Greatest ’70s Music Hits to Enrich Your Playlist
The ’70s is the most beautiful revolutionary decade in music history, From rock to soul and funk to country to pop. It’s the original era of the disco. We went across the globe to bring you some of the finest songs from that decade.
Let’s ride the time machine and go to discover a list of the most beautiful and unforgettable songs from the ’70s:
1. ABBA – Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
The Swedish band ABBA recorded it in August 1979 to help promote their North American and European tour of that year and was released on ABBA’s Greatest Hits Vol.2 album as the brand new track.
It weaves the image of a lonely woman who longs for a romantic relationship and views her loneliness as a forbidding darkness of night, even drawing parallels to how the happy endings of movie stars are so different from her existence.
2. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
The song is one of the greatest and most iconic rock songs. It was composed by the band’s guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (usually called Led Zeppelin IV), released in late 1971.
“Stairway to Heaven” was voted number three in 2000 by VH1 on its 100 Greatest Rock Songs list. It was the most requested song on F.M. radio stations in the United States in the 1970s, despite never having been commercially released as a single there. In November 2007, through download sales promoting Led Zeppelin’s Mothership release, “Stairway to Heaven” reached number 37 on the U.K. Singles Chart.
See Also: ’80s Greatest Hits
3. Earth, Wind & Fire – September
The American band Earth, Wind & Fire recorded it in 1978 on A.R.C./Columbia Records.
Initially included as a track for The Best of Earth, Wind &Fire, Vol.1, “September” was very successful commercially and reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, No. 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and No. 3 on the U.K. Singles Chart.
The song remains a staple of the band’s body of work and has been sampled, covered, remixed, and re-recorded numerous times.
It was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry list of sound recordings that “are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important” in 2018.
4. How deep is your love – Bee Gees
“How Deep Is Your Love” is a pop ballad written and recorded by the Bee Gees in 1977 and released as a single in September of that year. It was ultimately used as part of the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever. It was a number-three hit in the United Kingdom and Australia.
In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 on 25 December 1977 (becoming the first of six consecutive U.S. number-one hits), stayed in the Top 10 for 17 weeks, being the first song to spend 17+ weeks in the top ten since Chubby Checker’s The Twist.
In a British TV special shown in December 2011, it was voted The Nation’s Favourite Bee Gees Song by ITV viewers.
5. I will survive – Gloria Gaynor
“I Will Survive” is a song by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 as the second single from her sixth album, Love Tracks (1978).
A top-selling song, a famous Disco anthem and is certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.). Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris wrote it.
The song’s lyrics describe the narrator’s discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating breakup. It received heavy airplay in 1979, reaching three non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the U.K. Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart.
The song is also frequently recalled as a symbol of female empowerment. In 2016, the Library of Congress deemed Gaynor’s original recording “culturally, historically, or artistically significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
6. Y.M.C.A – Village People
“Y.M.C.A.” is a song by the American disco group Village People. The song was written by Jacques Morali(also the record producer) and singer Victor Willis. Village People released the song in 1978 as the only single from their third studio album, Cruisin (1978).
A medley with”Hot cop” reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart, while the song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in early 1979.
Outside the U.S., “Y.M.C.A.” reached No. 1 in the U.K. around the same time, becoming the group’s biggest hit. Outside the U.S., “Y.M.C.A.” reached No. 1 in the U.K. around the same time, becoming the group’s biggest hit.
“Y.M.C.A.” is #7 on VH1’s list of “The 100 Greatest Dance Songs of the 20th Century, selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
7. All by myself – Eric Carmen
“All by Myself” is a song by American singer-songwriter Eric Carmen released in 1975. The verse is based on the second movement (Adagio sostenuto) of SergeivRachmaninoff’s circa 1900–1901 Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Opus 18. The chorus was taken from the song “Let’s Pretend,” which Carmen wrote and recorded with the Raspberries in 1972. Studio guitarist Hugh McCracken performed the slide guitar solo.
“All by Myself” did reach number one on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles and number three in Canada. The single sold more than one million copies in the United States and was certified gold by the R.I.A.A. in April 1976. “All by Myself” was Carmen’s first of eight U.S. Top 40 hits. In the U.K., however, this was his only Top 40 success, peaking at number 12.
8. Another Brick in the Wall – Pink Floyd
“Another Brick in the Wall” is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd’s 1979 rock opera the wall, written by bassist Roger Waters. “Part 2”, a Protest song against rigid and abusive schooling, features a children’s choir. At the suggestion of producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd added elements of disco.
“Part 2” was released as a single, Pink Floyd’s first in the U.K. since “Point Me at the Sky” (1968). It sold over four million copies worldwide. It was nominated for a Grammy Award and was number 384 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, “Part 3”, Pink dismisses everyone he knows as “just bricks in the wall.”
9. Imagine – John Lennon
“Imagine” is a song by English rock musician John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name. The lyrics are the best-selling single of his solo career. The lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations, and without religion.
B.M.I. named “Imagine” one of the 100 most performed songs of the 20th century. In 1999, it was ranked number 30 on the R.I.A.A.’s list of the 365″ Songs of the Century,” earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s”500 Songs that shaped Rock and Roll”. A 2002 U.K. survey conducted by the Guinness World Records British Hit Singles Book named it the second-best single of all time. Shortly before his death, Lennon said that much of the song’s lyrics and content came from his wife, Yoko Ono.
10. The Hustle – Van McCoy& the Soul City Symphony
“The Hustle” is a song by songwriter/arranger: Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony. It went to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts during the summer of 1975. It also peaked at No. 1 on the Canadian R.P.M. charts, No. 9 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report), and No. 3 in the U.K. It would eventually sell over one million copies. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance early in 1976 for songs recorded in 1975.
11. I Think I Love You – The Partridge Family
Released in August 1970, a month before the debut of the ABC-TV musical sitcom The Partridge Family starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy, both of whom appear on the record, with Cassidy as lead vocalist.
The single topped Billboard’s Hot100 for three weeks in November and December 1970 and later was certified by NARM as the best-selling single of 1970; the single also reached number one in Canada on the PRM 100 national Top Singles chart in November 1970 and in 1971 peaked at number one in Australia.
12. I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash
“I Can See Clearly Now” is a song written and originally recorded by American singer Johny Nash. It was a single from his album of the same name and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when released in 1972, reaching number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box charts.
Many artists have covered the song throughout the years, including a hit version by Lee Towers that reached no. 19 in the Dutch Top 40 in 1982, and another recorded by Jimmy Cliff for the motion picture soundtrack of Cool Running that peaked at no. 18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1993. It also reached number one in Canada and South Africa.
We will keep updating this post for more ’70s top hits every week. Bookmark it!
