June 1974

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  1
Kevin Ayers is joined on stage at London's Rainbow Theater by John Cale, Nico and Brian Eno, resulting in the album A.C.N.E. The four were put together by their label, Island Records, for the one-shot concert, which Eno describes as "only a passing thing. I can't see anything permanent coming out of it."
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The Eagles' third album, On the Border, goes gold. The album yielded minor hit singles in "Already Gone" (#32 on the pop chart) and "James Dean" (#77), two of this slick Los Angeles country-rock band's hardest-rocking songs. But one of the album's ballads, "Best of My Love," would become one of their biggest hits, reaching Number One in early 1975.

Sly Stone, 30, is married to Kathy Silva, 21, on the stage of Madison Square Garden. A horde of celebrities turns out for the gala affair, which includes a postceremony set by Sly and the Family Stone. Don Cornelius of TV's Soul Train is the master of ceremonies, Eddie Kendricks is the opening act and the ceremony is performed by Bishop B.R. Stewart of San Francisco's Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ, the church Sly attended as a child. One fitting note: Sly is late to his own wedding -- although by only two minutes. The marriage will last only until Oct. 30.

In a year beset by an unusually large number of novelty hits and pop fluff ("Seasons in the Sun," "Hooked on a Feeling," "The Streak," "The Night Chicago Died"), add Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods to the list, with their Number One single, "Billy, Don't Be a Hero."
 6
The White House reveals that the Watergate grand jury's secret report names Richard Nixon as an unidicted coconspirator in the break-in and cover-up.
 7
Newly released Watergate evidence from 1973 links Henry Kissinger to four years of wiretapping newsmen. He demands proof and threatens to resign: the investigating Senate Foreign Relations Committee agrees to pursue the matter. The New York Times will later report that Kissinger testified in closed Senate hearings that either he or H.R. Haldeman authorized illegal wiretaps. By Aug. 6, in the shadow of Nixon's impending impeachment or resignation, the committee will exonerate Kissinger.
 8
Rick Wakeman splits from Yes. "I gave my week's notice and left them plenty of time to pull it together," he later says. The crux of the decision is his recent solo success, but also his dislike of the group's Tales of Topographic Oceans. "It was embarrassing to me when people would ask me questions about Topographic, and I didn't understand."
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The Who begin a four-day stint at Madison Square Garden. Tickets for the shows had sold out in just sixty hours, a full two months before the concert dates.
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Philadelphia soul vocal group the O'Jays earn their fourth gold record, "For the Love of Money." Together since the mid-Sixties, the O'Jays are one of the most successful acts in the stable of Philadelphia International Records' renowned production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
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After several drummer-less months, Paul McCartney and Wings announce the addition of drummer Geoff Britton, who replaces Denny Seiwell.
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According to Rolling Stone, Peter Hoorelbeke, drummer for Rare Earth, is arrested after tossing his sticks into the crowd. Later, he tells police he had done it to get audience reaction. "If you had been trying to get crowds to see you for ten years, you'd do it too. Here I am, almost thirty years old and still doing this shit."

Ninety-six people are arrested at a concert at Atlanta's Omni. About thirty of the arrests are made inside the concert hall, where 7,500 fans have come to hear Robin Trower (who canceled) and Edgar Winter. Promoter Howard Stein bitterly claims that Atlanta has "reverted back to the Southern redneck-sheriff image of the early Sixties."
 19
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Chinatown, Roman Polanski's hard-bitten movie about poltical corruption and murder, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, opens.
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The Hues Corporation have a gold hit with "Rock the Boat," an early example of what will later be called disco. It's a Number One hit in July.
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The Ohio Players -- originators of the Sly Stone-infected Dayton, Ohio, school of hard funk that would also produce Slave -- earn a gold record for Skin Tight, which would yield the hit singles "Skin Tight" (#13) and "Jive Turkey" (#47).
 29
Russian dancer extraordinaire, Mikhail Baryshnikov, defects to the West, electrifying the American dance scene.
30
The Modern Jazz Quartet bids farewell to the U.S. with a concert in San Francisco. The group -- Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Percy Heath and Connie Kay -- will end its twenty-two-year career after a tour of Australia.
  


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