1974
The George Foster Peak Conundrum
The question that always perplexed me is that why most if not almost all music groups cannot obtain popularity and creative genius for usually more no more than a few years. For example, Three Dog Night had 15 top twenty hits between 1969 and 1972 and were never heard from again and while they are regarded favorably, they never reached legendary status.
Bill James. I believe had a concept where a major leaguer who stars at a later age in his career has a shorter peak and then falls of the cliff faster.
George Foster, one of my favorite players and the first player I ever bought a memorabilia card of (a bat card) - is a perfect example.
George Foster started to play regularly in 1974 at age 26 with the Reds. At ages 28, 29 and 30, he led the National League in RBIs in three consecutive seasons, it is something on he and Ducky Medwick have done exclusively. Of course, Ducky is in the Hall of Fame but not George. As a Kid, I just remember him as being the most feared player in baseball. He had really good seasons in 1979 and 1980 and had a great season in 1981 that was muted by the strike. In 1982, he signed with the Mets and eventually became a handicap/fell off the map. It was because of George Foster that I started to think of musicians in the same vain. Why can't musicians maintain that creative genius that the public would love to hear their different songs over 5, 10 or 15 years. Why do they have that short peak that they can't maintain. Does the general public/music consumer get tired of their music after one or two albums and hit singles. I don't know.
1974
Soft Rock begins to dominate.
Elton John had 4 top four hits including 2 number ones.
John Denver had 3 top ten hits and 2 number ones including "sunshine on my shoulder"
Oliva Newton John 2 top 5 hits
Wings 4 top twenty hits including number one "Band on the Run"
Chicago with 3 top ten hits.
1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
The Beatles | The Beatles | The Beatles | The Beatles | The Beatles | 5th Dimension |
4 Seasons | Supremes | Rolling Stones | Monkees | Gary Pucket | 3 Dog Night |
Supremes | Rolling Stones | Frank Sinatra | Supremes | Simon & Garfunkel | Elvis Presley |
Bobby Vinton | Herman Hermits | Beach Boys | Rascals | Aretha Franklin | The Beatles |
Johnny Rivers | Byrds | Monkees | The Doors | Supremes | Rolling Stones |
1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 |
Jackson 5 | Osmonds | 3 Dog Night | Stevie Wonder | Elton John |
|
The Beatles | Marvin Gaye | Micheal Jackson | Elton John | John Denver |
|
Simon & Garfunkel | Temptations | 5th Dimension | Paul Simon | Newton John |
|
3 Dog Night | Jackson 5 | Don McLean | Wings | Wings |
|
Guess Who | 3 Dog Night | Moody Blues | Rolling Stones | Chicago |
|
1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 |
That George Foster idea should be a big, bright warning to anyone considering offering a bit contract to Pete Alonso, who came up to the big leagues at 24.
ReplyDeleteNo argument with your choices, but I did want to mention Charlie Rich. He was huge in the country market in 1973-1974. Only one top ten pop hit--"The Most Beautiful Girl" was a number one in 1973--so probably rightly doesn't make any of your lists. But he was so big in country that his old record companies were putting out singles of his old recordings from almost a decade earlier, and three of them hit number one on the country chart! Amazing.
I think that the general public's musical tastes change every 10 years or so (probably even more frequently), which contributes to whether artists stay on the charts.
ReplyDeleteI know there are artists and groups who I liked in the '80s and '90s who have put out albums in the last year or two -- they sound pretty much like what they did in '80s or '90s, but I have little interest in those new songs (do I need to listen to new Sheryl Crow? No). I still like those artists, but my tastes changed.