1974 poll results: Singles

You wanna be there when they count up the dudes

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.