The 20th of February 1974
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 17th to Saturday the 23rd of February 1974
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 16th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 17th,
published on Tuesday the 19th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 24th of February 1974.
Stevie Wonder
Living For The City
At No.19, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart”, the week of my 2nd Birthday, is Stevie Wonder with Living For The City.
An absolute classic of a composition,..
…which, in its full unadulterated version, formed the centre-piece of Stevie’s latest LP; an album which would become one of my all-time favourites later on in my life, “Innervisions“.
A powerful social comment which hit hard regarding the discrimination and social injustices minority races faced at the time, which many will rightfully say is just as relevant today as it was back then.
At this juncture, since I’d last met Stevie in the chart along my Musical Road, he was definitely on an absolute soaring trajectory of artistic ambition.
At this point, this 23-year old…
…was in full artistic flight, with his control over the production and execution of his output. On this song alone, he did it all himself. He plays every instrument; he’s the drummer; he’s in the control room producing the final result; everything.
However, even more importantly and unbelievably was the fact that, while this single, and the album it came from, were working to keep his name in the spotlight; at this precise time in his life, he was making huge life choices too; convalescing after his involvement in a near catastrophic car accident from back in August last year in 1973, which had left him within a whisker of being brain damaged for life; if not, worse.
Now that Stevie had by this point overcome most of the painful recuperation of that near-fatal accident, he was making so much progress that his next goal was to actually try his very best to get match fit and go out and tour in front of a live audience once again; a miracle if ever there was one.
So while that was all going on in the background,..
…this single entered the UK Chart at No.50 last month on the 6th of January.
The following week, it would jump into the Top 30 at No.30, althought it looked like things may stall at this point, as by the following week, it only moved one position further up to No.29. However, as the end of January approached, so this single began to move up again with purpose, as it hit the Top 20 at No.20.
As the year crossed through the bleakness into February, the song continued to climb higher until last week it hit its highest peak of No.15, before slipping back to this current position.
From here,…
…the single will fall out of the Top 20 and drop rapidly down the charts until, after accumulating a total of 9 weeks, it will slip from its final position of No.32, and fall away altogether after the 9th of March.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Stevie Wonder – Living For The City (Promotional Studio Video)
Stevie Wonder – Living For The City (“Top of the Pops” TV Performance)
Stevie Wonder – Living For The City (Musikladen TV Performance)
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