It’s MGK’s Thursday Top 10 Countdown! This week we feature MGK’s Top 10 rock albums from October 5, 1973. It was a time when Elton John’s masterwork, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, was released, the Vice President Of the United States resigned, and the “Tomorrow” show with former KYW-TV anchor Tom Snyder premiered on NBC late nights.

Unlike today, with one exception, Philly sports wasn’t exactly burning it up in 1973. The Eagles DID improve on their dreadful 2-11-1 1972 season, but not by much. They went 5-8 under new coach Mike McCormick. The Phillies had just wrapped up a season where Steve Carlton won almost half of the team’s games! The Sixers, who won just NINE games in 1972, won only 25 games in ’73, but at least they drafted Doug Collins that year!

The one big bright spot in Philly sports news of October, 1973, of course, was the Flyers! We didn’t know it at the time, but they were on the way to becoming the first NHL expansion team to win a Stanley Cup. To this day, I wish my mom had let me go to the victory parade!! Let’s go Flyers, and let’s go Don Earle and Gene Hart!

Right at this time, our family moved From Willingboro to Medford Lakes, New Jersey. It was so nice growing up in the Pine Barrens! Bike riding was the preferred mode of transport around town, and there were endless wooded trails to explore. Of course, I had my AM/FM radio right on the handlebars so I could rock while I rode! The picture below is of me riding on some deep woods trail in the Lakes, shortly after we moved there. Oh, the memories!

On the album charts, there was an amazing list of albums that were all out at the same time. Check out, and marvel at, MGK’s Top 10 rock albums from October 5, 1973.

• 10. Diamond Girl - Seals And Crofts

  Jimmy Seals and Dash Crofts started their musical career playing in The Champs, the group who hit it big with “Tequila.” As a duo, they had many a hit in the 70s, including this one, the title track form the #10 rock album on the countdown, Diamond Girl.

• 9. Machine Head - Deep Purple

  This album had already been out a year but, thanks to the success of their Made In Japan live album, Deep Purple’s Machine Head jumped to the top 10 of the charts. On October 5, 1973, it was #9.

• 8. The Captain And Me - The Doobie Brothers

  Capitalizing on the success of their second album Toulouse Street, The Doobie Brothers went right back in the studio and released an even bigger album called The Captain And Me. After peaking at #7, it drops to #8 on October 5, 1973.

• 7. Houses Of The Holy - Led Zeppelin

  Mick Jagger was no dummy. While he was out touring the world with The Stones, his gigantic mansion in the UK countryside, Stargroves, sat unused, so he rented it to Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin to record tracks for their fifth album, Houses Of the Holy. It was another chart topper for the band, and drops to #7 on the countdown this week.

• 6. Chicago VI - Chiacgo

  For their sixth album, Chicago traveled to the Colorado Rockies, where their producer Jim Guercio built a huge studio and living complex called Caribou Ranch. The relaxed atmosphere, away from big city studios, was the perfect setting for Chicago VI, the group’s second chart topper in a row! On October 5, 1973, it was #6.

• 5. The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get - Joe Walsh

  After leaving The James Gang, Joe Walsh formed another hard rocking trio called Barnstorm. They were his backing group for his second album, The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, the second album in a row on the countdown to be recorded at Caribou Ranch in Colorado! It peaked here at #5.

• 4. The Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd

  Pink Floyd’s crown jewel, The Dark Side Of The Moon, showed no signs of leaving the top 5 anytime soon. On the way to a 15 year run on the chart, it was still the #4 rock album on October 5, 1973.

• 3. Goats Head Soup - The Rolling Stones

  According to Keith Richards, the reason The Rolling Stones recorded this next album in Jamaica was not just because they wanted to capture the vibe of the country, but because “they were the only country who’d let us in!” He was referring to the drug-related visa problems the band had entering the States, and a few other countries apparently. Jamaica was a perfect spot, because out of those sessions came Goats Head Soup, the #3 rock album on MGK’s Thursday Top 10 Countdown.

• 2. We're An American Band - Grand Funk

  Blown out in just THREE Days, We’re An American Band by Grand Funk was surely one of the quickest albums they ever recorded, with Todd Rundgren at the helm, but it was also their biggest seller! It peaked here at #2 on October 5, 1973.

• 1. Brothers And Sisters - The Allman Brothers Band

  At the top of the charts this week is the fourth studio album by a legendary sountern rock band. After the untimely passing of two of their members, they band soldiered on rather than breakup, and that drive gave them the most successful album of their five decade career! #1 on October 5, 1973 was Brothers And Sisters by The Allman Brothers Band!

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