We've got a new President (Ford) in the fall of '74, & some great soul music. Here are the local top 10 singles from Saturday, September 28, 1974.

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  • 10

    "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan

    (#7 last week) Can Stevie Wonder be any hotter? Besides his own recording, he wrote this debut hit for Rufus, a Chicago funk band that had evolved from the pop group American Breed. They took their name from a column in Popular Mechanics magazine called "Ask Rufus," later shortened to Rufus when Chaka Khan joined the band in 1972.

  • 9

    "Beach Baby" by First Class (Tony Burrows)

    (#18 last week) After four hits with four studio groups in 1970 (Edison Lighthouse, White Plains, Brotherhood Of Man, The Pipkins), British singer Tony Burrows returns with a fifth group & hit. Like many songs about summer, it's a hit in autumn.

  • 8

    "You Haven't Done Nothin" by Stevie Wonder

    (#14 last week) This funky jam, clearly an anti-President Nixon rant, ironically is becoming a smash several months after he left office in disgrace. The Jackson 5, just months after their Jersey #1 hit "Dancing Machine", provide the backing "doo da wops".

  • 7

    "Rock Me Gently" by Andy Kim

    (#5 last week) Andy Kim did it himself! A man ahead of his time. In 1974, Kim had been off the charts three years.and had been without a record label since early 1973. Nevertheless, he said in a 1974 interview, "I never mentally admitted defeat in spite of those three years off the charts." He formed his own label, Ice Records, and personally financed the recording session that produced "Rock Me Gently". He could afford to record only two sides, and deciding the second side was good enough to be an A-side, he put an instrumental of "Rock Me Gently" on its B-Side.The single impressed Capitol Records executives, who signed Kim to a deal.

  • 6

    "Nothing From Nothing" by Billy Preston

    (#9 last week) Preston had a strange chart arc in the 70s. His first big hit was an instrumental, then came a vocal, then another instrumental, then this vocal, then another lesser instrumental (he made a surprise comeback in 1980 with a duet vocal).Later in 1975, Billy was the first musical guest on the very first "Saturday Night Live"", singing this catchy song. Billy made a brief return to the spotlight in the late 80s as musical director for David Brenner's short-lived latenight talk show.

  • 5

    "Then Came You" by Dionne Warwick & The Spinners

    (#6 last week) The Spinners were in the middle of a chart hot streak, but Warwick was totally cold (her last hit was in 1970). She didn't hold out much hope for the success of this song, but producer Thom Bell  ripped a dollar in two and signed each half and exchanged them. Bell told her that if the song doesn't go to number one, "I'll send you my half".

  • 4

    "(You're) Having My Baby" by Paul Anka With Odia Coates

    (#3 last week) All because of one word: "MY", Paul Anka received the feminist group NOW's "Keep Her In Her Place" award in 1974. Still, it became Anka's first #1 song since his teen idol days in 1959.

  • 3

    "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John

    (#8 last week) Co-written by the legendary Jeff Barry, whose other credits include "Be My Baby" "Leader Of The Pack" & "Sugar, Sugar". This won Newton-John the Grammy for Record Of The Year. It was her third consecutive million-seller & the song that made her a superstar.

  • 2

    "I Shot The Sheriff" by Eric Clapton

    (#2 last week) After a decade of megasuccess, Eric Clapton got his first #1 single with this Bob Marley cover. Nearly two decades later, n 1992, with the controversy surrounding the Ice-T song  "Cop Killer", Marley's song was often cited by Ice-T's supporters as evidence of his detractors' hypocrisy considering the older song was never similarly criticized despite having much the same theme.

  • 1

    "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe" by Barry White

    (#1 last week; 2nd week at #1) The versions of this hit song on the single and album are quite different n that White sings solo during the intro whereas on the LP version he performs background vocals. The single is also an edit and is mixed differently.

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