5/24/14

Summer Chart Flashback: Summer Singles 1974

HERC is going to celebrate the Summer of 2014 for 100 days.  From Today through September 1st, he will be posting every.single.day. so check and check often during each day as some days will feature bonus posts.  Like today. HERC is proud to present a look back at the hot singles of Summer 1974, the first year of his Favorite Decade In Music.


HERC was living on Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1974.  It was the year that he witnessed Evel Knievel jump eleven Mack trucks (below) live rather than on ABC's Wide World Of Sports.  1974 was also the year that HERC's earliest musical memories were formed: it was the year he bought his first 45 ("The Streak" by Ray Stevens - it's in the list below) and the first time he remembers hearing the voice of "Shaggy" counting down the American Top 40.  



In the Summer of 1975, HERC SR moved the family to Chanute AFB in Rantoul, IL for the third time in seven years. Though HERC cannot recall what Top 40 radio station he listened to in Fort Worth (must have been KXOL - ed.), he knows without a doubt that from 1975 until 1980, when the family moved to the Sonoran Desert, his station of choice was the Mighty WLS out of Chicago, some 120 miles away. (He did listen to WLRW out of Champaign-Urbana for his American Top 40 fix on the weekends, though.) 




Here's the complete rundown* of the 51 biggest hits WLS played forty years ago during the Summer of 1974, most of which were the same hits HERC was listening to nearly 900 miles away in Fort Worth that Summer.

click on any song title to listen
<<peak positions>>
WLSBillboardCashbox
111(You're) Having My Baby - Paul Anka
111Band On The Run - Paul McCartney & Wings
111Bennie And The Jets - Elton John
111Billy Don't Be A Hero - Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods
111Rock Me Gently - Andy Kim
111Rock The Boat - Hues Corporation
111Rock Your Baby - George McCrae
111Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
111The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk
111The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
111The Streak - Ray Stevens
211I Shot The Sheriff - Eric Clapton
231Tell Me Something Good - Rufus
255Come And Get Your Love - Redbone
267The Air That I Breathe - The Hollies
2126Takin' Care Of Business - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
211Annie's Song - John Denver
331The Entertainer (Music From The Sting) - Marvin Hamlisch
343Rikki Don't Lose That Number - Steely Dan
3610Waterloo - ABBA
33930Star Baby - Guess Who
411Feel Like Makin' Love - Roberta Flack
421Dancing Machine - Jackson 5
421Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me - Elton John
44124La Grange - ZZ Top
41310Radar Love - Golden Earring
511T.S.O.P. (The Sound Of Philadelphia) - MFSB & The Three Degrees
547I'm Leaving It Up To You - Donny & Marie Osmond
576Tubular Bells (Theme From The Exorcist) - Mike Oldfield
588You Won't See Me - Anne Murray
51513Who Do You Think You Are - Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods
611Then Came You - Dionne Warwicke & the Spinners
641The Show Must Go On - Three Dog Night
678Help Me - Joni Mitchell
697For The Love Of Money - The O'Jays
61412Wild Thing - Fancy
711Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe - Barry White
756If You Love Me (Let Me Know) - Olivia Newton-John
764Midnight At The Oasis - Maria Muldaur
833Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me - Gladys Knight & Pips
81210My Girl Bill - Jim Stafford
1034Rock And Roll Heaven - The Righteous Brothers
102718Train Of Thought - Cher
111610Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing - Stevie Wonder
114826I'm The Leader Of The Gang - Brownsville Station
1221You Make Me Feel Brand New - Stylistics
1288Hang On In There Baby - Johnny Bristol
1297(I've Been) Searchin' So Long - Chicago
1359On And On - Gladys Knight & the Pips
151016Keep On Smilin' - Wet Willie
15119I Won't Last A Day Without You - Carpenters

* for the purposes of this rundown, all songs that placed in WLS's Weekly Top 15 surveys were included, from the survey dated May 25, 1974 through the survey dated September 7, 1974.  Peak positions may have occurred before, during or after dates above.

Big, big thank you to the soft rock kid for designing the official logo for Herc's Summer In Stereo seen at the top of this page.


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