NOW – Yearbook 1974 (3LP) Various Artists

NOW is proud to present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series – and take a trip back 50 Years in Pop history – with 48 tracks on 3 LPs, pressed on Green Vinyl, to celebrate a stellar year of Pop singles. NOW – Yearbook 1974.

Opening with ‘Killer Queen’ the first Top 5 single for Queen, and followed by the classic ‘Jet’ by Paul McCartney & Wings, and the still breathtakingly original, and hugely influential ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’ from Sparks. This epic beginning to the 1974 Yearbook continues with a run of ‘glamtastic’ pop from Sweet and Roxy Music, and including #1s from Suzi Quatro, and the years’ biggest seller ‘Tiger Feet’ from Mud, before closing with Slade’s ‘Far Far Away’. Flip the LP over for legendary singers: Elton John with one of his signature tracks ‘Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ before some of ‘74’s biggest Rock hits, including ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’, ‘Radar Love’, ‘Dance With The Devil’ and Rod Stewart’s vocals on the Faces’ ‘Pool Hall Richard’. This LP signs off with ‘Mike Oldfield’s Single’ – the ‘theme’ from his era defining album ‘Tubular Bells’.

LP2s first side is packed with huge hits including 6 #1’s – with chart-toppers from David Essex, The Rubettes, Alvin Stardust and Paper Lace, plus a huge hit from Pilot and the first Top 3 single for the Bay City Rollers with ‘Shang-A-Lang’. 1974’s biggest selling singles act was The Wombles, and their debut ‘The Wombling Song’ is up next along with the #1 global smash ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ from Carl Douglas, before closing with the Reggae-Pop #1 ‘Everything I Own’ from Ken Boothe. 1974 was a landmark year for Soul music, and it included the first global ‘Disco’ smashes. The next side opens with Barry White’s #1 ‘You’re The First, The Last, My Everything’ before a run of iconic floor-fillers from The Hues Corporation, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and a further #1 ‘Rock Your Baby’ from George McCrae. The remainder of the side features four of the greatest Soul ballads of all-time from The Isley Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye and ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ from The Stylistics.

The final LP kicks off with the title track from the year’s biggest selling album, ‘Band On The Run’ from Paul McCartney & Wings – followed by the timeless ‘Candle In The Wind’ from Elton John, the beautiful ‘I Honestly Love You’ by Olivia Newton-John – her first US #1, and the sublime ‘The Air That I Breathe’ from The Hollies, before a run of four songs: John Denver’s ‘Annie’s Song’, ‘She’ from Charles Aznavour’, ‘The Three Degrees with ‘When Will I See You Again’ and ‘Sad Sweet Dreamer’ from Sweet Sensation – all of which hit #1 in 1974. The last side is an eclectic line-up of pure Pop heaven led by the #1s ‘Seasons In The Sun’ from Terry Jacks and ‘You Won’t Find Another Fool Like Me’ from The New Seekers, and including Stephanie De Sykes, 10cc, and Lulu with ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, featuring it’s writer David Bowie on backing vocals and production, before a second appearance from Sparks with ‘Amateur Hour’, plus Cockney Rebel’s ‘Mr Soft’, and Leo Sayer closing the collection with his debut hit ‘The Show Must Go On’.

NOW – Yearbook 1974 – A celebration of the diversity and wonderful creativity of a truly magnificent year in Pop.