Previously: Albums results; my favorite 1974 African albums
Numbers in parentheses are votes (1 point each) and star votes, if any (extra half a point each.) Normal Farruggian tiebreaking rules apply, except confirmed non-singles automatically lose tiebreakers. Some of these were 1973 releases; others arguably had a 1975 year of impact. Chuck Eddy suggests, and I ask you remind me, to aggregate points across years if I get around to polling either of those years. Maybe in the 2050s.
1. David Bowie: “Rebel Rebel” (17 votes/2 star votes)
2. Lynyrd Skynyrd: “Sweet Home Alabama” (13/2)
3. George McCrae: “Rock Your Baby” (10/2)
4=. Rufus: “Tell Me Something Good” (9/1)
4=. William DeVaughn: “Be Thankful for What You Got” (9/1)
6. Paul McCartney & Wings: “Jet”/“Let Me Roll It” (8/2)
7. Steely Dan: “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”/“Any Major Dude Will Tell You” (9)
8. Big Star: “September Gurls”/“Mod Lang” (7/1)
9. Shirley (and Company): “Shame, Shame, Shame” (6/2)
10. Dionne Warwick & the Spinners: “Then Came You” (7)
11. Stevie Wonder: “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” (7)
12. George Jones: “The Grand Tour” (5/2)
13=. Ann Peebles: “I Can’t Stand the Rain” (6)
13=. Billy Swan: “I Can Help” (6)
13=. Elton John: “Bennie and the Jets” (6)
13=. Patti Smith: “Hey Joe/Piss Factory” (6)
17. Joni Mitchell: “Help Me” (6)
18. Labelle: “Lady Marmalade” (5/1)
19=. ABBA: “Waterloo” (5)
19=. The Stylistics: “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (5)
21. Al Green: “Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)” (5)
22. Queen: “Killer Queen” (5)
23. Raspberries: “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” (5)
24. Linda Ronstadt: “You’re No Good” (5)
25. Elton John: “The Bitch Is Back” (4/1)
26. Kraftwerk: “Autobahn” (4/1, non-1974 single)
27=. Gloria Gaynor: “Never Can Say Goodbye” (4)
27=. Junior Byles: “Curly Locks” (4)
27=. The Three Degrees: “When Will I See You Again” (4)
30. Al Green: “Take Me to the River” (4, non-single)
31. Dolly Parton: “Jolene” (2 star votes)
32=. The O’Jays: “For the Love of Money” (3/1)
32=. Paper Lace: “The Night Chicago Died” (3/1)
34. Sparks: “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us” (3/1)
35. Aretha Franklin: “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)” (3/1)
36=. Bachman-Turner Overdrive: “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (3)
36=. Blue Magic: “Sideshow” (3)
36=. Crystal Grass: “Crystal World” (3)
36=. Ken Boothe: “Everything I Own” (3)
36=. Kool & the Gang: “Jungle Boogie” (3)
36=. Paul McCartney & Wings: “Band on the Run” (3)
42.= Brinsley Schwarz: “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” (3)
42.= Electric Light Orchestra: “Can’t Get It Out of My Head” (3)
42.= Ohio Players: “Fire” (3)
45. Elis Regina & Antônio Carlos Jobim: “Águas de Março” (3, possibly a non-single but I’m not going to learn Portuguese just to go through discographies, yet)
46. Stevie Wonder: “Boogie On Reggae Woman” (3)
47. New York Dolls: “Babylon”/“Human Being” (3)
48=. David Essex: “Rock On” (2/1)
48=. Jacob Miller: “Baby I Love You So”/Augustus Pablo: “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” (2/1)
48=. Redbone: “Come and Get Your Love” (2/1)
48=. The Sweet: “The Ballroom Blitz” (2/1)
Also receiving two votes:
Astor Piazzolla: “Libertango”
Barry White: “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe”
Dry Bread: “Yamar”
Eric Clapton: “I Shot the Sheriff”/“Let It Grow”
George McCrae: “I Can’t Leave You Alone”
Grand Funk Railroad: “The Loco-Motion”
MFSB ft. The Three Degrees: “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)”
Maria Muldaur: “Midnight at the Oasis”
Merle Haggard: “If We Make It Through December”
Paul McCartney & Wings: “Junior’s Farm”
Robert Wyatt: “I’m a Believer”
Robert Wyatt: “Sea Song”
Roxy Music: “All I Want Is You”
Stevie Wonder: “Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing”
Stevie Wonder: “Living for the City”
The Hollies: “The Air That I Breathe”
War: “Me and Baby Brother”
All publicly available ballots are in the comments here.
My top ten
To me, a terrible year for Anglo-American rock singles was almost exactly cancelled out by excellent years for rising disco and high Jamaica, including what was my favorite two-sided single until “OMG”/“Ditto”. Pace our poll-topper, the year’s Great White Rock song was from New Zealand’s ersatz Bowies Space Waltz, who made one of the few ’70s gender-blurring glam songs that actually did turn out to be explicitly pro-trans once the dust settled.
1. Jacob Miller: “Baby I Love You So”/Augustus Pablo: “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown”
2. The Three Degrees: “When Will I See You Again”
3. James Brown: “The Payback”
4. Shirley (and Company): “Shame, Shame, Shame”
5. Ken Boothe: “Everything I Own”
6. Gloria Gaynor: “Never Can Say Goodbye”
7. The Stylistics: “You Make Me Feel Brand New”
8. MFSB ft. The Three Degrees: “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)”
9. Space Waltz: “Out in the Street”
10. Junior Byles: “Curly Locks”
Next summer: 1985 or 1965, we’ll see how I feel.
Thank you, Brad.