Let's see...what was going on in 1973? Let's take a look.
In the theaters, wow! What a great year for pictures. The Exorcist scared the heck out of everybody, and Deliverance scared everybody, too, but for different reasons. Roger Moore did ok in Live and Let Die, Ryan & Tatum schemed their through Paper Moon.
Enter the Dragon (holla!)
Some really good soundtracks, too:
Jesus Christ Superstar
American Graffiti
Lady Sings the Blues
The Sting
Brando said "get the butter"
On tv, the biggest event of the year was Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii, seen by over 1 billion peole worldwide. In 1973. Long Live the King.
"James Paul McCartney" airs, Sir Paul's first tv special. George Jefferson made his debut on All In The Family, and Schoolhouse Rocks!!! debuts. The Six Million Dollar Man showed up, and I never missed an episode.
Steve Austin...astronaut. A man barely alive. We can rebuild him. Make him better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster.
(how sad is it I know the introduction to that show right off the top of my head?)
Kojak loved you, baby. Jed Clampett became Barnaby Jones, and stayed Barnaby for the next 17 years. (I did not know that).
Trekkies got the first animated series that year.
In music, we lost a great storyteller when Jim Croce was killed in a plane crash at the age of 24.
Paul McCartney was fined 240 bucks for growing the green outside his Scottish farm
Mick is denied a visa to get into the Orient because of drug busts 4 years earlier
Dead bassist Phil Lesh is busted for possesion.
Hmmm...I see a trend.
David Bowie retires his Ziggy Stardust persona.
debut albums:
KISS
Aerosmith
Bob Marley and the Wailers
The New York Dolls
Springsteen
Queen
Skynyrd
Not a bad list. I own them all but Marley (don't care for it) and the NY Dolls (never saw what the big deal was)
But I digress.
Getting back to the music, there were some great albums put out that year, besides the freshman efforts listed above.
Pink Floyd released, quite possibly, the perfect album, Dark Side of the Moon
Alice Cooper released Billion Dollar Babies (which, btw, I got him to autograph for me last year. I don't know if I posted the pic I have of he and I or not.)
the Coop also released Muscle of Love.
Remember the good old days, when a band realeased more than one album every five years?
On the charts, Billy Preston wanted to know, Will it go round in circles?, Cher was at her sultry best singing Half Breed, Eddie Kendricks kept on truckin'.Also on the charts were the usual suspects...Elton John, Grand Funk Railroad, The Carpenters, all the big names controlled the top of the charts, with each artist spending time at #1.
An interesting thing I found out about the Beatles while researching this post: all 4 charted top ten singles in 1973, with 3 of the 4 hitting number one, and the 4th topping out at #10. I'll leave it at that, in case anyone wants to look it up. Heehee.
And in early February, topping out at # 10:
King Harvest ~ Dancin' In The Moonlight
I really enjoy this song. Like most one hit wonders, it's poppy. Not to be confused with Thin Lizzy's song with the same name, a lot of people know this song by heart, but couldn't tell you who does it.
Formed in New York City, USA around 1972. The band comprised three keyboardists, Ron Altback, Sherman Kelly and Davy "Doc" Robinson, plus Ed Tuleja (guitar), Tony Cahill (bass), Rod Novak (saxophone) and David Montgomery (drums). All had been involved previously with other bands and done session work. In 1972, they signed to the small Perception label. Their first single was Altback's "Dancing In The Moonlight", a soulful pop song that he and Robinson had performed with their earlier band, Boffalongo.
"A Little Bit Like Magic", charted, reaching number 91 in 1973, but wasn't even close to the success of Dancin'. The original line-up recorded one album titled after the hit single, which failed to break into the Top 100. They made other singles, but by the mid-70s had disbanded.
Dancin' In The Moonlight