Billboard charts 70's VII

Although Billboard has yet to release a top 500 for the biggest hits of the 70's on their website (as of this writing of course) I've decided to make up my own list which I created on my RYM site to look over what I believe to be the biggest hits of the decade over there. As usual this list only includes songs that were popular in the southern hemisphere back in the day and not the songs that didn't appeal to us Aussies or kiwis.

In a twist of fate, it turns out that Maxine Nightingale is a two hit wonder in most parts of the world, although her second hit changes depending on what part of the world you're from as this was that hit in NZ and America whilst we Aussies were saddled with "Gotta be the one" which was the immediate follow up to her earlier entry on this list. The one place where she's a one hit wonder is surprisingly her native UK.

Given how this was a big hit here in Australia for John Stewart, I was expecting to see this much higher on the list as this wasn't a hit in the UK like so many other entries on this list that did better down under than in their native America. I actually don't know what to make of this songs success other than maybe it being bigger here due to a Countdown performance that's currently lost media.

Well, this is a bit depressing, mainly because we've only skipped one entry from Chicago which came between their two previous entries on this list. This means that as far as commercial success was concerned, it was the right idea for them to go in a more mainstream direction with their tenth album given how their popularity would go on to explode in the 80's once their audience adjusted to their change in sound.

This is the first of three entries from Badfinger on this list, oh yeah it turns out the British band had three hits in America which is one more they had in their native UK and the two hits they had in their homeland only being slightly more popular over there than what they were on Billboard. This is the biggest of the trio which was also their breakthrough single due to it fitting in with the hippy movement.

For everyone who thinks that the Commodores are schmaltzy RNB group of colour and nothing more, allow me to present to you the rare funk track in their catalogue which was a decent hit at best in their homeland and almost a chart topper in NZ where funk music seemed to be more accepted in the mainstream. This phenomenon more than explains why Lionel Richie rarely tapped into his funk roots when he went solo.

We may have finished looking over his Billboard chart toppers, however that doesn't mean we're done with overlooking Neil Diamond's catalogue as he still has one more appearance after this to come on this list. In the meantime, we have this track which was sandwiched between "Crackling Rosie" and "Song sung blue" that helped him retain his popularity worldwide.

This got stuck behind "I can see clearly now" for two weeks back in the day, meaning that Lobo was denied a Billboard chart topper due to how omnipresent the reggae track was back in the day. Despite its pitiful placement on this list, he managed to find massive worldwide success with this ballad especially here in Australia where it was a massive chart topper and one of the biggest hits of the decade.

Hello again Badfinger, good to see you back on this list with the one entry that you didn't find any success with back in your native UK. I guess if there's one thing you should take away from these lists, it's that there's no rhyme or reason as to what finds crossover success regardless of what point in time we're referring to, spending weeks at number one in one country doesn't guarantee it'll crack the top ten in another it seems.

For some reason, Australia was the only place in the world where this needed two attempts to find success as this was an immediate success in NZ and America for Livie following the success she had with "Let me be there" from earlier on this list. This is also her final appearance on this list as nothing she released prior to that track managed to make any impact on the Billboard charts.

All three of Lobo's hits he had in Australia and NZ will be accounted for on this list given how they were decent hits in his homeland, this was the first big hit he had which was likely due to it being about a couple's puppy which obviously went over better with us Aussies and kiwis than it did with his fellow Americans. At least the puppy isn't dead in this song as opposed to the hit we looked at form Henry Gross.

Just like us Aussies, it appears that Rick Nelson's fellow Americans were feeling a nostalgia bug when this song came out as it became a surprise hit for him on Billboard just like it did down under. It was more of a success here in Australia likely due to us Aussies having more of a nostalgia bug for the 70's overall, however it's success in his homeland suggested this was the case over there as well.

Both of Cat Steven's big hits he had during the first half of the decade is accounted for on this list, although I should mention that he's another example of an artist who was more popular in the southern hemisphere than he was in the northern hemisphere as he didn't have any success with his singles in his native UK. He even had a third candidate for this list that would've appeared had it been a hit in either Australia or NZ.

This was Dr Hook's debut single, the fact that this managed to be a bigger hit in Australia and NZ should tell you everything you need to know about how random it was for songs to crossover to the southern hemisphere from what was popular in America during the first half of the decade. There are still two more entries to come from the musically eclectic group on this list.

Given how they had a massive hit with their earlier entry on this list in America, it makes sense that the Hollies final international hit would also be as such over there even if this was a big hit worldwide due to it being one of their biggest hits in their homeland. I'm not sure why these guys persisted in NZ during the second half of the decade, however they did as evidence by their appearances on that side of this site.

We have one more instrumental to feature on this list, this time it's from Frank Mills who scored a massive worldwide hit with this track that many will tell you (me included) that it belongs in a horror movie due to how similar it sounds to an ice cream truck looking to abduct its victims.

This was a change of direction for Dr Hook in their catalogue given how they were previously known for being a comedy band, however they obviously wouldn't see the full effect of this mainstream push until their earlier entries on this list given how this proved equally as successful in their homeland as their previous entry as well as it being far less popular in Australia and NZ than that entry.

Given how we looked at his biggest hit in America earlier on this list, it makes sense that the other big hit he had in Australia during the first stretch of the decade would be as such on Billboard even if it proved more popular here than it did over there. There were no other candidates from him for this list, meaning these two entries were the best he could do over there throughout the decade.

I have to say that I'm surprised this managed to become a hit in Australia, NZ and America given how it was a massive flop for Tee set in the UK, I bring this up because normally European artists find success with the Brits before they find an audience in the rest of the English speaking world which means the Dutch group are one of the rare exceptions to this rule.

We've almost featured every entry from Elton John on this list, this of course was the song that put him on the map given how he saw nothing but failure prior to its release towards the start of the decade. He was so popular in America that even "Mama can't buy you love" from his critically derided disco album was a candidate fort this list, in fact we would've already looked at it were it a hit in the southern hemisphere.

This was Gilbert O'Sullivan's biggest hit in his native UK, so it makes sense that it would see some form of success on Billboard even if it was obvious that the Americans had grown tired of his brand of pop crooning by the time it came out over there. Indeed, this was the final hit he had anywhere in the world as the glam scene made his more morose ballads seem out of place with the change in trends.

How is it we've taken this long to look at Raydio on this list? I'm beginning to think I jumped the gun when I said that black music was more successful in America than it was internationally as while we've skipped over plenty of entries from the likes of the Isley brothers and the Temptations (among others) the tradeoff seemed to be that the songs from black musicians that did crossover were more popular internationally.

It's a good thing this was a hit in NZ for Mouth and McNeal, otherwise I would've had to skip over it on this list given how the (in my opinion) far inferior version from Australian Jigsaw was the big hit down under back in the day. This is another song from a Dutch band that saw more success internationally than it did in the UK, making this somewhat of a trend on this list.

Given how this was easily one of the biggest hits of the decade in Dave Edmund's native UK, it makes sense that it would crossover to America even if it saw a fraction of the success over there it had in his homeland and the rest of the world. He didn't even have a comeback by the end of the decade with "Girls talk" like he did internationally, making this trap him in the one hit wonder bin.

This is the final entry from Elton John on this list as this proved to be somewhat of a dud for him in America compared to how well it did internationally. This means that if we included the songs I brought up skipping over on my main list, he had a total of fifteen hits in America throughout the decade, easily making him one of the most successful artists of the 70's.

I think I spoke too soon when I said this was a victim of the Countdown curse given how it was the second single from one of the most successful albums of the decade as well as it not doing too well in John Denver's homeland. That said, he still had an impressive run in America given how he had a total of seven candidates for this list even if only three of them officially made it on here.

For the most part, every entry on this list from a British artist found some level of success in their homeland. This wasn't the case for Apollo 100 who managed to score a huge hit in Australia and a decent hit in America despite this failing to impress their fellow Brits upon its release. Again, I have no idea if this was a hit in America because of us Aussies or vice versa due to how arbitrary it was for songs to become popular this decade.

We have our third and final entry from Lobo on this list, again it feels odd that all three of his big hits were roughly as successful as each other in his homeland given how their success was widely different if we're referring to the Australia and NZ charts. Again, what did and didn't become international hits seemed to be completely arbitrary given how this list has unfolded.

This is something I really struggle to wrap my head around, mainly because I honestly would've thought that David Cassidy would have some notoriety in his homeland given the popularity of the show he starred in. This is not only his only entry on this list, but also his only candidate, meaning that he's a one hit wonder in his homeland despite the success he had with the Partridge family on this list.

Given how we looked at the solo entry from the two lead vocalists on this track earlier on this list, it should go without saying that the 5th dimension was indeed one of the biggest names in music during their heyday even if their big hit here in Australia this decade wasn't as such in their homeland. For what it's worth, I did skip over "One less bell to answer" which nearly topped the Billboard charts at the start of the decade.

This is the most recent entry from the Carpenters on this list, it turns out the brother and sister duo found more success in NZ for the long run as they naturally kept having hits after this second single from their sixth album. There's still one more entry to come from them on this list, proving how well loved they were during the first half of the decade in their homeland.

I told you that Freddy Fender had the same career trajectory in his native America as he did here in Australia, again I don't know why the kiwis loved this second single from him so much, but they did which is why both his entries on this list lead off my NZ list for the decade. This was the last anyone heard from him worldwide except for NZ of course where he had a hit with "Secret love."

This is the final appearance from both Wings and their frontman Paul McCartney on this list, again we have to thank the kiwis for its presence given how Band on the run infamously failed to spawn a hit single for them here in Australia back in the day. Considering we've looked at every major hit they had on this list (barring "Let em in" which was a candidate for this list) I'd say they had a great run in America this decade.

Here we are with the big hit that Earth wind and fire had form their greatest hits album, how many entries have I skipped over since we lasted looked at them on this list? One, that being "Sing a song" from the same album as their other candidate I skipped over. How many other entries/candidates do they have for this list? None, although "Got to get you into my life" was a minor hit in their homeland this decade. So much for these guys being more popular in their homeland than they were internationally.

It's a good thing this was a minor hit for the Stylistics here in Australia, otherwise I wouldn't be able to feature it on this list and thus give them three entries overall on here. I don't know why their breakthrough hit in Australia was different to what it was in NZ, either way, 1971 was their year to shine which they took full advantage of around the globe.

This is the only notable hit from the Five-man electrical band (that name man, I don't know what to make of it) it's another example of a song that was far more popular here in Australia than it was in America even though they were a Canadian band. It's one of the last protest songs from the hippy movement to become a success, suggesting the world was simply tired of this culture.

Even though this was a huge hit for Sammy Johns in his homeland, it wasn't anywhere near as popular as it was in NZ given how high it appears on that list for this decade. Like so many of these artists, he was a one hit wonder in his homeland, which more than explains why he didn't have another hit in NZ even though he was far more popular over there.

In a bit of a bizarre twist, it turns out that Pilot is a one hit wonder on both sides of the pond albeit with a different song of theirs depending on where you're from. If you're from America, this was their big hit whilst if you were from the UK like they were, "January" was the big hit they had. Both of these songs were big here in Australia, meaning it was here where they were most successful.

Here's the other big hit that Hot chocolate had in America, I bet you forgot about these guys given how long it's been since they last appeared on this list. In any case, they were able to escape the one hit wonder bin in America when this became a hit for them just as the decade was beginning to wind down, thus putting to rest any doubts they were a novelty act that their earlier entry suggested they were.

Even though this didn't get to number one here in Australia, there's no denying that it was easily one of the biggest hits of the decade here which more than explains how it managed to find an international audience for Sister Janet Mead. America was one of those places given how it appears on this list, although this really does feel out of step with everything else on this list which makes its popularity over there a bit puzzling.

I bet you were beginning to wonder if I had forgotten all about these guys, don't you worry, they had plenty of candidates for this list given how many songs of theirs successfully became a hit in America where they didn't internationally (four to be exact.) One of them of course was "Dreams" which was their sole Billboard chart topper, however it was only this title track to their third album with this lineup that became a hit for them internationally.

This is the final appearance from Neil Diamond on this list, again it staggers me to think that barring his three chart toppers, he had more success in the southern hemisphere than he did in his homeland throughout the decade. Fortunately the opposite would be the case going into the 80's as his fellow Americans were far kinder to his work that decade than us Aussies and kiwis.

This is the third and final entry from the Hollies on this list, it's by far the oldest song on this list given how it was originally a hit for them in their homeland during the final months of the 60's only for it to inevitably crossover to Australia and America right as the decade had begun. That said, it took its sweet time doing so, hence why it's considered a 70's hit in both countries and a 60's hit in their homeland.

This was a surprisingly good time for Canadians to do better here in Australia than they did in America, here we are with the Bells who managed to perform better on the Australian equivalent of this list than they did here even though they did see success with the Americans. I guess there was a ton of competition on Billboard that just wasn't present on our charts.

Given how well his previous entry did in America, it only makes sense that the second double release from Teaser and the firecat would also be a success on Billboard even if again, it was more successful in Australia and NZ for the English singer/songwriter. He only had one other hit in America this decade, that of course being "Another Saturday night" which failed to crossover to the southern hemisphere.

This is the only other appearance from the king of rock and roll on this list, although "Wonder of you" was a decent success in his homeland, just not enough to appear on this list like these two entries did. I honestly would've thought that he would find success with his final album on Billboard if for no other reason that his fellow Americans would feel sentimental about his passing like the rest of the world did.

Much like "When you're in love with a beautiful woman," if this wasn't a hit in NZ, then I wouldn't be able to feature every candidate from Dr Hook I had for this list given how they wound up having more success over there than they did here in Australia overall. If you've been following my site, you'll notice the absence of several tracks that became a hit in both countries.

If you're wondering how this became a hit in NZ for Walter Egan, here you go as it was a decent hit for him in his homeland likely due to the connections he had with Fleetwood Mac. Again, I should remind my readers that outside of America, they were considered an albums band, meaning songs such as "Don't stop" and "Say you love me" didn't receive the same love international as they did on Billboard.

When we get to the UK list for this decade, rest assured that these guys will have plenty of representation on that list given how much their fellow Brits loved their music. In America however, this was the best they could do as this became a moderate success on Billboard due to its ties to a coca cola add that aired months prior to its release.

If you're wondering how this managed to become a hit in NZ, it turns out this was a decent hit for Peter Brown in his native America even if the kiwis saw more from this track than his fellow Americans did. Admittedly this was a complete outlier in his catalogue given how it's a disco track rather than his usual brand of singer/songwriter ballads

Here's another song I'm surprised wasn't even bigger in America, the first time I heard it, I was dumbfounded that it was a real song and not some joke that came from a meme during the 00's. In any case, it appears we Aussies and kiwis found more to love with this track from Daddy Dewdrop than his fellow Americans did back in the day.

Here's the third and final entry from Badfinger on this list, this was also their other big hit in their native UK, meaning that this likely crossed over due to how big it was in their homeland even if it wasn't among the biggest hits of the decade over there. As we draw near the end of this list, I have to say that this decade has been far less predictable than the 80's and 90's and they weren't exactly predictable either.

This is the final appearance from the Carpenters as well as the last song on my RYM list to be a candidate for this list, for what it's worth, I did skip over three of their songs which were "Rainy days," "Superstar" and "Sing." Again, they had quite a healthy number of hits under their belt in their homeland which makes their decline in popularity during the second half of the decade all the more puzzling.

Ever wanted to know why this was a big hit in NZ and not the Jim Capaldi version from around the same time it got big here in Australia? It turns out that Nazareth managed to catch the attention of the American public with their rendition of the 30's classic despite this failing in their native UK two years prior to when it took off throughout the rest of the world.

OK you can all calm down now that I've featured the defining track from Queen on this list, yes it's success in America was a fraction of what it achieved worldwide, however even the Americans couldn't deny that this was a hit in the making even if it didn't reach its full potential over there until 1992 when it was featured in the Mike Myers flick Wayne's world.

This is the final entry from Sweet on this list, it's also their only appearance that wasn't a hit in their native UK given how their fellow Brits had moved on from glam to punk by the time this came out. The rest of the world wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to them, hence why this was such a big hit in America, Australia and NZ as well as several countries in Europe.

I know what you're thinking, you're thinking "is this seriously the best that Alice Cooper could do in his homeland throughout the 70's?" The answer is no as of course I skipped over "School's out" due to it being a flop in Australia and NZ due to how successful that album was. Had I included that track on this list, then the answer would be yes as the only other hit he had this decade was "I never cry" which wasn't a candidate for this list.

OK it turns out these guys weren't that much bigger in their homeland than they were here in Australia given how low they appear on this list, in fact they're towards the very bottom of this list just like they are on my Australian list for the 70's, meaning these guys were arguably more famous here than they were in their homeland given the higher barrier of entry they had to appear on our charts.

Well at least this was a massive hit in the UK for the American band than it was in their homeland, otherwise I'd have to wonder how on earth it was easily one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia or indeed how the creators of the Crazy frog discovered its existence to turn it into a ringtone over thirty years after it was only barely a success for them on the Billboard charts.

This is the final entry from this list to come from the first half of the decade, it's also the final entry where we owe our thanks to the kiwis for its presence given how the version that got big here in Australia was from Liv Maessen which naturally prevented it from being a success here. It's also the second appearance from Anne Murray, you know, the woman who had a chart topper with "You needed me" from earlier on this list.

OK it was one thing for me to discover this was only a moderate hit here in Australia for Barry Manilow as there were plenty of songs from this decade that bombed on our charts back in the day, the fact it underperformed due to it also being a moderate hit at best in his homeland is just shocking to me given how it's easily the signature track from the singer/songwriter thanks to its place in pop culture.

Our final entry/surprise on this list comes to us from Raydio who barely squeezes on here with their second hit they had worldwide, again how this became such a big hit here in Australia I'll never know (unless of course there's a Countdown performance someone can point me to.) Naturally lead singer Ray Parker Jr had much better luck in the 80's as a solo artist in his native homeland.

Well, that's it for the list, how did we do? OK I'll quickly get the anti-neo-Marxist rant out of the way by saying that there was plenty of diversity on this list as well as any country in the world for that matter. It's only been in the last few years that anyone cared about the colour of your skin, your sexual orientation or what genitalia you claim to have as so long as the music was good/appealing, you were bound to have an audience regardless of where in the world you're from. The biggest surprise here is just how unpredictable the charts were throughout the world as songs you'd think were shoe ins for these lists are conspicuously absent whilst songs that I doubt anyone has thought of for decades at this point seemed to reign supreme regardless of where in the world you're from. That's not even mentioning the logic when it came to crossover appeal these songs had, admittedly America had Soul train which was their equivalent for Countdown here in Australia and TOTP for the UK, however that only focuses on RNB and disco in an attempt to boost the presence of musicians of colour in America which I think we can all agree it succeeded with in flying colours given how many of these acts failed to score a single hit internationally on my RYM list. Finally, there's how my list turned out, initially I had a homemade list as it appears that Billboard never made an official top 500 for the decade like they did for the 80's and 90's. After some meticulous digging however, it turns out they did make one which of course I used for this list. The issue is that they forgot to include a few entries from 1979 that appeared on the 1980 yearend list, hence why the list isn't available on their site. Fortunately, I did find it on multiple playlists available on YouTube and Spotify, and it wasn't too hard inserting these entries into the list as only three of them failed to appear on the all-time list they published a while back, meaning I just took their placement on my homemade list and inserted them in the spots they appeared on there.

With that said, I hope you enjoyed me overlooking the biggest hits of the decade in America that was as such in Australia and/or NZ. If you discovered your new favourite song on this list, let me know as it gives me satisfaction that my site is doing what I created it for! In the meantime, take care and I'll see you around.