If there’s a word that describes the music of 1974, it’s “influential.”
Some of the year’s best songs, which Tim and Chris have nominated for the Hall of Songs, are among the most important ever written. In this episode we talk about the roots of electronic music and modern dance pop, plus styles that weren’t fully embraced for another generation or two.
After listening to our nominees, VOTE for the greatest songs of all time! Songs from 1974, plus tunes from 1973, ’72, ’71, ’70, ’69 and ’67 are up for a shot to make the Hall of Songs! Vote now and come back on January 28 to find out which song or songs get in!
Our 1974 nominees:
- “Help Me” as performed by Joni Mitchell
- Written by Joni Mitchell; recorded late 1973; released January 1974
- “Return of the Grievous Angel” as performed by Gram Parsons
- Written by Gram Parsons; recorded summer 1973; released January 1974
- “September Gurls” as performed by Big Star
- Written by Alex Chilton; recorded fall 1973; released February 1974
- “Rikki, Don’t Lose That Number” as performed by Steely Dan
- Written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen; recorded fall 1973; released February 1974
- “Waterloo” as performed by ABBA
- Written by Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson; recorded December 1973; released February 1974
- “Rock Your Baby” as performed by George McCrae
- Written by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch; recorded late 1973; released June 1974
- “You Haven’t Done Nothin'” as performed by Stevie Wonder
- Written by Stevie Wonder; recorded late 1973; released July 1974
- “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” as performed by Barry White
- Written by Barry White, Peter Radcliffe and Tony Sepe; recorded early 1974; released August 1974
- “Cat’s in the Cradle” as performed by Harry Chapin
- Written by Harry Chapin and Sandra Chapin; recorded late 1973; released August 1974
- “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” as performed by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
- Written by Randy Bachman; recorded early 1974; released September 1974
- “Fire” as performed by Ohio Players
- Written by Billy Beck, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, Clarence Satchell and James Williams; recorded summer 1974; released November 1974
- “Autobahn” as performed by Kraftwerk
- Written byRalf Hutter, Florian Schneider and Emil Schult; recorded summer 1974; released November 1974
Listen to the full episode for more, and then vote for the songs that you think are the greatest of all-time. Scroll down or click here to vote. Then, come back on January 28, 2021 to find out the voting results, and January 30, 2022 for our discussion on 1975.