Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Music Column – The Breakfast Show Rewind with William Price King and Sally Cronin – Chart Hits 1974 Part One – Barbra Streisand, Barry White, The Three Degrees, ABBA-

Welcome to The Breakfast Show and the top hits of the 1970s.

Both William and I are working on new projects and as we complete those we hope you will enjoy the series which began in January 2021 again, or for the first time if you are new to the blog.

Each week William and I selected two top hits from the charts starting with 1960 for two weeks followed by 1961 etc..through to 2005. We then did a retro series beginning in the 1940s. We also included some of the notable events in those years for the up and coming stars who were centre stage at the time.

Welcome to the show and we are excited to share decades of music with you again in 2024. Here is the first of my top 1974 hits which I hope you will enjoy.  William.

News Event:  February 2nd Barbra Streisand’s 1st #1 hit, “The Way We Were”

Barbra Streisand  –  The way we were  

“The way we were” was 1974’s most successful record in the US, and reached #1 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles list. It topped the charts in Canada, and peaked in the top 40 in Australia and the UK. “The way we were” won two Academy Awards. The lyrics detail the melancholic relationship between the two main characters in the film of the same name

News Event:  February 19th 1st American Music Awards: Helen Reddy & Jim Croce win

Barry White and The Love Unlimited Orchestra – Love’s Theme  

“Love’s Theme,” penned by Barry White, is one of the few instrumentals and probably the first disco instrumental to reach the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100. Billboard ranked it as the #3 song for 1974 and it peaked at #10 in the U K and #1 in Canada.

News Event: March 2nd 16th Grammy Awards: Roberta Flack Best Record – “Killing Me Softly”, Stevie Wonder Best Album – “Innervisions”

Now time for my picks from 1974 and these are tracks that take me down memory lane and to the amazing music of the decade

The Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again

“When Will I See You Again” is a song released in 1974 by American soul group The Three Degrees, from their third album The Three Degrees. The song was written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The strings were arranged by Belford “Sinky” Hendricks, who also arranged songs for many top-flight groups and recording artists. Sheila Ferguson sang the lead, accompanied by Fayette Pinkney and Valerie Holiday. Billboard named named the song #67 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. The Three Degrees

News Event: May 11th Steely Dan releases “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”

ABBA – Waterloo

“Waterloo” is the first single from the Swedish pop group ABBA’s second album, Waterloo, and their first under the Epic and Atlantic labels. This was also the first single to be credited to the group performing under the name ABBA.

On 6 April 1974, the song was the winning entry for Sweden in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. The victory began ABBA’s path to worldwide fame. The single became a No. 1 hit in several countries. It reached the U.S. Top 10 and went on to sell nearly six million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles in history. At the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, it was chosen as the best song in the competition’s history. ABBA

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 time 1974 Part Two and we hope you will tune in.. as always we love to hear from you.. thanks William and Sally.