The best songs of the 1970s
“What started out as a joke has turned into a disaster!” - Stu Nahan, Rocky IV
So my employment has me in my car a lot, which means I’m listening to the radio a lot. If I’m not listening to a podcast or baseball game through my phone I also have SiriusXM, which of course has a plethora of musical options. I gravitate to the 70s and 80s channels because, well, of course I do.
Something else about me you may or may not know is that I love ranking things. I have a Note on my phone I’m regularly accessing that is nothing but different types of rankings.
Thus, you can imagine my excitement when the 70s on 7 station announced a listener-voted Top 700 Songs of the 70s countdown over Labor Day weekend. It was a fun listen. They went through it twice over the four day weekend, and I was laboring much so I heard much.
It prompted me to think: What are my top seventy songs of the 70s? Surely I wasn’t going to come up with a top 700. After all, some in that list were real stinkers. But seventy? No problem. And indeed, it wasn’t hard to come up with that many songs. The hard part was narrowing it down. And once I did, there were still so many songs on my list I had enough for more lists, so I expanded it to 140, then 210, and... well...
I’m about to give you the authoritative list of the 350 best songs of the 1970s. I originally put out a Top 70 list on Facebook a few weeks ago. Much that of that list remains the same, with a few changes. But now there is much more. I’ve divided these into five “volumes” of seventy songs. They are my picks, but I welcome your feedback, because what’s a good set of rankings without debate and discussion.
Billy Joel - “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”
The Doobie Brothers - “What a Fool Believes”
Queen - “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Boston - “More Than a Feeling”
Elton John & Kiki Dee - “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”
Gerry Rafferty - “Baker Street”
Don McLean - “American Pie”
The Eagles - “Take It to the Limit”
Fleetwood Mac - “The Chain”
Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Free Bird”
Billy Joel - “Until the Night”
Looking Glass - “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”
Stevie Wonder - “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours”
Elton John - “Philadelphia Freedom”
The Bee Gees - “Stayin’ Alive”
Derek & The Dominos - “Layla”
Chicago - “Just You ’N’ Me”
The Emotions - “Best of My Love”
Jefferson Starship - “Miracles”
Joe Cocker - “You Are So Beautiful”
The Who - “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
Carly Simon - “You’re So Vain”
Electric Light Orchestra - “Livin’ Thing”
The Rolling Stones - “Beast of Burden”
Queen - “We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions”
Michael Jackson - “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”
Bruce Springsteen - “Born to Run”
Led Zeppelin - “Stairway to Heaven”
Stevie Wonder - “Sir Duke”
Orleans - “Still the One”
Samantha Sang - “Emotion”
Foreigner - “Feels Like the First Time”
The Four Seasons - “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)”
Marvin Gaye - “Trouble Man”
The Spinners - “Rubberband Man”
Kansas - “Carry On Wayward Son”
The Jackson 5 - “I Want You Back”
Chicago - “If You Leave Me Now”
Bill Withers - “Ain’t No Sunshine”
Earth, Wind, & Fire - “Shining Star”
Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta - “You’re the One That I Want”
Yvonne Ellman - “If I Can’t Have You”
Fleetwood Mac - “Don’t Stop”
Billy Joel - “Just the Way You Are”
The Eagles - “I Can’t Tell You Why”
Kenny Rogers - “The Gambler”
The Bee Gees - “Night Fever”
Player - “Baby Come Back”
The Ides of March - “Vehicle”
The Five Stairsteps - “O-O-H Child”
Carole King - “I Feel the Earth Move”
Elton John - “My Father’s Gun”
Jefferson Starship - “Jane”
Stevie Wonder - “Higher Ground”
Electric Light Orchestra - “Mr. Blue Sky”
Seals & Croft - “Summer Breeze”
The Temptations - “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”
The Eagles - “Hotel California”
Billy Joel - “Prelude/Angry Young Man”
Aerosmith - “Walk This Way”
The Four Seasons - “Who Loves You”
Gerry Rafferty - “Right Down the Line”
Chicago - “Make Me Smile”
The Bee Gees - “Too Much Heaven”
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “Old Time Rock and Roll”
Earth, Wind, & Fire - “September”
Queen - “Somebody to Love”
Paul McCartney & Wings - “Live and Let Die”
The Village People - “Y.M.C.A.”
James Taylor - “Fire and Rain”
Led Zeppelin - “Whole Lotta Love”
The Spinners - “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love”
Three Dog Night - “Joy to the World”
Jim Croce - “I Got a Name”
Dobie Gray - “Drift Away”
Ozark Mountain Daredevils - “Jackie Blue”
Credence Clearwater Revival - “Up Around the Bend”
The Hollies - “Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)”
Daryl Hall & John Oates - “Rich Girl”
Elton John - “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”
KISS - “Rock and Roll All Nite”
Fleetwood Mac - “Go Your Own Way”
Carl Douglas - “Kung Fu Fighting”
Steve Miller Band - “Jet Airliner”
Chicago - “Saturday in the Park”
Led Zeppelin - “Immigrant Song”
The Beatles - “Let It Be”
Three Dog Night - “An Old Fashioned Love Song”
Bad Company - “Can’t Get Enough”
Grand Funk Railroad - “We’re an American Band”
The Bee Gees - “More Than a Woman”
The Charlie Daniels Band - “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”
The Doobie Brothers - “Listen to the Music”
Black Sabbath - “Iron Man”
Billy Joel - “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”
Harry Chapin - “Cat’s in the Cradle”
The Bay City Rollers - “Saturday Night”
Elton John - Bennie and the Jets”
K.C. & The Sunshine Band - “That’s the Way (I Like It)”
Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Sweet Home Alabama”
Carole King - “It’s Too Late”
The O’Jays - “Love Train”
Foreigner - “Double Vision”
Chicago - “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day”
Peaches & Herb - “Reunited”
Deep Purple - “Smoke on the Water”
Wild Cherry - “Play That Funky Music”
Marvin Gaye - “I Want You”
Orleans - “Dance With Me”
Earth, Wind, & Fire - “After the Love Has Gone”
Van Halen - “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love”
Paul McCartney & Wings - “My Love”
Little River Band - “Lonesome Loser”
Stevie Wonder - “Isn’t She Lovely?”
Steely Dan - “Reelin’ in the Years”
Cheap Trick - “Surrender”
The Sugarhill Gang - “Rapper’s Delight”
Maxine Nightingale - “Right Back Where We Started From”
Gloria Gaynor - “I Will Survive”
Chicago - “Baby, What a Big Surprise”
Sister Sledge - “We Are Family”
Jackson Browne - “Running on Empty”
Olivia Newton John - “Hopelessly Devoted to You”
Vicki Sue Robinson - “Turn the Beat Around”
Starland Vocal Band - “Afternoon Delight”
Rupert Holmes - “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”
Queen - “Don’t Stop Me Now”
Andrea True Connection - “More More More”
The Guess Who - “American Woman”
The Doobie Brothers - “Black Water”
Paul McCartney & Wings - “Band on the Run”
Stevie Wonder - “Superstition”
Elton John - “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”
James Taylor - “Your Smiling Face”
The Rolling Stones - “Miss You”
Bachman-Turner Overdrive - “Let It Ride”
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “We’ve Got Tonight”
Three Dog Night - “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)”
Journey - “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’”
Foreigner - “Cold As Ice”
Credence Clearwater Revival - “Have You Ever Seen the Rain”
K.C. & The Sunshine Band - “Get Down Tonight”
Billy Joel - “Summer Highland Falls”
The Delfonics - “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)”
Electric Light Orchestra - “Don’t Bring Me Down”
The Bee Gees - “How Deep Is Your Love”
Ike & Tina Turner - “Proud Mary”
The Doobie Brothers - “Long Train Runnin’”
Seals & Croft - “Diamond Girl”
Redbone - “Come and Get Your Love”
Kenny Loggins - “This Is It”
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band - “Blinded By the Light”
Roberta Flack - “Killing Me Softly With His Song”
Paul McCartney & Wings - “With a Little Luck”
The Bellamy Brothers - “Let Your Love Flow”
The Carpenters - “Superstar”
Blue Oyster Cult - “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”
Stevie Wonder - “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”
Eddie Money - “Baby Hold On”
Ted Nugent - “Cat Scratch Fever”
The Eagles - “Best of My Love”
The Four Tops - “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)”
Chicago - “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Chairmen of the Board - “Give Me Just a Little More Time”
The Cars - “Just What I Needed”
Queen - “You’re My Best Friend”
Thelma Houston - “Don’t Leave Me This Way”
Isaac Hayes - “Theme from Shaft”
Daryl Hall & John Oates - “She’s Gone”
Rod Stewart - “You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)”
Billy Joel - “She’s Got a Way”
The Hues Corporation - “Rock the Boat”
Steve Miller Band - “Fly Like an Eagle”
Supertramp - “Give a Little Bit”
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”
America - “Sister Golden Hair”
Pure Prairie League - “Amie”
The Temptations - “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)”
Prince - “I Wanna Be Your Lover”
Van Halen - “Eruption / You Really Got Me”
Led Zeppelin - “When the Levee Breaks”
The Clash - “London Calling”
Chicago - “(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long”
KISS - “Detroit Rock City”
Bobby Womack - “Across 110th Street”
Bad Company - “Feel Like Makin’ Love”
Billy Joel - “I’ve Loved These Days”
Jim Croce - “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”
Aerosmith - “Sweet Emotion”
James Taylor - “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”
The Chi-Lites - “Oh Girl”
Frank Mills - “Music Box Dancer”
Amii Stewart - “Knock on Wood”
ABBA - “Take a Chance on Me”
Grand Funk Railroad - “Some Kind of Wonderful”
Elton John - “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”
The Sweet - “Fox on the Run”
The Eagles - “The Long Run”
K.C. & The Sunshine Band - “Boogie Shoes”
Marvin Gaye - “What’s Going On”
Todd Rundgren - “Hello, It’s Me”
Black Sabbath - “Paranoid”
Paul McCartney - “Maybe I’m Amazed”
The Rolling Stones - “It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)”
Boston - “Don’t Look Back”
Billy Joel - “Streetlife Serenader”
Journey - “Wheel in the Sky”
Blondie - “Heart of Glass”
Kansas - “Dust in the Wind”
Kenny Loggins & Stevie Nicks - “Whenever I Call You ‘Friend’”
Steely Dan - “Do It Again”
Natalie Cole “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)”
Billy Preston - “Outa-Space”
Boz Skaggs - “Lido Shuffle”
Leo Sayer - “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”
Alicia Bridges - “I Love the Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)”
10cc - “The Things We Do For Love”
America - “Ventura Highway”
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - “Tears of a Clown”
Donna Summer - “Hot Stuff”
Edgar Winter Group - “Free Ride”
Chicago - “Wishing You Were Here”
The Jackson 5 - “The Love You Save”
Carly Simon - “Nobody Does It Better”
Parliament - “Flashlight”
T. Rex - “Bang a Gong (Get It On)”
Ohio Players - “Love Rollercoaster”
Chuck Mangione - “Feels So Good”
Jackson Browne - “Doctor My Eyes”
The Eagles - “Take It Easy”
The Ramones - “Blitzkrieg Bop”
Seals & Croft - “Get Closer”
Carol Douglas - “Doctor’s Orders”
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “Her Strut”
Average White Band - “Pick Up the Pieces”
James Taylor - “Handy Man”
Thin Lizzy - “The Boys Are Back in Town”
Walter Murphy - “A Fifth of Beethoven”
Three Dog Night - “Shambala”
The Three Degrees - “When Will I See You Again”
Jim Croce - “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim”
The Commodores - “Machine Gun”
Led Zeppelin - “The Song Remains the Same”
Bachman-Turner Overdrive - “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”
Billy Joel - “Miami 2017 (I’ve Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)”
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “Still the Same”
Al Green - “Let’s Stay Together”
Ted Nugent - “Stranglehold”
Elton John - “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long Long Time)”
Eddie Rabbitt - “Every Which Way But Loose”
Alice Cooper - “No More Mr. Nice Guy”
Daryl Hall & John Oates - “Sara Smile”
Love Unlimited Orchestra - “Love’s Theme”
Rod Stewart - “Maggie May”
Paul Simon - “Slip, Slidin’ Away”
Robert Palmer - “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)”
MFSB - “The Sound of Philadelphia”
Ambrosia - “How Much I Feel”
Electric Light Orchestra - “Evil Woman”
Bruce Springsteen - “Thunder Road”
Gino Vannelli - “I Just Wanna Stop”
Gilbert O’Sullivan - “Alone Again (Naturally)”
Fleetwood Mac - “Say You Love Me”
The Doobie Brothers - “Rockin’ Down the Highway”
Golden Earring - “Radar Love”
The Eagles - “One of These Nights”
Meco - “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band”
Queen - “Stone Cold Crazy”
Bread - “Everything I Own”
Olivia Newton John - “A Little More Love”
The Trammps - “Disco Inferno”
Neil Sedaka - “Laughter in the Rain”
Marvin Gaye - “Got to Give It Up”
B.J. Thomas - “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”
The Village People - “In the Navy”
King Harvest - “Dancing in the Moonlight”
Nicolette Larson - “Lotta Love”
Main Ingredient - “Everybody Plays the Fool”
Barry White - “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe”
The Kinks - “Everybody’s A Star”
Elton John - “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
Dionne Warwick & The Spinners - “Then Came You”
Eric Carmen - “All By Myself”
Foreigner - “Hot Blooded”
Bobby Caldwell - “What You Won’t Do For Love”
Andy Kim - “Rock Me Gently”
Cheryl Lynn - “Got to Be Real”
Captain & Tennille - “Love Will Keep Us Together”
The Miracles - “Love Machine”
Blondie - “One Way or Another”
Elvin Bishop - “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”
Leo Sayer - “When I Need You”
Little River Band - “Reminiscing”
Hudson Brothers - “So You Are A Star”
Exile - “Kiss You All Over”
Mountain - “Mississippi Queen”
Heat Wave - “Groove Line”
Sugarloaf - “Don’t Call Us (We’ll Call You)”
