Throwing back to the week of December 21, 1974, we find Harry Chapin atop the Billboard Hot 100 with his father-son saga ‘Cat’s in the Cradle.’
This was the only #1 of Chapin’s career, and in fact his only appearance in the top 20. It spent one week in the top spot just before Christmas.
This song started out as a poem written by Chapin’s wife, Sandy. She based it on the estranged relationship between her former husband and father-in-law.
Throwing back to the week of December 7, 1974, we find Jamaican/British singer Carl Douglas atop the Billboard Hot 100 with a classic one-hit wonder, ‘Kung Fu Fighting.’
This disco ditty topped the charts in multiple countries and sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, tapping into growing fandom for both disco music and karate movies.
I guess it’s appropriate that today’s post follows one that mentioned offensive Asian caricatures in Disney movies, because, as The Big Lebowski‘s Walter Sobchak will tell you, “Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature.”
Throwing back to the week of November 23, 1974, we find country singer-songwriter Billy Swan atop the Billboard Hot 100 with his only hit single, ‘I Can Help.’
This was Swan’s first-ever single, which had me wondering how many artist’s had reached #1 with their debut. Turns out it’s quite a lot — more than 200. If you’re interested in learning the rest, somebody was diligent enough to create a Spotify playlist compiling them all.
Throwing back to the week of November 9, 1974, we find Bachman-Turner Overdrive atop the Billboard Hot 100 with their only #1 hit (and only one to reach the top ten), ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.’
This is a case of a song stumbling its way to success without really trying. Songwriter and frontman Randy Bachman says he wrote the song as a joke for his brother, who had a stutter, and the band recorded it with the intention that it would only ever be heard by him. (Incidentally, I’m not sure that’s a very funny joke, but I guess brothers find weird things amusing.)
Throwing back to the week of October 26, 1974, we find Dionne Warwick atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Then Came You,’ covered here a couple of weeks ago.
At #2 was Stevie Wonder’s political screed ‘You Haven’t Done Nothin’.’ which would reach the top spot the following week before dropping out of the top ten. Wonder was backed up on this track by the Jackson 5, whom he calls out by name after the second and third choruses.
Meet Me In Montauk 