Hidden Treasures - 1974

[Scott]

73 and 74 are very diverse years. I read somewhere recently that 1974, specifically, seemed to be a very confusing mix in the music world. Pop music took over the air waves, 60's bands were disappearing and disco was making its debut. As the Hippies began to fade into society music changed as well. The Top 40 of the day was getting very, uh... strange... Check out these very popular tunes - Kung Fu Fighting, Waterloo, Seasons In The Sun, Billy Dont Be A Hero ... you get the idea. What was happening to Rock and Roll?


But first, lets take a further peak into the confusion with some wiki-facts - as a;ways these bullet points are sponsored by JonsMindO'Pedia...

• February 14 – The Captain & Tennille are married in Virginia City, Nevada.
• February 18 - Kiss releases their self-titled debut album.
• 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 Troubadour in Los Angeles, California. Lennon and friend Harry Nilsson have been heckling comedian Tommy Smothers and are forced to leave the club.
• March 30 – The Ramones play their first concert at the Performance Studio in New York.
• April 5 – Van Halen play their first gig on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood at Gazzarri's.
• April 6 - Swedish group ABBA wins the 19th Eurovision Song Contest in The Dome, Brighton, England, with the song "Waterloo", kickstarting their stellar international career.
• April 16 – Queen play their first North American concert, opening for Mott the Hoople in Denver, Colorado.
• May 7 – Led Zeppelin announces their new record label, Swan Song Records, with a lavish party at The Four Seasons Hotel in New York.
• June 5 – Sly Stone married model-actress Kathy Silva on June 5, 1974 during a sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden.
• July 29 - Neil Peart officially joins Rush.
• August 7 – Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J. Geils Band, marries actress Faye Dunaway.
• October 5 – AC/DC performs its first official show with Bon Scott as its new lead singer.
• November 28 – John Lennon joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden for three songs. It would be Lennon's last stage performance.
• December - 31 Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac.

PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/a1mqo39n

	Ace Five-a-Side 1 - How Long “How Long,” the song that broke Ace and by many measures defines them, doesn’t necessarily present the most accurate picture of the band or its 1974 debut, Five-A-Side. Sure, Ace had a knack for a soft soulful groove that distinguished them from their pub rock brethren and in Paul Carrack they had perhaps the best blue-eyed soul singer the scene produced (Frankie Miller being a close contender for the title), but neither are the focal point on Five-A-Side, a record evenly balanced between the singer and quintet, as the title implies. Most of the ten-track record doesn’t ride the same easy rhythm as “How Long"; “The Real Feeling” and “Why” come close, containing some of the same ‘70s polyester sheen, but those bear stronger resemblance to the rest of the record, the songs that are heavily rooted in American roots rock, some of which are not sung by Carrack.
	Supertramp Crime Of The Century 2 - School Supertramp came into their own on their third album, 1974's Crime of the Century, as their lineup gelled but, more importantly, so did their sound. The group still betrayed a heavy Pink Floyd influence, particularly in its expansive art rock arrangements graced by saxophones, but Supertramp isn't nearly as spooky as Floyd -- they're snarky collegiate elitists, an art rock variation on Steely Dan or perhaps a less difficult 10cc, filled with cutting jokes and allusions, best heard on "Bloody Well Right." This streak would later flourish on Breakfast in America, but it's present enough to give them their own character. Also present is a slight sentimental streak and a heavy fondness for pop, heard on "Dreamer," a soaring piece of art pop that became their first big hit. That and "Bloody Well Right" are the concise pop moments on the record; the rest of Crime of the Century is atmospheric like Dark Side of the Moon, but with a lighter feel and a Beatles bent.
	Bachman Turner Overdrive Not Fragile 3 - Rock Is my Life, And This Is My Song After gaining some recognition from the success of the band's previous album, Bachman-Turner Overdrive got around to recording Not Fragile. Not only had one of the three Bachman brothers (Tim, the rhythm guitarist) left the band to BTO's advantage, but Randy Bachman and C.F. Turner had clearly grown musically. To the album's benefit, most of the material on Not Fragile are the band's much-liked rock anthems, ranging from the hyper-distorted title track, through the famous but far more timid song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." Indeed, for hard rock fanatics, it doesn't come much better than on Not Fragile. Randy's electrifying lead guitar is here more raucous than ever before, as are his rowdy vocals (particularly noticeable on the predictable, but fun "Sledgehammer"). The man steals the show on Not Fragile through his extensive and often astounding guitar solos. Generally, though, Bachman-Turner Overdrive are at their prime as a whole, both in songwriting and playing terms. As regards the mixing, it's hard to find fault with this release. The drums are clear but not so prominent that they dominate the recording, while the guitars, along with the bass, are kept rigidly in their place. Not Fragile is one of the finest arena rock albums of the era, featuring all the hallmarks of what makes a classic release in the genre.
	Queen Sheer Heart Attack 4 - Now I'm Here Queen II was a breakthrough in terms of power and ambition, but Queen's third album Sheer Heart Attack was where the band started to gel. It followed quickly on the heels of the second record -- just by a matter of months; it was the second album they released in 1974 -- but it feels like it had a longer incubation period, so great is the progress here. Which isn't quite to say that Sheer Heart Attack is flawless -- it still has a tendency to meander, sometimes within a song itself, as when the killer opening "Brighton Rock" suddenly veers into long stretches of Brian May solo guitar -- but all these detours do not distract from the overall album, they're in many ways the key to the record itself: it's the sound of Queen stretching their wings as they learn how to soar to the clouds. There's a genuine excitement in hearing all the elements to Queen's sound fall into place here, as the music grows grander and catchier without sacrificing their brutal, hard attack. One of the great strengths of the album is how all four members find their voices as songwriters, penning hooks that are big, bold, and insistent and crafting them in songs that work as cohesive entities instead of flourishes of ideas.
	Rush Rush 5 - What You're Doing Rush's self-titled debut is about as uncharacteristic of their renowned heavy progressive rock (perfected on such future releases as Hemispheres, Moving Pictures, etc.) as you can get. Instead of complex arrangements and thoughtful lyrics, Rush sounds almost identical to Led Zeppelin throughout -- bluesy riffs merged with "baby, baby" lyrics. The main reason for the album's different sound and direction is that their lyricist/drummer, Neil Peart, was not in the band yet, skinsman John Rutsey rounds out the original line-up, also consisting of Geddy Lee (bass/vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar). It's nearly impossible to hear the anthemic "Finding My Way" and not picture Robert Plant shrieking away, or Jimmy Page riffing on the jamfest "Working Man," but Rush was still in their formative stages. There's no denying that Lee and Lifeson were already strong instrumentalists.

[Jon]

1974? That's so last week!

[Scott]

OK, you made me double check!  Good one!!

[Jon]

Thank you! Well, if you got it. The joke, I mean.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Whew, BTO was very close to being the AOTW.

[Scott]

Not Fragile is a great album!

[RJhog (Admin)]

I had a sneaking suspicion that you might post something from that album for '74.  So I picked something that, with some reasoning, had a better chance of not being included in your list (yep, I'm going with something from '74 this week).

[Jon]

[Scott]

[Jon]

[Niels (Mod)]

Crime Of The Century is an awesome album. My favorite Supertramp-album by far.

I think, 1974 was the year, where I realized, that rock-music was what I liked. A pitty, that it was a "POP-year", then. I remember seeing ABBA winning EMC, and yes, I had an ABBA-poster on my wall. Probably in late 1974, "Not Fragile", "Slayed" and Sweet's "Fanny Adams" were played a lot in our house. It wasn't my albums, but my sisters. To this day, listening to "you ain't seen nothing yet" reminds me of a safe time, probably me sitting reading a donald Duck-comicbook while eating a cookie. While I found out, that I loved the heavy rock-sound from that Sweet-album, my sister found out, that she didn't, and eventually gave me the album a few years later. It was/is still one of my absolute favorite-albums from 1974 (along with COTC).

[Scott]

COTC is pretty flawless, but if I had to choose 1 Supertramp album, I'm going with Breakfast In America.  Ive been browsing through the 1975 releases in prep for next week and I realized that 75 may be the year for me!   If it doesn't turn out that way, I'd be surprised! Strong year!!!

[Niels (Mod)]

In 1974, one of my favorite-tunes was Sparks "This Town Aint big Enough For both Of Us", and together with "Fanny Adams" it planted the "I love great riffs"-seed in me.

I'm glad, that I became interested in Rock around 1974, because only 1 or 2 years earlier, I remember singing this song to my mom, thinking, that I'd be a pop-star in the future. Her reaction wasn't what I'd expected, so that dream was over pretty early on: