The year was 1974. At this particular time, the Billboard Hot 100 showed songs moving up the countdown slowly and with dignity and grace. It was not out of the realm of possibility that a song could peak in its 10th or 11th or maybe even its 12th week on the chart then begin to descend.
And when that drop began, it was quite majestic. Songs that would get to the Top 5 would find themselves dropping out of the Top 20 by the next week. And songs that went to No. 1 would be out of the Top 10. You could have the biggest song in America and find yourself out of the Top 40 three weeks later. It really, really happened in 1974. For example, Billy Preston's smash chart-topper, "Nothing But Nothing," went from being No. 1 to being No. 39 two weeks later.
Then there's the case of the one and only No. 1 hit for the Canadian hard rock group Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The follow-up to the Top 15 hit "Takin' Care Of Business," "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" climbed swiftly up the Top 40 and got to No. 6 by October 19, 1974. The next week, it vaulted to No. 3, then to No. 2 the next week. Finally, on November 9, the song had climbed to No. 1, a great accomplishment for the four-man band led by former Guess Who guitarist-singer Randy Bachman and Joe Turner.
But with the way the charts were back in 1974, it was almost expected the song was about to take a tumble the next week. And, oh, did it ever!
"You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" slipped 11 notches out of the top spot and out of the Top 10 to No. 12. Worse, it slipped 22 notches for the week of November 23 down to No. 34. It was destined the song would make a tumble out of the Top 40 the next week. Well, at least it had a nice chart run.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP7u8DmD15g
Something else, though, was happening on FM radio. Disc jockeys turned the 45 over of "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet," and heard a bluesy instrumental on the other side. It was called "Free Wheeln'," featuring Bachman's trademark guitar work and solos by each member of the four-man band. The song was a jam session wrapped into three minutes and 48 seconds.
And a funny thing happened -- with radio airplay added in to how Billboard magazine tabulated the Hot 100 chart, the song that was destined to fall out of the Top 40 suddenly was a double-sided single and with the brand new recognition of the track "Free Wheelin'," "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" proved the title prophetic. It leaped back up the Top 40! From No. 34, the song made the biggest leap of the week on November 30, 1974 -- 26 notches into the Top 10 again at No. 8!
A great fete for a song that originally was supposed to be a "gag" record for Bachman's brother, Gary, whose stuttering problem was "celebrated" by Bachman on the chorus of "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet." But the move proved to be nothing more than a novelty -- it held at No. 8 the very next week after the 26-point climb and would be out of the Top 40 by the end of 1974.
But the real anomaly is the fact that "Free Wheelin'," the track that resuscitated a dying No. 1, is rarely ever heard on classic rock radio. So go figure!
Still, it did something that very few songs had at that time -- give it staying power.
Long live "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet." Oh, and you, too, "Free Wheelin'," even if no one ever hears you anymore.
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