Photo:getty
getty
01of 10
Released:Aug. 9, 1974
Standout Tracks:“Lovin’ You,” “Reasons,” “Take a Little Trip”
After spending the 1960s as a studio backing vocalist (you can hear her on Fontella Bass’ thunderous 1965 hit “Rescue Me”) and logging hours in strong but unsuccessful R&B groups like the Gems and Rotary Connection, Riperton’s ‘70s were off to a difficult start. When her solo debut, 1970’sCome to My Garden,proved a commercial disappointment, she abandoned her music career and settled in Florida with her producer-songwriter husband Larry Rudolph to raise their children — including futureSNLstarMaya Rudolph.
Her professional fortunes changed when an intern at Epic Records discovered her demo of the song “Seeing You This Way” and brought it to the attention of the label brass. A recording contract soon followed, which yielded her solo breakthrough,Perfect Angel. Boasting a production co-credit fromStevie Wonder— who also penned the album cut “Take a Little Trip” — the record was a slow-seller at first, with singles like “Reasons,” “Every Time He Comes Around” and “Seeing You This Way” failing to take off. But then Riperton insisted that Epic release a fourth single, the smooth ballad “Lovin’ You,” which showed off her angelic five-octave vocal range. The song went to No. 1 in April 1975 and helped makePerfect Angela gold-selling classic. But Riperton’s story has a tragic coda: in 1979 she succumbed to breast cancer at age 31.
02of 10
Released:Aug. 6, 1974
Standout Tracks:“Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,” “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything”
Far more than just a velvet-voice, White was a writer, producer, arranger and key pioneer of the developing disco sound thanks to his run of early ‘70s solo albums that fused Memphis funk, Philly Soul, lush strings, and infectious four-on-the-floor beats with his unmistakable stage-rattling croon.Can’t Get Enough, his third solo disc, is the maestro at his peak. “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,” the lead single, became his first No. 1 under his own name, and “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” — which began life as an unreleased country song from the 1950s before White reworked it — remains a sultry R&B standard half a century after its release.
03of 10
Released:Feb. 25, 1974
The radical reimagining of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” as a slow-burning torch song earned Franklin her eighth Grammy (this time for best female R&B vocal performance) and helped propelLet Me in Your Lifeinto the Top 20 on the pop charts for what would be her last time for a decade. Arguably the most poignant moment is the closer, Leon Russell’s instant standard “A Song for You.” It’s a plaintive plea for forgiveness to an estranged partner, sung from the perspective of a weary show-biz vet who spends their days “acting out my love on stages with ten thousand people watching.” Given Franklin’s tumultuous personal life, the lyrics surely took on a special significance.
04of 10
Released: October 1974
Standout Tracks: “Take Me to the River,” “Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)”
05of 10
Released:Sept. 13, 1974
Standout Tracks: “Lady Marmalade,” “What Can I Do For You?”
The success of the song made LaBelle the first Black vocal group to appear on the cover ofRolling Stone, and the first Black pop group to perform at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House. “We were groundbreaking, and it was an honor,” LaBelletoldTheGuardianin 2015. “It was showing other Black women that they could do it. But we weren’t trying to break a record, we were just being LaBelle.”
06of 10
Released:October 1974
Standout Tracks:"(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” “Summer (The First Time)”
The Muscle Shoals legend’s first gold disc was an innovative concept album that documented two sides of a love triangle, dramatically illustrated on the cover with a threesome ensnared in a spider’s web. The songs on Side One — “I’m Tired of Hiding,” “All I Want Is a Fighting Chance” — are sung from the perspective of a heartsick mistress, while Side Two — “It’s All Over But the Shouting,” “So Easy Going, So Hard Coming Back” — offers the view of the wronged wife. (The two-timing man’s side of the story is left to the imagination.)
With producer Brad Shapiro at the board and the golden era Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section for backup, infidelity never sounded so good. Both empathetic and unapologetic,Caught Upearned Jackson a Grammy nomination for her 10-minute version of Luther Ingram’s defiant “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” which narrowly missed the Top 40. Though it would inspire a “sequel” disc, 1975’sStill Caught Up, the salacious social commentary of the original would be Jackson’s commercial peak.
07of 10
Released: March 25, 1974
Standout Tracks: “Mighty Mighty,” “Kalimba Story,” “Devotion”
08of 10
Released: May 1974
Standout Tracks: “Tell Me Something Good,” “You Got the Love”
In the 21st century,Rags to Rufusis known chiefly for two things. First and foremost, the record served as front woman Chaka Khan’s coronation as Queen of Funk, and indirectly laid the groundwork for her decades-long solo career. It also launched the Stevie Wonder-penned floor-filler “Tell Me Something Good” into the charts and onto countless dance party playlists thereafter. That’s a strong legacy for any album, butRags to Rufusis so much more.
09of 10
Released:Sept. 5, 1974
Standout Tracks:“Dancing Machine,” “I Am Love,” “Whatever You Got, I Want”
A loose concept album steeped in funk-flecked disco,Dancing Machinewas a vocal showcase for the quintet — particularly Jermaine and a newly grown-up Michael. The group returned to the Top 10 for the first time in three years thanks to the title track, an ode to Charles Washington’s famous “Robot” dance, which peaked at number two — an impressive showing for a group that Gordy and Co. had all but given up for dead in favor of individual solo careers. The breezy ballad “I Am Love” also cracked the Top 20, thoughMichaelwould cite “If I Don’t Love You This Way” and “What You Don’t Know” as his personal favorite album cuts. The J5 would release one more LP for Gordy, 1975’sMoving Violation, but it was clear the Motown magic was gone.
10of 10
Released:July 22, 1974
Standout Tracks:“Boogie On Reggae Woman,” “You Haven’t Done Nothin'”
source: people.com
