January 1974

January 1974...  40 years ago...  I was 13.5 years old, in 8th grade and living in Pittsburgh.  The Dolphins won their second consecutive Super Bowl.  The last episode of Love American Style aired, and the first episode of Happy Days...  

What was happening in music?

• Bob Dylan release the album Planet Waves.  No big hits, but a nice little album with Bob and The Band.  On A Night Like This peaked at #44.
• Joni Mitchell released Court And Spark, featuring Help Me (#7), and Free Man In Paris (#22)
• Carly Simon released Hotcakes, featuring the hits Mockingbird (#5) and Haven't Got Time For The Pain (#14)
• Gordon Lightfoot released Sundown, featuring the hit title track (#1) and Carefree Highway (#10).

   A good month for Singer-Songwriters...


Meanwhile:
A sampling of what was in the Top-40 (with the month's peak position and week in parenthesis):

• Time In A Bottle - Jim Croce (#1, 1/7)
• The Joker - Steve Miller Band (#1, 1/12)
• Smokin' In The Boy's Room - Brownsville Station (#3, 1/19)
• Goodby Yellow Brick Road - Elton John (#7, 1/7)
• Livin' For The City - Stevie Wonder (#8, 1/12)
• Hellen Wheels - Paul McCartney and Wings (#10, 1/12)
• Hello It's Me - Todd Rundgren (#14, 1/7)
• Walk Like A Man - Grand Funk Railroad (#19, 1/26)
• D'yer Mak'er - Led Zeppelin (#23, 1/7)
• Jim Dandy - Black Oak Arkansas (#34, 1/26)