Dealing with problematic choices
On May 13th, 1974, The Locomotion by Grand Funk was the #1 song. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen this song performed by shirtless men. Truly surreal. I narrowly missed Ray Steven’s The Streak (don’t look Ethel!). When will our long national nightmare end? Other moments of significance from 1974: Nixon resigned (and was pardoned by Ford), Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth for the all-time home run lead, and The Freedom of Information Act was made law (over Ford’s veto. I’m not sure I realized how big a bag of dicks Gerald Ford was.) On to the choices.
This is my first major edit to the original list (see below). The Ooga-Chaka is one of the best introductory hooks in all of rock and roll. And when the a capella verse give way to the double drum beat in the chorus, the earth moves. A quintessential one-hit wonder, Blue Swede caught lightning in a bottle with this track.
Back in 2012, my first choice for this year Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama. It’s a track I’ve grown up with and has long been a staple in many of my playlists. Even in 2012, though, I experienced some cognitive dissonance around the racially suspect language and its not-so-thinly veiled support for a white supremacist. Twelve years later that dissonance has become impossible for me to ignore. I’ve read all of the stories about the “real message” behind the lyrics, but ultimately, I find the apologists’ interpretation flawed and willfully blind. Even one of the original writers of the song spoke to the band’s overt support of Wallace. I simply had to replace it.
Technically this band is from California, not the south, but there is no doubt that the sound of The Doobie Brother’s Black Water is as southern as it gets. It’s the harmony during the Dixieland exit that gets me every time. This one is definitely more sing-along than dance number, but, hey, people need to get drinks, right?
Two choices that were difficult to leave off the mix were Kung-Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas and Killer Queen by Queen. The first felt too similar to last year’s offerings [2024 – Also, with experience and learning, it’s problematic as hell. Turns out my taste in 70s music suffered from a lack of sensitivity.], and the second is the second-best option for Queen, but oh so close. (The first-best option for Queen is forthcoming.)
Nathan’s choices for this year were The Joker by The Steve Miller Band and Bloody Well Right by Supertramp. I have the former as being released in 1973, but even so it wouldn’t have beat any of the choices I listed there. The latter is another song I’m genuinely peeved can’t be on my list. At least with Kodachrome last year I had other Paul Simon choices to look forward to.
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