# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1974 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628 "2014-09-26T09:32:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/61 "2014-09-26T22:53:23Z")
**Smapti** , you owe me a new laptop. I puked on this one. :o ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/62 "2014-09-26T23:23:58Z")
Lots of good choices this year, but I went with The Three Degrees, followed by Jim Croce and Gordon Lightfoot. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/63 "2014-09-27T00:03:12Z")
Damn this one is frustrating. Everyone seemed to be coming down hard from the 60s drugs, but the 'ludes and cocaine had not kicked in yet. Not the weakest year, but IMO a huge clustering around the baseline. One could be tempted to put a dual joint vote for Barry & Roberta on account that if between the two of those tracks you still can’t get any lovin’, the monastery beckons. Of course someone else may propose a zeitgeist-based \*triple \*joint vote for Love’s Theme, TSOP and Kung Fu Fighting, in honor of millions of pairs of preposterous polyester bell-bottoms and the memory of Don Cornelius. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/64 "2014-09-27T00:16:46Z")
Somebody here has a very sick sense of humor. That’s the only reason I can think of for the vote for “The Night Chicago Died”, one of the most hated songs in the history of music. This was indeed a poor year for good music. I have only 4 cuts from the list in my music collection. Had to vote for MFSB because…Soooooooooul Train! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/65 "2014-09-27T00:21:07Z")
The 7yo that absolutely _adored_ “Bennie and the Jets” has just died a little when the 47yo he became voted for “The Way We Were”, while his 14yo sister is smirking with that “I told you so” look that older siblings have perfected since the dawn of time. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/66 "2014-09-27T00:41:29Z")
For the second year in a row, I went with Stevie Wonder. There’s a whole lot of feces on this list. Many years, one song has clearly finished dead-ass last in the world-famous **Ponch8 Music Rating System** , but 1974 has so many contenders, I can’t pick just one. “Seasons in the Sun,” “The Streak,” “Billy Don’t Be a Hero,” “The Night Chicago Died,” and “You’re Having My Baby” all bring up the rear. I imagine “Angie Baby” would be another contender for dead-ass last if I ever heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/67 "2014-09-27T01:05:43Z")
An old girlfriend and I have ridiculed “Seasons in the Sun” mercilessly for the last 40 years, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it. Not enough to vote for it though. In the end I went with Stevie Wonder. It’s the only song on the list that I like more now than I did when it first came out. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/68 "2014-09-27T01:10:14Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Since you were an FM listener in 1974, were you mainly listening to album-oriented-rock? If so, what albums from that year did you think were any good? I ask this because the consensus among many rock critics that the general aura of suckiness that plagued Top 40 single releases that year spread over into rock albums as well. I was tempted to start a series of polls on exactly that, if the historical charts didn’t become as dire as the singles ones appear to be becoming… [Linky.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_200_number-one_albums_of_1974) It’s mostly the same artists as are on the singles charts, some soundtracks (_The Sting_) with the Stones sneaking on. So I’m not going to do it-will get too depressing too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/69 "2014-09-27T01:31:26Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Since you were an FM listener in 1974, were you mainly listening to album-oriented-rock? If so, what albums from that year did you think were any good? I ask this because the consensus among many rock critics that the general aura of suckiness that plagued Top 40 single releases that year spread over into rock albums as well. I’m not **TC** , but… Leonard Cohen: New Skin for the Old Ceremony Eno: Here Come the Warm Jets Focus: Hamburger Concerto Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Gentle Giant: The Power and the Glory Gong: You Gryphon: Midnight Mushrumps Gryphon: Red Queen to Gryphon Three Roy Harper: Valentine Hatfield & the North: Hatfield & the North Jethro Tull: Warchild King Crimson: Starless and Bible Black King Crimson: Red Magma: Köhntarkösz Mahavishnu Orchestra: Apocalypse Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge Le Orme: Contrappunti PFM: The World Became the World Popol Vuh: Einsjäger und Siebenjäger Procol Harum: Exotic Birds and Fruit Renaissance: Turn of the Cards Roxy Music: Country Life Sparks: Kimono My House Sparks: Propaganda Steeleye Span: Now We Are Six Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic Strawbs: Hero and Heroine Triumvirat: Illusions on a Double Dimple Tom Waits: The Heart of Saturday Night Yes: Relayer Frank Zappa: Roxy and Elsewhere …to start with. For us prog fans, 1974 was an _awesome_ year for rock. It just wasn’t reflected in the Top 40. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/70 "2014-09-27T01:43:28Z")
“Cat’s in the Cradle” I guess. I mean it’s a nice sentimental song and all. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/71 "2014-09-27T02:31:40Z")
I was born in 1974. It’s a miracle that anyone born this year likes music. Fortunately, I didn’t turn on an FM radio until 1982. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/72 "2014-09-27T02:42:44Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > …to start with. For us prog fans, 1974 was an _awesome_ year for rock. It just wasn’t reflected in the Top 40. Taking Tiger Mountain! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/73 "2014-09-27T03:05:59Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > For us prog fans, 1974 was an _awesome_ year for rock. It just wasn’t reflected in the Top 40. Thanks for reminding me about Hatfield & the North. Been a long time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/74 "2014-09-27T03:42:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > …overall this is a piss-poor year. Yep. In spades. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/75 "2014-09-27T05:15:31Z")
Have to go with Bachman-Turner Overweight on this one, with Band on The Run in second place. Man, what a lousy year '74 was. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/76 "2014-09-27T06:52:09Z")
This year in #1 songs is the musical equivalent of stepping into a voting booth on Election Day and holding your nose while pulling the lever. Get ready for a song-by-song diatribe! This is the year with my personal most hated song on the list (The Joker, barf), yet there are several songs that aren’t far ahead of it. I could happily live my life out without ever hearing the following songs again: “Time in a Bottle” (although that was one of two songs redeemed this year from their use in comic book movies), “The Joker” (obviously), “The Way We Were”, “Seasons in the Sun” (to get an idea of how low this group of songs rates, a song that has won “worst song ever” polls wouldn’t even be a sure thing to win worst song on this poll, if that was an option), “Sunshine On My Shoulders” (better than "Annie’s Song, and…and…uh, that’s all I can think of for this song), “The Streak” (a novelty song so tied to the era that it that somehow makes "Convoy seem timeless. Oh, and it sucks.), “Annie’s Song” (at least it led to a funny Monty Python bit!), “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” (another song that is universally scorned, yet is better than quite a few of the other Number Ones), “Rock the Boat” (maybe not an actively awful song, but one with nothing to recommend it), “Rock Your Baby” (ditto), “Feel Like Makin’ Love” (a pretty bad song, which still makes it better than a chunk of these other songs), “The Night Chicago Died” (see comments on “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero”), “You’re Having My Baby” (Hey! Another song that has won “worst song ever” polls!), “I Honestly Love You” (hey, something has to be the worst ONJ song), and “Cat’s In the Cradle” (sorry, not a fan). The middle group of songs, which in this bunch means “tolerable”, includes “You’re Sixteen” (What was up with all the creepy songs? Between this and “Having My Baby”, I feel like I need a shower after reading the list!), “Love’s Theme” (wow, this song is, um, unctuous), “Dark Lady” (bad, just not “stab my ears with an icepick rather than listen to it” horrible), “Bennie and the Jets” (an incredibly average Elton John song), “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” (as orchestral R&B instrumentals go, this is…better than “Love’s Theme”), “The Loco-Motion” (definitely not a terrible song, but the original was miles better), “Band On the Run” (probably the best song by Wings, which just means it doesn’t entirely suck); “Sundown” (a wholly competent, wholly forgettable song); “I Shot the Sheriff” (in the glossary under “Remakes, Pointless”), “Nothing From Nothing” (honestly, an OK song, just not my type), “Then Came You” (could have been on the first list - boy, is this song bland), “You Haven’t Done Nothing” (a typically decent Stevie Wonder song, but docked points for crimes against grammar), “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (more grammar crimes, plus a pluperfect example of the type of song people mean when they complain about overplayed songs on “classic rock” radio. This song is probably being played on a radio station somewhere 24/7, and it’s Just.Not.That.Good.), “Whatever Gets You Through the Night” (well it’s better than “(Just Like) Starting Over”, which I can complain about now instead of waiting for 6 more polls until the 1980 list. At least it’s not played a lot these days for a Lennon song), “I Can Help” (zzzzz…oh, sorry, what was I saying? This song is frickin boring…zzzzzz), and “Angie Baby” (the only song on this list that I don’t remember even after listening to it on YouTube. This song is so fluffy it left my brain.) That leaves four songs: “Show and Tell” (a decent song, and not by Lou Rawls, to my surprise). Good, but not the best song of the year. “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe” (it’s Barry White, so I’ve got to give it some respect.) Again, good but no “wow” factor, at least for me. “Kung Fu Fighting” (a novelty song, but a good one!) Third best song of the bunch. “Rock Me Gently” (yeah, I was surprised to see this rate so high, but it’s darn CATCHY.) A well-crafted pop song, and the second best song in a year where most songs were fighting it out for #2 in the other sense. My top choice is “Hooked On A Feeling”, another song on the edge of novelty (and a cover to boot) that nevertheless is a song that still holds up despite, or more likely because of, its high cheese factor. To be honest, it is also the beneficiary of being used perfectly in _Guardians Of The Galaxy_. If this poll had been held a year ago, I don’t know if I would have made it my top choice. Timing is everything. Ooga shaka, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/77 "2014-09-27T08:03:17Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > My top choice is “Hooked On A Feeling”, another song on the edge of novelty (and a cover to boot) that nevertheless is a song that still holds up despite, or more likely because of, its high cheese factor. To be honest, it is also the beneficiary of being used perfectly in _Guardians Of The Galaxy_. If this poll had been held a year ago, I don’t know if I would have made it my top choice. Timing is everything. Ooga shaka, indeed. I agree with your consensus view about the number one songs of 1974. That being said, after all your analysis, I have to disagree with your final pick of Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” (except for your “[t]iming is everything” explanation). First, it’s a remake of [a much better original by B.J. Thomas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2lEO7vaozo). Second, well there are lot of other reasons but [I’ll let this recent breakdown by Todd In the Shadows explain everything](http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/tis/one-hit-wonderland/44411-hooked-on-a-feeling-by-blue-swede). Homer Simpson thought 1974 was when rock was at its peak. That should tell you something about the overall quality of music that year. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/78 "2014-09-27T10:37:17Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Every year has its good songs and bad songs. However, 1974 was different because, on the whole, the good songs were just tolerable and the bad songs were audio ipecac. Man, you nailed that description. While I will go against the grain and say 1973’s list was worse than 1974’s because fewer songs rose even to the level of tolerability, ‘audio ipecac’ is what most of this list is. Definitely. I went with “Nothing from Nothing” because it, too, summed up the year in Top 40 all too well. And what **It’s Not Rocket Surgery!** said in his song-by-song diatribe. There’s some stuff in there that I might take issue with, but he gets it about 95% right, and there’s no point in quibbling over the remaining 5%. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/79 "2014-09-27T10:55:24Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I was tempted to start a series of polls on exactly that, if the historical charts didn’t become as dire as the singles ones appear to be becoming… > > [Linky.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_200_number-one_albums_of_1974) It’s mostly the same artists as are on the singles charts, some soundtracks (_The Sting_) with the Stones sneaking on. It’s also got Dylan’s _Planet Waves_ (not a standout album for Dylan, but still pretty good stuff), which all by itself makes the list of #1 albums a better place than the list of #1 singles. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628/80 "2014-09-27T12:25:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > This list is a bit of a mystery, as I think there were decent songs that should have made it to #1, like Maria Muldaur’s sexy _Midnight At The Oasis_, with it’s great guitar work, the moody _Rock On_ by David Essex, _Please Come To Boston_ by Dave Loggins, The Hollies’ \*The Air That I Breathe, \*and Aretha’s _Until You Come Back To Me_. Every one of these songs was better than pretty much anything that made #1. I’m unfamiliar with the Aretha and Loggins songs, but IMHO the other three you mentioned wouldn’t have improved the list much. I’m not gonna friend a cactus or put a camel to bed, thanks (Muldaur), and “The Air That I Breathe” would have fit in all too well with the Sappy Parade that so many 1974 hits take part in. Since I was listening to pop radio intermittently at most during the 1971-76 period, I’ve noticed that even with songs I’m familiar with, I often am years or even decades off in my awareness of when they were released. I didn’t hear “Brandy” until nearly 20 years later, for instance, but I thought that was an outlier until now, because I never heard “Rock On” until sometime after the years started beginning with 2. But “hey kids, rock and roll, rock on” - _really?_ Of all the rock/pop songs _about_ rock n’ roll, this is definitely in the running for least ‘there’ there. > [@](#): > > Perhaps part of the reason the sappy stuff was so popular was that Vietnam essentially ended in 1973, Nixon was on his way out (gone by August), and the nation was so tired that it went into a stupor. There’s some real truth to this, IMHO. After the nearly 11-year roller coaster from “Kennedy Assassinated” to “Nixon Resigns” with all that happened in between (British invasion, civil rights, Vietnam, race riots, protests, hippies, LSD, MLK and RFK assassinations, Kent State and Jackson State, feminism, Watergate, just to start), a lot of people wanted to get off that ride and either (a) catch their breath and take stock of where we were after all the changes, or (b) hit rewind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1974/699628.md?page=5)