June 10, 2026
Knicks in ’73: Revisiting the Charts From a Championship Year
Via NYTimes.com
Listen to tracks from War, Vicki Lawrence and other artists who had hits in May 1973.
Dear listeners,
The New York Knicks are in the N.B.A. finals for the first time in nearly three decades, and it certainly feels like the entire city has come down with a case of Knicks fever. Though Jalen Brunson and company narrowly lost Game 3 on Monday — the first finals game played at Madison Square Garden since 1999 — to the San Antonio Spurs (led by the sentient French stick figure Victor Wembanyama, who is approximately as tall as the Chrysler Building), the Knicks are still up 2-1 in the series. The team has a very good chance of doing something it has not done in 53 years: win an N.B.A. championship.
Yes, I hate to break it to you, but it has been 53 years since 1973.
On today’s playlist, I’d like to transport us all back to that year — and more specifically, that date, May 10, 1973, when the Knicks handily beat the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. Richard Nixon was president, “The Poseidon Adventure” reigned at the box office, and the No. 1 song in the country was a hopeful little ditty performed by … well, you’ll see.
You’ll be hearing, in order, Billboard’s Top 10 U.S. singles for the week ending on May 5, 1973. That includes some enduring classics from the likes of Dobie Gray, Stevie Wonder and the Edgar Winter Group, as well as the sole smash hit from a co-star and doppelgänger of Carol Burnett.
Maybe this playlist will bring the Knicks luck. At the very least, it will help you realize just how long it’s been since they’ve won it all.
Until the 12th of never,
Lindsay
Listen along while you read.
1. Dawn featuring Tony Orlando: “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree”
The No. 1 song in the country — and, eventually, the top-selling U.S. single of 1973 — was this sprightly heartstring tugger performed by the pop hitmaker Tony Orlando and the backing vocal duo Dawn (comprising Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson). Centered around the image of a yellow ribbon, the symbolic way of hoping for a loved one’s return, the song has had an enduring resonance throughout the years. Perhaps Knicks fans should tie a yellow ribbon round the ole M.S.G., for Charles Oakley.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. War: “The Cisco Kid”
The highest-charting hit by the Long Beach, Calif., funk group War isn’t “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” or “Low Rider” — it was this groovy 1973 single, inspired by the beloved outlaw protagonist of a 1950s TV western and 1970s Chicano culture.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Sweet: “Little Willy”
Bubble-gum pop meets glam rock on this sing-songy hit from the British band Sweet, sounding here a bit like a defanged T. Rex. That key change, though!
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
Read the full NY Times article HERE