1974 in British music explained

This is a summary of 1974 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

Events

6 April – The 19th Eurovision Song Contest is staged at the Dome in Brighton. The winners, Sweden's ABBA, go on to be the top-selling act of the decade.
7 May – Led Zeppelin announce their new record label, Swan Song Records, with a lavish party at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York.
19 June – Alan Bush's 1950 opera Wat Tyler receives its UK première at Sadler's Wells Theatre, the only time one of Bush's operas has been staged in the UK.^[1]
20 July – The first Knebworth Concert is held, headlined by the Allman Brothers Band.
2 November – George Harrison launches his George Harrison & Friends North American Tour in Vancouver. It is Harrison's first tour since the Beatles North American tour of 1966.
28 November – John Lennon joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden for three songs. It would be Lennon's last stage performance.
12 December – Mick Taylor leaves the Rolling Stones after six years.

Number Ones

Singles

Date^[2]	Single	Artist
5 January	"Merry Xmas Everybody"	Slade
12 January
19 January	"You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me"	The New Seekers
26 January	"Tiger Feet"	Mud
2 February
9 February
16 February
23 February	"Devil Gate Drive"	Suzi Quatro
2 March
9 March	"Jealous Mind"	Alvin Stardust
16 March	"Billy Don't Be a Hero"	Paper Lace
23 March
30 March
6 April	"Seasons in the Sun"	Terry Jacks
13 April
20 April
27 April
4 May	"Waterloo"	ABBA
11 May
18 May	"Sugar Baby Love"	The Rubettes
25 May
1 June
8 June
15 June	"The Streak"	Ray Stevens
22 June	"Always Yours"	Gary Glitter
29 June	"She"	Charles Aznavour
6 July
13 July
20 July
27 July	"Rock Your Baby"	George McCrae
3 August
10 August
17 August	"When Will I See You Again"	The Three Degrees
24 August
31 August	"Love Me for a Reason"	The Osmonds
7 September
14 September
21 September	"Kung Fu Fighting"	Carl Douglas
28 September
5 October
12 October	"Annie's Song"	John Denver
19 October	"Sad Sweet Dreamer"	Sweet Sensation
26 October	"Everything I Own"	Ken Boothe
2 November
9 November
16 November	"Gonna Make You a Star"	David Essex
23 November
30 November
7 December	"You're the First, the Last, My Everything"	Barry White
14 December
21 December	"Lonely This Christmas"	Mud
28 December
4 January

Albums

Date^[3]	Album	Artist	Weeks
5 January	Tales from Topographic Oceans	Yes	2
12 January
19 January	Sladest	Slade	1
26 January	And I Love You So	Perry Como	1
2 February		The Carpenters	4
9 February
16 February
23 February
2 March	Old, New, Borrowed and Blue	Slade	1
9 March	The Singles: 1969-1973	The Carpenters	11
16 March
23 March
30 March
6 April
13 April
20 April
27 April
4 May
11 May
18 May
25 May	Journey to the Centre of the Earth	Rick Wakeman	1
1 June	The Singles: 1969-1973	The Carpenters	1
8 June	Diamond Dogs	David Bowie	4
15 June
22 June
29 June
6 July	The Singles: 1969-1973	The Carpenters	1
13 July	Caribou	Elton John	2
20 July
27 July	Band on the Run	Paul McCartney & Wings	7
3 August
10 August
17 August
24 August
31 August
7 September
14 September	Hergest Ridge	Mike Oldfield	3
21 September
28 September
5 October	Tubular Bells	1
12 October	Rollin'	Bay City Rollers	1
19 October	Smiler	Rod Stewart	1
26 October	Rollin	Bay City Rollers	1
2 November	Smiler	Rod Stewart	1
9 November	Rollin	Bay City Rollers	2
16 November
23 November	Greatest Hits	Elton John	7
30 November
7 December
14 December
21 December
28 December
4 January

Year-end charts

Between 2 January and 6 December 1974.

Best-selling singles

^[4]

scope=col		scope=col	Title	scope=col	Artist	scope=col	Peak position
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	1	"Tiger Feet"	Mud	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	2	"Seasons in the Sun"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	3	"Billy Don't Be a Hero"	Paper Lace	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	4	"When Will I See You Again"	The Three Degrees	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	5	"Rock Your Baby"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	6	"Gonna Make You a Star"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	7	"She"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	8	"Kung Fu Fighting"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	9	"Everything I Own"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	10	"Sugar Baby Love"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	11	"Devil Gate Drive"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	12	"Love Me for a Reason"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	13	"Jealous Mind"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	14	"The Air That I Breathe"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	15	"Annie's Song"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	16	"Waterloo"	ABBA	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	17	"The Wombling Song"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	18	"You Make Me Feel Brand New"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	19	"The Most Beautiful Girl"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	20	"Y Viva España"	Sylvia	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	21	"Hey Rock and Roll"	Showaddywaddy	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	22	"Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies"		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	23	"I'm Leaving It Up to You"	&	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	24	"The Streak"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	25	"Teenage Rampage"	Sweet	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	26	"Remember You're a Womble"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	27	"Always Yours"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	28	"You're Sixteen"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	29	"Killer Queen"	Queen	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	30	"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us"	Sparks	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	31	"Don't Stay Away Too Long"	Peters and Lee	3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	32	"You're the First, the Last, My Everything"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	33	"Angel Face"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	34	"Born with a Smile on My Face"	with Rain	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	35	"Hang On in There Baby"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	36	"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	37	"The Cat Crept In"	Mud	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	38	"There's a Ghost in My House"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	39	"Sad Sweet Dreamer"	Sweet Sensation	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	40	"Dance with the Devil"		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	41	"Solitaire"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	42	"Summerlove Sensation"	Bay City Rollers	3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	43	"Hey There Lonely Girl"		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	44	"Emma"	Hot Chocolate	3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	45	"You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me"		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	46	"You Are Everything"	& Marvin Gaye	5
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	47	"Far Far Away"	Slade	2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	48	"All of Me Loves All of You"	Bay City Rollers	4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	49	"Remember (Sha-La-La)"	Bay City Rollers	6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	50	"Band on the Run"	and Wings	3

Best-selling albums

The list of the top fifty best-selling albums of 1974 were published in Music Week and in Record Mirror at the end of the year, and later reproduced in the first edition of the BPI Year Book in 1976. However, in 2007 the Official Charts Company published album chart histories for each year from 1956 to 1977, researched by historian Sharon Mawer, and included an updated list of the top ten best-selling albums for each year based on the new research. The updated top ten for 1974 is shown in the table below.^[5]

scope=col		scope=col	Title	scope=col	Artist	scope=col	Peak position
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	1			1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	2	Band on the Run	and Wings	1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	3	Tubular Bells		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	4	40 Greatest Hits		—
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	5	The Dark Side of the Moon	Pink Floyd	7
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	6	Diamond Dogs		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	7	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	8	And I Love You So		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	9	Greatest Hits	Simon & Garfunkel	6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	10	Greatest Hits		1

Notes:

Classical music: new works

Benjamin Britten – Suite on English Folk Tunes: 'A time there was...'

Film and Incidental music

Richard Rodney Bennett – Murder on the Orient Express, starring Albert Finney.
Herbert Chappell – The Pallisers^[6]
Andrew Lloyd Webber – The Odessa File.
Stanley Myers – House of Whipcord directed by Pete Walker.

Births

2 January – Ian Vine, composer
12 January – Melanie C, singer (Spice Girls)
7 February – Danny Goffey, singer-songwriter and drummer (Supergrass, Babyshambles, The Jennifers, Lodger, and The Hotrats)
13 February – Robbie Williams, singer (Take That)
- - 22 February James Blunt, singer-songwriter
- Chris Moyles, radio and television host
15 March – David Ross, singer (Bad Boys Inc)
23 March – David and Michael Smallwood, singers (Gemini)
1 April – Stuart Black, bassist (Menswear)
17 April – Victoria Beckham, singer (Spice Girls)
20 April – Tina Cousins, singer
3 May – Nick Keynes, bassist (Ultra)
7 May – Lynden David Hall, singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer
3 June – Kelly Jones, singer-songwriter and guitarist
10 July – Simon White, guitarist (Menswear)
17 July – Laura Macdonald, Scottish saxophonist and composer
21 July – Terry Coldwell, singer (East 17)
5 August – Spike Dawbarn, singer (911)
8 August – Brian Harvey, singer (East 17)
18 August – Mark Baron, singer (Another Level)
9 September – Niall O'Neill, Irish singer (OTT)
22 September – G-Man, Trinidadian-born singer (MN8)
1 October – Keith Duffy, Irish singer (Boyzone)
4 November – Louise Nurding, singer and former member of Eternal
10 November – Heavenli Denton, singer (Honeyz)
23 November – Jacqui Blake, singer (Shampoo)
7 December – Nicole Appleton, Canadian-born singer (All Saints)
13 December – Nick McCarthy, English-German rhythm guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
27 December – Tasha Baylis, drummer (Hepburn)
date unknown
- Matthew Jones, violist, violinist and composer
- Sophie Viney, composer and arranger

Deaths

1 April – Alfred Whitehead, English-born Canadian composer, organist, choirmaster, music educator and painter, 86
5 April – Jennifer Vyvyan, operatic soprano, 49 (bronchial condition)
28 April – Leslie Statham, composer and arranger,
5 May – Adge Cutler, folk musician, 42 (car accident)^[7]
8 May – Graham Bond, R&B musician, 36 (hit by train)
15 September – Thomas Fielden, pianist and teacher, 90
November – Bessie Jones, musical theatre singer, 87
3 November – Victor Olof, violinist and conductor, 76
25 November – Nick Drake, singer/songwriter, 26 (overdose)

Notes and References

Web site: Mason. Colin . etal. Bush, Alan (Dudley). Grove Music Online. 2007–2017. 26 May 2017.
http://www.officialcharts.com/all-the-number-ones-singles-list/_/1970 Official Charts Company - Number One singles(Link redirected to OCC website)
http://www.officialcharts.com/all-the-number-one-albums-list/_/1970 Official Charts Company - Number One albums(Link redirected to OCC website)
Top Selling Singles for 1974 . . Spotlight Publications . London, England . 20 . 4 January 1975.
Web site: Sharon . Mawer . Album Chart History: 1974 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071217020432/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1974.php . 17 December 2007.
Web site: British Light Music Premieres, Vol. 1 - The Pallisers, television series score. Allmusic. 6 June 2017.
Web site: Fan pays tribute to Wurzel Adge. BBC Somerset. BBC. 9 July 2008.