We all loved the seventies music, that’s why we are on this site isn’t it? Today I want to highlight 100 great 70s music hits. These are the hits you will all remember, danced to and sang along with when you were a younger version of yourself. I would like you to interact with me on this post please. I am asking you to leave me a comment at the bottom of this post letting me know your own personal favourite songs that I have not listed.

 

70s Music Hits

 

Right away I want to say how hard it is to pick just 100 songs for this post. I hope your favourites are amongst the songs I choose, if not let me know in the comments below and will add them to another post. OK, let’s get started with the singles and albums that I actually bought on vinyl in the 70s.

The first album I remember buying was one of those compilation albums from K Tel, remember them? Before that all we had was the top of the pops albums were hit songs were covered by unknown singers and some of them were very dodgy. Hands up if you owned one of them? Well, the K Tel one I bought was great and was played a lot on my old record player.

The first single I remember buying was Nilsson singing Without You, what about the Mariah Carey version? Screamer or what? Anyway it was a great song when Harry Nilsson sang it.

 

 

Another single I remember buying was California Man by The Move a great song which you never hear played on the radio nowadays, not even the 70s station I listen to here in the UK. Here it is below. It is good to hear it again.

 

 

 

Did anyone else like Hurricane Smith? He only had 3 singles read all about him here, the single I bought was Don’t Let It Die which was also well played, it was the teenage hormones I think.

The Wonder Of You by Elvis was another song I had in my first record collection.

There used to be a record shop near us and they sold singles that had been in juke boxes. I picked up Nothing Rhymed by Gilbert O’Sullivan which I grew to like. You had to buy a centre piece to play these records, you could remove it and use it on other ex juke box records. Did anyone else buy these type of records?

Every Picture Tells A Story was the first album I bought by one artist. I have been a fan of Rod Stewart ever since. His early stuff though is still his best in my opinion.

Those are a few of the first records I owned on vinyl. Sadly I lost all my early vinyl when we had a house break in and they took the lot. I hope somebody got enjoyment out of them as much as I did and they didn’t just dump them somewhere.

 

Glam Rock

I have to admit I loved Glam Rock and there are loads of songs I wanted by the various groups around at the time. I don’t know who came up with the name glam rock but David Bowie has to be one of the first glam rockers. His characters Ziggy Stardust and Alladin Sane really lit up the music scene in the early 70’s.

I bought the Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars and played it to death. My favourite Bowie songs from the album were Life On Mars and Drive In Saturday and they still are my favourites to this day. I also bought Alladin Sane of course another great album.

I also purchased Transformer by Lou Reed with Walk On The Wild Side being the hit record from the album.

You can’t talk about glam rock without mentioning T. Rex and Electric Warrior was another album I played again and again. Jeepster and Life’s a Gas were two of my favourites from the album. My favourite T. Rex songs is Metal Guru.

I have to mention Gary Glitter here as he was one of the most successful of all the glam rock genre. I loved his music and it was a bit sad what he was up to. You never hear anyone play his music anymore, I don’t even play it myself.

The Glitter Band had a good few hits on their own and some of them were good and very 70’s. Angel Face and Let’s Get Together Again were a couple of favourites.

 

 

I would say Alice Cooper has to be included and Schools Out is still a classic today.

Sweet were another great glam rock band with hits like Ballroom Blitz, Teenage Rampage and Blockbuster their stand out hits. I think will have to do a post all about Sweet soon as they had so many hits.

I nearly forgot to mention Roxy Music who appeared on the glam rock scene with Virginia Plain and followed that with songs like Pyjamarama and Street Life. Bryan Ferry’s ex girlfriend was Jerry Hall who went on to marry Mick Jagger and she appeared on the cover of one of Roxy Music’s albums.

Mott The Hoople were another group who can be added to the glam rock list. Their biggest hit was All The Young Dudes which was written by David Bowie. They also had another couple of songs I liked. Roll Away The Stone and All The Way From Memphis.

 

 

 

There were some great songs there wasn’t there? I want to move on to groups who I would say were covering and copying the style of all the old rock and roll songs from the 50’s.

70s Music Hits – Rock and Roll

I loved all the old rock and roll songs from the 50’s and we had a few groups in the 70’s who made sure we did not forget the old songs. Groups like Mud, Showaddywaddy and Darts are 3 of the main groups of that genre. If you know of any more let me know in the comments below.

 

 

Mud were one of my favourite bands in the 70s and had many hits. Songs like Tiger Feet, Dynamite and The Cat Crept In kept them up at the top end of the charts. I remember going to a disco with my mates and when Tiger Feet came on we were trying to do the dance they did on Top of the Pops. Next thing I know I am flat on my back on the dance floor. I blamed the platform shoes, but it may have been the alcohol we had consumed.

Showaddywaddy also had many hits in the 70s with my favourites being Hey Rock And Roll, Under The Moon Of Love and Pretty Little Angel Eyes.

Darts were another band who had a string of hits. My personal favourites being Daddy Cool, Boy From New York City and Duke Of Earl.

 

70s Music Hits – All Time Favourites

Apart from the songs above there were literally hundreds of 70s music hits I enjoyed listening to. Songs like The Boys Are Back In Town and Whiskey In The Jar (which is my ringtone on my phone) from Thin Lizzy, Pariseanne Walkways by Gary Moore with Phil Lynott on vocals.

Elvis Costello songs Watching The Detectives brings back good memories as I had just moved down to Wales at the time it was in the charts in 1977. I also liked I Don’t Want To Go To Chelsea and Pump It Up.

I Shot The Sheriff by Eric Clapton was another favourite with its reggae beat. Talking about reggae, Bob Marley songs will always feature in any favourites list I produce. Is This Love, Jammin’ and No Woman No Cry are great songs for a sing song.

 

 

 

Street Life by the Crusaders, Giving It All Away by Roger Daltry, the Charlie Daniels Band hit The Devil Went Down To Georgia was a great song. Black Night from Deep Purple, Feel The Need In Me by Detroit Emeralds the list is endless but I will continue with my favourites that may bring back some good memories for you.

How about Sylvia’s Mother and A Little Bit More from Dr. Hook? Kung Foo Fighting from Carl Douglas, What A Waste from Ian Dury and The Blockheads and New Kid In Town from the Eagles. Have I mentioned your favourite yet?

How about Eddie & The Hot Rods with Do Anything You Want To Do, Elo songs Livin’ Thing, Rockaria and Turn To Stone have to be on my list. Read more about ELO on my post about the group. Rock On from David Essex was another good one, his first hit too. Faces with songs like Stay With Me, Pool Hall Richard and Cindy Incidentally, Bryan Ferry with the Bob Dylan song A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, Fleetwood Mac songs Rhiannon and Go Your Own Way are also classics.

 

 

 

Peter Frampton with Show Me The Way and Baby I Love Your Way were great songs. All Right Now and My Brother Jake by Free, Oh! and Wishing Well were all great songs in the 70’s. Lucky Stars by Dean Friedman was another song I loved.

 

I Wanna Stay With You and Heart On My Sleeve by Gallagher & Lyle stick in my mind, here is why. I worked for 5 weeks in 1976 as a bus conductor (I hated it, that’s why I only did 5 weeks) but they had just started piping music on the buses. I Wanna Stay With You was on a loop with about 8 or 9 other songs and if you were on a long journey you would hear the same songs over and over. Nightmare!

Geordie with All Because Of You was good, as was Radar Love by Golden Earring. Mr. Soft and Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel were great songs. I hope you are still with me on this look through some of my favourite songs. I think I will have to do another post as this one is getting a bit long. I will carry on though until I get to at least 100 70s music hits.

Movie Star by Harpo was a good one, have a listen to it, it’s a cracker. I can’t leave George Harrison out of this list with My Sweet Lord and Give Me Love(Give Me Peace On Earth). Instant Replay by Dan Hartman was a good old disco song,

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band did Delilah on the Old Grey Whistle Test and were hilarious.

 

 

 

I remember buying this single, Silver Machine by Hawkwind in 1972, I was just a little 16-year old then. New York Groove by Hello was a typical 70s song. If you want to hear a seldom heard 70s song, listen to Gasoline Alley Bred by the Hollies from 1970, brilliant. Brother Louie by Hot Chocolate is a particular favourite.

I liked Once Bitten Twice Shy by Ian Hunter (the singe from Mott The Hoople), Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks was a number hit I liked. Is She Really Going Out With Him by Joe Jackson was brilliant especially the words. Do you remember the Jags? Their one hit was called Back Of My Hand a hit in 1979, great song very lively.

The Jam with Eton Rifles was great, Jilted John by Jilted John was a marmite type of song, you either loved it or hated it. I loved it.

Elton John had a few great songs in the 70’s, Rocket Man, Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting and Island Girl. I mention the last song because I won a copy of Island Girl in a quiz in a pub in Edinburgh. I think they were giving them away as nobody was buying though it did get to number 14 in the end. I liked the line she wrapped herself around me like a well-worn tyre. Classic.

I must admit I loved Chuck E’s In Love by Rickie Lee Jones, also Mary McGregor with Torn Between Two Lovers did you? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Silly Games by Janet Kay was also a single I bought back in the day.

Kenny were said to have started the dance craze The Bump when they released the single of the same name. I am sure we used to do the bump in Edinburgh to Nut Bush City Limits by Ike and Tina Turner before Kenny brought the song out in 1974. Did you do the bump? It was pretty popular in Edinburgh.

I’m Every Woman by Chaka Khan was another cracker as was Lola by The Kinks. My Sharona by the Knack still sounds good now. What about the two hits John Kongos had He’s Gonna Step On You Again and Tokoloshe Man.

 

 

 

 

I must be around the 100 mark by now in this post. I hope you liked this look at some of my favourite 70s music hits and I hope you will call back again as I fill this site with more 70s content. Leave me a comment below and let me know your favourite songs so I can add them to my next post. Thanks for visiting.

 

If you get a minute could you please pop over to my Facebook Page and join us. I plan to build this page this year as I have more time on my hands since retiring.  I am trying to get people to share their favourite 70s music.  As you know we do not all like the same songs and it would be great to hear page members favourite 70s songs.  I hope to see you there soon.

Thanks For Visiting Today. Make sure you come back as I build the site, leave a comment below if there is any singer or group you think I should add to the site.

Frank

 

 

 

 

 

frank@musicofthe70s.co.uk