In 1974, Richard Nixon, embattled by the Watergate scandal, became the first U.S. president to resign. The F-16 fighter jet made its first flight. Heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by a far-left militant group. Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record, and the sitcom Happy Days premiered on ABC.
On the music side of things, Swedish pop group ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo,” kicking off a decade-long run of hits. The festival California Jam drew over 300,000 fans for headliners Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP made our 1973 one-hit wonders list). Elton John had the best-selling album of the year with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
The top five Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles were Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were,” Terry Jacks’s “Seasons in the Sun,” Love Unlimited Orchestra’s “Love’s Theme,” Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” and The Jackson 5’s “Dancing Machine.” Those smashes give you an idea of the wide variety of music that was popular in ’74. Our greatest one-hit wonders from the year, which we define as an act that had only one song appear on the U.S. Billboard Top 40 chart, are no exception.
The following six selections cover everything from bubblegum pop and country to Philly soul and contemporary Christian. Enjoy these one-hitters that blasted from 8-track tape decks in Ford Pintos across the country in 1974.
Tom T. Hall – “I Love”
Songwriter: Tom T. Hall
Genre: Country
Billboard Hot 100: #12 on March 2
Beginning in the mid-1960s, singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall, nicknamed “The Storyteller,” wrote hit songs for dozens of country stars. In 1967, he began recording his own songs, first topping the country charts in ’69 with “A Week in Country Jail,” the first of eight country number-ones. Only one of those number-ones, “I Love,” managed to cross over to the Top 40. In the two-minute, three-chord song, Hall lists the many things he loves, from “baby ducks” and “old pick-up trucks” to “coffee in a cup” and “little fuzzy pups.”
MFSB – “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)”
Songwriters: Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff
Genre: Philadelphia soul
Hot 100: #1 on April 20
This theme to the popular TV show Soul Train is considered one of the first disco songs with its hi-hat-heavy groove and lush strings. As the house band of Philadelphia Intentional Records, MFSB worked closely with arranger Thom Bell and the production team of Gamble and Huff, playing on countless Philly soul hits. “TSOP” made history as the first TV theme to top the Hot 100.
Mike Oldfield – “Tubular Bells”
Songwriter: Mike Oldfield
Genre: Progressive rock
Hot 100: #7 on May 11
After signing with Virgin Records in 1972, British songwriter and producer Mike Oldfield began taping some 80 tracks using 28 different instruments. He overdubbed the tracks hundreds of times, and the result was “Tubular Bells,” a 49-minute meditative instrumental piece that fuses folk, rock, and classical elements – essentially proto-New Age music. The edited single version of “Tubular Bells” was a massive seller and is perhaps best known as the theme to the horror classic The Exorcist.
Sister Janet Mead – “The Lord’s Prayer”
Songwriter: Traditional
Genre: Contemporary Christian
Hot 100: #4 on April 13
Sister Janet Mead was the first nun to hit the pop charts since Dominique just over a decade prior (Dominique made our 1963 one-hit wonders list). “The Lord’s Prayer” has the distinction of being the only Top 10 pop hit to have lyrics that come directly from the Bible. This catchy rendition of Jesus’s prayer features Mead’s ethereal vocals atop fuzz guitar and sweeping strings. Within months of its release in spring of 1974, two million copies were sold. Mead donated all the royalties to charity.
The Rubettes – “Sugar Baby Love”
Songwriters: Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington
Genre: Bubblegum pop
Hot 100: #37 on August 31
The Rubettes were initially organized as a session outfit in 1973 by Polydor A&R man Wayne Bickerton. Inspired by the success of glammy doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll revival groups like Sha Na Na and Mud, the Rubettes’ first single, “Sugar Baby Love,” was a huge hit, topping the charts in their native UK. Paul Da Vinci sang all the vocals on the recording, from the falsetto to the bass to the two-part harmony. However, Da Vinci wasn’t officially included in the band due to contractual reasons.
Johnny Bristol – “Hang On in There Baby”
Songwriter: Johnny Bristol
Genre: Soul
Hot 100: #8 on October 5
Before Johnny Bristol notched his one big hit, “Hang On in There Baby,” he was a Motown producer, manning the controls with Harvey Fuqua on such smashes as “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Someday We’ll Be Together,” and “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday.” Eager to have his own successful singing career, he signed with MGM and composed “Hang On in There Baby” while watching a stag film. Bristol was struck by the male actor’s lack of sensitivity and emotion during the sex scenes. “This guy in the movie didn’t express much of anything, but he did say, ‘Hang on in there, baby,’” Bristol told music journalist Jeff Burger. “I thought that would make a fantastic title.”
Editor’s Note: William DeVaughn’s “Be Thankful for What You Got” was left off the list because that soul classic has its own stand-alone article, which we like to reissue every Thanksgiving.
