The year 1974 was an odd year for music, with a number of unusual hit pop songs that you rarely hear today. The year featured acts like Bob Dylan returning to touring for the first time in eight years. Queen played its first North American concert. And the Ramones made their first appearance at CBGB. Yet, some of the biggest hit songs of the year were Carl Douglas’s “Kung Fu Fighting” and Blue Suede’s reworking of BJ Thomas’s 1968 release “Hooked on a Feeling,” adding ooga-chaka’s. And two odd 1974 pop hits with a link to each other were Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods’ “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” and Paper Lace‘s “The Night Chicago Died.”
“The Night Chicago Died”
“The Night Chicago Died” hit number one on the charts on August 17, 1974. If you were around in those days, you probably can sing along to “The Night Chicago Died.” But if you were born after that date, it is quite possible you have never heard of the song.
“The Night Chicago Died” is a story song about a 1930s battle between Al Copone’s men and the Chicago police. Songwriters Peter Callander and Mitch Murray tell a Prohibition-era story that is largely inaccurate in both historical events and city geography.
But perhaps what made the song a hit was the part about the songwriter watching his momma cry while waiting to see if her policeman husband would come home alive. Spoiler alert: The father-husband returns safely.
At the end, the singer recalls that the door opened wide “And my daddy stepped inside,/ And he kissed my mama’s face, And he brushed her tears away.”
“The Night Chicago Died” was a huge hit. It sold more than three million copies.
The British band Paper Lace consisted of Philip Wright (drummer and lead singer on “The Night Chicago Died”), Cliff Fish, Phil Hendriks, and Dave Major. While Paper Lace had a number one hit with “The Night Chicago Died” in the U.S., the song only went to number two on the U.K. charts.
“Billy Don’t Be a Hero”
Paper Lace, who still tour, did have a number one hit in the U.K. prior to “The Night Chicago Died.” The band’s version of “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” — a story song about a woman telling her love not to get killed in the war — went to number one in the U.K earlier in 1974.
But before Paper Lace could release their version of “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” in the U.S., Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods claimed their one-hit-wonder status by releasing their version. The Bo Donaldson song went to number one in the U.S. in June 1974.
Like “The Night Chicago Died,” the song “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” was written by Callander and Murray. “Billy,” however, has a sadder ending, with the heroic Billy getting killed.
Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods reformed in the mid-1990s and still toured as of 2015. Mike Gibbons, the lead singer on “Billy Don’t Be a Hero,” did not tour with the band on the oldies circuit. And he passed away on April 2, 2016.
The song does not name the war where Billy is killed. From the lyrics (“the soldier blues”) most assume the song is set during the Civil War. But in 1974 any song mentioning war made one think of the Vietnam War.
I have barely heard “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” since the year it was released. It does make a delightful brief appearance in the background music in Walk Hard: The Dewy Cox Story (2007).
Yet, like “The Night Chicago Died,” I can still sing every word. That’s the power of pop.
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