Rock Radio MARCH 1974 ~ 50 Years Ago

We’re Singing a Love Song to Sunshine   

Marching into March, we’re faced with the beginning of Spring and the end of 2024’s first quarter. It’s difficult not to wallow in nostalgia and wish for a time machine to take us back to a time in life—personally and globally—when the weight of the news could be overcome with a song.

But I dare you to be in a foul mood after listening to this month’s Song of Note  ♪ … If I had a song that I could sing for you | I'd sing a song to make you feel this way … ♪ Let’s get Rockin’ … 50 Years Ago this Month …

MARCH 1974 Radio Muse & News ♪ 

We’ll be delving into life behind the mic at KSLQ/St. Louis, Missouri, and WCFL/Chicago, for DJs and music to lift us out of Winter and into a Spring Rock & Roll fling. Back in the day …

March 11^th: Before morphing into Rhino Records, known largely early-on for novelty recordings, Rhino Store started as a record shop on Westwood Boulevard, Los Angeles, in 1973. Rumor has it, on this date 1974, Rhino pulled reverse psychology on record buyers and offered 5¢ to customers if they’d take home a copy of Danny Bonaduce’s self-titled (and only) album. It was certainly no skin off his nose—he was making a pretty penny as a teen star of the hit ‘70s TV show, The Partridge Family. (By all accounts, the feisty 64-year-old redhead today, is doing well after brain surgery in the summer of 2023.) 

March 19^th: “Beginning” a long and storied career, members of Jefferson Starship launched their first tour on this date 50 Years Ago! Of course, they were all seasoned musicians by this time, as their original “Airplane” transformed into a faster, sleeker vessel of music! Whether Airplane or Starship, I was ready to blast off with them from the moment I slid down the rabbit-hole to meet the “White Rabbit,” and turned my lava lamp on to “Hyperdrive.” ♪ … And if you go chasing rabbits | And you know you're bound to fall | Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar | Has given you the call … ♪     

On Your Tinny Transistor Radio ♪  
Where were you waiting for Spring in March 1974? Seattle, Chicago, St. Louis? Here’s a sample of what and who you were listening to …

As on many radio charts across the country, Terry Jacks’ “Seasons in the Sun” claimed the #1 spot yet again, for fans of WCFL/Chicago radio, on their “Super CFL Survey” for March 16, 1974. Finally, though, Elton John with “Bennie & the Jets” overtook Jacks’ long-running song to grab #1 at KSLQ/St. Louis on their “Super ‘Q’” chart March 22^nd. Which super chart made our monthly Featured Radio Survey? Keep reading! 

Monthly Song of Note ♪  

Pulling out of Winter, this is a good time to pump up your spirit in anticipation of Spring. I could have gone cynical with a satirical tune, “Energy Crisis ’74,” by Dickie Goodman sitting at #17 on WCFL/Chicago’s chart. Instead, I opted to award a sunny Song of Note with the honor, to prep you for Spring: John Denver’s “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” still climbing at #6 on KSLQ’s sunny survey.

My motivation to choose Denver’s song, coincides with WIKI’s quote of how it came to be. His mood may sound familiar … "I wrote the song in Minnesota at the time I call 'late winter, early spring'. It was a dreary day, gray and slushy. The snow was melting and it was too cold to go outside and have fun, but God, you're ready for spring. You want to get outdoors again and you're waiting for that sun to shine, and you remember how sometimes just the sun itself can make you feel good. And in that very melancholy frame of mind I wrote 'Sunshine on My Shoulders'." BTW, do you know John Denver (1943-1997) was born “Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.”? Now that’s a mouthful. ♪ … Sunshine on the water looks so lovely | Sunshine almost always makes me high …  ♪ 

Quirky Band Names ♪   

There was no contest this month. We not only have a truly Quirky Band Name, but a matching Quirky Song Title to go with! Ever heard of the artists, MSFB? Likely not. But surely you’ve heard the Soul Train theme … that’s their song, currently sitting at #8 in St. Louis’ KSLQ chart (up 4 rungs on the musical ladder)! The band, "Mother Father Sister Brother," aka MSFB, was composed of 30+ studio musicians and enjoyed a successful career backing such big names as the O’Jays, the Stylistics and even Wilson Pickett, just to name a few.

They moved from the back to the front with bouncy tune, “TSOP,” known formally as “The Sound of Philadelphia,” which played an instrumental part (yup, an intended pun as you’ll learn) in the burgeoning Disco era. According to WIKI “It was the first television theme song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 …” A major feat for television, compounded by its instrumental format—not an easy sell on Top 40 charts! 

March 2024 Rockin’ More ♪    

Saturday ~ March 16^th: I think I’ve found your new “Janis Joplin” playing at San Diego’s “The Sound” at Del Mar Fairgrounds. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals have been around a while, but their music, a little jazz, a little blues, and a little Rock & Roll, is the kind of eternal melody everyone loves, as they ramp up their music for another successful run. They’re “Ready, Set, Go!” Look for them soon near you …

Sunday ~ March 17^th: C’mon, you know I’ve gotta list St. Patrick’s Day … eschew the Rock & Roll for a day and enjoy the lilt of fun Irish jigs. Sláinte!

Thursday ~ March 28^th: Many musicians of every genre start with the most available musical instrument—in many cases, it’s the piano! Who hasn’t “tickled the ivories” for fun, if not for profit? Celebrate today—it’s World Piano Day! Always On the 88th day of the year, which would normally fall on March 29^th, except in a leap year. So here we are …

BFYP Featured Radio Survey ♪♪  
MARCH 22, 1974 ~ KSLQ/St. Louis, Missouri … is Rockin’ their chart with a Psychedelic Seventies art survey that’ll wake you up in the morning! Have you ever noticed how many “Q” stations there were “back in the day”? The Bartells loved that letter and radio fans loved their stations. The DJs, maybe not so much. At St. Louis Media History, DJ Mike Jeffries, aka The Red Baron, commented, “Studio G-1 was a dump,” he remembers. “While Bartell built new studios on the third floor, we slaved in the basement …” 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played … 

Let’s Celebrate MARCH 1974 ~ Sláinte! And … Rock On!  

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LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. Two books (of three planned) are published in her Blast from Your Past^TM series, available on Amazon: Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959^TM (eBook only; coming soon in updated print edition) and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties^TM (eBook & print). Coming soon-ish … Book 3 – The Psychedelic Seventies!^TM 

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