The 1970s was one of my happiest decades. I started my teaching career, I left that for Madison, Wisconsin to work on a PhD. I loved the music of the Seventies as well as many of the books and movies of that decade. And I married Diane.
Just because a song is a Number One hit on BILLBOARD, that doesn’t guarantee the quality of the work. I found a few clunkers among the Billboard #1s: The ’70s 30 songs. While I love “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by A Taste of Honey, I’m much less fond of “You Made Me Feel Like Dancing” by Leo Sayer. Do you remember these songs? Do you see any favorites here? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
Disc: 1
1. What A Fool Believes — The Doobie Brothers
2. December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) — The Four Seasons
3. Crocodile Rock — Elton John
4. You’re So Vain — Carly Simon
5. Midnight Train To Georgia — Gladys Knight & The Pips
6. Lean On Me — Bill Withers
7. Then Came You — Dionne Warwick and Spinners
8. Pick Up The Pieces — Average White Band
9. Let’s Get It On — Marvin Gaye
10. Reunited — Peaches & Herb
11. Make It With You — Bread
12. Oh Girl — Chi-Lites
13. I Can See Clearly Now — Johnny Nash
14. Welcome Back — John Sebastian
15. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head — B.J. Thomas
Disc: 2
1. Good Times — Chic
2. Bad Girls — Donna Summer
3. Boogie Oogie Oogie — A Taste Of Honey
4. Shining Star — Earth, Wind & Fire
5. Me And Mrs. Jones — Billy Paul
6. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough — Diana Ross
7. Let’s Stay Together — Al Green
8. Rich Girl — Hall & Oates
9. If You Leave Me Now — Chicago
10. Babe — Styx
11. Love Train — The O’Jays
12. Three Times A Lady — Commodores
13. Without You — Nilsson
14. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing — Leo Sayer
15. Heart Of Glass — Blondie
Hate more of these than like any. Detest A Taste of Honey. They actually beat out Elvis Costello for best new artist Grammy. He’s still here, where are they? Also detest Styx, Leo Sayer, Bread and the song by the Four Seasons. Most of the rest are pretty dull. The few exceptions, Hall & Oates, Bill Withers, Nilsson and Blondie. Overall I would give this a D+. And Boogie Oogie Oogie? I could never like a song with that title.
Steve, like you I’m astonished by the songs that became Number One in the 1970s. Quite a variety of songs.
The last years of freewheeling commercial radio. Comparatively. Formats less rigid, even if Top 40 stations did play the hits Over and Over, and other formats were beginning to find ways to be repetitious, as well.
Todd, that was the essence of TOP 40 RADIO. Just play the 40 most requested songs…over and over.
Indeed, but the variety grew even tighter, with DJs not allowed to deviate or “break” new songs,
Todd, Marketing studies showed listeners wanted to hear “the hits” and not the misses. FM radio stations, especially around Colleges, counter-programed more challenging music (and longer cuts) in response to the TOP 40 format.
As a card carrying old fart, I am firmly convinced that the 70s marked the beginning of the decline of good music. As the decade progressed the quality of the songs did not. BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE could never match the musical perfection that is YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY I GOT LOVE IN MY TUMMY. Ptah!
And stay off my lawn!
Jerry, how about SUGAR SUGAR by The Archies from 1969? Remember Bubble Gum Pop?
The lesson here is don’t judge a decade by its most popular songs. I do remember most, but not all, of these songs, and even like some, but not many, of them. The name A Taste of Honey sounds vaguely familiar but I don’t recall ever hearing “Boogie Oogie Oogie” and am not much inclined to look for it. The Seventies really was a great decade for music, but aside from Blondie there’s little indication of the musical revolution that was going on in NYC. So Blondie will have to hold the place for such greats as Patti Smith, New York Dolls, Television, and many, many more.
I agree the 70’s gave us New York Dolls, The Ramones, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie, Talking Heads, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Clash, David Bowie, Elvis Costello and many more.
Michael, you’re right about the popular tastes in music changing over time. Many of these groups with a Number One hit vanished soon after their brief success.
It will come as no surprise that Disco Dolly Deb knows every single song on this compilation—although not all of them are in my pantheon. In fact, I don’t think every artist here (even my favorites) is represented by their best 1970s work: Blondie, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Donna Summer, Hall & Oates, The Doobie Brothers, and Carly Simon all had better songs, imho.
Deb, I agree many artists produced better songs, but these are the hits the Market (in terms of sales) judged were the best. Another reason not to always trust the Market.
Imho a strange mixture – also many second rate songs by first rate musicians.
My favourites:
Chicago, Elton John, Carly Simon, Marvin Gaye.
PS and a bit OT:
My favourite Chicago song is “Low Down” – it describes my current feeling and maybe that of many Americans …
On the positive side there is “I’m a man” written by Steve Winwood in 1966 when he was just 18 years old …
Of course I remember them. One I’ve always hated was Diana (Happy Birthday today) Ross’s version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” not a patch on the great original version by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. Also dislike “Good Times” by Chic. It’s no “Le Freak.” Right, Deb? (We saw Chic & Nile Rodgers open for Earth, WInd & Fire at Madison Square Garden in 2017.)
I like the Doobie Brothers, Marvin Gaye, Elton John, EW & F (though as Deb said, not near their best), Chi-Lites (Tony Soprano’s favorite song), Gladys Knight & the Pips, a few others. I must admit that though I disliked “Boogie Oogie Oogie” when it came out, it has grown (somewhat) on me through frequent radio repetition.
Jeff, I’m with you on the original version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. It’s the Gold Standard. I’m fascinated by what music people bought in the Seventies. A BILLBOARD Number One hit represented large sales. Today, with digital platforms like Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, YouTube, etc. I have no idea how “sales” are measured today.
I remember most of them and liked not loved many of them. A few favorites there, more for the group than the song mentioned. I disagree with you about Sayer, liked that song. “boogie oogie oogie til you just can’t boogie no more” won’t go down in the lyrics hall of fame.
Thanks to Jeff, I’ve been listening to scott shannon’s true oldies station and enjoy it. I do wonder at the number of times he’s played oogum boogum.
Just finished watching Rocket Man (took a while because other than the Sat. Night bit, his early years were difficult to watch). Made me remember how much I’ve always liked his fast paced songs. (I prefer fast songs and dancing, though it’s been years since I did any dancing other than in my home)
I don’t know if it the same there, Maggie, but they are playing “Come and Get Your Love’ by Redbone now.
Maggie, I occasionally dance with Diane, but mostly I boogie oogie oogie around my house alone.
Not surprisingly to me, a lot of these are unfamiliar. I think I went from knowing every song in the sixties, to knowing far less in the seventies. The ones I know are not among my favorites on the whole.
Patti, strangely the songs on this 2-CD set were all Number One hits…but not the best songs of the Seventies in my opinion. But, they sold a lot of records back in the day…
The ’70s get a bad rap. It wasn’t ALL disco and I actually liked even some of that.
Lots of good music here.
In retrospect, it certainly seems like a more innocent time.
Beth, the coronavirus has changed everything. Trump keeps talking about getting back to Normal by Easter Sunday but I think that’s delusional. I have another, larger set of 1970s songs that might be more representative of the decade than this collection of Number One hits.
I agree with Beth. There are a lot of songs here I like, and there were a lot of other great albums during that decade. Certainly The Eagles had some terrific music during that time, capped with HOTEL CALIFORNIA. Also, I remember listening to Elton John on my 8-track player while driving on the Pacific Coast Highway. Good times. We mustn’t forget either that though the majority of the Beatles albums came out in the Cities, LET IT BE was released in 1970.
I much prefer the 70s music to that of the 80s.
Rick, the next FORGOTTEN MUSIC in April will feature some songs from the 1980s. You’re right about the great music of the 1970s.
Came out in the Sixties…
Raindrops would be near the top of my most hated list.
Kent, a lot of people disliked “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.” Yet, it won an Oscar for Best Original Song. Go figure…
Oscars, like Grammies and pretty much all those sorts of awards, are voted on by people who put familiarity and commerce first. At very least among the more popular categories.
Todd, that’s why I’m not impressed with Awards. Time is the best judge of Quality.
To me, the early-to-mid 1970s were all about my favorite artists’ albums. The usual suspects: CSNY (and their various solo & crossover works), Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Jackson Browne, the Eagles, James Taylor, Carly Simon. The later 1970s were much more about Disco, dancing, clubs, and being an adult (I turned 20 in 1977, so that might explain how I view the time divide). There was some really good music in the 1970s, but—although I’m loath to admit it—also some real drek.
Deb, I have several 1970s CD complications to share in the months ahead. As you might suspect, the quality varies from disc to disc.
Around 1975 pop music did a sharp turn and became so much crap! Then came disco! I haven’t listened to the radio since, except for oldies stations! Now, the oldies stations are nearly gone and the few that are left–around here, anyway–only go back to the eighties!
Bob, it’s the same situation here. Local “Oldies” radio stations play 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s music. If I want to hear music from the 1960s and 1970s, I have to go to Sirius/XM Radio.
We have an oldies station here that always played oldies. A couple of years ago they hired a younger station manager who had moved to Canada from England and several of the volutnteer directors moved on around the same time. The format has been changing with more shows focused on themes and the newer music the announcer and I’m guessing the manager likes. I now listen to Sirius/XM in my car and very little radio when I am at home. Yesteday while sorting books in my basement I played a CD of southern music the the OxFord American magazine included with a subscription.
Kent, I’ve been playing music CDs in my basement as I sort through books. I prefer compilations of songs for that task. I found a unique set that I’ll be reviewing on this blog in a couple of months.
Leo Sayer’s whining voice and poor taste in songs definitely made him difficult listening for me. Bee Gees much the same. Melanie as well, though at least she tried to get at something with the songs she wrote and infrequently, as with Madonna Ciccone a decade or so later, actually coughed up a decent song or two…”Lay Down” and the somewhat moving “Look What They Did to My Song, Ma” in Melanie’s case.
“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” in what feels like intentional inanity has annoyed me almost as long as “I Started a Joke,” which I found atrocious at about age 6 or 7 and haven’t revised my opinion since.
Todd, although some of these songs are annoying, sales say some people (actually a LOT of people) went out and spent money buying them.
A lot of people voted for our presidents over the centuries…not, on balance, an impressive bunch, and particularly not lately.
And, of course, we’re never Too sure of how reliable BILLBOARD’s or other compiler’s data was.
Fine songs here include:
1. What A Fool Believes — The Doobie Brothers
3. Crocodile Rock — Elton John
4. You’re So Vain — Carly Simon
5. Midnight Train To Georgia — Gladys Knight & The Pips
6. Lean On Me — Bill Withers
9. Let’s Get It On — Marvin Gaye
12. Oh Girl — Chi-Lites
13. I Can See Clearly Now — Johnny Nash
5. Me And Mrs. Jones — Billy Paul
7. Let’s Stay Together — Al Green
15. Heart Of Glass — Blondie
–though indeed few of hem didn’t do better at some point or many. Carly Simon, Billy Paul and Johnny Nash would have absolutely nothing (say it agin) to be ashamed of if this was their best work, which it might be. Pretty damned close for Al Green and the late Bill Withers.
Todd, I have a number of the BILLBOARD compilation CDs for the years 1955-1990. I would have to say most of the choices are driven by sales of the songs included.
Exactly. And, mostly, by who they could get reasonably cheaply whose songs would still sell discs. If “Smiling Faces Sometimes” was a “#1” (doubt it), they might still pass over the Undisputed Truth, unless they could get it Dirt Cheap and as a makeweight. But if “Venus” was a #1, I’m surprised it isn’t here, unless they couldn’t get the rights for some reason, or the use in ads has driven up the price of the only US hit for the Shocking Blue.
Todd, I’m assuming the compiler of the Number One hits of the 1970s got to pick-and-choose “hits” that didn’t cost much in royalties.