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Years in music: 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
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Years: 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977

List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1974.

File:Bowie-DD-1974-10.jpg

David Bowie in 1974

File:Count Basie Hamburg 1974 1410740040.jpg

Count Basie in 1974

Events[]

January–April[]

  • January 1John Dankworth is named CBE in the New Year's Honours List.[1]
  • January 3Bob Dylan and The Band kick off their 40-date concert tour at Chicago Stadium. It is Dylan's first time on the road since 1966.
  • January 17
    • Joni Mitchell releases her monumental album Court and Spark, supported by the single "Help Me" reaching the highest moment of commercial success.
    • Dino Martin, singer and son of Dean Martin, is arrested on suspicion of possession and sale of two machine guns.
  • 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. The first headlining act is Dr. John.
  • February 14 – The Captain & Tennille are married in Virginia City, Nevada.
  • February 16 – Two years of litigation between Grand Funk and former manager Terry Knight are finally resolved. The band gets the rights to its name but Knight wins a cash settlement.
  • February 18
    • Yes sells out the first of two nights at Madison Square Garden, without a bit of advertising for the show.
    • Kiss releases their self-titled debut album.
  • February 19 – The first American Music Awards are broadcast on ABC, two weeks before the Grammys.
  • February 20Cher files for divorce from her husband of 10 years, Sonny Bono.
  • February 22 – The English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Raymond Leppard performs the world premiere of Three Regions from Terrain by Douglas Young.[2]
  • February 27 – The Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, conducted by Jörg Faerber, makes its English debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.[3]
  • March 1 – Rush release their self titled debut album.
  • March 4
    • Ivan Stepanov and His Balalaikas make their London debut at the Wigmore Hall.[4]
    • Baritone Hermann Prey cuts short a vocal recital in the Royal Festival Hall, London, due to vocal fatigue.[5]
  • March 10Hans Vonk makes his London debut in the Royal Festival Hall, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a programme of Berlioz and Schubert, as well as the Violin Concerto by Roberto Gerhard, with Erich Gruenberg as soloist.[6]
  • March 12John 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 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 5Van Halen play their first gig on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood at Gazzarri's.
  • April 6
  • April 14Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, a concert movie filmed during the band's 1972 North American Tour, premieres at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York.
  • April 16Queen play their first North American concert, opening for Mott the Hoople in Denver, Colorado.
  • April 25
    • Sotheby's Galleries in London sell a violin made in 1733 by Cremonese master Giuseppe Guarneri, formerly belonging to violinist Elaine Weldon, for the equivalent of $140,000, the second-highest price ever paid for a violin.[7]
    • Pam Morrison, Jim Morrison's widow, is found dead in her Hollywood apartment from an apparent heroin overdose.

May–December[]

  • May 7Led Zeppelin announces their new record label, Swan Song Records, with a lavish party at The Four Seasons Hotel in New York.
  • May 11 – The New York Police bagpipe band performs shortly after midnight at the Portsmouth, RI Ramada Inn, in connection with a National Police Week event, prompting a drunken spree lasting until dawn by at least a dozen off-duty members of the Boston Police Department, who ran naked through the motel, "smashing chairs and tables, soiling rugs, discharging fire extinguishers, exploding firecrackers, setting off a burglar alarm, disconnecting a security camera, slashing automobile tires and throwing pictures into the motel courtyard",[8] causing an estimated $1027.75 in damage, including liquor stolen from a locked cabinet and unpaid breakfast bills.[9]
  • May 25 – 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.
  • May 28 - Experimental orchestra, the Portsmouth Sinfonia, plays a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, with its regular conductor John Farley. The performers included Michael Nyman and Brian Eno.[10]
  • June 1Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno, Nico and other musicians perform at the Rainbow Theatre in London. The performances are later released as June 1, 1974.
  • June 5
    • Sly Stone married model-actress Kathy Silva on June 5, 1974, during a sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden.
    • Patti Smith records "Hey Joe", her debut single, which arguably becomes the first punk rock single when released in August.
  • June 14David Bowie launches his Diamond Dogs tour at the Montreal Forum. One year previously he had announced that he was retiring from touring as Ziggy Stardust.
  • June 17 – U.S. President Richard Nixon is welcomed in Amman, Jordan, by King Hussein and a ceremonial band playing John Philip Sousa's Washington Post March, composed in 1889 to honor the newspaper whose reporters broke open the Watergate scandal in 1973.[11]
  • July 4Barry White marries Love Unlimited lead singer Glodean James.
  • July 19–21 – Ozark Music Festival is held in Sedalia, Missouri, with a crowd estimated between 100,000 and 350,000 people.
  • July 20 – The first Knebworth Concert is held in England, headlined by The Allman Brothers Band.
  • July 29
    • Having performed at two sold-out concerts at the London Palladium, "Mama" Cass Elliot dies in her sleep after suffering a heart attack in a Mayfair flat in London, aged 32.
    • Neil Peart officially joins Rush.
  • August 6 – Hugh MacCallum, of Stirling, wins the silver chanter for the third time, playing "Mrs MacLeod of Callisker’s Salute" at the invitational bagpipe competition held at Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye. Second place was given to the previous year's winner, Donald Morrison from South Uist, who performed "Rory MacLeod’s Lament".[12]
  • August 7
    • During a performance of Carmina Burana, conducted by André Previn, at The Proms, soloist Thomas Allen collapses because of the heat and eventually has to be carried out by members of the orchestra. Prommer Patrick McCarthy, just embarking on his professional singing career, offers his services as a replacement and completes the performance.[13]
    • Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J. Geils Band, marries actress Faye Dunaway.
  • August 16Ramones´ first appearance on NYC´s venue CBGB.[14] The venue would help establish their place at the forefront of punk rock.
  • September 15Gary Thain of Uriah Heep is shocked on stage at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas, and is seriously injured.
  • October 3Idi Amin, the President of Uganda, instructs his country's acting high commissioner in London to recruit two six-foot-tall Scots bagpipers with military backgrounds to serve as his bodyguards.[15]
  • October 5
    • AC/DC performsTemplate:Where its first official show with Bon Scott as its new lead singer.
    • The North Coast Band Invitational competition, sponsored by St. Ann's CYO Band of Neponset, is held for the first time, at Nickerson Field on the Boston University campus.[16]
  • October 18Al Green is attacked while bathing by a girlfriend of several weeks, Mrs. Mary Woodson, a 29-year-old mother of three. She scalds his body with a pan of boiling grits and commits suicide a few moments later, reportedly because he rejected her marriage proposal.[17]
  • November 2George Harrison launches his "George Harrison & Friends North American Tour" in Vancouver. It is his first tour since the Beatles North American Tour of 1966.
  • November 21Wilson Pickett is arrested in Andes, New York, after allegedly firing a bullet through the door of a hotel room where he was staying while on a hunting trip with The Isley Brothers.
  • November 28John Lennon joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden for three songs.
  • December 12 - Mick Taylor leaves The Rolling Stones after six years.
  • December 31

unknown date[]

  • Lord Shorty's Endless Vibrations is the first soca LP and the first major soca hit worldwide.
  • Eric Bogle's "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" comes to prominence when he enters it in a National Folk Festival songwriting competition in Brisbane, Australia.
  • Rover Thomas claims to have been visited in a dream by a deceased friend near Warmun, Australia, and receives the Krill Krill song cycle.
  • 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.
  • Journey signs to Columbia Records.
  • Roland RE-201 and 101 Space Echo tape-based audio analog delay effects units introduced.

Bands formed[]

Bands disbanded[]

Albums released[]

January[]

Day Album Artist Notes
1 Court and Spark Joni Mitchell -
2 Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 1 Elvis Presley Compilation
Wild Tales Graham Nash -
3 The Phosphorescent Rat Hot Tuna -
4 Manhole Grace Slick -
10 Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners Rod Stewart / Faces Live
11 Lookin' for a Love Again Bobby Womack -
17 Planet Waves Bob Dylan -
- Blue Magic Blue Magic -
Different Drum Linda Ronstadt Compilation
Energized Foghat -
Grievous Angel Gram Parsons -
Hotcakes Carly Simon -
Here Come the Warm Jets Brian Eno [18]
Musik von Harmonia Harmonia -
Rhapsody in White The Love Unlimited Orchestra -
Silverbird Leo Sayer -
Sundown Gordon Lightfoot -
The Way We Were Barbra Streisand -

February[]

Day Album Artist Notes
1 What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits The Doobie Brothers -
Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow T.Rex -
8 The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage Peter Hammill -
14 Valentine Roy Harper -
15 Burn Deep Purple -
Old New Borrowed and Blue Slade -
18 Kiss Kiss -
20 Phaedra Tangerine Dream -
Pretzel Logic Steely Dan -
25 Let Me in Your Life Aretha Franklin -
26 Lady of the Night Donna Summer Netherlands-only release
27 Jolene Dolly Parton -
- Badfinger Badfinger -
Call of the Wild Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes -
If We Make It Through December Merle Haggard -
It's Too Late to Stop Now Van Morrison Live
Living and Dying in 3/4 Time Jimmy Buffett -
Love Song Anne Murray -
A New Life Marshall Tucker Band -
Pure Music Chase -
Radio City Big Star -
Rock 'n' Roll Animal Lou Reed Live
Saints & Sinners Johnny Winter -
Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead Grateful Dead Compilation
Slaughter on 10th Avenue Mick Ronson -
That's a Plenty Pointer Sisters -
Thunderbox Humble Pie -
Todd Todd Rundgren -
Twin Peaks Mountain Live
Unborn Child Seals and Crofts -

March[]

Day Album Artist Notes
1 Get Your Wings Aerosmith -
Mirage Camel -
Rush Rush -
4 Waterloo ABBA -
6 Hard Labor Three Dog Night -
8 Queen II Queen -
11 Chicago VII Chicago -
15 Pure Smokey Smokey Robinson -
19 Buddha and the Chocolate Box Cat Stevens -
20 Good Times Elvis Presley -
22 Apostrophe Frank Zappa -
On the Border Eagles -
24 Mysterious Traveller Weather Report -
25 Open Our Eyes Earth, Wind & Fire -
29 The Hoople Mott the Hoople -
Starless and Bible Black King Crimson -
- Alive & Kicking The Delfonics -
Buffy Buffy Sainte-Marie -
Hang In There Girl Freddie Hart -
Hollies The Hollies -
Kansas Kansas -
Mighty Love The Spinners -
Now We Are Six Steeleye Span -
Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin' Paul Simon Live
Queen of the Night Maggie Bell -
Seven Bob Seger -
Shinin' On Grand Funk Railroad -
Slow Dancer Boz Scaggs -
Somethin's Happening Peter Frampton -

April[]

Day Album Artist Notes
1 Meet The Residents The Residents -
3 Live European Tour Billy Preston Live
5 Ragged Old Flag Johnny Cash -
12 Seven Poco -
15 Second Helping Lynyrd Skynyrd -
19 Big Fun Miles Davis -
Caravan and the New Symphonia Caravan Live
20 Bridge of Sighs Robin Trower -
29 Standing on the Verge of Getting It On Funkadelic -
30 Okie J.J. Cale -
- Carolina County Ball Elf -
Exotic Birds and Fruit Procol Harum -
Fall into Spring Rita Coolidge -
Gracias a la Vida Joan Baez Spanish language
Hamburger Concerto Focus -
Home, Home on the Road New Riders of the Purple Sage Live
Houston (I'm Comin' to See You) Glen Campbell -
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight Richard and Linda Thompson -
Live 'n' Kickin' West, Bruce and Laing Live
Meeting of the Minds Four Tops -
Midnight Mushrumps Gryphon -
On Stage Loggins and Messina Live
Positive Vibrations Ten Years After -
Road Food The Guess Who -
Secret Treaties Blue Öyster Cult -
Skin Tight Ohio Players -
Son of Dracula Harry Nilsson Soundtrack
Sweet Fanny Adams Sweet -
Unconditionally Guaranteed Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band -
Zephyr National Tom Fogerty -

May[]

Day Album Artist Notes
3 Quo Status Quo -
5 The Kids & Me Billy Preston -
8 Preservation Act 2 The Kinks -
9 Journey to the Centre of the Earth Rick Wakeman -
10 Too Much Too Soon New York Dolls -
15 Monkey Grip Bill Wyman -
20 Sense of Direction Climax Blues Band -
24 Diamond Dogs David Bowie -
Tales of the Great Rum Runners Robert Hunter -
- Back to Oakland Tower of Power -
Body Heat Quincy Jones -
Boogity Boogity Ray Stevens -
The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories Kevin Ayers -
Dark Lady Cher -
Hot Sox Sha Na Na -
If You Love Me, Let Me Know Olivia Newton-John -
In for the Kill Budgie -
Kimono My House Sparks -
Live at Caesars Palace Diana Ross Live
Lotus Santana Live
More Than Before The Persuasions Live and studio
The Night the Light Went On in Long Beach Electric Light Orchestra Live
Paradise and Lunch Ry Cooder -
Phenomenon UFO -
Rags to Rufus Rufus -
Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics Man -
School Punks Brownsville Station -
Sense of Direction Climax Blues Band -
Sheet Music 10cc -
Shock Treatment Edgar Winter -
Slapp Happy Slapp Happy -
Spooky Lady's Sideshow Kris Kristofferson -
Super Taylor Johnnie Taylor -
Sweet Exorcist Curtis Mayfield -
Tough Guys Isaac Hayes Soundtrack
Turn of the Cards Renaissance -
Unrest Henry Cow -
Winter in America Gil Scott-Heron -

June[]

Day Album Artist Notes
1 Walking Man James Taylor -
2 The Psychomodo Cockney Rebel -
14 Everyone Is Everybody Else Barclay James Harvest -
15 Back Home Again John Denver -
Mr. Natural Bee Gees -
19 Marvin Gaye Live! Marvin Gaye Live
20 Before the Flood Bob Dylan & The Band Live
24 Endless Summer The Beach Boys Compilation
26 Bad Company Bad Company -
27 From the Mars Hotel Grateful Dead -
28 Caribou Elton John -
Hell James Brown -
June 1, 1974 Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico -
- And Other Bits of Material Paper Lace -
Axe Victim Be-Bop Deluxe -
Compliments Jerry Garcia -
Holiday America -
I Wanna Be Selfish Ashford & Simpson -
Land's End Jimmy Webb -
Only Want You For Your Body Buffalo -
Perfect Angel Minnie Riperton -
Remember Me This Way Gary Glitter Live
Stars & Stripes Forever Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Live
Stop All That Jazz Leon Russell -
Street Party Black Oak Arkansas -
Struggling Man Jimmy Cliff -
Toby The Chi-Lites -
Wonderworld Uriah Heep -

July[]

Day Album Artist Notes
3 Up for the Down Stroke Parliament -
5 Another Time, Another Place Bryan Ferry -
7 Elvis Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis Elvis Presley Live
16 On the Beach Neil Young -
21 Irish Tour '74 Rory Gallagher Live
22 Fulfillingness' First Finale Stevie Wonder -
Machine Gun Commodores -
26 Rock Bottom Robert Wyatt -
- 461 Ocean Boulevard Eric Clapton -
Avalanche Mountain -
Close Up the Honky Tonks Flying Burrito Brothers Compilation
Greatest Hits Johnny Paycheck Compilation
Learn to Love It Jesse Winchester -
Lydia Cold Blood -
Miami James Gang -
Mirror Image Blood, Sweat & Tears -
Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow -
Rejuvenation The Meters -
Small Talk Sly & the Family Stone -
Some Nice Things I've Missed Frank Sinatra -
Truck Turner Isaac Hayes Soundtrack

August[]

Day Album Artist Notes
6 Can't Get Enough Barry White -
11 New Skin for the Old Ceremony Leonard Cohen -
19 Pussy Cats Harry Nilsson -
So Far Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Compilation
Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends... Ladies and Gentlemen Emerson, Lake & Palmer Live
20 Live It Up The Isley Brothers -
24 Verities & Balderdash Harry Chapin -
28 Hergest Ridge Mike Oldfield -
31 I'm Leaving It All Up to You Donny and Marie Osmond -
- AWB Average White Band -
Country Anne Murray Compilation
Do It Baby The Miracles -
Feats Don't Fail Me Now Little Feat -
Greatest Hits Alice Cooper Compilation
I Can Stand a Little Rain Joe Cocker -
Light of Love T.Rex US only; compilation plus new material
Live at the Opera House Pointer Sisters Live
Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album Merle Haggard -
Not Fragile Bachman–Turner Overdrive -
Paper Lace Paper Lace US
Sally Can't Dance Lou Reed -
Slow Flux Steppenwolf -
Tina Turns the Country On! Tina Turner -
We Had It All Scott Walker -

September[]

Day Album Artist Notes
3 Love Is Like a Butterfly Dolly Parton -
5 Dancing Machine The Jackson 5 -
6 Hall of the Mountain Grill Hawkwind -
Rocka Rolla Judas Priest -
Thrust Herbie Hancock -
10 Good Old Boys Randy Newman -
Roxy & Elsewhere Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention Live
13 Heroes Are Hard to Find Fleetwood Mac -
I've Got My Own Album to Do Ronnie Wood -
Nightbirds Labelle -
16 Starting Over Raspberries -
20 The Power and the Glory Gentle Giant -
25 Nightmares...and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle The J. Geils Band -
- 1969: The Velvet Underground Live The Velvet Underground Live 1969
Crime of the Century Supertramp -
Dragon Fly Grace Slick / Paul Kantner / Jefferson Starship -
Eldorado Electric Light Orchestra -
Felix Cavaliere Felix Cavaliere -
Good Things Happening Brotherhood of Man -
Hard Core Poetry Tavares -
Ladies Love Outlaws Tom Rush -
Late for the Sky Jackson Browne -
Light of Worlds Kool & The Gang -
No Other Gene Clark -
Peace on You Roger McGuinn -
The Ramblin' Man Waylon Jennings -
Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley Robert Palmer -
Streetlights Bonnie Raitt -
Tarzana Kid John Sebastian -
Tooth Fang & Claw Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes -
When the Eagle Flies Traffic -
Wrap Around Joy Carole King -

October[]

Day Album Artist Notes
1 Fear John Cale -
4 Odds & Sods The Who Outtakes and rarities compilation
Walls and Bridges John Lennon -
6 Red King Crimson -
Slipstream Sherbet -
8 This Is The Moody Blues The Moody Blues compilation
11 Paper Money Montrose -
Streetlife Serenade Billy Joel -
14 War Child Jethro Tull -
16 It's Only Rock 'n Roll The Rolling Stones -
19 War Babies Hall & Oates -
22 Hotter Than Hell Kiss -
25 Natty Dread Bob Marley -
28 Living in the 70s Skyhooks -
29 David Live David Bowie Live
- Al Green Explores Your Mind Al Green -
Beaded Dreams Through Turquoise Eyes Redbone -
Borboletta Santana -
ButterFly Barbra Streisand -
Climax Ohio Players -
From the Album of the Same Name Pilot -
The Heart of Saturday Night Tom Waits -
Homeless Brother Don McLean -
The Impossible Dream The Sensational Alex Harvey Band -
Inspiration Information Shuggie Otis -
It'll Shine When It Shines Ozark Mountain Daredevils -
Just a Boy Leo Sayer -
Lost in a Dream REO Speedwagon -
The Mirror Spooky Tooth -
Mother Lode Loggins and Messina -
Not Just Another Bunch of Pretty Faces If -
Quatro Suzi Quatro -
Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb Glen Campbell -
Rock and Roll Outlaws Foghat -
Rollin' Bay City Rollers -
Silk Torpedo The Pretty Things -
Slow Motion Man -
Smiler Rod Stewart -
Souvenirs Dan Fogelberg -
Todd Rundgren's Utopia Utopia -
Veedon Fleece Van Morrison -
Waitress in a Donut Shop Maria Muldaur -
Woman to Woman Tammy Wynette -

November[]

Day Album Artist Notes
1 Autobahn Kraftwerk -
Cantamos Poco -
Fly to the Rainbow Scorpions -
8 Elton John's Greatest Hits Elton John Compilation
Man of Miracles Styx -
Nightlife Thin Lizzy -
Saturnight Cat Stevens Japan; Live
Sheer Heart Attack Queen -
15 Country Life Roxy Music -
Goodnight Vienna Ringo Starr -
18 The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast Roger Glover -
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Genesis -
22 Get Up with It Miles Davis -
25 John Dawson Winter III Johnny Winter -
28 Relayer Yes -
29 Fire on the Mountain Charlie Daniels Band -
Slade in Flame Slade -
- 7-Tease Donovan -
Bluejeans & Moonbeams Captain Beefheart -
Brujo New Riders of the Purple Sage -
Country Heart 'N Soul Freddie Hart -
Desolation Boulevard Sweet -
Fire Ohio Players -
Got to Find a Way Curtis Mayfield -
Heart Like a Wheel Linda Ronstadt -
Highly Prized Possession Anne Murray -
Kung-Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs Carl Douglas -
Live Mott the Hoople Live
Miles of Aisles Joni Mitchell Live
Myopia Tom Fogerty -
Out of the Storm Jack Bruce -
Propaganda Sparks -
Sedaka's Back Neil Sedaka Compilation
Soon Over Babaluma Can -
Stormbringer Deep Purple -
Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) Brian Eno -
There's the Rub Wishbone Ash -
Where We All Belong Marshall Tucker Band Double LP; half studio, half live
Wish You Were Here Badfinger -

December[]

Day Album Artist Notes
5 Relayer Yes -
9 Dark Horse George Harrison -
14 So What Joe Walsh -
- A1A Jimmy Buffett -
All the Girls in the World Beware!!! Grand Funk Railroad -
Breakaway Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge -
Encore: Live in Concert Argent Live
House of Exile Jimmy Cliff -
The Magic of the Blue Blue Magic -
New and Improved The Spinners -
Red Queen to Gryphon Three Gryphon -
Rufusized Rufus -
Sun Secrets The Eric Burdon Band -

Release date unknown[]

Biggest hit singles[]

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the charts of 1974.

# Artist Title Year Country Chart entries
1 Carl Douglas Kung Fu Fighting 1974 Jamaica UK 1 – Aug 1974, US BB 1 – Nov 1974, Canada 1 – Nov 1974, Netherlands 1 – Oct 1974, France 1 – Sep 1974, Austria 1 – Dec 1974, Germany 1 – Jan 1975, Ireland 1 – Oct 1974, Australia 1 for 3 weeks Jul 1975, Switzerland 2 – Nov 1974, South Africa 2 of 1974, Norway 3 – Oct 1974, US BB 5 of 1974, Global 7 (10 M sold) – 1974, Sweden 8 – Aug 1998, POP 9 of 1974, Italy 10 of 1975, US CashBox 11 of 1975, Scrobulate 12 of disco, Australia 22 of 1974, Germany 27 of the 1970s, RYM 84 of 1974, OzNet 842
2 Mud Tiger Feet 1974 United Kingdom UK 1 – Jan 1974
3 ABBA Waterloo 1974 Sweden UK 1 – Apr 1974, Switzerland 1 – Apr 1974, Norway 1 – Apr 1974, Germany 1 – May 1974, Ireland 1 – Apr 1974, Netherlands 2 – Apr 1974, Austria 2 – May 1974, Canada 3 – Jun 1974, France 5 – Apr 1974, US BB 6 – Jun 1974, Scrobulate 6 of Swedish, Australia Goset 10 – Jul 1974, South Africa 14 of 1974, POP 23 of 1974, Global 33 (5 M sold) – 1974, RYM 33 of 1974, Germany 49 of the 1970s, Italy 51 of 1974, Europe 55 of the 1970s, US CashBox 84 of 1974, OzNet 413, Acclaimed 1016
4 Steve Miller Band The Joker 1974 United States UK 1 – Aug 1990, US BB 1 – Nov 1973, Netherlands 1 – Oct 1973, Ireland 1 – Sep 1990, Canada 2 – Dec 1973, Norway 2 – Nov 1990, Switzerland 5 – Oct 1990, Austria 6 – Oct 1990, Germany 7 – Jan 1991, Australia Goset 7 – Feb 1974, France 8 – Dec 1973, US CashBox 10 of 1974, Poland 11 – Sep 1990, DDD 13 of 1973, US BB 21 of 1974, POP 33 of 1974, RYM 61 of 1973, Scrobulate 62 of 70s, Virgin 84, TheQ 297, Germany 399 of the 1990s, OzNet 561, Acclaimed 1721
5 George McCrae Rock Your Baby 1974 United States UK 1 – Jun 1974, US BB 1 – Jun 1974, Netherlands 1 – Aug 1974, Austria 1 – Oct 1974, Switzerland 1 – Aug 1974, Norway 1 – Sep 1974, Germany 1 – Jan 1975, Canada 2 – Jun 1974, France 4 – Aug 1974, Germany 7 of the 1970s, Global 7 (10 M sold) – 1974, Italy 11 of 1974, Australia 20 of 1974, Australia Goset 37 – Aug 1974, RYM 39 of 1974, US CashBox 40 of 1974, Acclaimed 807

Other selected singles[]

Published popular music[]

  • "Annie's Song" – w.m. John Denver
  • "Happy Days" – w.m. Pratt & McClain from the ABC-TV Series Happy Days
  • "Hasta Mañana" – w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn 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" – w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus, Neil Sedaka & Phil Cody
  • "She" – w. Herbert Kretzmer m. Charles Aznavour
  • "Southern Nights" – w.m. Allen Toussaint
  • "Sundown" – w.m. Gordon Lightfoot
  • "Sunshine on My Shoulders" – w.m. John Denver, Richard Kniss & Michael Taylor
  • "Tap Your Troubles Away" – w.m. Jerry Herman from the musical Mack & Mabel
  • "Waterloo" – w.m. Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus
  • "We May Never Love Like This Again" – w.m. Al Kasha & Joel Hirschorn. From the film The Towering Inferno
  • "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 BoydAngklung for piano
  • George CrumbMusic for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III) for two amplified pianos and percussion (two players).
  • Mario Davidovsky
    • Synchronisms No. 7, for orchestra and tape
    • Synchronisms No. 8, for woodwind quintet and tape
  • Einar Englund – Piano Concerto no. 2
  • Luc Ferrari
    • Petite symphonie intuitive pour une paysage de printemps
    • éphémère I , for tape and undetermined instrumentation
  • Nicolas FlagelloThe Passion of Martin Luther King (oratorio)
  • Joaquin Homs – Trio
  • György LigetiSan Francisco Polyphony, for orchestra (1973–74)
  • Olivier MessiaenDes canyons aux étoiles… for solo piano, solo horn, solo glockenspiel, solo xylorimba, small orchestra with 13 string players
  • Krzysztof PendereckiThe Dream of Jacob
  • Wolfgang Regel – Requiem "à la mémoire de César Geoffray"
  • Steve ReichMusic for 18 Musicians
  • Wolfgang Rihm
    • Dis-Kontur for orchestra
    • Hervorgedunkelt (text: Paul Celan), for mezzo-soprano, flute, harp, vibraphone, cello, organ, and percussion
    • Klavierstück Nr. 4
    • Siebengestalt, for organ and tam-tam
  • Alfred Schnittke
    • Symphony No. 1
    • Hymn I, for cello, harp and timpani
    • Hymn II, for cello and double-bass
    • Hymn III, for cello, bassoon, harpsichord and bells or timpani
  • Dmitri Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat minor, Op. 144
  • Karlheinz StockhausenInori: Adorations for One or Two Soloists with Orchestra

Opera[]

  • Robert AshleyMusic with Roots in the Aether

Jazz[]

Main article: 1974 in jazz

Musical theater[]

  • Candide (Leonard Bernstein) – Broadway revival
  • Cole London production opened at the Mermaid Theatre on July 2. Cast included Julia McKenzie, Bill Kerr, Una Stubbs and Rod McLennan
  • Gypsy (Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim) – Broadway revival
  • Hans Christian Andersen London production
  • Lorelei Broadway production opened at the Palace Theatre and ran for 321 performances
  • Mack and Mabel Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre and ran for 66 performances
  • The Magic Show – Off-Broadway production
  • Over Here! Broadway production opened at the Schubert Theatre and ran for 341 performances
  • West Side Story (Bernstein) – London revival

Musical films[]

  • Huckleberry Finn
  • Mame
  • Phantom of the Paradise
  • That's Entertainment!
  • Son of Dracula

Births[]

  • January 6Wolfgang Dimetrik, Austrian accordionist
  • January 10Jemaine Clement bassist, guitarist, pianist, singer (Flight of the Conchords)
  • January 11Giuseppe Filianoti, Italian opera singer (tenor)
  • January 12Melanie Chisholm, British singer (Spice Girls)
  • February 11D'Angelo, singer, producer
  • February 13Robbie Williams, singer
  • February 17
    • Bernt Moen, Norwegian pianist
    • Bryan White, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • April 14Da Brat, rapper
  • April 17
  • April 18Millie Corretjer, singer and actress
  • April 20Tina Cousins, singer
  • May 10Quentin Elias, French-Algerian singer and actor (Alliage) (d. 2014)
  • May 16Laura Pausini, Italian singer
  • May 17Andrea Corr, Irish singer (The Corrs)
  • May 18Chantal Kreviazuk, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • May 20Mikael Stanne, Swedish musician (Dark Tranquillity)
  • May 21Adriano Cintra (Cansei de Ser Sexy)
  • May 23Jewel, American singer
  • May 30
    • CeeLo Green, singer
    • Big L, Freestyle rapper
  • June 1Alanis Morissette, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • June 7Cassius Khan, Canadian singer and tabla player
  • June 24Vinnie Fiorello, American drummer and songwriter (Less Than Jake)
  • July 2Rocky Gray, American drummer, guitarist, and songwriter (Evanescence, We Are the Fallen, Living Sacrifice and Soul Embraced)
  • July 7E.D.I. Mean, American rapper and producer (Outlawz)
  • July 9Nikola Sarcevic, Swedish singer and bassist (Millencolin)
  • July 11Lil' Kim, American rapper
  • July 12Sharon den Adel, Dutch singer
  • July 13Deborah Cox, Canadian R&B singer
  • July 16Jeremy Enigk, singer/songwriter (Sunny Day Real Estate, The Fire Theft)
  • July 21Terry Coldwell, singer (East 17)
  • July 22Rell, soul singer
  • August 8
    • Preta Gil, Brazilian singer
    • Brian Harvey, British singer (East 17)
  • August 13Niklas Sundin, Swedish guitarist (Dark Tranquillity)
  • August 14Ana Matronic, Scissor Sisters
  • August 17 – Salem Abraha, singer-songwriter
  • August 30Aaron Barrett, Reel Big Fish
  • September 19Jimmy Fallon, American comedian & musician
  • October 1Keith Duffy, Irish singer and actor
  • October 4Ramazan Kubat, folk singer and composer
  • October 5Heather Headley, soul singer
  • October 18Peter Svensson, Swedish guitarist (The Cardigans)
  • November 2Nelly, rapper
  • November 3Franko Božac, Croatian accordionist
  • November 4Louise Nurding, singer and former member of Eternal
  • December 7Nicole Appleton, British singer (All Saints)
  • December 10Meg White (The White Stripes)
  • December 24Julian Rachlin, Lithuanian-Austrian violinist

Deaths[]

  • January 2Tex Ritter, country music singer, 68
  • January 30Olav Roots, Estonian pianist and composer, 63
  • February 2Jean Absil, organist and composer, 80
  • February 15Kurt Atterberg, composer, 86
  • February 28Bobby Bloom, singer-songwriter, 28
  • March 7Alberto Rabagliati, Italian singer and actor, 67
  • March 28
    • Dorothy Fields, lyricist, 68
    • Dino Ciani, pianist, 32 (road accident)
    • Arthur Crudup, singer, 68
  • April 5 - Jennifer Vyvyan, operatic soprano, 49 (bronchial condition)
  • April 7Pete Wendling, pianist and composer, 85
  • April 15Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter, 68
  • April 17Blossom Seeley, US singer and vaudeville entertainer, 87
  • April 25Pamela Courson, Jim Morrison's widow, 27 (heroin overdose)
  • May 8Graham Bond, R&B musician, 36 (hit by train)
  • May 15Paul Gonsalves, jazz saxophonist, 53
  • May 24Duke Ellington, jazz musician, and composer, 75
  • June 8Rodolfo Lipizer, violinist and conductor, 79
  • June 22Darius Milhaud, composer, 81
  • June 27 - Cliff Friend, US composer
  • July 18 - Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi, operatic soprano, 77
  • July 27Lightnin' Slim, blues musician, 61
  • July 29 – "Mama" Cass Elliott, singer (The Mamas & the Papas), 32 (heart attack)
  • August 6Gene Ammons, tenor saxophonist, 49 (cancer)
  • August 9Bill Chase, jazz rock trumpeter, 39
  • August 11Maria Maksakova, Sr., opera singer, 72
  • September 3Harry Partch, composer, 73
  • September 22 - Marta Fuchs, operatic soprano, 76
  • September 23Robbie McIntosh, drummer (Average White Band), 24
  • October 5 - Ebe Stignani, operatic soprano, about 70
  • October 13 - Josef Krips, vioinist, 72
  • October 24David Oistrakh, violinist, 66
  • November 5 - Marguerite Namara, operatic soprano, 85
  • November 8Ivory Joe Hunter, R&B singer, songwriter and pianist
  • November 9Egon Wellesz, Austrian composer, musicologist and teacher (emigrated to England), 89
  • November 11Alfonso Leng, composer, 80
  • November 19George Brunies, jazz musician, 72
  • November 21Frank Martin, composer, 84
  • November 25Nick Drake, singer/songwriter, 26 (overdose)

Awards[]

Grammy Awards[]

  • Grammy Awards of 1974

Country Music Association Awards[]

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Eurovision Song Contest[]

References[]

  1. George Clark, "Mr Feather Made a Life Peer: Mr Whitelaw Honoured". The Times (2 January 1974): 1.
  2. Stephen Walsh, "ECO/Leppard", The Times (23 February 1974): 9.
  3. Stanley Sadie, "Württemberg Chamber Orchestra", The Times (28 February 1974): 16.
  4. Anon., "Royal Festival Hall" [classified ad], The Times (2 March 1974): 11; Bryce Morrison, "London Debuts", The Times (13 March 1974): 19.
  5. William Mann, "Prey/Hokanson", The Times (5 March 1974): 10.
  6. Stanley Sadie, "RPO/Vonk", The Times (11 March 1974): 11.
  7. Agence France-Presse, "Violin by Guarnieri sold for $140,000", The Boston Globe (26 April 1974): 28.
  8. Jerry Taylor, "R.I. Chief Confirms Motel Vandalism", The Boston Globe (16 May 1974): 3
  9. Ken Hartnett, "Several Policemen from Boston Accused of R. I. Hotel Spree", The Boston Globe (14 May): 3; Ken Hartnett, "R. I. Spree Story Exaggerate, Policeman Says", The Boston Globe (15 May): 3; David B. Wilson, "Bagpipes Made Them Do It ...", The Boston Globe (20 May 1974): 17; Anon., "Patrolmen's Association Asked to Pay for Motel Damage", The Boston Globe (18 May 1974): 3.
  10. Sunday Telegraph, 23 May 2004. Accessed 1 April 2013
  11. Anon "That Wasn't Nixon's Song", The Boston Globe (18 June 1974): 10.
  12. Seton Gordon, "A Strange Tune Gains Silver Chanter", The Times (Saturday, 24 August 1974): 12. Andrew T. Lenz, Jr. "Andrew’s Tips: Silver Chanter Winners", Andrew Lenz’s Bagpipe Journey website, 2010 (Accessed 24 June 2014).
  13. Hoge, Warren (July 19, 2001). "Bonkers for Music, Cheer and Glory; For Britons, It's Time for the Proms, That Exhilarating Feast". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  14. As stated on Johnny Ramone´s official Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyRamone/photos/a.10150703813846521.491576.43468756520/10153036882146521/?type=1&theater
  15. Anon. "Uganda Leader Wants 2 Pipers". The Boston Globe (4 October 1974): 10.
  16. Herb Cole, "Drum Corps Notes: 13 Units compete in Invitational", The Boston Globe (Sunday, 29 September): A 12.
  17. Anon., "Names and Faces in the News", The Boston Globe (20 October 1974): 2.
  18. Warwick, Neil; Jon Kutner; Tony Brown (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums. Omnibus Press. p. 244. ISBN 1-84449-058-0.