Every UK #1 Single Of 1974 Discussion Thread

You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me/Song for You and Me

Solid, catchy pop song. It always makes me happy to hear such a strong Beatles influence 4 years after they broke up and with all the music that happened in between.

Song for You and Me - pleasant, but not anything I'd ever seek (heh) out.

Oh man, what a great song! This is my first time hearing it. I love how there are elements of what Alice Cooper did and what Queen would come up with later in the year. I wasn't very familiar with UK glam until these series of threads so it's been fun discovering this music that didn't make much of a dent over here. I definitely have to check out Sweet more.

 

Oh, know all about ‘School Days’. Bought it on release. To be fair to the reviewers at Record Mirror, Disc etc, they did mention it was rereleased stuff. Bought it anyway. Still love loads of tracks from it; Levity Ball, Ten Minutes Before The Worm, Titanic Overture etc etc. Love me some early Alice.

 

One of the many things I like about @Bobby Morrow 's threads, is the fact that they do take deviations - discussions about which albums to buy, comedy programs from the era, and definitely albums from the timeframe, (or any great album however tenuous the link!).

I fully endorse this, as let's face it, anyone growing up listening to the music of this era, clearly has excellent taste and something interesting to say!

I think it is pretty obvious to anyone reading if a post goes against the happy vibe of the threads from the previous two years, and hopefully we can maintain that.

 

It was a constant problem for Marty.



Must have been a struggle for him to concentrate on his singing and guitar playing.

 

Sweet’s singles were a complete joy. The next one, The Six Teens, is excellent too.

 

Absolutely brilliant song and I remember this performance well!

1974 Sweet Teenage Rampage - Video Dailymotion

Sadly for reasons that will become apparent it is never now shown.

This may be of interest:-

 

Popped up on 'shuffle' in the car only the other day. Not heard it for a decade or two but still remembered every word.
Apart from the obvious Sweet box-set (which can be a little overwhelming), there's also a double German collection worth getting which has all the A-sides & B-sides in the correct running order. Oh my gosh - it's rather good.

 

God I got to hand it to ya, that is an excellent comp, and if I don't say that, someone else will!

Think I looked it up previously: buy it and boost the German economy!!

 

Yes, if we all buy it, then maybe the Germans will cheer for In-Ger-Lund tonight......or perhaps not....

 

Sweet were done no favors by their record company in the US. Many singles were never released here, and albums were cobbled together with different track lists. It was disappointing to be a Sweet fan here, and imports were hard to come by back then.

“Teenage Rampage” is terrific, and the singles on either side of it are even better. Of course it took two years for “Ballroom Blitz” to find a release in the US, but it was a deserved big hit and gave them two top fives in a row. “The Six Teens” - which is maybe my favorite Sweet single - never saw a 45 release here.

 

I've watched all Andy's songs of the month.
Actual live footage of the band recording the single as well.
Andy Scott remains to this day one of my fav guitarists.
Economical style....that never overshadowed the song.

 

Very underated guitarist and Mick was an amazing drummer.

The first Sweet album I heard was Strung Up, and hearing it at a friend's house, directly after Bay City Rollers, Rollin', you can imagine that it was for various reasons a culture shock! Heavier than Purple, Quo, Queen and Led Zep which I was listening to as a just turned 13 year old, I wonder what those screaming teen girls made of some of the tracks!

Time for football!

 

Sounds really tired for '74. As Bobby astutely noted up above, ABBA was about to slaughter acts like this.

Maybe, but there's a slight glam stomp to the beat you would never find in Orlando's work. (Speaking of ABBA...)

I far prefer Orlando's hits to this, though - better produced and catchier tunes. Of course, that could just be the nostalgia talking, since this wasn't a hit in the states (at least, not that I can recall hearing as a tyke).

 

Whats amazing is that even in January, those Christmas singles were still getting sales. You would think they would drop like stones.

 

That's what I was saying a while back. Who buys any single, but especially an Xmas single, in its 12th week on the chart when it has spent 8 weeks going down to no 48?

 

Perhaps people kept buying the Slade Christmas single because they feared it would go OOP and they’d not hear it again after 1973.

 

Stranger things have happened......

 

They were formed and managed by one of the original Seekers , Keith Potger and he initially performed with the group before a line up change to the well known version.

 

Around this time, another former Seeker, Judith Durham, fronted a band (featuring her husband, the late Ron Edgeworth) specializing in covers of jazz and blues numbers, called The Hottest Band In Town. On the March 13, 1974 edition of The Benny Hill Show (notable in that it was Nicholas Parsons' last ever appearance on the show), she and her group were the musical guests, performing a snippet of her original composition "I Wanna Dance To Your Music" before segueing directly to a cover of the old 1920's blues number "Cake Walkin' Babies From Home." That performance on that show can't be found online, so I'm providing a recording from the original album of the latter:

 

Meanwhile, the full "I Wanna Dance To Your Music":

 

Peter Doyle was a second tier pop star in the sixties. He had hits like Speechless and Stupidity and even did an album (Peter's First Album) which was rare for an Australian pop singer at the time. He changed labels and made a great single called Plastic Dreams and Toy Balloons then dyed his hair blonde and joined a Walker Brothers soundalike band called The Virgil Brothers who ended up in the UK where he joined The New Seekers

 

I'm going totally off-topic here, but since it's a UK-related thread, What the hell happened with the English squad in that match? They had the victory in the palm of their hands, were dominating most of the game, had many scoring opportunities, and yet eventually lost the plot. How can you let that slip through your fingers in such an important match!

Too bad. England vs. France would've been a crackin' final.

 

Oh God. Not football. Who gives a s**t?

Though I admit I find it hilarious when I see 50 year old men (dressed in their team's shirt, natch) sobbing because the aforementioned team has lost a game.

 

Yes, like many Englishman, I'm totally gutted, but as a Spurs supporter used to losing when totally dominating a game, coming third in a two horse race, insert a suitable cliché.

Football is an incredibly simple game, you win by scoring more goals than you concede, England failed to do this!

I'm sure that it will get brought up at some stage, England used five Tottenham players last night, with another who left The Lane only last year.

The ex-Spurs Croatian captain, unfortunately for England, was simply magnificent.

I'm now trying to forget football: there is some brilliant tennis going on!

Seems an appropriate time to mention that Judith Durham is one of my favourite singers.....

 

Rather less (Englishmen) than if England had won!