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Studying American History can be interesting, tedious--and both. And that's just in the US. In other countries, studying American history is non-existent--which makes sense, if you think about it.
So when the British group Paper Lace came up with today's "Great Song of 1974," they ended up creating a work of complete fiction based on an real event from 1929.
Briefly, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was a shoot-out that involved members of Al Capone's gang of mobsters killing seven members of Bugs Moran's gang.
"The Night Chicago Died" gets everything wrong.
The song is set on the East Side of Chicago. The East side of Chicago is actually Lake Michigan. The shootout took place on the North Side.
The song claims about "a hundred cops were dead." No police were involved in the shoot-out. None.
Songwriters Mitch Callendar and Mitch Murray admitted they'd never been to Chicago, nor did they know the real story--but "every city has an "East Side." True, but in Chicago, it's pretty wet over there. :-)
Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago in 1974, despised the song, and a member of his staff was quoted as saying, "Paper Lace should jump in the Chicago River, placing their heads under water 3 times and surfacing twice." Ouch!
Actually though, "The Night Chicago Died" is quite a catchy tune and radio listeners worldwide loved it. I specifically remember taking request after request while on the air at WOHO in Toledo.
Chart-wise, the song was a Top 10 hit in 8 countries, going all the way to #1 in the US, New Zealand and Australia.
Yes, it's complete fiction. Yes, it's goofy. But still, considering its continued popularity on oldies stations--I certainly consider "The Night Chicago Died" to be a "Great Song of 1974!"
Trivia: Believe it or not, Paper Lace never performed the song in the
US due to contractual issues!
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