After much deliberation with myself, I've decided to finally release a list that details all of the biggest hits of the first half of the 70's here in Australia. I'll do my best to provide commentary for each of the entries, but I'll be honest, I may struggle with saying anything particularly productive on some of the entries due to how disinterest I am with talking about them.
This is the final entry from Slade on my list, it was their final hit on our charts as we Aussies were beginning to grow tired of their brand of glam rock by the time it came out. They would somewhat be replaced with Sweet moving forward given how big they got by the midpoint of the decade.
#87 for 1973
Joe Jeffrey was a soul musician who scored a minor hit in his native America with "My pledge of love" in 1969, although interestingly enough, that flopped here in Australia in favour of this track which was a bomb in his homeland. He didn't have any further success in either country as the decade went on.
#86 for 1970
Even though he scored a big hit with "World's greatest mum" from earlier on the list, Johnny Chester managed to score a minor hit two years prior with his collaboration with Jigsaw during the height of the band's popularity here.
#85 for 1972
This is the final entry from Russell Morris on this list, he had quite the string of hits here with some of them even crossing over to NZ due to how inescapable he was during the first half of the decade. He's another Aussie artist that I'm surprised failed to see a resurgence in popularity with the rise of Countdown.
#87 for 1971
Almost a year prior to them nearly topping our charts with "When will I see you again," Three degrees has a moderate success with Mother father sister brother (MFSB for short) which did quite well internationally for the RNB ballad. For what it's worth, the girl group of colour went on to have massive worldwide success for the remainder of the decade.
#83 for 1974
This was a bittersweet hit for Jim Croce given how he would pass away not too long after the success of his breakthrough single worldwide, like John Denver and victims of the day the music died, his death was caused by a plane crash which further solidifies the music industries fear for aviation.
#88 for 1973
You all thought that Kiki Dee was a one hit wonder with her duet with Elton John, didn't you? Well, what if I told you that not only did she have a second hit, but that second hit came out two years prior to her supposed big break with one of the biggest names in music of all time? This is that hit which is a pop ballad that took its sweet time in finding an audience here but was a modest success once it did.
#84 for 1974
I did mention that Richard Harris AKA Albus Dumbledore had a singing career when we looked at Donna Summer's hit "Macarthur Park" a while back, here he is with one of his hits which did decently well here in Australia likely due to how popular the Irish actor was in the film industry. Admittedly he's been reduced to a one hit wonder with his rendition of the Donna Summer classic due to how bizarre the lyrics are on that track.
#86 for 1972
We have one final entry from Gilbert O'Sullivan on this list, this time it's with arguably his silliest track which admittedly is a refreshing change of pace from his more famous downbeat songs we looked at earlier on this list. I guess this is proof that even the more morose of artists can have a sense of humour to them.
#87 for 1972
We have one final entry on this list that had its success partially eaten up here in Australia due to a local rendition stealing its thunder, this time we have Johnny O'Keefe and unknown singer Margaret McLaren to thank for why the original from Carly Simon and her (then) husband James Taylor didn't see the levels of success here they did internationally with this collaboration.
#85 for 1974
This is the final entry from Donny Osmond on this list, he did quite well for himself with us Aussies despite his band being MIA on our charts back in the day. Heck if it wasn't for his sister Marie having a hit with her entry on this list as well as his younger brother Jimmy, he would've been the only member of the family we knew about.
#89 for 1973
Bet you didn't realise Dudley Moore had a singing career back in the day, well more specifically, he had a jazz band which scored a surprise hit here in Australia given how it was a failure in his native UK. It's a surprise given how this was long before his acting career took off in films such as Arthur and 10.
#88 for 1971
On the surface, this seemed like a typical blues act that scored their one and only hit with this track before fading into obscurity. What's interesting about this track is the "friends" that provided backup vocals to the track, these friends include the likes of the Allman brothers, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Leon Russell and Rita Coolidge, all of whom went on to have massive worldwide success following their appearance on this track.
#89 for 1971
Of all the bands that could've used a second chance in the mainstream following the launch of Countdown, Chain ranks pretty high as they were one of the few Aussies prog rock bands to find success during the height of the genre’s popularity during the first half of the decade. This was their only hit, however it easily fits in with Blackfeather's earlier entries on here.
#90 for 1971
Can you tell this is a country band by reading their name? I've come across some bizarre band names throughout music history, however the Nitty gritty dirt band might just be the worst I've ever featured on this site even if their music is typical country rock from the early 70's. As you can imagine, they were a much bigger deal in their native America where country was more popular.
#91 for 1971
We have one final entry from T Rex on this list, this time it's one of their most popular songs in their catalogue likely due to the Power station cover from 1985 that came dangerously close to making it on that list on this side of my site (it was a top ten hit that failed to stick around that year.) Naturally this continued the winning streak that the band had worldwide even if that streak wouldn’t last that long.
#92 for 1971
We looked at the Matt Flinders version from earlier on this list, time now to look at the original version of his final hit which comes to us from French pop star Danyel Gerard who was lucky enough to have his version be a modest success here back in the day. Like many artists from non-English speaking countries, this was originally recorded in his native French before it was translated to English for an international market.
#93 for 1971
I bet you were beginning to think I forgot all about these guys given how long it's been since we looked at one of their many knockoffs throughout this list, it's almost a cruel joke that the Jackson 5 only has one entry on this list given how inescapable they were throughout the first half of the decade worldwide. At least MJ scored a massive chart topper here in Australia with his earlier entry on this list.
#87 for 1970
Given how many entries he's had on here with his band the Hollies as well as having massive success with his albums with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young, it makes sense that Graham Nash would find solo success with us Aussies even if this is the only solo hit he had worldwide. For what it's worth, he didn't find much more success with his other projects after this hit down under.
#88 for 1972
This was the first hit that the Glitter band managed to achieve once they had established themselves as the hottest new name in their native UK due to of course being the backing band for Gary Glitter, it's a glam rock track much likes the rest of their and their troubled frontman's catalogue which of course was guaranteed success here in Australia this year as well.
#86 for 1974
This is the only other entry from Tom Jones we have for this list, admittedly he was far more popular throughout the 60's given that's when he had his initial breakthrough. He would have a massive spike in popularity with his earlier entry on this list before fading into obscurity save for a few random spikes here and there throughout his career.
#88 for 1970
I'm as surprised as you are that this wasn't a gigantic hit here in Australia, although admittedly this is a mere snippet of what was available from the album which was indeed one of the biggest hits of the decade down under as well as the rest of the world. Naturally this wasn't originally a single given how the album didn't intend on having one, however it got pushed as a single when it was used in the film the Exorcist.
#87 for 1974
Well, we looked at the Cash Backman version from earlier, time now for the original version from Jim Stafford which tells the story of two men fighting over a girl. I'm not sure if this was an issue at the time, however modern historians often get thrown off by the song given how it's not revealed at the end that the narrator isn't referring to bill as "his girl," rather he's simply telling Bill that the girl in question is taken.
#88 for 1974
Our final entry on this list comes from Roberta Flack, one of the more popular artists during the first half of the decade in Australia despite being and female RNB singer of colour which normally is a combination of words that doesn't give you much success here. Indeed, her voice was so distinct that even we Aussies fell in love with her three Billboard chart toppers as this was easily the weakest hit of the three here.
#89 for 1974
This is the only success that the duo Yellowstone and voice had here in Australia as well as their native UK, it's more in line with what was popular in the UK throughout the 70's outside of glam rock and disco which is perhaps why the decade has a much harsher rep over there than it does internationally.
#90 for 1973
We have one final entry from Daddy cool on this list, this time it's with their final hit they had given how their time in the spotlight began and ended with their breakthrough album Daddy who which this served as its final single. Even though the band had no further success, lead singer Ross Wilson would return with Mondo Rock by the end of the decade.
#89 for 1972
This was released the same time as when Wings dropped their magnum opus Band on the run, naturally you'd think this would be on the album but alas it wasn't which means that no song from the album appears on this list. I'm not sure why we Aussies passed up on the singles given how well they did internationally back in the day as well as their presence on oldies stations to this day.
#90 for 1974
Two years prior to score a massive worldwide hit with their earlier entry on this list, the Stylistics had a minor hit here in Australia with this RNB jam likely off the back of the success 5th dimension had here. This was actually one of their weaker hits internationally as their big hit in their homeland at the time was "Betcha by golly wow."
#90 for 1972
This is the only other hit that Brian Cadd had during his career, although he was more of an album artist given how his three solo albums were among the most successful of the decade. That said, I get the feeling he would've been so much bigger had there been a Countdown equivalent to further promote the singles from his three albums.
#91 for 1972
This is our final entry on this list, it comes to us from the Australian band Autumn who scored a moderate success with this track about a girl they're clearly collectively pining for. On the Go set charts, they were lumped in with Jigsaw's rendition of "Yellow river" alongside the original, meaning they're technically a two hit wonder as opposed to realistically being a one hit wonder.
#94 for 1971
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