Neil’s Top 30 Songs of The 1970s
As we turned the corner into a new decade, we saw more changes in the music industry with Australian artists like Spectrum, Daddy Cool, Madder Lake, Russell Morris and Brian Cadd coming to the fore. And music wasn’t the only thing changing – fashion moved from the hippie style of the late 1960s, through the glam rock period to tight jeans and Miller shirts. In total, over 1700 singles managed to make it to the AUstralian Top 40 during the 1970s, starting with Ronnie Burns’ Smiley and finishing with Graham Gouldman’s Sunburn in December 1979.
In this countdown, Neil selects his favourite songs of the 1970s … how many of these would you include in your list?
- Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
- Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
- Because I Love You – Masters Apprentices
- Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty
- Are You Old Enough – Dragon
- American Pie – Don McLean
- Khe Sanh – Cold Chisel
- Sultans Of Swing – Dire Straits
- The Wonder Of You – Elvis Presley
- You And Me – Alice Cooper
- Reminiscing – Little River Band
- S.O.S – Abba
- Hotel California – Eagles
- The Air That I Breathe – The Hollies
- Wuthering Heights – Kate Bush
- Evie – Stevie Wright
- You’re So Vain – Carly Simon
- Let It be – The Beatles
- Imagine – John Lennon
- Without You – Harry Nilsson
- Kings Of The World – Mississippi
- If You Leave Me Now – Chicago
- Superstar – Colleen Hewett
- If You Can’t Give Me Love – Suzi Quatro
- I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself – Marcia Hines
- Rockaria! – Electric Light Orchestra
- Seasons Of Change – Blackfeather
- Video Killed The Radio Star – The Buggles
- Just When I Needed You Most – Randy Vanwarmer
- I Am Woman – Helen Reddy
The next 10 cabs off the rank if we had taken it to number 40 – in chronological order:
- Fire And Rain – James Taylor – 1971
- I’ll Be Gone – Spectrum
- Golden Miles – Healing Force – 1971
- Everything I Own – Bread – 1972
- Space Oddity – David Bowie – 1973
- I Am Pegasus – Ross Ryan – 1973
- Girls On The Avenue – Richard Clapton – 1975
- Slipping Away – Max Merritt & The Meteors – 1976
- Hollywood Seven – Jon English – 1976
- Year Of The Cat – Al Stewart – 1977