1974 in music

Events

*January - The Ramones form.
*January - Joni Mitchell releases her monumental album "Court and Spark", supported by the single "Help Me" reaching the highest moment of commercial success.
*February 1 - The Doobie Brothers release their album What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits featuring their signature and hit song "Black Water".
*February 10 - record producer Phil Spector is badly injured in a car accident. Details of the accident are kept secret.
*February 12 - New York's rock club, The Bottom Line, opens in Greenwich Village.
*February 14 - The Captain & Tennille are married in Virginia City, Nevada.
*February 18 - Yes sells out the first of two nights at Madison Square Garden, without a bit of advertising for the show.
*February 20 - Cher files for divorce from her husband of 10 years, Sonny Bono.
*March 12 - John Lennon is involved in an altercation with a photographer outside the Troubador Club in Los Angeles, California. Lennon and friend Harry Nilsson had been heckling comedian Tommy Smothers and were forced to leave the club.
*March 16 - Country music's Grand Ole Opry moves to a new location at the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee
*March 30 - The Ramones play their first concert at the Performance Studio in New York.
*April 4 - Van Halen play their first gig on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood at Gazzari's.
*April 6 - 200,000 music fans attend The California Jam rock festival. Artists performing at the event include Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Black Oak Arkansas, and the Eagles.
*April 6 - ABBA win the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England, kickstarting their stellar international career.
*April 25 - Pam Morrison, Jim Morrison's widow, is found dead in her Hollywood, California apartment from an apparent heroin overdose.
*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of the J. Geils Band, marries actress Faye Dunaway.
*August 17 Ramones play their first concert at CBGB's. The venue would help establish their place at the forefront of punk.
*December 31- Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac
*Patti Smith releases her debut recording, "Hey Joe", which many consider to be the first punk rock single.
*Lord Shorty's "Endless Vibrations" is the first soca LP and the first major soca hit worldwide.
*Peter Gabriel leaves Genesis and begins solo career.
*Rover Thomas claims to have been visited in a dream by a deceased friend near Warmun, Australia and receives the Krill Krill song cycle.
*Dino Martin, singer and son of Dean Martin, is arrested on suspicion of possession and sale of two machine guns.
*Journey signs to Columbia Records.
*Blondie forms.
*The Stranglers form with original line up.
*Daniel Amos forms out of the remnants of Jubal's Last Band.
* Twenty years after it was recorded, "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets returns to the "Billboard" Top 40, after it gains renewed popularity from its use in the film "American Graffiti" and the TV series "Happy Days".
* Robin Zander joins with Tom Petersson, Bun E. Carlos and Rick Nielson and the "real" Cheap Trick band line up as we have come to know is formed.
* The original Alice Cooper group breaks up. The band's leader, Vincent Furnier, changes his name to Alice Cooper and goes on to a solo career.

Bands formed

*Blondie (originally Angel and the Snake, changed name in 1975)
*Japan
*The Nits
*The Ramones
*Talking Heads
*The Stranglers
*Van Halen

Albums released

*"A Nice Pair" - Pink Floyd
*"Alvorecer" - Clara Nunes
*"Apostrophe" - Frank Zappa
*"Autobahn" - Kraftwerk
*"Bad Company" - Bad Company (debut)
*"Badfinger" - Badfinger
*"Before The Flood" - Bob Dylan & The Band
*"The Best of Top of the Pops '74" - Top of the Poppers
*"Big Bad Bo" - Bo Diddley
*"Burn" - Deep Purple
*"Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe" - Barry White
*"Charlie Parker on Dial" - Charlie Parker
*"The Civil Surface" - Egg
*"The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories" - Kevin Ayers
*"Country Life" - Roxy Music
*"Court and Spark" - Joni Mitchell
*"Crime of the Century" - Supertramp
*"Dandruff" - Ivor Cutler
*"Dark Horse" - George Harrison
*"David Live" - David Bowie
*"Diamond Dogs" - David Bowie
*"Desolation Boulevard" - Sweet
*"Eldorado" - Electric Light Orchestra
*"Ella in London" - Ella Fitzgerald
*"" - Elvis Presley
*"" (live) - Elvis Presley
*"Endless Summer" - Beach Boys
*"Faust IV" - Faust
*"Fear" - John Cale
*"Feats Don't Fail Me Now" - Little Feat
*"Fine and Mellow" - Ella Fitzgerald
*"Floating World" - Jade Warrior
*"Fly to the Rainbow" - Scorpions
*"461 Ocean Boulevard" - Eric Clapton
*"Free and Easy" - Helen Reddy
*"Fulfillingness' First Finale" - Stevie Wonder
*"Good Old Boys" - Randy Newman
*"Good Things Happening" - Brotherhood of Man
*"Good Times" - Elvis Presley
*"Goodbye" - Gene Ammons
*"Goodnight Vienna" - Ringo Starr
*"Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel" - Grateful Dead
*"Great Balls of Fire" - Jerry Lee Lewis
*"Greatest Hits" - Alice Cooper
*"Grievous Angel" - Gram Parsons
*"Hall of the Mountain Grill" - Hawkwind
*"Hamburger Concerto" - Focus
*"The Heart of Saturday Night" - Tom Waits
*"Here Come the Warm Jets" - Brian Eno
*"Hergest Ridge" - Mike Oldfield
*"Heroes Are Hard to Find" - Fleetwood Mac
*"The Hoople" - Mott The Hoople
*"Hotcakes" - Carly Simon
*"Hotter Than Hell" - Kiss
*"I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" - Richard and Linda Thompson
*"If You Love Me, Let Me Know" - Olivia Newton-John
*"I'm Leaving It All Up to You" - Donny and Marie Osmond
*"It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" - The Rolling Stones
*"It's Too Late to Stop Now" - Van Morrison
*"Jolene" - Dolly Parton
*"Journey To The Centre Of The Earth" - Rick Wakeman
*"June 1, 1974" - Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico
*"Kansas" - Kansas
*"Kimono My House" - Sparks
*"Kiss" - Kiss (debut)
*"Late for the Sky" - Jackson Browne
*"The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" - Genesis
*"L'Isola di Niente" - Premiata Forneria Marconi
*"Live" - Genesis
*"Live!" - April Wine
*"Live in London '74" - Bill Haley & His Comets
*"Live in Japan" - The Carpenters
*"Live Rhymin'" - Paul Simon
*"Living in the 70s" - Skyhooks
*"Love Song for Jeffrey" - Helen Reddy
*"Loud 'n' Proud" - Nazareth
*"The Main Event – Live" - Frank Sinatra
*"Manifiesto" - Víctor Jara
*"Manuel" - Dalida
*"Meet the Residents - The Residents
*"Miles of Aisles - Joni Mitchell
*"Mr. Natural" - The Bee Gees
*"Musik Von Harmonia" - Harmonia
*"Mysterious Traveller" - Weather Report
*"Natty Dread" - Bob Marley
*"The Night the Light Went on (in Long Beach)" - Electric Light Orchestra
*"Nightlife" - Thin Lizzy
*"1969: The Velvet Underground Live" - The Velvet Underground
*"Not Fragile" - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
*"Not Just Another Bunch of Pretty Faces" - If
*"Olympia 74" - Dalida
*"On the Beach" - Neil Young
*"On the Border" - Eagles
*"Odds & Sods" - The Who
*"Perfect Angel" - Minnie Riperton
*"Phaedra" - Tangerine Dream
*"Phenonmenon" - UFO
*"Planet Waves" - Bob Dylan
*"The Power and the Glory" - Gentle Giant
*"Pretzel Logic" - Steely Dan
*"Queen II" - Queen
*"Quo" - Status Quo
*"Rampant" - Nazareth
*"Red" - King Crimson
*"Relayer" - Yes
*"Remember Me This Way" - Gary Glitter
*"Ride 'Em Cowboy" - Paul Davis
*"Rock Bottom" - Robert Wyatt
*"Rocka Rolla" - Judas Priest
*"Rock 'n' Roll Animal" - Lou Reed
*"Röda Kapellet" - Röda Kapellet
*"Rub It In" - Billy "Crash" Craddock
*"Rush" - Rush (debut)
*"Sally Can't Dance" - Lou Reed
*"Second Helping" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
*"7-Tease" - Donovan
*"Sheer Heart Attack" - Queen
*"Sheet Music" - 10cc
*"Shinin' On" - Grand Funk
*"" - The Carpenters
*"Slapp Happy" - Slapp Happy
*"Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" - Robert Palmer
*"Solid" - The Groundhogs
*"Some Nice Things I've Missed" - Frank Sinatra
*"Song for America" - Kansas
*"Soon Over Babaluma" - Can
*"Standing on the Verge of Getting It On" - Funkadelic
*"Starless and Bible Black" - King Crimson
*"Starting Over - Raspberries
*"Streetlife Serenade - Billy Joel
*"Sun Secrets" - The Eric Burdon Band
*"Sweet Fanny Adams" - Sweet
*"Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)" - Brian Eno
*"Tasty" - Good Rats
*"There's the Rub" - Wishbone Ash
*"Todd" - Todd Rundgren
*"Utopia" - Todd Rundgren's Utopia
*"Up for the Down Stroke" - Parliament
*"Veedon Fleece" - Van Morrison
*"Walking Man" - James Taylor
*"War Child" - Jethro Tull
*"Waterloo" - ABBA
*"We Had It All" - Scott Walker
*"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" - The Doobie Brothers
*"Where Have I Known You Before" - Return to Forever
*"Winter in America" - Gil Scott-Heron
*"Winter Light" - Oregon
*"Wish You Were Here" - Badfinger
*"Wrap Around Joy" - Carole King
*"Zuckerzeit" - Cluster

Biggest hit singles

The following songs achieved the highest [http://tsort.info/music/yr1974.htm chart positions] in the charts of 1974.

Other Hit Singles

*"Ain't Too Proud to Beg" - The Rolling Stones
*"After The Gold Rush" - Prelude
*"Already Gone" - Eagles
*"Always Yours" - Gary Glitter
*"Another Park, Another Sunday" - The Doobie Brothers
*"Another Saturday Night" - Cat Stevens
*"Are You Ready to Rock - Wizzard
*"Band on the Run" - Paul McCartney & Wings
*"Beach Baby" - The First Class
*"Best of My Love" - Eagles
*"Billy Don't Be a Hero" - Paper Lace
*"The Bitch Is Back" - Elton John
*"Black Water" - The Doobie Brothers
*"Break the Rules" - Status Quo
*"The Bump" - Kenny
*"Bungle in the Jungle" - Jethro Tull
*"Can't Get Enough" - Bad Company
*"Cat's in the Cradle" - Harry Chapin
*"Cosmik Debris" - Frank Zappa
*"Devil Gate Drive" - Suzi Quatro
*"Diamond Dogs" - David Bowie
*"Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me" - Elton John
*"Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" - Stevie Wonder
*"Down Down" - Status Quo
*"Free Man in Paris" - Joni Mitchell
*"Going Down the Road" - Roy Wood
*"Gonna Make You a Star" -David Essex
*"Haven't Got Time for the Pain" - Carly Simon
*"Help Me" - Joni Mitchell
*"Honey, Honey" - ABBA
*"How Long" - Ace
*"I Know What I Like in Your Wardrobe" - Genesis
*"I Honestly Love You" - Olivia Newton-John
*"I Shot the Sheriff" - Eric Clapton
*"I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" - Jim Croce
*"It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" - The Rolling Stones
*"Jet" - Paul McCartney and Wings
*"Jungle Boogie" - Kool and the Gang
*"Junior's Farm" - Paul McCartney & Wings
*"Just As Bad As You" - Shawne Jackson
*"Killer Queen" - Queen
*"Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies" - The Drifters
*"Kung Fu Fighting" - Carl Douglas
*"Let It Ride" - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
*"Let The Phone Ring" - Jim Mancel
*"Long Legged Woman Dressed in Black" - Mungo Jerry
*"The Love I Lost" - Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
*"Love's Theme" - Love Unlimited Orchestra
*"Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle" - Electric Light Orchestra
*"Machine Gun" - The Commodores
*"Magic" - Pilot
*"The Man Who Sold the World" - Lulu
*"Midnight at the Oasis" - Maria Muldaur
*"Mockingbird" (with James Taylor) - Carly Simon
*"Money" - Pink Floyd
*"Mr Soft" - Cockney Rebel
*"My Melody of Love" - Bobby Vinton
*"The Night Chicago Died" - Paper Lace
*"Oh Very Young" - Cat Stevens
*"Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" -The Raspberries
*"Passing Time" - Bearfoot
*"Queen of Clubs" - KC and the Sunshine Band
*"Rebel Rebel" - David Bowie
*"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" - Steely Dan
*"Rock'n'Roll Winter" - Wizzard
*"Rock On" - David Essex
*"Rock The Boat" - Hues Corporation
*"Ride 'Em Cowboy" - Paul Davis
*"Sad Sweet Dreamer - Sweet Sensation (band)
*"Seasons in the Sun" - Terry Jacks
*"Shang-A-Lang" - Bay City Rollers
*"The Six Teens" - The Sweet
*"Smokin' in the Boys Room" - Brownsville Station
*"Star" - Stealer's Wheel
*"Stop and Smell the Roses" - Mac Davis
*"Streets of London" - Ralph McTell
*"Sugar Baby Love" - The Rubettes
*"Sweet Home Alabama" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
*"Takin' Care of Business" - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
*"Teenage Lament '74" - Alice Cooper
*"Teenage Rampage" - The Sweet
*"This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" - Sparks
*"Tiger Feet" - Mud
*"Tin Man" - America
*"Virginia (Touch Me Like You Do) - Bill Amesbury
*"Wall Street Shuffle" - 10cc
*"Waterloo" - ABBA
*"Whatever Gets You Through the Night" - John Lennon
*"Who Do You Think You Are"- Bo Donaldson& The Haywoods
*"You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
*"(You're) Having My Baby" Paul Anka & Odia Coates
*"You're the First, the Last, My Everything" - Barry White
*"School Love" - Barry Blue
*"Oh Yes! You're Beautiful" - Gary Glitter
*"Angel Face" - Glitter Band
*"The Cat Crept In" - Mud
*"The Wild One" - Suzi Quatro
*"Remember Me This Way" - Gary Glitter
*"Jealous Mind" - Alvin Stardust
*"Heartless" - Heart

Published popular music

* "Annie's Song" w.m. John Denver
* "Happy Days" w.m. Pratt & McClain from the ABC-TV Series "Happy Days"
* "Hasta Manana" w.m. B Andersson, S Anderson, B Ulvaeus
* "I Honestly Love You" w.m. Peter Allen & Jeff Barry
* "I Won't Send Roses" w.m. Jerry Herman from the musical "Mack & Mabel"
* "I've Got The Music In Me" w.m. Bias Boshell
* "Midnight At The Oasis" w.m. David Nichtern
* "Murder On The Orient Express" m. Richard Rodney Bennett from the film "Murder on the Orient Express"
* "Freebird"-Lynyrd Skynyrd
* "No Goodbyes" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the musical "Over Here"
* "Pencil Thin Mustache" w.m. Jimmy Buffett
*"Ring Ring" - ABBA
* "She" w. Herbert Kretzmer m. Charles Aznavour
* "Southern Nights" w.m. Allen Toussaint
* "Sundown" w.m. Gordon Lightfoot
* "Sunshine On My Shoulder" w.m. John Denver, Richard Kniss & Michael Taylor
* "Tap Your Troubles Away" w.m. Jerry Herman from the musical "Mack & Mabel"
* "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott" w.m. Don Reid
* "(You're) Having My Baby" w.m. Paul Anka
*"Gigi L'Amoroso" - Dalida
*"Anima Mia" - Dalida
*"Ta Femme" - Dalida

Classical music

*Anne Boyd - "Angklung" for piano
*George Crumb - "Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III)" for two amplified pianos and percussion (two players).
*Mario Davidovsky - "Synchronisms No. 7" for orchestra and tape
*Mario Davidovsky - "Synchronisms No. 8" for woodwind quintet and tape
*Einar Englund - "Piano Concerto no. 2"
*Nicolas Flagello - "The Passion of Martin Luther King" (oratorio)
*Joaquin Homs - "Trio"
*György Ligeti - "San Francisco Polyphony for Orchestra (1973-74)"
*Wolfgang Regel - "Requiem "à la mémoire de César Geoffray"
*Steve Reich - "Music for 18 Musicians"
*Dmitri Shostakovich - "String Quartet No.15 in E flat minor, Op.144"

Opera

*Robert Ashley - "Music with Roots in the Aether"

Musical theater

* "Candide" (Leonard Bernstein) - Broadway revival
* "" (Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim) - Broadway revival
* "Hans Christian Andersen" London production
* "Lorelei" Broadway production
* "Mack & Mabel" Broadway production
* "The Magic Show" off-Broadway production
* "Over Here!" Broadway production
* "West Side Story" (Bernstein) - London revival

Musical films

* "Huckleberry Finn"
* "Lost in the Stars"
* "Mame"
* "Phantom of the Paradise"
* "That's Entertainment!"
* "Son of Dracula"

Births

*February 11 - D'Angelo, singer, producer
*February 13 - Robbie Williams, singer
*February 23 - Jaime Villarreal, rock musician
*April 14 - Da Brat, rapper
*April 17 - Victoria Beckham, singer
*April 18 - Millie Corretjer, singer and actress
*April 20 - Tina Cousins, singer
*May 16 - Laura Pausini, singer
*May 18 - Chantal Kreviazuk, singer-songwriter
*May 23 - Jewel, singer
*May 30 - Cee-Lo Green, singer
*June 1 - Alanis Morissette, singer-songwriter
*July 9 - Nikola Sarcevic, singer and bassist Millencolin
*July 11 - Lil' Kim, rapper
*July 12 - Sharon den Adel, Dutch singer
*July 13 - Deborah Cox, R&B singer
*July 16 - Jeremy Enigk, singer/songwriter Sunny Day Real Estate, The Fire Theft
*July 21 - Terry Coldwell, East 17
*August 8:
**Preta Gil, singer
**Brian Harvey, East 17
*August 14 - Ana Matronic, Scissor Sisters
*August 17 - Salem Abraha, singer-songwriter
*August 30 - Aaron Barrett, Reel Big Fish
*September 19 - Jimmy Fallon, comedian & musician
*October 1 - Keith Duffy, Boyzone
*October 5 - Heather Headley, soul singer
*October 18 - Peter Svensson, The Cardigans
*November 2 - Nelly, Rapper
*November 4 - Louise Nurding, singer and former member of Eternal
*December 7 - Nicole Appleton, singer
*December 8 - Nick Zinner, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
*December 10 - Meg White, The White Stripes
*December 24 - Julian Rachlin, violinist

Deaths

*February 15 - Kurt Atterberg, composer
*March 7 - Alberto Rabagliati, Italian singer and actor
*March 28
** Dorothy Fields, lyricist
** Dino Ciani, pianist
*April 15 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter
*April 17 - Blossom Seeley, US singer and vaudeville entertainer
*April 25 - Pamela Courson, Jim Morrison's widow, heroin overdose
*May - Paul Gonsalves, jazz saxophonist
*May 24 - Duke Ellington
*June 8 - Rodolfo Lipizer, violinist and conductor
*June 22 - Darius Milhaud, composer
*June 27 - Cliff Friend, US composer
*July 29 - "Mama" Cass Elliott, singer The Mamas & the Papas
*September 3 - Harry Partch, composer
*September 23 - Robbie McIntosh, drummer Average White Band
*October 24 - David Oistrakh, violinist
*November 11 - Alfonso Leng, composer
*November 19 - George Brunies, jazz musician
*November 21 - Frank Martin, composer
*November 25 - Nick Drake, British singer/songwriter, overdose

Awards

Grammy Awards

*Grammy Awards of 1974

Country Music Association Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

*Eurovision Song Contest 1974

ee also

* 1974