Was 1974 Really That Bad Of A Year For Pop Music?

I enjoyed 74... matter of fact the whole decade...yes, even disco.

 

it all boils down to what floats your boat...

 

love the list although I can do without the Ringo...

 

Haven't heard that for decades, but I enjoyed it when it was on the radio. Never found out what it was though. That's got to be one of the last records to feature a faux-sitar sounding guitar effect. A little surprising -- thought they had disappeared by about 1972 or so.

 

I think it was a transitional time in popular music and culture - the early seventies seemed populated with remnants from the sixties as well as new players, and later in the decade there seemed to be a new wave of music, with far less people from the sixties. Not quite a vacuum, but transitional enough to allow more entrants on the playlists that otherwise might not have as big as look as they did. Also the album came into focus and long pieces which where not released as singles were commonplace.

I had a look at my iTunes library - I've over 1300 "A" sides from the decade - there's a steady decline from 1970 to 1975, then a steady but smaller incline from here on in to the end of the decade. I've 111 "A" sides from 1974, well above the low of 84 from 1975, but far less than the almost 200 at the beginning of the decade.

You're other question (favourite of 1974) - I suspect it's "I Shot the Sheriff" by Mr. Clapton - fresh and sunny both then and now.

 

I was way into music as a toddler, too. When I was in college, I mostly thought I would never want to hear again a lot of the stuff I grew up liking. Much to my now-regret, I gave away hundreds of albums and singles because I simply thought I was too sophisticated to ever want to listen to the pop music of my youth again. Fast forward about 10 years and not only did I want to listen to Three Dog Night (just one example) again, but some of what I had embraced in college was now in the group of stuff that I no longer wanted to hear.

 

Yeah, there are undeniably many exceptions to the rule. I mean, the Beatles are my favorite band and I was 3 when they broke up, so I have zero memory of them when they were current!

Still, if I look at my 10 favorite artists now, I liked pretty much all of them by the time I was 18!

 

I did a lot of record buying in 1974. Some of it may not have been records recorded in that year, but there was a lot of good stuff that came out. It was a great year for Prog Rock if you are into that genre. Perhaps not as good as say 1969, but not bad either Here are among some of my personal favorites which are still in my collection today.

Steeley Dan = Pretzel Logic
Joni Mitchell = Court and Spark
Lou Reed=Rock and Roll Animal
Sundown = Gordon Lightfoot
Aerosmith = Get Your Wings
Eagles = On the Border
Kansas = Kansas
Lynyrd Skynyrd = Second Helping
Robin Trower = Bridge of Sighs
Blue Oyster Cult = Secret Treaties
David Bowie = Diamond Dogs
Be-Bop Deluxe = Axe Victim
Neil Young = On the Beach
Eric Clapton=461 Ocean Blvd
Little Feat = Feats Don't Fail Me Now
Gentle Giant = Power and the Glory
Jethro Tull = War Child
Pretty Things = Silk Torpedo
Kraftwerk = Autoban
Genesis = The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
George Harrison = Dark Horse

1974 was a transition year in my opinion. It was when the previous era was closing and setting up for 1975 through 1977 which I consider the last pop/rock era before punk and new wave came on the scene.

 

That might be one of the differences between many others and myself: I never turned my back on the music of my youth.

 

I suppose that if you didn't buy buy singles and listen to them on the radio, you didn't connect with pop music, and you may think worse of it than someone who did. Late 1974 was transitional, not for punk, but for the infusion of funk and disco into the pop charts and top 40 radio.

 

I guess some have been mentioned or discussed, but you got me thinking..

Kraftwerk: Autobahn
Nina Simone: It is Finished
Neil Young: On the Beach
Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
John Cale: Fear
Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Animal
Popol Vuh: Einsjäger und Siebenjäger
David Bowie: Diamond Dogs
Sparks: Kimono My House
Harmonia: Musik von Harmonia
Stevie Wonder: Fullfillingness’ First Finale

 

Of course there was good stuff released in '74 just like any other year. Still, there was bad, too. Really, really bad.

 

It sure was a whole lot worse then the best ever year 1973.

 

Not me.
Music during my college years, 1980-84, seemed much weaker, with the exception of the early 80s, which still sounded a lot like the previous decade.
(Same with 1960-63 sounding a lot like the late 50s.)

I dislike much of the "MTV 80s," which ruined popular music, imo.
Not all of it was bad, of course, and there were many good songs throughout the decade, but most of it wasn't of interest to me (like Madonna, Michael Jackson, rap, heavy metal).

"My era" is mid-late 70s. Though I have many songs from that era, I quickly get bored & return to my 60s- early 70s collection.

Before I had an MP3 player, I made CDs with random songs from certain eras (late 50s, early 60s, mid-60s, late 60s, early 70s, mid-70s, etc).
The latter 70s were less interesting, overall, with the exception of songs like Baker Street, Fool (If You Think it's Over), etc.)

 

I like these, the others I haven't heard. "Sundown" and "The Air That I Breathe" are really great songs.

 

Of course, "bad" is in the mind or the person. I happen to like "Billy, Don't Be A Hero", but many others don't. It's not a bad song at all. It just isn't what some people enjoy and I understand why they don't enjoy it. It sounds like a kid's song. But, so did "Yellow Submarine" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

 

That's what an opinion is - in the mind of the person giving it. If you like the song you mentioned well, that's great for you. I happen to hate it but really, someone else's opinion shouldn't take away your enjoyment of whatever you like. And it being a kid's song has nothing to do with why I hate it. I mean, I have no problem with The Candy Man, Sugar Sugar or Playground In My Mind and they're all kid songs. People have derided songs I like many times but I simply don't base my feelings on what others say about things.

 

I don't think Sugar Sugar is a kid's song.

 

Cocaine had started to take hold. It was the beginning of a very shallow age.

 

I was a junior in high school in 1974. Whenever a certain teacher walked into the classroom, students would whisper, "The Bitch Is Back." Many office referrals were due to this song.

 

Exceptions to the rule: Eno, Cale & Mitchell. In other words the off-the-scale creative geniuses of the mid 70s. Sorry David Bowie you just did too much snow!

 

You think "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a "kid's song" but "Sugar Sugar" isn't?

 

I love Redbone in general. Very underrated band. They should have been huge. If you dig "Come and Get Your Love" you should definitely check out their discography. Start with the self-titled debut.

 

Yup.

 

You haven't heard Al Green's version?