The AT40 Blog/August 3, 1974: Three debuts, three future No. 1s and one former No. 1 remade

The Top 40 countdown for August 3, 1974, saw six songs debut. Two of the songs were debuts that didn't get very far up the countdown -- "Kung Fu" by Curtis Mayfield, a debut at No. 40, would only spend one week in the Top 40, though it did get to No. 3 on the R&B chart and was part of the whole "Kung Fu" phenomenon of the mid-1970s, and "My Thang" by James Brown debuted at No. 37 and would peak at No. 29 as it hit No. 1 on the R&B chart, his 15th No. 1 R&B hit.

The other four debuts had far better success climbing the chart.

Nothing From Nothing--Billy Preston: It was this week that the man best known for playing alongside the Beatles and Rolling Stones and scoring solo hits on his own like "Outta-Space," "Will It Go 'Round In Circles" and "Space Race" debuted at No. 39 with his newest release. His composition, which he co-wrote with good friend Bruce Fisher and that he produced would take its sweet ol' time climbing the Top 40. Best known as the first song ever performed on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in its debut show on October 11, 1975, would ultimately reach No. 1 11 weeks later on the chart of October 19, 1974, spending one week at the time. It would be Preston's second and last No. 1 after "Will It Go 'Round In Circles" and last Top 10 hit for 5 1/2 years.


Then Came You--Dionne Warwicke & The Spinners: By 1974, not only had Dionne Warwicke not had a Top 40 hit since "Make It Easy On Yourself" peaked at No. 37 in 1970, but she addedhad an "e" to the end of her last name, which sounded all fine and dandy as a "positive vibe" thing, but between 1971-75 when she had the "e" she only had this one hit. But what a hit: It teamed her up with one of the top acts of the time, the Spinners. The two acts combined to debut at No. 38 with this song co-written by Sherman Marshall and Philip Pugh and produced by Thom Bell, a star producer and writer of the 1970s. Like "Nothing But Nothing," it took its sweet time up the Top 40. The week after "Nothing But Nothing" hit the top, "Then Came You" went to No. 1. And like "Nothing But Nothing," it, too, dropped from No. 1 to No. 15 the week after it hit the top. The song became the first No. 1s in the careers of both acts and still the only No. 1 pop hit to this day for the Spinners. But even as she scored a No. 1 hit and reverted back to her normal last name Warwick, the New Jersey-born star would not have another Top 40 hit until her comeback smash "I'll Never Love This Way Again" hit No. 5 in October 1979.


I Shot The Sheriff--Eric Clapton: Bob Marley wrote the song in 1973 and recorded it for The Wailers' album "Burnin'" that year. It's a song that Marley admitted started as "I Shot The Police," but would have caused a major stir in his native Jamaica, so he changed it to sheriff, though the idea was still the same in both cases -- justice. Clapton heard The Wailers' version of the song and thought it had a blues feel to it compared to the reggae version of the original. He asked permission from Marley to record it and Marley more than obliged. With that blues background and the work of keyboardist Dick Sims and the backing vocals of Yvonne Ellliman and Marcy Levy, it's one of the rare moments in which Clapton's guitar work doesn't have a starring role. It debuted on August 3, 1974, at No. 34, and moved quickly up the Top 40, hitting No. 1 just six weeks later and like the other two songs mentioned above, spending one week at the top of the chart. It, too, is still the lone No. 1 hit Clapton has ever recorded.


Wild Thing--Fancy: The highest-debuting song of the week was a remake of the Chip Taylor-penned No. 1 hit in 1966 by the Troggs, a song that has stood the test of time as a classic. In 1974, another British band decided to take its turn on the song, giving it a "glam rock" sound that was made famous in that era by such acts as T.Rex, Gary Glitter, Slade and Suzi Quatro. With former Penthouse Pet Helen Caunt singing lead vocals, "Wild Thing" debuted at No. 32 on August 3, 1974, but unlike the other three songs mentioned above, "Wild Thing" didn't make history by going to No. 1 for a second time. Instead, it would peak at No. 14.

Not a bad week at all for memorable debuts. As for the top of the countdown that week, John Denver's tribute to his wife, "Annie's Song," was at No. 1, holding off Elton John's epic "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" at No. 2 for the second straight week. Roberta Flack's "Feel Like Makin' Love" was on the prowl and closing in on No. 1, moving up three places from No. 6 to No. 3.