Cool 70s songs you have probably forgotten.

[Julien Sorel]

OK, the decade wasn't the best for pop music, but there are some songs everyone can like, even if they are guilty pleasures.

My nominations:

'When Will I see You Again' -- Three Degrees

(almost) Anything by Captain and Tennille

Anything by Bread

(almost) Anything by Tony Orlando and Dawn

'Wildflower' -- Skylark


'Afternoon Delight' -- Starland Vocal Band


I'm sure there are dozens and dozens of things I've left out. Anyone else think of some? I'm compiling songs for a CD I'm making for a friend, and those are the first songs that came to mind.

[Bunny]

1. "Reminiscing" by Little River Band,

"Smoke From a Distant Fire" (Stanford Townsend Band?), and the one that goes "You are the woman that I've always dreamed of, I knew it from the start, I saw your face and that's the last I've seen of my heart." (Firefall?) Also, I forgot "Don't Pull Your Love Out on Me Baby" (Hamilton and Joe Frank Reynolds?).

I don't know why, but on the rare occasions when I hear these songs it is so pleasant - they really take me back. I'm not actually sure if all of these were in the 70's, maybe one or two are from the early 80's?

[LoZoccolo]

2. Not the best decade?

Man, I think it was the best, even if I'm too young to really remember it. I remember at one point someone asking me if I got my musical tastes from going through my parents' record collection.

Anyways, some of my list:

"Couldn't Get It Right" by Climax Blues Band
"Jackie Blue" by Ozark Mountain Daredevils
"Strawberry Letter 23" by The Brothers Johnson
"So Into You" by Atlanta Rhythm Section
"Baby It's You" by Smith (techinally 60s but I found it on a 70s collection)
"Time Passages" by Al Stewart
"Respect Yourself" by The Staples Singers
"You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt

List goes on...matter fact I'll probably be back!

[LoZoccolo]

4. What did I tell you?

I forgot "Sister Golden Hair" by America. Who says liberals hate America?

[Julien Sorel]

11. Nice. I had 'Horse With No Name' and

'Ventura Highway,' but had completely forgotten 'Sister Golden Hair.'

[tjdee]

15. I really like Horse with No Name...

That song gets a lot of razzing, but I think it's cool.

Was Simon&Garfunkel 60s or 70s?

[Julien Sorel]

17. Both, but mainly the 60s.

I have lots of their stuff as well.

[liberalnurse]

3. A favorite of mine is.......

"Bell Bottom Blues" by Derek and The Domino's...I think...

One of Eric Claptons many bands.

[JackSwift]

5. If I can't have you

Evonne Elliman

[Duncan Grant]

6. Cat Stevens?

Today, I'll offer up Cat Stevens.

Ask me again tomorrow, it may be ELO or David Bowie or ...

[meti57b]

7. How Deep Is Your Love

How Deep Is Your Love
The Bee Gees
- words and music by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb

I know your eyes in the morning sun
I feel you touch me in the pouring rain
And the moment that you wander far from me
I wanna feel you in my arms again
And you come to me on a summer breeze
Keep me warm in your love, then you softly leave
And it's me you need to show

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
I really mean to learn
'Cause we're living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

I believe in you
You know the door to my very soul
You're the light in my deepest, darkest hour
You're my savior when I fall
And you may not think that I care for you
When you know down inside that I really do
And it's me you need to show

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
I really mean to learn
'Cause we're living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

[DisgustipatedinCA]

8. My List

Yes, some are guilty pleasures but I think they're in the vein of the songs you listed:

The Things We Do For Love - 10cc
Brandy - Looking Glass
Garden Party - Rick Nelson (or was this early 80's?)
Sailing Shoes - Robert Palmer
Crazy Love - Poco
You Are the Woman - Firefall
On and On - Stephen Bishop

[Julien Sorel]

9. That's the kind of stuff I was looking for!

Stephenen Bishop -- awesome find; I'd forgotten about him. But I think he was more early 80s? I'll have to look it up. Brandy -- good call. Poco -- how could I forget? I'm a Rick Nelson fan; Garden Party is an 80s song, but I like it anyway. I much prefer his old rockabilly stuff, though, which is actually quite good. Firefall -- perfect for what I'm doing. I'd forgotten the song. someone else mentioned it, too.

I like 10cc ('I'm Not In Love' was the first sing I downloaded from the web), but I'd completely forgotten about 'The Things We Do for Love,' which is, again, a great 70s song.


Another one I just thought of: 'Eres Tu', by, I think, Macedades or something like that.


'Air That I Breathe' -- the Hollies



Maybe it wasn't as bad a decade as I remember. I was more into R&B and rock than pop at the time.

[arcane1]

13. remember "Thunder Island" by Jay Ferguson?

Cher even had some good stuff then, Elton John, etc... they both suck now, lol! :silly:

[mitchum]

10. "Magnet and Steel" Walter Egan

"Gold" John Stewart

2 fine singles by artists with Buckingham/Nicks associations

[arcane1]

12. for radio pop, the 70's were the last GOOD decade!

it's all crap now :puke:

thanks for the flashbacks, though, I had forgotten a few of those :-)

[tjdee]

14. Lady Marmalade, Shaft, Blinded by the Light, Best of My Love/To Be Real...

I was going to start a thread on this the other day. I love many 70s pop songs, just to dance and act silly to.

Either Best of My Love (is that the title?) or To Be Real...not both, LOL, they remind me of each other.

Blinded by the Light is good too (Manfred Mann, some DUers told me the other day)...

Lady Marmalade--man, why'd they have to remake that, it's crazy. Patti LaBelle knocks it out of the park anytime.

Ohh, and Jungle Boogie by Kool and the Gang...I only know it from Pulp Fiction, but I like it.

Shaft is the definitive cool song of all times!

Any Bee Gees, Play that Funky Music, Sly and the Family Stone...wow, lots and lots.

[never cry wolf]

16. The 70's were GREAT for rock music

Weird, I was just going through this late last night on IM with my old hs flame. She came up with over 150 tunes she'd like to have on a compilation, and that was just 1970 thru 1976.

Check out this site, click on a year in the box on the left. You get a list of the top 100 tunes for any year from 1970 to present, way cool!!

http://www.mbgtop40.com/top100sindex.html

[xJlM]

18. Some of these need to stay forgotten

JMHO, but if I never hear the Captain and Tennille or Tony Orlando and the Crack of Dawn again, I won't be missing anything.

[Julien Sorel]

19. LOL

Fair enough. But the idea was to make a CD, or CDs, it looks like now, that will kind of capture the pop music landscape of the 70s. Lots of folks here have positive memories of that music, and I know remembering some of that stuff was really cool for me.


Another one: "I've Got a Brand New Key" (?) By Melanie. One of the cheesiest songs this side of Donnie & Marie -- but I like it!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Oh, my, Billy Bunter

Your list of great 70s songs is almost identical to my nightmare list of 70s songs!

[Julien Sorel]

29. That's the idea =)

I'm not proud of liking these songs, but I'll be honest about it :-)


Yet another one: 'Wildfire' by Michael Murphy, I think.


Wow, the memories are flooding back.

[FlashHarry]

21. "I'm On Fire" by Dwight Twilley

A contemporary of Tom Petty, who was his label-mate on Shelter, Twilley was a power-pop genius. Check it out, if you get a chance.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

22. "Rock Is My Life"

(And This Is My Song)-- early Bachman Turner Overdrive. That group defined a hell of a lot before mainstreaming and becoming BTO.

[RetroLounge]

23. Brother Louie - Stories

I had boxes of 45's in the 70's. I bought everything off the top 40 list from WCFL in Chicago...

Most are now guilty pleasures...

[Old and In the Way]

24. '67-72 was the greatest 5 years for music, IMHO

Interestlingly, very little of the stuff I was listening to ever made the radio...

[mlawson]

30. I would say, 1965-71.

Before it was killed by the Eagles and Lyn-yard Skyn-yard, and their genre progeny.

[kid shelleen]

25. A humble suggestion

Stick yr nuts in a bench vice. You'll get the same results.



Like this..

[Norbert]

26. We Gotta Get You a Woman - Runt.

Except that being a huge Todd Rundgren I've never forgotten that song.

Others:

House of the Rising Sun - Frijid Pink
Run Run Run - Jo Jo Gunne
Carzy Mama - J.J. Cale
Gypsy Woman - Brian Hyland

And one that should be played all the time in these troubled times

Bring the Boys Home by Freda Payne

[alfredo]

27. On The Corner - Miles Davis

The whole record rocks out.


Light As a Feather - Chick Corea

[mlawson]

28. "Magdalena" by Danny O'Keefe. n/t

[ForrestGump]

31. Forrest's list

I tried not to duplicate the songs that'd already been mentioned when I started compiling my list of suggested possibilities and, even so, I found that I was developing a rather large list that was taking me forever to compile and edit. So let me first say that, for the following folks, there are too many great songs from the '70s to list here - check them out!:

America ( I love "Ventura Highway," especially - always reminds me of 'home'), ABBA, the Doobie Brothers, Donna Summer, Bob Seger, Jimmy Buffett, Dr Hook ("Cover of the Rolling Stone" would be my favorite), KC And The Sunshine Band, Glen Campbell ("Southern Nights," etc), John Denver, Fleetwood Mac, the "Grease" soundtrack, Randy Newman (including 1972's great "Political Science"), Little River Band (my all-time favorite of theirs is the beautiful "Cool Change"), Village People, Queen, Eagles, Three Dog Night (starting with "Mama Told Me Not To Come"), Paul McCartney, John Lennon, ZZ Top, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, Sir Elton, James Brown, Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Rogers, Creedence, Stevie Wonder ("Living For The City," "Sir Duke," and so much more), The Osmonds (hey I grew up with stuff like "One Bad Apple" and "Crazy Horses"), the Jackson Five, Santana, Eric Clapton, and - of course! - Elvis Presley (mainly his patented country-rock-blues-gospel-power-ballads and variations thereof, but he also gave solid, basic rock with stuff like "Burning Love," "Promised Land," "TROUBLE," and "Way Down").

And some individual songs, selected from the ones currently on my iTunes playlist - first, a few that I've been playing a lot lately:

Old School Yard (Cat Stevens)
Kung Fu Fighting (Carl Douglas)
Convoy (CW McCall)
I Can't Stand The Rain (Eruption)
Spiders And Snakes (Jim Stafford)
Swamp Witch (Jim Stafford)
Shaft (Isaac Hayes)
House At Pooh Corner (Kenny Loggins & Jim Messina)
You Sexy Thing (Hot Chocolate)
Boogie Nights (Heatwave)
Disco Duck (Rick Dees)
My Sharona (The Knack)
Clap For The Wolfman (The Guess Who)
Heaven On The Seventh Floor (Paul Nicholas)
The Streak (Ray Stevens)
American Woman (The Guess Who)
LA Woman (The Doors)
Born To Be Alive (Patrick Hernandez)
The Night Chicago Died (Paper Lace)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress (The Hollies)
LA International Airport (Susan Raye)
Black Betty (Ram Jam)
Whatever Happened to Saturday Night? (Meatloaf)
Another Nice Day In LA (Eddie Money)
Dreadlock Holiday (10cc)
Drift Away (Dobie Gray)
The Devil Went Down To Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band)

And here're a few more - tip of the iceberg on my iTunes list, alone. The '70s produced some great stuff (and, well, some other stuff, too, of course):

Ain't No Sunshine (Bill Withers)
Gonna Fly Now (Bill Conti)
Let Your Love Flow (Bellamy Brothers)
Jive Talking (Bee Gees)
Come and Get It (Badfinger)
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (Bachman Turner Overdrive)
Taking Care Of Business (Bachman Turner Overdrive)
Yes Sir I Can Boogie (Baccara)
Bright Eyes (Art Garfunkel)
City of New Orleans (Arlo Guthrie)
Amazing Grace (Aretha Franklin)
Ring My Bell (Anita Ward) - horribly annoying, but compelling :-)
Rock Me Gently (Andy Kim)
Knock On Wood (Amii Stewart)
I Love The Nightlife (Alicia Bridges)
Only Women Bleed (Alice Cooper)
It Never Rains In Southern California (Albert Hammond)
Undercover Angel (Alan O'Day)
Billy Don't Be A Hero (Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods) - nostalgia value only!
Ride Captain Ride (Blues Image)
Heart Of Glass (Blondie)
Please Come To Boston (Dave Loggins)
American Pie (Don McLean)
Jolene (Dolly Parton)
The Guitar Man (Bread)
Rivers Of Babylon (Boney M)
Beautiful Sunday (Daniel Boone)
Our House (Crosby Stills Nash & Young)
Devil Woman (Cliff Richard)
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is (Chicago)
Le Freak (Chic)
Free Ride (Edgar Winter)
Boogie Wonderland (Earth Wind & Fire)
She (Charles Aznavour)
Peace Train (Cat Stevens)
It's Too Late (Carole King)
I Feel The Earth Move (Carole King)
Come Monday (Jimmy Buffett)
Dueling Banjos (Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandel)
Blinded By The Light (Manfred Mann)
Band Of Gold (Freda Payne)
Don't Bring Me Down (Electric Light Orchestra)
On Broadway (George Benson)
Kiss You All Over (Exile)
Ma Nah Ma Nah (Muppets)
Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed)
I'm Going To Barbados (Geraint Hughes)
Carefree Highway (Gordon Lightfoot)
Bad Bad Leroy Brown (Jim Croce)
Before The Teardrop Falls (Freddy Fender)
Wasted Days And Wasted Nights (Freddy Fender)
I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)
Everybody Plays the Fool (Main Ingredient)
Shannon (Henry Gross)
Popcorn (Hot Butter)
Every 1's A Winner (Hot Chocolate)
Float On (Floaters)
Cat's In The Cradle (Harry Chapin)
In The Summertime (Mungo Jerry)
Torn Between Two Lovers (Mary MacGregor)
Me And You And A Dog Named Boo (Lobo)
The Morning After (Maureen McGovern)
Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) (Edison Lighthouse)
My Sweet Lord (George Harrison)
You Are So Beautiful (Joe Cocker)
Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash)
You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine (Lou Rawls)
Mr Bojangles (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
Dust in the Wind (Kansas)
Dream Weaver (Gary Wright)
Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot)
Running On Empty (Jackson Browne)
Brand New Key (Melanie) - okay, so it's more pure nostalgia...I was six!
Burning Bridges (Mike Curb Congregation)
Spirit In The Sky (Norman Greenbaum)
After The Lovin (Englebert Humperdink)
Delta Dawn (Helen Reddy)
Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through (Meatloaf)
Love's Theme (Love Unlimited Orchestra)
Paradise By The Dashboard Light (Meatloaf)
Never Can Say Goodbye (Gloria Gaynor)
Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me (Mac Davis)
You Dont Mess Around With Jim (Jim Croce)
Melting Pot (Blue Mink)
Hot Child In The City (Nick Gilder)
War (What Is It Good For) (Edwin Starr)
Knights In White Satin (Moody Blues)
Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep (Middle Of The Road) - more nostalgia from when I was six...one of the most horrid songs ever perpetrated!
Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu (Johnny Rivers)
Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Midnight Train To Georgia (Gladys Knight and the Pips)
Lady Marmalade (Labelle)
My Eyes Adored You (Frankie Valli)
Afternoon Delight (Starland Vocal Band)
Chuck E's In Love (Ricky Lee Jones)
Ooh Child (Things Are Gonna Get Easier) (The Five Stairsteps)
The Air That I Breathe (The Hollies)
Stuck In The Middle With You (Stealers Wheels)
No No No Song (Ringo Starr)
He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother (The Hollies)
Jim Dandy (Black Oak Arkansas)
Car Wash (Rose Royce)
Take The Long Way Home (Supertramp)
Escape (The Pina Colada Song) (Rupert Holmes)
Summer Breeze (Seals And Croft)
Stumbling In (Suzie Quatro & Chris Norman)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
Sweet City Woman (Stampeders)
Video Killed The Radio Star (The Buggles)
How Do You Mend a Broken Heart (Al Green)
Help Me (I Think I'm Falling) (Joni Mitchell)
I Honestly Love You (Olivia Newton John)
Green Eyed Lady (Sugarloaf)
Rock And Roll Heaven (The Righteous Brothers)
Operator (Jim Croce)
Breakfast In America (Supertramp)
Take Me To The River (Al Green)
It Dont Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
Money (Pink Floyd)
Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich)
Just My Imagination (The Temptations)
Love Is Like Oxygen (Sweet) - glam stuff that's more nostalgia...
Keep On Rock'n Me Baby (Steve Miller Band)
Vincent (Don McLean)
Howzat (Sherbet)
One Tin Soldier (Coven)
Don't Eat The Yellow Snow (Frank Zappa)
Seasons In The Sun (Terry Jacks) - for nostalgia purposes only, I swear!
Sailing (Rod Stewart)
Boogie Fever (Sylvers)
The Logical Song (Supertramp)
Baby I Love Your Way (Peter Frampton)
Don't Rock The Boat (The Hughes Corporation)
Boney Fingers (Hoyt Axton)
Then Came You (The Spinners & Dionne Warwick)
Angie Baby (Helen Reddy)
Kiss And Say Goodbye (The Manhattans)
Gypsies Tramps And Thieves (Cher)
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (Ian Dury & The Blockheads)
Lola (The Kinks)
I Think I Love You (The Partridge Family)
Venus (Shocking Blue)
Blockbuster! (Sweet) - more nostalgia....please don't let this atrocity get stuck in my head another 19 days...
Bang A Gong (T-Rex)
Everything Is Beautiful (Ray Stevens)
Photograph (Ringo Starr)
Cum On Feel The Noize (Slade)
Two Doors Down (Dolly Parton)
Papa Was A Rolling Stone (The Temptations)
Reunited (Peaches And Herb)
Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys (Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings)
On The Road Again (Willie Nelson)
Play That Funky Music White Boy (Wild Cherry)
Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast (Wayne Newton)
Luckenbach Texas (Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson)
Good Hearted Woman (Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson)
Werewolves Of London (Warren Zevon)
Lawyers Guns And Money (Warren Zevon)
The Hustle (Van McCoy And The Soul City Symphony)
Ice Cream Man (Van Halen)
If I Were A Rich Man (Topol)
Candida (Tony Orlando & Dawn) - a song about a fungal infection?
Put Another Log On The Fire (Tompall Glaser)
Draggin' The Line (Tommy James And The Shondells)
I Love (Tom T Hall)
I Like Beer (Tom T Hall)
She's A Lady (Tom Jones)
I Love to Love (Tina Charles)
Dirty Old Man (Three Degrees)
The Boys are Back In Town (Thin Lizzy)
Don't Leave Me This Way (Thelma Houston)
Who Are You (The Who)
Squeezebox (The Who)
Disco Inferno (The Trammps)
Sunshine Day (The Brady Bunch) :-) I can't help it....
King Tut (Steve Martin)
Reelin' In The Years (Steely Dan)
Bad Case Of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) (Robert Palmer)
Cherokee Nation (Paul Revere And The Raiders)
Heartbreaker (Pat Benatar)
Rocky Top (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
Chanson D'amour (Manhattan Transfer)
Pop Muzik (M)
Tightrope (Leon Russell)
Dancing In The Moonlight (King Harvest)
Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush)
Diamond Girl (Seals & Crofts)
Feliz Navidad (Jose Feliciano)
Take This Job And Shove It (Johnny Paycheck)
Mercedes Benz (Janis Joplin)
Barracuda (Heart )
Slow Ride (Foghat)
You're So Vain (Carly Simon)
One Toke Over The Line (Brewer & Shipley)
Montego Bay (Bobby Bloom)
Lets Stay Together (Al Green)
Hooked On A Feeling (BJ Thomas)
Rainy Night In Georgia (Brook Benton)