25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago (1970) 11/7/22

Year 4, Song #7

Today is the final day of our week-long Third Anniversary Celebration of my "Great Songs of the '70s blog. Thanks for your indulgence!

Tomorrow, we'll return to highlighting songs we haven't covered yet, but first, one more updated post from the early days of the blog. This time from 12/9/19.

In 1970, the second single from Chicago's second album became one of the "Great Songs of the '70s"--but not without some controversy.

Some people believed that the title included a drug reference.

"6 to 4" supposedly was about LSD. (Take it at 6pm and "trip" until 4am). Several countries banned the song because of this. But according to Chicago's Robert Lamm, that was nonsense.

The title was about staying up all night trying to write a song. It was all in how you read it, phrased it, and sang it.

So actually, "25 or 6 to 4" was the time the song was written: 25 or (2)6 to 4(am)! In other words: 3:35 or 3:34 am!

The song went to #2 in Canada, #3 in France, and #4 in the U.S.

TRIVIA #1: Peter Cetera sang lead--with his jaw wired shut! Several weeks before recording the song, he attended a Cubs/Dodgers baseball game at Dodger Stadium. The Cubs won the game, and as Peter was was celebrating the win for his hometown team, a couple of angry Dodger fans beat the crap out him, breaking his jaw!

TRIVIA #2: The original name of the group (and their self-titled first album) was Chicago Transit Authority... which didn't go over well with the real CTA. To avoid a lawsuit, the name of the group was shortened.

TRIVIA #3: The first song from the album was another "Great Song:" "Make Me Smile."

"25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago: a Great Song of 1970! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUAYeN3Rp2E