This essay was originally written in 2020 and shared with a limited audience on Facebook during the early days of the pandemic. I’m reposting it here so that more people can read it, and because I want to revisit the music and memories myself. It’s part of a four-part look back at the music of 1974, a year that sounded a lot different than I remembered.

1974 Part I – Let’s Slow Things Down

1974’s music took an unexpected turn. In my all-too-fallible memory, this was a vibrant time in my life. I was 13 and just starting to assert my independence through music and reading. I remember it as exciting and full of discovery.

But the charts tell a different story.

The Billboard Top 100 leaned heavily into soft rock, syrupy ballads, and the early rumblings of disco. With a few exceptions, the tempo of the year could best be described as slow. Just look at the top three songs:

1. “The Way We Were” – Barbra Streisand
2. “Seasons in the Sun” – Terry Jacks
3. “Love’s Theme” – The Love Unlimited Orchestra

(Oh god… I think I learned to dance the hustle to that last one.)

Sure, there were a few upbeat tracks scattered throughout the year, but they were mostly pure pop. Songs I once considered “rockers” now sound like pop standards. Take Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets.” How did I ever think this was edgy rock?

“Midnight at the Oasis,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “You Make Me Feel Brand New,” and “A Love Song” all dragged the tempo down further. Easy listening ruled the airwaves. John Denver, Cat Stevens, and Jim Croce were everywhere. So were Chicago and Gordon Lightfoot.

There was even a local radio station in Los Angeles that specialized in this genre. I can’t remember the call sign now, but my cousin Bobby used to record it on his Teac reel-to-reel deck. Whenever I visited, we’d dig through his archive and listen to these mellow tracks for hours.

A few of the uptempo songs leaned toward disco. “Dancing Machine” might technically be funk, but it’s forever tied to the disco phase of my life, as are “TSOP,” “Jungle Boogie,” and “Boogie Down.” I didn’t really like disco, but the girls did, and I liked the girls. So I put on my polyester pants and boogied down.

At work in 2020, we were talking about disco and my ongoing music project. Someone asked what kind of dances were popular back then. I mentioned “The Bump” and was met with blank stares. iPhones came out. Videos were searched. Then the looks started.

“This was popular?”

Yes. I remember practicing “The Bump” with my sisters. It was weird, but it was a thing. I have no idea why.

My least favorite disco track from 1974 is “Rock Your Baby” by George McCrae. The beat is mindless, the lyrics dull, and the whole thing sounds like it was recorded on your grandma’s living room organ. It’s musical noise. That didn’t stop us from dancing to it back then, but I have no desire to ever hear it again.

I do have a guilty pleasure from 1974: “Waterloo” by ABBA. I don’t know how it happened, but I’ve always loved ABBA. I blame disco. It’s a sickness. I sought treatment. I still do.