We all love reggae songs don’t we? In the 70s there were a lot of reggae songs that made it into the charts. From Bob and Marcia in 1970 with Young Gifted And Black to Bill Lovelady – Reggae For It Now in 1979. Here is a list of the songs and the chart position reached. You may think some of them are not reggae songs, if you do, leave a comment below about which ones shouldn’t be here. I wasn’t sure about Police but I have seen their songs on reggae albums.
1970
Bob And Marcia
Young Gifted And Black (5)
Jimmy Cliff
Wild World (8)
Desmond Dekker and the Aces
You Can Get It If You Really Want (2)
Boris Gardiner
Elizabethan Reggae (re-entry) (14)
Toots and The Maytals
Monkey Man (50)
Melodians
Sweet Sensation (41)
Derrick Morgan
Moon Hop (49)
Freddie Notes and the Rudies
Montego Bay (45)
Pioneers
Long Shot Kick De Bucket (re-entry) (40)
Nicky Thomas
Love Of The Common People (9)
1971
Bob And Marcia
Pied Piper (11)
Dave And Ansil Collins
Double Barrel (1)
Monkey Spanner (7)
Pioneers
Let Your Yeah Be Yeah (5)
Bruce Ruffin
Rain (19)
The Tams
Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me (1)
1972
Judge Dread
Big Six (11)
Big Seven (8)
Dandy Livingstone
Suzanne Beware Of The Devil (14)
Johnny Nash
Stir It Up (13)
I Can See Clearly Now (5)
There Are More Questions Than Answers (9)
Pioneers
Give And Take (35)
Bruce Ruffin
Mad About You (9)
1973
Hot Chocolate
Brother Louie (7)
Judge Dread
Big Eight (14)
Dandy Livingstone
Big City/Think About It (26)
1974
Ken Boothe
Everything I Own (1)
Crying Over You (11)
Eric Clapton
I Shot The Sheriff (9)
John Holt
Help Me Make It Through The Night (6)
Main Ingredient
Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely (27)
Jimmy Ruffin
What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted (re-issue) (4)
Farewell Is A Lonely Sound (re-issue) (30)
Tell Me What You Want (39)
1975
Susan Cadogan
Hurt So Good (4)
Love Me Baby (22)
Desmond Dekker and the Aces
Israelites (re-issue) (10)
Sing A Little Song (16)
Judge Dread
Big Ten (14)
Carl Malcolm
Fattie Bum Bum (8)
Bob Marley
No Woman No Cry (22)
Typically Tropical
Barbados (1)
Johnny Wakelin
Black Superman (Muhammad Ali) (7)
Pete Wingfield
Eighteen With A Bullet (7)
1976
Barry Briggs
Sideshow (3)
Johnny Wakelin
In Zaire (4)
1977
Althea and Donna
Uptown Top Ranking (1)
Elvis Costello
Watching The Detectives (15)
Eagles
Hotel California (8)
Bob Marley
Exodus (14)
Waiting In Vain (27)
Jamming/Punky Reggae Party (9)
Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers
Egyptian Reggae (5)
Trinidad Oil Company
The Calendar Song (34)
1978
Bob Marley
Is This Love (9)
Satisfy My Soul (21)
Police
Can’t Stand Losing You (42)
10cc
Dreadlock Holiday (1)
Peter Tosh
(You Gotta Walk) Don’t Look Back (43)
1979
Dennis Brown
Money In My Pocket (14)
Erroll Dunkley
OK Fred (11)
Eddy Grant
Living On The Front Line (11)
Janet Kay
Silly Games (2)
Bill Loveday
Reggae For It Now (12)
Police
Roxanne (12)
Can’t Stand Losing You (re-entry) (2)
Message In A Bottle (1)
Fall Out (47)
Walking On The Moon (1)
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If you enjoyed this post, connect with me and the other members over on my facebook group. I am trying to build up a community of people who love this decade of music.
I want to get people together to share their memories of the music, their favourite artists and songs of the 70’s. We all have those memories and they come flooding back to you when you hear certain songs don’t they?
Frank
frank@musicofthe70s.co.uk
