Billboard charts 70's III

#8 for 1973

This was for the longest time the signature track from Abba as this was their only Billboard chart topper during their run throughout the 70's and 80's. It's easy to see why this was their biggest hit in America as it perfectly demonstrates the joyous and upbeat nature of their discography that continues to captivate audiences to this day.

It's hard to believe this song was ever taken seriously given how it will be forever remembered for its bizarre "ooga chucka's" at the end of each chorus, however it may surprise you to learn this was a cover of a BJ Thomas track which naturally omitted that inane chant this version uses. Unsurprisingly, this was Blue Swede's only hit anywhere in the world due to how gimmicky this cover is.

This was the first solo hit that MJ had as an adult anywhere in the world (his first solo hit overall was with "Rocking robin" from earlier in the decade) it's also the first hit of his to feature Quincy Jones as his executive producer which resulted in some of his finest work both solo and with his family. Despite it clearly being a disco track, it still remains one of his more fondly remembered songs to this day.

Frankie Valli certainly seemed to have a resurgence in popularity this decade which all began with this ballad about how he reminisces about a crush he had when he was a schoolboy. This managed to tug at the heartstrings of audiences worldwide and have it be a huge success for him, which in turn led to him having two more hits later in the decade both solo and with the Four seasons with disco tracks.

This is another song that required several attempts to become a success here in Australia as it finally saw the upper echelons of our charts after its third rerelease, although considering how unpopular RNB disco was on our charts (at least compared to the rest of the world) the fact it eventually clicked with us Aussies was an impressive feat for the aging Lou Rawls.

I've seen this title track to Donna Summer's breakthrough album be described as porn music, I can certainly attest for its album version which takes up the full side A of the album as it goes for sixteen minutes. Thankfully the single version isn't nearly as long and thus doesn't wear out its welcome as quickly, thus allowing it to become a huge success for Donna and a gateway to her making disco tracks.

There are two versions of this track that exist, there's the version with the disco trio Love unlimited which features vocalist from the three women of colour on the track. The other version is the instrumental version which is the version that became a massive worldwide hit given how it was commissioned from a group of session musicians by Barry White for one of his concerts with the girls.

Well, this song's absence on the Australian side of my site was certainly felt by yours truly, so let's rectify that by having by far the signature track from one of the more popular disco girl groups from the 70's. As the girls were indeed a family, this feels more like an anthem for the band rather than a cheap disco track preaching about the importance of family, which is perhaps why it's endured over the years.

Dazz was one of the less popular disco bands to have a hit in their native America this decade, this was the hit they had on Billboard which was groovy enough for it to crossover to NZ this year in the early months of the year, making this another entry that could potential place higher were it not for the long summer gap the charts had at the time.

This was the only notable hit that Dan Hill had outside his native Canada, although it's worth noting that this was a huge hit in his homeland which generally isn't the case for many Canadian artists who make it big internationally. My Aussie readers will perhaps be more familiar with the dance version of this ballad from the 90's as that proved to be more successful here than this ballad, however this was a huge deal back in the day as well.

This was the lead single to Paul and Linda's collaboration album Ram, a song that for whatever reason, never saw the light of day in the former's native UK despite it being a massive success throughout the rest of the world. It's also often mistaken for a Wings track, likely because it appears on many greatest hits packages for the band as well as fans considering it as such for Linda's involvement.

One of the happiest songs to come out of the decade, we have this half disco half RNB jam from Errol Brown and company which managed to be so joyous that it even crossed over to America for them. They often get compared to their American counterparts Kool and the gang since both groups have a predominantly black sound that still resonates with audiences to this day.

Well, this is a song that's gone down in infamy, mainly for the lyrics which suggests that Paul Anka's girlfriend (played by Odia Coates in this song) is having his baby purely for his benefit and not for hers. I get that this song was supposed to be a celebration of starting a family, but I can absolutely see how it's gone down in infamy as being one of the worst songs of all time.

So, there was this trucker's craze during the 70's which apparently was so popular that this novelty track from country singer C.W McCall became a huge worldwide hit to cash in on it. Oh, I'm sorry did I call this guy a country singer? Technically he is but it's more accurate to say he's a marketing director who became C.W McCall after a bread commercial he originally created the character for failed to sell its product.

This is the earliest entry from CCR I'll be featuring on this site, it was the lead single from their fourth album Willy and the poorboys which serves as yet another two for one deal on this list given how both tracks on this release remain staples on oldies stations to this day. For what it's worth, the band had massive success in 1969 with material from their first three albums.

This was originally released in 1967 to deafening silence here in Australia, I guess because we Aussies felt there wasn't enough room for these guys in the psychedelia scene given how the likes of the Beatles and Procol Harum had dominated that scene with their chart-topping hits. It was given a second chance five years later as a live rendition which became a massive worldwide hit for the band.

This was the only other chart topper that Gilbert O'Sullivan had in his native UK, it was his first chart topper there given how this came out before "Get back" and likely got there due to the success of "Alone again" over in America. This ballad is actually about the mother's love for her daughter Clair rather than a traditional love ballad, likely explaining its success over other contemporary love ballads.

This was George Harrison's final hit here in Australia for eight years as he wouldn't touch our charts again until 1981 with his tribute to John Lennon "All those years ago." It was a much bigger deal internationally where this topped the Billboard charts for the former Beatle likely due to its strong message about world peace.

This was the only hit that Van McCoy was able to achieve in his lifetime in most parts of the world, although the Brits did give him a second hit later in the decade with "The shuffle" which is a less conventional disco record due to it being in a 6/4-time signature as opposed to the more conventional 4/4-time signature like this and many other dance tracks are. Sadly, Van would die of a drug overdose by the end of the decade.

This was the debut single for Tony Orlando and Dawn, a song that wants you to believe came from a real band judging by its cover art (much like "Knock three times" and its cover art from earlier) but instead was from the crooner and his two backup singers of colour like all the other tracks in their catalogue.

This was an Oscar winning ballad for the film Lovers and other strangers, although this version from the Carpenters was released well after the film won its prize meaning that it isn't an Oscar winning ballad like the other entries from the academy awards on this list. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if this was a hit due to its affiliation with the film.

If you think that ironic tracks meant to criticise the pop music of any given period is a recent phenomenon, allow me to introduce you to this one and only hit from Robin Scott AKA M who managed to take the world by storm with his critiques of the state of pop music in the late 70's. It was a huge chart topper for him in Australia and Billboard of all places despite it not getting to number one in his native UK.

This was the second hit that John Lennon had with the Plastic Ono band, the first being "Give peace a chance" from the end of the previous decade which helped put Yoko Ono and her band on the map due to its success. There's speculation that Yoko was responsible for breaking up the Beatles due to her music receiving backlash over the years, the real reason for their breakup was due to John mistreating everyone in his life at the time.

I don't know why we Aussies passed up on this disco classic back in the day, however it did linger on our charts long enough for it to qualify on this bonus list of mine so it's not like we didn't know about it or anything. Admittedly I get the feeling this only became a classic with us Aussies when it was featured on Saturday night fever as that's where its cultural imprint seems to stem from.

Well, we had to get to this track eventually, this is yet another song on this list that has gone down in infamy due to the subject matter which depicts Ringo Starr "owning" a sixteen-year-old he has the hots for. This was originally a hit for Johnny Burnette in 1960 (the father of Rocky Burnette of "Tired of toeing the line" fame) who would tragically pass away four years after his version made it big.

It had been almost a full decade since Manfred Mann saw any success on the charts, so here he is with his second band, Manfred Mann's earth band (wow, creative name) scoring massive success worldwide with this staple on oldies stations. This was able to give him a comeback as it helped the album it came from become a moderate success as well as this topping the Billboard charts.

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.

This was the double A-side that cemented Queen as one of the most endearing bands to ever make it big in the mainstream, after all you begin with the stomping beat of "We will rock you" before immediately preceding to the soaring victory lap of "We are the champions" which helped this become a massive hit worldwide for them. They would have a bit of a quiet period for the remainder of the decade before they scored a massive hit with "Crazy little thing called love."

This was a hit for Alicia Bridges twice in Australia, of course we'll be looking at its original success where it rode the disco bandwagon for a song that seems more in line with RNB than anything. It wasn't among the most inescapable tracks of its day; however, its legacy got a massive push fifteen years later when it was remixed for the soundtrack of Priscilla queen of the desert.

I know these were two of the biggest names in music this decade, however I don't think many people were expecting them to make a duet together and not only that, have it become a huge worldwide success like this wound up being for them. This somewhat killed Chris Norman's career as Smokie never had another hit after this, Suzi fared a bit better as she did score one more hit with "Rock hard" in 1980.

If it wasn't for "Say you'll stay until tomorrow" from later in the decade as well as his revival period in the 90's, this would've been the final hit in Tom Jones's career worldwide given how his popularity seemed to fall off a cliff despite ending the 60's on a high note with a highly successful live album based on a Vegas show of his.

This was the first solo single that Ringo Starr released in his career, naturally it was an immediate success for the drummer of the fab four given how his former bandmates had dominated the charts with their earlier entries on this list following their breakup from the start of the decade. His true peak in success would come with his second solo album which contains his other two entries on this list.

If you can believe it, Countdown wasn't particularly successful in stamping out all of the 50's crooners with their comebacks of the day. Here we have the first Billboard chart topper that Neil Sedaka had during its midpoint which admittedly wasn't as inescapable internationally as it was in his native America but was regardless a huge success for the aging crooner here.

This was the second and final hit that BJ Thomas was able to achieve in Australia, third if you consider that John Farnham stole his second hit here with his rendition of "Raindrops keep falling on my head." I guess Glen Campbell was the country star of choice here in Australia during the height of our fascination with the genre considering how much bigger he was compared to this guy down under.

Although "You make me feel like dancing" is often regarded as the big hit from Leo Sayer's third album, it was actually this ballad that proved to be his biggest hit this decade and would've been his biggest hit overall were it not for his cover of "More than I can say" from the start of the following decade. Indeed, Leo's biggest hits are his ballads and not his more upbeat tracks.

This was a massive worldwide hit for the Canadian band Ocean, likely due to how unapologetically religious it is which connected with spiritual audiences back in the day. It appears there weren't many Aussies in that audience given how much less successful it was here compared to the rest of the world.

Well, the Osmonds might not have had any success here in Australia, however the same can't be said for their Canadian knockoff the Defranco family who managed to score a huge hit with their debut single as well as in America and their homeland. Basically, we have a rip-off of a rip-off here as the Osmonds are widely considered to be a knockoff of the Jackson 5 (who we'll thankfully get to eventually.)

This is one of only two entries from Stevie Wonder, that's right, one of the biggest names of the decade only had two hits here in Australia even if his albums did do considerably well with us Aussies (which somewhat makes him an album artist as far as we're concerned.) At least this was a chart topper on Billboard even if it's one of his rare slow jams that got popular over the years.

We've looked at the second hit that James Taylor had here in Australia (at least as a solo artist) "Handy man," time now to look at the fire big hit he had which is of course his signature track that he released at the start of the decade. This was such an instant success for the folk singer that it boosted the popularity of the album it came from to the point where it became a best seller here.

This is the last entry to come from the Hollies and well as the song that's most well-known outside of their fanbase due to how big it was throughout the rest of the world, heck it remains their biggest hit on Billboard likely due to people confusing it for a CCR track given that it's a swamp rock track from a band otherwise known for their garage rock sound.

Following the success of his live album Frampton comes alive, Peter Frampton was able to score a huge hit in Australia with this track from his album of the same name only to forever fade into obscurity once the album dropped off the charts. I'm not sure why his popularity was so brief here, however it did lead to him being taught at music schools thanks to the talent he brought to his musicianship.

We have another successful ballad from Lionel Richie and company to appear on this site of mine, in fact there'll be a few more entries from these guys as we go further back in the 70's including a song that showcases their funky side of their catalogue. This was the lead single from their seventh album which spawned them a second Billboard chart topper with its second single "Still" which underperformed in NZ.

#51 for 1972

Well true to the title of this song, this is indeed a composition that comprises of a banjo duel that was apparently made for a film known as Deliverance. The film was well received back in the day, meaning that this was likely a hit due to how popular it was with us Aussies (box office numbers are hard to come back even for modern movies outside of America.)

We've looked at the renditions from Kylie Minogue and Ritz on this site, time now to look at the first version of this track that was a huge hit here in Australia from the hard rock band Grand funk (better known as Grand funk railroad by my American readers.) Given how the original from Little Eva was a massive flop here, I'm not particularly sure why this was a hit for the band down under and not their other songs.

#26 for 1974

This was the first of several Billboard chart toppers for Deborah Harry and company, however it was far from their first big hit throughout the rest of the world as we Aussies allowed "In the flesh" to nearly top our charts two years prior whilst the Brits gave them a massive hit with "Denis" from the previous year. Still, it's good to know their experimentation with disco was what made them huge in their homeland.

This was the final hit that Wings were able to achieve before they called it quits heading into the 80's, I'm guessing they wanted to end things on a high note as this song came out around the time they released their final album London town which curiously didn't have this on the track listing.

This was the biggest solo hit that Ringo Starr had here in Australia, we'll look at his other two big hits later down this list but suffice to say this is the entry from him that gives me the least to talk about as it just confirms him as the talented drummer of the fab four and little else given its lack of legacy.

Although Livie didn't ultimately see more success in NZ than she did here in Australia, she did seem to be more popular with the kiwis than us Aussies during the midpoint of the decade given how she now has two entries on this list that will never appears on the Australian side of this site given how much of a failure they both were down under.

This was the first solo hit to come from MJ, suffice to say that this is very different from his later material given how he was still a child when he recorded this track for the film of the same name. Incidentally, this is a horror film which just so happens to have the occasional sentimental scene, making this ballad highly inappropriate to be its theme song regardless of the context of the lyrics.

#15 for 1973

This was the second and final hit that Paper lace managed to achieve in most parts of the world, it's a biographical song about Al Capone which is full of historical inaccuracies which obviously didn't prevent the song from becoming a huge success upon its initial release. They did achieve a third hit in certain parts of the world with "Black eyed boy," however that would be the last anyone would hear from them.

You'd be forgiven into thinking this was the lead single to ELO's disco album Discography, you'd be wrong as that honour goes to "Shine a little love" which was only a modest success here likely due to us Aussies needing some convincing to allow these guys to have success in the disco genre. That convincing was met when they released the second single from the album with this favourite on oldies stations.

We looked at a hit from Supertramp on the Australian side of this site, time to feature them on this side of my site with what is by far their most iconic song even if the lyrics are a bit on the sillier side. This did chart here in Australia, however we Aussies always prioritised album sales over singles which meant this missed out from taking off as a single like it has as a radio staple.