and rhythm guitarist Denny Laine. McCartney decided that he would do the drumming for the album tracks while he and Laine would cover the lead guitar role abandoned by McCullough.

They arrived in Lagos toward the end of the rainy season and it was hot and extremely muggy. The "studio" turned out to be nothing more than a ramshackle hut with terribly out-dated equipment. The McCartney's were even robbed at gunpoint one evening while walking where they shouldn't have been. Local authorities confided that if they had have been black, they likely would have been murdered and were only spared because the culprits assumed that whites would be unable to identify blacks in a country full of them! One line of the song reflected McCartney's observations at the time - "If I ever get out of here, thought of giving it all away to a registered charity".

When all was done, however, the album was a tremendous success artistically, critically and commercially, going triple platinum and the title song was his third Number One since leaving the Beatles.

Answer: Rock Me Gently

In 1957, a 15 year old Canadian of Lebanese extraction traveled to New York City with designs on becoming a rock star. His first release, "Diana", topped the charts and he went on to an entertainment career of iconic proportions. That was Paul Anka. In 1967, a 15 year old Canadian of Lebanese extraction traveled to New York City with precisely the same ambitions. That was Andy Kim. Needless to say, his career did not exactly mirror Anka's.

During his early forays to the Big Apple, Kim had the good fortune of establishing a relationship with songwriter/producer Jeff Barry. Together they wrote Kim's debut release "How'd We Ever Get This Way". It reached a creditable Number 21 on the charts in 1968. In 1969, he did even better scoring a Number Nine hit with the Barry penned "Be My Baby", a cover of The Ronettes 1963 version. That year he also joined Barry as co-writer of the bubblegum classic "Sugar Sugar". "Rock Me Gently" marked his return to the upper reaches of the charts after a four year fallow period but he couldn't capitalize on its success. The pressures of stardom were taking their toll and the death of his father in 1976 induced him to temporarily retire from show business until 1980 when he announced his comeback under the pseudonym Baron Longfellow. Since then, he's only recorded a couple of albums, in 1980 and 1984, neither particularly successful. No, he wasn't another Anka but with over 30M records sold worldwide, he has indeed done okay!

Answer: Sundown

"Sundown" was Gordon Lightfoot's first and only Number One hit single. At the time, Lightfoot was having a widely publicized affair with "groupie/back-up singer" Cathy Smith. It was a rather tumultuous three year liaison that ultimately cost him his marriage. Smith was later convicted in California of manslaughter in the death of actor John Belushi... she confessed to providing and administering the fatal overdose of drugs that killed him. Despite speculation that the song was about Smith, Lightfoot has never openly admitted to it. In an interview in 2000, he did indicate that the song was about marital infidelity and that he had experience with that from both sides. So, on the other hand, the song may be about his estranged spouse who allegedly had affairs of her own.

The 1970s were kind to Lightfoot commercially. All six of his charting singles were released during that decade and his albums were regularly top 50 material on those charts. When folk based music lost curry with the record buying public by the mid-1980s, Lightfoot found himself devoting less energy to studio work (he's only recorded three albums since 1986, the last released in 2004) but continues to tour, about 50-60 dates annually, and perform at special events.

Answer: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

This was a Bachman-Turner Overdrive hit, one of five Canadian-based recording acts to top the charts that year. The others were Paul Anka, Terry Jacks, Gordon Lightfoot and Andy Kim. The stuttering component in this song immediately follows the lyric given in the clue when Randy Bachman sings "you ain't seen nothing yet, b-b-b-baby". Elton John had the other stuttering bit with "B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets". Originally, the song did not have the stuttering element included. During sound checks when recording the song, Bachman threw in the "b-b-b-baby" part to jokingly mock his brother who had a bit of a stuttering problem. One take of the record was recorded that way and execs with the record label preferred that version and released it as such. On a positive note, Bachman's brother eventually overcame the speech impediment.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive was formed following Bachman's departure from The Guess Who in 1970. The group had three more Top 40 hits following this one, the last in 1976, but any further success was mitigated by constant internal upheaval. Bachman particularly was prone to move in and out of the line-up, pursuing first a solo career then forming a couple of other groups toward the end of the decade. He returned to the fold in the mid-1980s but then quit again in 1991. During those periods when Randy was independent, the remaining band members soldiered on with the moniker "BTO" and were led by Robbie Bachman, Randy's younger brother. Their brand of heavy rock made them a popular draw at arenas around the world but their last tour concluded in 2004 and, according to their website, none are planned for the immediate future.

Answer: The Night Chicago Died

"The Night Chicago Died" was a fictionalized account of Al Capone and his gang having a pitched battle with Chicago's finest. It was written by two British songwriters, Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, and recorded by Paper Lace, a quintet from Nottingham.

Earlier in the year, they had a three week chart topper in the U.K. with another Murray/Callander composition, "Billy, Don't Be A Hero". That recording was also a huge smash in Australia where it once again topped the charts for eight weeks. Their version of the song barely eked into Billboard's Hot 100 at Number 96. They were pipped by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods whose cover version rode to the top of the charts in the U.S. and Canada. As it prevailed, the end was in sight for all three entities. Paper Lace's next single, "The Black-Eyed Boys", hit Number 13 in the U.K. but only Number 41 on Billboard. A 1975 album release produced dismal results and by 1976 the group vanished into the æther. Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods had two more Top 40 entries in 1974 and a final 1975 effort that peaked at Number 95. They disbanded by 1980 but reunited in 1996 as a nostalgia act. Murray and Callander composed one more top 10 hit in Britain in 1977 then went on to pursue other interests.

Answer: Rock Your Baby

Harry Casey and Peter Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band had just written this song but found it unsuitable for them to record... the high notes were beyond the range that Casey could comfortably reach. Rather than re-write it in a different key, they decided to consider other artists that it might work for. Discussing options at the studio one day with the president of K.T. Records, George McCrae happened by and they had him do a take. His voice and vocal style were perfect for the song and a worldwide hit was incubated. McCrae had only one more Top 40 hit in the U.S. and just a few more on other Billboard charts and in the U.K. His website indicates that he remains active in the studio and on tour with Europe his focus.

When Billboard introduced their "Disco Action" chart in October of 1974, it was in response to the growing dance club scene in America's largest cities. They saw a demand for a chart that tracked the hottest dance numbers in the country. The first song to top that chart was Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye" which ultimately would peak at Number Nine on the Hot 100 in 1975. The initial chart only listed ten songs and gradually increased in size until it reached the full complement of 100 songs in 1979. Then, in 1985, it was sub-divided into two separate charts. Both contained 50 songs; one charted "club play disco/dance hits", the other "sales of 12 inch maxi-hits" or dance records. That setup continues to this day.

Now, what was the first "disco" record to hit Number One on the Hot 100? That would naturally depend on one's point of view. What was "disco" to one might not have been to someone else. The obvious candidates are: "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra which topped the charts on Feb. 2, 1974; TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia) by MFSB that peaked on top for two weeks beginning May 4; "Rock The Boat" by The Hues Corporation, Number One on July 6; and, "Rock Your Baby" by McCrae which immediately supplanted it a week later. Given what was to follow later as the standard, my vote goes to TSOP... it had the full brass sound, the constant percussive "thump-a-thump" and a chipper melody line that typified the disco sound in the years to come. Furthermore, within a year, the group MFSB became a full blown disco band, perhaps the first to exclusively record the genre.

Answer: Waterloo

The trick with the lyric provided is that the title word "Waterloo" immediately preceded each line. Couldn't very well include it, could I?

The song, of course, was sung by ABBA and it was this number that copped them first prize in the Eurovision Song Contest that year and propelled them to superstar status around the world. Well, except in North America where they were merely big stars. Their only Number One Billboard hit was "Dancing Queen" in 1977 and none of their many releases ever hit Number One in Canada. Meanwhile, in the U.K. they topped the charts nine times and in Australia, their success was "Beatle-esque". There was a period of 63 weeks from October 11, 1975 to December 18, 1976 down under where an ABBA song topped the charts in 48 of them - that's 76% of the time! The Aussies loved them and from my experiences with those fine folks, they still do.

The group's peak years were from 1975 to 1979. With each member married to one of the others within the group, it's a certainty that the demands of recording, constant touring and the pitfalls of stardom would inevitably stress their personal relationships. Eventually, both marriages ended in divorce and in the debris, so did the ABBA entity in 1982. In the ensuing years, the individual members have been noticeably quiet. The girls, Agnetha and Anni-Frid, both released solo albums during the 1980s that were reasonably popular in Europe but never made much of an impact abroad. Agnetha's last effort was released in 2004 but it seems that the reclusive Anni-Frid has essentially retired from show business altogether. The boys, Bjorn and Benny, worked with Tim Rice on the musical "Chess" in the mid-1980s and Benny has released a number of albums since 2000 but they appear to be clearly aimed to a Swedish market. Bjorn has not recorded anything whatsoever since his ABBA days. Perhaps they recognize that nothing they could do individually could ever equal what they did as a group, one that seems to maintain a life of its own. The Australian film "Muriel's Wedding" released in 1994 was loaded with ABBA songs and undoubtedly brought their music to a new generation of fans. So must the musical "Mamma Mia" currently touring the globe. One would think that this constant stream of residual income would stifle the desire to re-enter the rat race and perhaps that's the bottom line. I think I'll slip an ABBA CD into the player and enjoy them!