We're thirty percent into the countdown of our favorite songs of 1974. We call it the 1974 Hideaway 100 so we have to at least make it through another seventy songs from 1974. For those of you arriving late to the party, you're more than welcome to jump on in or get up to speed with Part I: 100-91 Part II: 90-81 Part III: 80-71.
I've always liked this sunshine-soaked soft rock anthem and count myself fortunate that Dad was always a Sedaka fan so I had plenty of Sedaka albums to enjoy. "Laughter In The Rain" topped the easy listening chart for two weeks in November 1974 after spending the summer on the UK charts where it peaked at number 15. Casey Kasem debuted the single on American Top 40 the week of November 16, 1974, pointing out that it was Sedaka's "first hit in eleven years..." The very next week, Casey introduced the song, which had moved up to number 32, by saying it was Sedaka's "first hit in eight years..." During the show that was broadcast during the first weekend of February 1975, the week that "Laughter In The Rain" ascended to the Number One spot on the countdown, Kasem said Sedaka "hasn't been on the Hot 100 for nine years..." Neil Sedaka's last Hot 100 single of the Sixties exited the chart in February 1966. You do the math. Watch Neil discuss his comeback or listen to "Laughter In The Rain".
This one was a late bloomer for me, too, as it didn't register until 1997 or so when I picked up a used copy of The ABC's Of Soul Volume 2 Classics From The ABC Records Catalog 1969-1974. Admittedly, I bought the disc for three other songs then fell for "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City" while listening to it all the way through. Whenever possible I pair this song with Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street" for a great double-play. The single spent seven weeks on the Hot 100, debuting at number 100 and peaking at number 91 although over on the soul singles chart it peaked at number 9 in a fifteen-week journey. Listen to "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City" by Bobby Bland or the really great 2020 cover by Black Pumas.
"Mockingbird" just makes me feel like a kid again every time I hear it. While I prefer to hear the Inez Foxx version with her brother Charlie from 1963, I won't skip this husband and wife duet when it plays. Taken from Carly Simon's album Hotcakes, "Mockingbird" spent thirteen weeks in the Top 40 peaking at number 5 in March 1974. Listen to Simon & Taylorfunkel sing "Mockingbird".
When she was one of the nominees announced for The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Class of 2022, Dolly Parton humbly and gracefully bowed out saying she did not feel she had earned the right to be inducted... yet. She later said she'd "accept gracefully" her possible induction and that's just what she did when it was announced in May 2022 she was to be inducted. Through no fault of her own, the performance of "Jolene" that closed the Rock Hall 2022 ceremony was absolutely bonkers, overpowering the quietly passionate and vulnerable lyrics of Dolly Parton's song. The single "Jolene" debuted on the Hot 100 in January 1974 and peaked at number 60 five weeks later before falling off the chart entirely after another two weeks. Listen to Dolly's original take on "Jolene" or watch her perform it on That Good Ole Nashville Music in 1974.
Love the Seals & Crofts song released in 1972. Love the Isley Brothers' funked-up and fuzzed-out remake of their own "Who's That Girl" as 1973's "That Girl". So it is no stretch that I really, really like the Brothers' slow-burning take on "Summer Breeze". Ernie Isley's effects-drenched guitar work paired with brother Ronald's sultry vocals take the song from its detailed slice-of-life observations to a joyous celebration. "Summer Breeze" hit the Hot 100 in March 1974, peaking at number 60 the following month, spending just seven weeks total on the chart. Listen to Part 1 or go for the full trip with Parts 1 and 2 HERE.
One of the ways I fought the daily tedium of scheduling music for our station was through "secret segues", groups of songs that shared a theme. My definition of a theme was limited only by my imagination and the 1800 or so songs we had in rotation. While most of my secret segues flew under everyone's radar, it was always neat when a listener would text or email in saying they recognized a theme. Even when they are unintentional. One day, I scheduled "Tin Man" and Toto's "Hold The Line" together followed by "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". The jock picked up what I was putting down and came into my office halfway through the set, said "Well played" and did the we're-not-worthy bow before returning to his booth. "Tin Man" dented the Hot 100 in late August 1974 before peaking at number 4 for three weeks in November during an eighteen-week arc. Listen to America's "Tin Man" or check out the Classic Rock Purrfection version.
The songwriting trio from his previous single (1973's "Keep On Truckin'") returned to the well for "Boogie Down" as both songs share elements and sorta kinda sound the same. Besides being an early disco floor-filler, "Boogie Down" was one of the first popular songs to use boogie as a verb rather than an adjective or noun. We prefer the 7:00 version of the song from the Boogie Down! around these parts but the 45 edit will do in a pinch. The single was held out of the Number One spot for two weeks in March 1974 by the song up at number 31 on the 1974 Hideaway 100. Listen to the "Boogie Down" 45 or stretch out a bit with DJDiscoCat's Soul Purrfection version HERE.
Dad enjoyed Jim Croce's music and took the singer's tragic death hard in the Fall of 1973. He played the everloving crap out of the two Croce albums he had and then promptly picked up I Got A Name in December 1973. His favorite radio stations and American Top 40 countdown shows kept the nation's grief alive with a string of strong posthumous singles including "I Got A Name", "Time In A Bottle", "It Doesn't Have To Be That Way" and "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song." There did come a time when Croce had finally faded from the airwaves and fans moved on until his hits began appearing on oldies stations and Time in a Bottle: Jim Croce's Greatest Love Songs, his second greatest hits album, was released in 1976. "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song" first appeared on American Top 40 in March 1974 and spent ten additional weeks in the Top 40 before leaving the Hot 100 in June.
"Takin' Care Of Business" rocks plain and simple. It just might be the hardest rocking song on the whole countdown. Uncle Sam had the Bachman-Turner Overdrive II eight track and if I recall correctly, "Takin' Care Of Business" was the very last song on the tape so he'd switch to program four and then fast forward until it came on. Dad also had the song on eight-track but his tape was K-Tel's Dynamite where the song was at the beginning of the tracklist, either first or second. Unlike his brother, Dad would just let the tape play and it had a few good songs, too, more than a few are here on the 1974 Hideaway 100. "Takin' Care Of Business" spent twenty weeks on the Hot 100 eventually peaking at number 12 for a couple of weeks in August 1974. Sing along to the song.
A sticky sweet blast of sun kissed nostalgia guaranteed to brighten the darkest day, "Beach Baby" may be the only hit single written by (a) Shakespeare. We played the shorter 3:11 single edit of "Beach Baby" a couple times during a Summer Music weekend special once on the station and we had more than a dozen emails, texts and phone messages waiting for us that Monday morning all saying we should be playing the song more frequently and it should always be the longer five-minute version with the radio tuning intro rather than, to quote one listener, "that cursed abomination you played." The single spent eleven weeks in the Top 40, peaking at number 4 for a couple of weeks in October 1974. Check out the requested full-length stereo version HERE or listen to "that cursed abomination" in MONO HERE.
Only sixty more songs to go!
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