Radio Free Brooklyn

Jim Melloan spins the hits of the Top 40 from 50 years ago. He also supplies commentary and facts about the songs and their composers, the recording artists, and personal recollections. It’s 1974. Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra and The Hues Corporation give us the first whiffs of disco. It becomes very important for people to start boogying, and Kool & the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” and Eddie Kendricks’ “Boogie Down” get that party going. Also dancing are the Jackson 5 with “Dancing Machine” and Grand Funk Railroad suggesting we go back to doing The Loco-Motion. Barbra Streisand tops the year-end chart by going further back, reminiscing about The Way We Were. Native Americans Redbone urge us to Come and Get Your Love, and millions of men long to rendezvous with cutie Maria Muldaur at Midnight, at the Oasis. Joni Mitchell cries “Help Me,” and her pleas are answered as she finally gets a big hit of her own. Paul McCartney & Wings are on a tear as they’re On the Run. And President Nixon finally accepts the fact that most of the country thinks he really is kind of a crook, and he reluctantly steps down. The nation gets a new unelected president, who seems to be a pretty nice guy and a bit of a dork. Relive it all or experience it for the first time, in real time, on the 50 Years Ago This Week Show.