Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Music Column – The Breakfast Show with William Price King and Sally Cronin – Chart Hits 1973 – Part One – Billy Paul, O’Jays, Elton John and Helen Reddy

Each week William and I will select two top hits from the charts in the US and UK starting with 1960 for two weeks followed by 1961 etc..through to 1985. We will also include some of the notable events in those years for the up and coming stars who were centre stage at the time.

 

Welcome to our show and we are excited to share decades of music with you in 2021. Here is my first selection of top 1973 hits which I hope you will enjoy. William.

News Event: January 14th “Aloha from Hawaii”, an Elvis Presley concert, becomes the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer

Billy Paul  –  Me and Mrs. Jones

“Me and Mrs. Jones” describes an extramarital affair between a man and his lover, Mrs. Jones. The single became Paul’s only #1 single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. On the Adult Contemporary chart it reached #10 and made it to #12 in the UK. Paul received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male.

News Event: February 19th “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” single released by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando (Billboard Song of the Year 1973)

O’Jays  –  Love train 

“Love train” was a #1 hit on both the R&B Singles and the Hot 100 charts in the US. In the UK it peaked at #9, and was certified gold by the RIAA. It was the O’Jays’ first and only number-one record on the US pop chart. In 2006 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

News Event: March 1st Pink Floyd release their album “Dark Side of the Moon”, since sold over 45 million copies

Now time for my first top chart picks from 1973 and that was a great year in the UK for clubs and dance halls.

Elton John – Crocodile Rock

“Crocodile Rock” is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and recorded in summer 1972 at the Château d’Hérouville studio in France (it was listed as “Strawberry Studios” in the album’s credits), where John and his team had previously recorded the Honky Château album. It was released on 27 October 1972 in the UK and 20 November 1972 in the U.S., as a pre-release single from his forthcoming 1973 album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, and became his first U.S. number-one single, reaching the top spot on 3 February 1973, and staying there for three weeks. In the U.S., it was certified Gold on 5 February 1973 and Platinum on 13 September 1995 by the RIAA.  

 News Event: April 7th 18th Eurovision Song Contest: Anne-Marie David for Luxembourg wins singing “Tu te reconnaitras” in Luxembourg

Helen Reddy – Delta Dawn 

“Delta Dawn” is a song written by former child rockabilly star Larry Collins and songwriter Alex Harvey, best known as a 1972 top ten country hit for Tanya Tucker and a number one hit for Helen Reddy in 1973. A tragic tale of lost love…

Additional sources: On This Day – Music – Hits of the 70s: Playback FM – Wikipedia

Your Hosts for The Breakfast Show

William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.

His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.

While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.

Blog– IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr – Buy William’s music: William Price King iTunes – Facebook – William Price King – Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – Cave Wilson

Sally Cronin is an author, blogger and broadcaster who enjoyed four years as part of the team on Onda Cero International’s English speaking morning show in Marbella and then for two years as a presenter on Expressfm the local radio station in Portsmouth. She co-presented two ‘Drive Time’ shows a week with Adrian Knight, hosted the live Thursday Afternoon Show and The Sunday Morning Show guests including musicians and authors. Following this she became Station Director for a local internet television station for two years, producing and presenting the daily news segment, outside broadcasts and co-presenting the Adrian and Sally chat show live on Friday evenings.

She and her husband David have now returned to Ireland where they live on the Wexford Coast where she blogs and continues to write books.

Books :Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More reviews: Goodreads – blog: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine Twitter: @sgc58 – Facebook: Sally Cronin – LinkedIn: Sally Cronin

Next week 1973 Part Two. We hope you will tune in.. as always we love to hear from you.. thanks William and Sally.

 

Previous Breakfast Shows can be found The Breakfast Show Archive