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.
Aretha Franklin
Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)
At No.40, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart”, the week of my 2nd Birthday, is Aretha Franklin with Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do).
We now come to a song…
…which had been co-written and recorded by non other than Stevie Wonder seven years before, back in 1967 when he was just 17 years young, although his version hasn’t seen the light of day as of this date in 1974. There’s a few more years to go before that happens.
In my opinion, the definitive version of the song goes to a woman with one of the best set of pipes in the business – Aretha Franklin.
Born in Memphis,..
…but raised between Buffalo, New York and Detroit, Michegan; Aretha had matured her craft primarily through her father’s influence as a travelling preacher, who by himself could earn quite substantial sums of money across the country with his emotionally driven sermons so effectively, that he became known by others as the “million dollar voice”, which attracted fellow charismatic individuals such as Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Martin Luther King Jr into his close circle of friends, who would themselves sometimes pop round to visit. Later on, Marvin Gaye would date Aretha’s sister for a short time.
From each of her father’s working establishments came Aretha’s first forays into gospel singing; eventually he became her manager, securing her a recording contract; first with JVB Records, then she joined Columbia, before settling into what would become her classic period with Atlantic; and that’s where we join her during these years with that label.
History will eventually show that the golden age was about to come to an end; and although Aretha will stick with them through to the end of this decade, this single would become one of the last biggies of this era in her distinguished career.
The Single…
…had entered into the chart last week at No.48 and climbs 8 places this week to reach the Top 40.
From here,..
…it will continue to climb a further 8 places next week, and reach into the Top 30 the week after; getting to No.29.
By the 10th of March, it will scale even higher to hit its peak position of No.26, before starting to fall away; eventually leaving the chart after the 6th of April with a total of 8 weeks.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
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