Well, here's a song that's become more popular than the film it was written for, this is mainly because this was the biggest hit of the decade over in America which should give you an idea of what type of music was making it big on Billboard in lieu of all the Australian artists I've featured on these lists so far. If you didn't already know, Debby is indeed the daughter of Pat Boone, a man who the less said about on this site the better.
This is the biggest hit that Rod Stewart had over in America, although it's worth noting that regardless of what his biggest hit was in each country that he was one of the biggest names in music throughout the decade worldwide. To give you context, he released at least one mega hit every year for four consecutive years.
Although these guys had massive success in their native America throughout the second half of the decade, it does pain me to report that this was their only success here in Australia as even the Brits and kiwis gave them more success with their other singles than we Aussies did. At least this disco classic was a huge success for them, and hey lead singer Nile Rodgers did become an in-demand producer after this.
This was the lead single to the Saturday night fever soundtrack, an album/soundtrack that showcases the Bee gees at their finest through their vocal harmonies as well as how catchy their disco production is. I never quite understood why there have been so many covers of this track in particular over the years, I would've thought that "Staying alive" or "Night fever" would be the song to be revisited over and over again from this album.
This was one of only three hit singles that Andy Gibb was able to score in Australia throughout his lifetime, it's a shame because while he wasn't as much of a musical genius as his older brothers, he did have the same energy and charisma as the Bee gees to sustain a long and prosperous career had the trends not turned against them all.
For whatever reason, this song always reminds me of "Band on the run" whenever I hear it on the radio (likely due to Paul's similar vocal melody in different parts of both songs) which is perhaps why it was a bigger hit in NZ than it was here in Australia as we Aussies would've passed this up back in the day in favour of the many fresh offerings from our local music scene which the kiwis didn't have access to.
Well, it was the fourth single from the Grammy award winning soundtrack, oh yeah, I should mention that the Saturday night fever soundtrack won album of the year at the Grammys this year. In any case, we have this third hit that the Brothers Gibb were able to score this year, once again due to the vocal harmonies of the brothers as well as the irresistibly catchy disco beat they were synonymous with.
This was the biggest hits in Australia during the first half of the decade, in fact it came close to being the biggest hit of the decade overall given its refusal to die on our charts back in the day. I feel this is the best indication of how widely different our music landscape was from the pre-Countdown era to the post Countdown era given how this definitely wouldn't have touched our charts later in the decade.
This was the biggest hit of Andy's career over in America, although in Australia that goes to his earlier hit "I just want to be your everything" given how that's catchier than this track. Even so it was an obvious hit for the younger brother of the Bee gees given how it was written by his older brothers with international success in mind, although his popularity would come to an end later this year.
Although the Brothers Gibb were already among the most popular artists of the decade, this second single from the Saturday night fever soundtrack made them the kings of disco thanks to how it managed to stick around the upper echelons of the charts throughout the world. It's easy to see why this made them a household name, the falsettos on the track remain iconic to this day and it's catchy as hell.
This was the lead single to Donna Summer's final disco album Bad boys, and one which ramped up the sexiness of her earlier material to eleven as she really does seem like she wants to have the night of her life throughout the track. This unfortunately led to some backlash where she was promoting the wrong message for women in the world, something she unfortunately agreed with as she stopped making music like this.
We have another song that has survived the test of time on this list, this time it's the biggest hit from Carly Simon who scored massive worldwide success with this lead single to her biggest album No secrets. There's been many rumours about who the song is about from James Taylor (which she's denied from day one) to Mick Jagger, however she's since confirmed it to be about Warren Beatty.
I always thought that the lyrics to this classic were "play that f**king music," I guess it goes to show you show closely I'm paying attention to lyrics whenever I hear songs on the radio casually. Named after a box of cough drops, these guys score a massive hit with their autobiographical song about how they came to record music predominantly made by musicians of colour only to score massive success with the tale.
There was so much hype going into this band that they were even dubbed as the new Beatles (given that there were four of them who played rock and roll music like the fab four ten years prior.) Despite this being a massive success worldwide for the band, said success sadly didn't translate to a second hit for them, although the album this was pulled from was indeed a huge success here in Australia.
This is the song that the Fugees would sample over twenty years later for their magnum opus "Killing me softly," naturally this was originally a huge hit for Roberta Flack given how she by this point was a household name due to her earlier entry on this list. She would have one more hit on her own here in Australia with "Feel like making love" as well as one with Peabo Bryson with "Tonight I celebrate my love."
#2 for 1970
It turns out this was also a sleeper hit for the Emotions here in Australia, I would say I've evened out their representation on both sides of this site except no amount of expanding this list will allow "Flowers" to appear on it due to it failing to chart here. It makes sense we Aussies knew of this songs existence back in the day given how heavily its played-on oldies stations to this day.
We have another Oscar winning ballad to make it on this site, this time it's the love theme from Barbra Streisand's movie of the same name which helped her score her first Billboard chart topper as well has her first hit here in Australia since "Second hand rose" from eight years prior. The film remains a classic to this day thanks to strong performances from her and her co-star Robert Redford.
I did mention on the NZ side of this site that this was a modest success here in Australia back in the day, again we have an instrumental track on this list that was largely pushed aside in favour of all the music that Countdown was promoting which makes this song's absence on this side of my site rather noteworthy. At least you can still hear this on oldies stations to this day, that and Robin Thicke's sample of it was a success here.
The last time Gloria Gaynor had any success anywhere in the world was with her cover of a Jackson 5 track from the midpoint of the decade, so it must have been surprising for audiences to see her back in the spotlight with the second big disco hit from her during the height of Donna Summer's popularity. Most people will likely be more familiar with the remix of this track from the 90's as the original version isn't as bombastic as that version.
One of the stranger songs to become a hit throughout the 70's, we have this signature track from Three dog night which was by far their biggest hit both here in Australia and in their native America where it topped the Billboard charts due to how energetic it is. For whatever reason, Mariah Carey interpolated parts of this track for her cover of the Christmas hymn of the same name for her 1994 Christmas album.
This was the first hit that Wings scored throughout the world, although it's confusingly credited as a collaboration track between the band and their frontman Paul McCartney likely due to him being unsure of joining his wife's band permanently when it was released as a single. It's one of only two entries from the band to appear on this list, likely due to us Aussies passing up their singles in favour of their albums.
This is one of those hopeless romantic ballads that along with Nilsson's earlier entry on this list, tends to drive more cynical listeners (such as myself) insane with how pessimistic the lyrics are. This clearly wasn't the case for audiences back in the day as it became the breakthrough single for Irish crooner Gilbert O'Sullivan, although strangely it wasn't his biggest hit in his homeland like it was internationally.
This was originally released in 1969 to deafening silence for Roberta Flack, I guess because it was considered a bit ahead of its time given how it's more in line with the RNB the 70's is known for rather than the 60's which was less subtle by comparison. I'm not sure how this was rediscovered three years after its initial release, however it was which resulted in the first of three Billboard chart toppers for her.
It seems odd that Glen Campbell would score so much success here in Australia and have his sellout track about well...... selling out be his final hit single here. Indeed, this song about how Glen was going to be as he puts it, a rhinestone cowboy to the masses was his final hit here in Australia despite it being the first of two Billboard chart toppers for the country legend.
Want to know something strange about this track? It was written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, two names you'll be very familiar with if you're a fan of the glam rock from earlier in the decade. Here they allow American band Exile to have a massive hit with this soft rock track that now that I think about it, has lyrics that are begging to be performed with bombast but aren't on here.
This was the love theme for the third iteration of the A star is born franchise, a theme that was so popular that it won the Oscar for best original song at the academy awards despite the film being a critical disaster upon its initial release. I'm guessing it was this Oscar that made it a success worldwide as Barbra hadn't had a hit since her previous Oscar win with "The way we were" from earlier in the decade.
I know the 70's were a bizarre time in pop culture, however I'm finding it very hard to believe that one of the biggest hits of the decade was this novelty track about a duck (presumably Donald Duck based on the impersonation) wants to go out to the disco to dance. I guess this was funny the first time I heard it, although for me at least this quickly wears off its charm after repeated listens.
This was Rod Stewart's foray into disco music, a foray which paid off big time for him as this is his second biggest hit behind "Maggie may" from earlier in the decade likely due to him expanding past his core audience of those who like him for his sentimental ballads. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I can understand if you're not a fan of this song due to thinking he's a narcissist for presenting himself as a sex god.
We have another ballad to feature from Rod Stewart on this site, this one being the first major hit he had both solo and as part of a group as it was due to this ballad's success that the band he was in at the time found massive success with one of their albums (that band being the Faces.)
It's one of the greatest ironies in music that Barry Manilow didn't write this song about how he writes all the songs of the world, admittedly this needs the arrogance of its actual songwriter Bruce Johnston (of the Beach boys) in order to be the way it is. Apparently, it was originally given to the Captain and Tennille but was eventually given to Barry when the husband-and-wife duo felt it wouldn't make for a good single.
Again, I have no idea why this was only a sleeper success here in Australia back in the day given how this remains a staple on our oldie’s stations to this day, at least it was a success here likely due to it being released at the height of disco. The duo remains a one hit wonder here as their cover of "Sukiyaki" failed to become a hit with us Aussies in the 80's like it was throughout the rest of the world.
This was an amazing year for Elton John given how he not only scored two massive hits this year but also managed to have each of his albums at this point be a massive worldwide success. Neither of his two songs this year appeared on his albums, and admittedly audiences likely wanted to hear this upbeat song about how awesome Philadelphia is over his more sombre ballad "Someone saved my love tonight."
Elton John had success prior to this Billboard chart topper, however it was when he released this track that he went from just another blues singer to a household name due to how inescapable it was back in the day for him. It likely owes part of its success to it feeling right at home with the glam rock genre which had exploded in popularity around the time of its release.
Finally, we have another song that's survived the test of time on this list given how it's still fondly remembered even outside of oldies stations to this day. This was one of only three hits that Don Mclean had here in Australia, the other two being ballads as opposed to this lengthy track that serves as a history lesson about the day the music died (03/02/1959.)
OK so I may have a theory for why Donna's earlier entry on this list wasn't as big as it was here in Australia, it turns out her label issued the title track of her final disco album as a single so soon after "Hot stuff" that her previous entry hadn't even reached number one on Billboard when it entered the charts. Naturally we Aussies ignored the title track (hence why it didn't appear on the Australian side of this list) whereas the kiwis made both of them a hit at the same time.
It's hard to say if we Aussies considered this a guilty pleasure back in the day or if it was largely pushed aside due to what was popular on Countdown given how long it charted for, both evaluations of this song's sleeper success here are valid as it's almost identical to their other big hit this decade "That's the way I like it" even though that didn't prevent this from being a mainstream success worldwide.
This is often considered to be one of the worst songs of the decade, mainly because it has a rather upbeat tone despise the really depressing subject matter of coping with death which even at the time rubbed audiences the wrong way. It was the only hit for the Canadian folk singer Terry Jacks albeit a huge one likely because of the backlash it received back in the day.
Simon and Garfunkel were another band who broke up at the start of the decade despite starting the 70's on a strong note, in this case it was with the title track from their final album which indeed was a massive hit for the folk duo worldwide. Curiously, Art would find more success in the 70's despite Paul finding more success on his own in the long run.
This was the first of two chart toppers that Tony Orlando had with his backing band Dawn, a duo that was in fact two women of colour who provided backup vocals for him who obviously elevated the material from typical easy listening ballads to more noteworthy pop ballads of the day. They have two more entries to come on this list, proving how successful this formula was for the trio.
This was a two for one deal for John Denver as he released two of his more popular tracks from his (then) latest album Windsong in order to retain his popularity in the mainstream. This paid off for him as the double entry was a success as was the album itself, although it appears audiences suffered from overexposure from the country singer as he struggled for relevancy after this.
Often considered to be one of the greatest duets of all time, this collaboration between Elton John and Kiki Dee (who despite being described as an unknown singer did have a minor hit two years prior with "Amoureuse") managed to give the former his first chart topper in his native UK, which is impressive to think about considering how much success he already had over in America by this point.
This was the only notable hit that the Manhattans were able to score in Australia, I'm guessing because musicians of colour were finding it easier around this time to find international success given how inescapable Stevie Wonder was with his music. They did score a second hit over in NZ with "Shining star" in 1980, proving that there was some further crossover potential here that was squandered.
We have another two for one entry on this list, this time it's the big hit that Carole King had as well as what would've been her only hit were it not for her endorsement of the Hard rock cafe becoming a surprise hit for her later in the decade. Here we have a folk track that helped her claim her only number one hit on Billboard as well as its B-side which was a massive hit for Martika nearly two decades later.
It's staggering to think that these guys would be considered yesterday's news here in Australia once "Please Mr postman" fell off our charts during the midpoint of the decade given how inescapable they were here during the first half of the 70's. Here they are with their big breakthrough hit which was far more popular than many other tracks that 70's afficionados will likely name these days.
Ever felt that the Carpenters were too wholesome for you? If so, may I present you the Captain and Tennille who do away with the wholesomeness from the brother and sister duo in favour of this husband-and-wife duo who seem to be aiming for a more middle of the road crowd with their breakthrough single. I always found Toni Tennille to be the equivalent of Karen Carpenter if Karen let herself loose in the studio.
In most parts of the world, this was the final hit that Ray Stevens had as "Misty" from the following year didn't do very well due to it being one of his rare country ballads that was devoid of any humour or irony that connected with audiences in the places where it did become a success. Here we have him writing a comedy track about a streaker harassing a married couple that I'm sure audiences found hilarious at the time.
This was one of the slower disco tracks to make it big back in the day, I've heard it once described as a song about a disco lady you can't necessarily disco to which I feel best sums up this track. It was the only hit to come from Johnnie Taylor even in his native America, although it also had the distinction of being the first song to be certified platinum on the Billboard charts.
We have another two for one deal on this list, this time it's with Elton's heartfelt tribute to Marilyn Monroe as well as his third Billboard chart topper which incidentally feels like a continuation of "Crocodile rock" from the start of this list both lyrically and musically. Naturally this allowed both songs to be a success here in Australia due to the strong album sales of the album they were pulled from.
I really don't like it whenever I have to call out a sellout a band is doing for the worse, however this really applies to this track as Chicago went from one of the more progressive bands of the decade to what many will say is one of the worst bands of the 70's and 80's with this ballad. Simply put, this song is a bore and a half for most people to listen to (me included) due to how the melody is structured.
Given how the Monkees were one of the most successful bands of the 60's, it only makes sense that their spiritual successor when it comes to bands created for TV would also find massive success worldwide. This song is nowadays better known for the Voice of the beehive cover from the early 90's, however for twenty years, it was this version people thought of whenever the title came to mind.
This was sandwiched between Andy's two biggest hits worldwide, although it was a massive hit in its own right as all of his entries on this site were Billboard chart toppers for him. It's unfortunate that his popularity would die out by the end of the decade, although nowhere near as much as him passing away in 1988 due to his drug problems.
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.
From what I can gather, this was the first big hit that the Eagles had in NZ as none of their earlier material made it big over there on the Listener charts. Honestly, it's less of a surprise that this was a hit over there and more so that it was a flop here in Australia, yes, the album was big here, but you'd think a song that was a Billboard chart topper for one of the biggest bands in the world would've done better here.
Although they're best known for their disco classic "Groove thing" (which sadly won't be appearing on this blog) this was the big hit from Peaches and Herb due to it being their Billboard chart topper in their native America. It turns out that the Peaches on here wasn't the original Peaches when the duo formed a decade prior, in fact Herb Fame has gone through five different Peaches over the years.
Well, this took its sweet time in finding success here in Australia, I'd like to tell you that it's because we Aussies knew better than to make Lionel Richie a household name back in the day but sadly the more likely reason is that we just weren't into RNB back in the day like the rest of the world was. Even so, this is a taste of what was to come from Lionel's solo career the following decade for better or worse.
This was the only hit that K.C and the Sunshine band were able to score in Australia throughout the 70's, although they would score another two hits going into the 80's meaning that they weren't one hit wonders with this classic for long here. I guess a common complaint with their 70's material is that they all sounded the same to each other, after all try telling this apart from "Shake your booty," Keep it coming love" and "Get down tonight." Unless you're a fan of disco, you won't be able to do it.
This was the only hit that Player had worldwide, although it was one of two hits in Australia from an act named Player as "Space invaders" was from a local band called Player 1 in 1980. This has remained a favourite on oldies stations to this day due to this being an apology ballad about how awful the narrator is, it also shares its name with a reggae track from ten years prior by the British band Equals.
If you didn't know, Cher is in fact biracial or as she puts it, a half breed (half Native American and half Italian to be precise.) I guess this was a strong enough premise for her second Billboard chart topper as a solo artist given how the song is about how both sides of her family rejected her very existence due to the nature she was conceived (which she doesn't go into detail about as it's NSFW.)
Even though this remains a staple on oldies stations to this day, this solo breakthrough from George Harrison sparked massive controversy back in the day due to the melody being similar to a track from the Chiffons known as "He's so fine." This led to a legal battle where he wound up giving songwriting credit to the older track even if he insists the plagiarism was unintentional.
Well, this is a queer anthem if I've ever heard one, heck I feel this was more obvious at the time considering how many queer folks found themselves needing to us a YMCA for one reason or another. Here the Village people promote the homeless shelter chain which resulted in it becoming their signature track in a discography filled with tracks to resonate with the LGBT community.
This was originally written for a much younger performer to sing these lyrics, that makes sense as the lyrics are written in a way that suggests that the narrator is more than a little naive to the concept of sex. Confident though she may be on this track, Anita Ward was nonetheless able to take the world by storm with her one and only hit likely because of how titillating she comes off on the track which I'm sure turned audiences on.
This was the only hit for Rupert Holmes, a British musician who was based in America who wrote a cheating anthem about how a couple was looking to mutually cheat on each other only to end up getting together when the narrator answers an add placed in the paper by his spouse. The story proved to be amusing enough for it to be a huge success for him but also trapped him in the one hit wonder bin.
This is a rare case of a chart topper not being the lead single from an album, although I get the feeling this was only a huge success worldwide following the success of a country version from Lynn Anderson which compelled the duo to release it as a single a year after the album's release.
This was a hit twice over the years throughout the world, of course we'll be looking at the original success of this track which proved to be a massive comeback for the Four seasons following the surprise hit that Frankie Valli had the previous year with "My eyes adored you." This was a hit likely due to it being close enough to disco for it to be played on the dance floors with other bangers from this year.
I think I've done fairly well in keeping my commentary neutral on this list so far, however it's difficult for me to remain as such with this entry due to how obviously high on drugs Melanie is on this track. This obviously wasn't a deterrent for audiences back in the day as it remains her biggest hit in her catalogue, which is further proof that the 60's bled well into this decade given how this feels right at home at Woodstock.
This was Styx's only international hit; I'm guessing because international audiences couldn't stomach the cheese that went into a lot of their songs like their fellow Americans did throughout the 70's and 80's. Indeed, this is one of their more normal songs as at least it isn't as sentimental as "Lady" or a complete novelty like "Mr. Roboto," and admittedly they did find plenty of success in their homeland.
This is often considered to be one of the worst songs of the 70's, this is mainly due to it sounding like an innocent love song but is really in fact about rough sex which obviously alienates everyone who could potentially like it as those into soft rock will be turned off by the subject matter and those into the subject matter will find it to be cheesy and boring.
This was the final chart topper the fab four had here in Australia, it was guaranteed to be a success given how they were still on top of the world as far as their success was concerned even if there were tons of behind-the-scenes drama which made their breakup inevitable. For me, this feels like "Hey Jude" part II musically, suggesting that this felt more like a contractual obligation than anything (although I'm not a Beatles fan so take that with a grain of salt.)
Well, the album of the same name did fairly well here in Australia, so naturally this second hit the Silver convention had in America would wind up being a fairly decent success here as well even if it's widely considered to be one of the worst songs of the decade. I'm willing to bet that this was as big as it was here due to the surprise success that Penny McLean had with her earlier entry on this list.
This guy had been active in the music industry for almost two decades before he finally saw massive success with this ballad, I'm guessing this was due to him singing the second verse in Spanish to help appeal to those who find the language to be the embodiment of sexy. I have to say that this is another vocalist whose voice I never really cared for, I just find it too pitchy on his biggest hits.
Even though this wasn't the biggest hit that the brothers Gibb has here in Australia during the first half of the decade, this was the first Billboard chart topper the trio had suggesting that this was the song that finally made them a household name in America even though they had plenty of success over there with their earlier material from the 60's.
This was the first song that Diana Ross released following her acting debut in the Billie Holliday biopic the Lady sings the blues which she received an Oscar nomination for, naturally this song was guaranteed success given how that film was able to remind audience of her phenomenal talent as a vocalist given how well received her performance of Billie was both as an actress and singer.
The kung fu craze of the 70's was inexplicably popular, as such we have this tribute from Carl Douglas which is surprisingly not racist in the slightest as this was back in the early days of political correctness preventing people from making caricatures of non-western culture such as the kung fu craze. The song has been covered and remixed several times of the years, which is why you still hear the original to this day.
It's crazy to think that there's an earlier version of this ballad from Badfinger of all people given how many will either think of this version or the Mariah Carey cover from the 90's when the title is brought up. Even though this was Nilsson's only hit here in Australia, it was instrumental for making his album a huge success back in the day, suggesting that his subsequent failures were due to disappointment from us Aussies.
We've already looked at this song on the NZ side of my site when it was rereleased in the early 90's due to it being featured in a jean commercial in the UK, time now to look at its original release where it became the big breakthrough for the Steve Miller band due to it topping the Billboard charts for them. It was a huge hit here in Australia as well, hence why it managed to appear on this list of mine.
#41 for 1973
This was originally a hit for Richard Harris (Albus Dumbledore for Harry Potter fans) ten years prior where it became a massive hit for the Irish actor despite often being hailed as one of the worst songs of all time. Donna Summer decided to resurrect this song about a cake melting in the park (that's literally what the song is about) and make it a disco hit where it became a success all over again.
Both of these artists were on top of the world when they released this duet, so naturally it was going to be a huge success for them given how it appears on both of their most recent albums from when it came out. This would be Neil's last hit single in Australia as his popularity dwindled going into the new decade, Barbra would hang around for a little while longer thanks to her feminist anthem with Donna Summer.
This was a husband-and-wife duo who began their careers as the lead vocalists from the band the Fifth dimension a decade prior, they had massive success with the band including here in Australia where they scored three hit singles. They left the band to start their own career which only had this Billboard chart topper as its only success, still they did better than most singers from highly successful bands.
Well, I hope you're in the mood for Elton John portraying himself as a native islander trying to save the life of a sex worker of colour, because that's what he does on this song which was a Billboard chart topper for him this year. Even if this song were written and performed by a person of colour, it would still be problematic even for its time due to the insistence of them deciding what's best for the woman in question.
This was the first of two hits that the Silver convention were able to score worldwide this year, although we won't be looking at their other hit as "Get up and boogie" wasn't that big of a success here in Australia. Both songs had a combine total of twelve words to them, meaning that these ladies weren't known for their complex songwriting and were just meant to be listened to on the dance floors.
It looked like the Bee gees would be yesterday's news when their previous album flopped on the charts worldwide, however their fortunes changed when they decided to hop on the disco bandwagon early on in its popularity which single handedly revived their career worldwide as this topped the Billboard charts for them. For some reason, I always thought this was a Fleetwood mac single, possibly due to it lacking their trademark falsetto's which they would develop throughout the second half of the decade.
This was the only hit for Minnie Riperton during her short life on this planet, yes, she would go on to tragically pass away by the end of the decade from cancer which makes this one of the more bittersweet hits to become a success on my site. This song has gained infamy for Minnie's high note at the end of each chorus as well as the lyrics admittedly making no sense, I think the song is cute for what it is.
This is by far the biggest hit that Charlie Rich had throughout the world, although this wasn't the case in NZ given how this bombed on the Listener charts and that "On my knees" from later in the decade was his big hit over there. I guess the kiwis weren't that into country music like the rest of the world was given how few of these country entries were a success on those charts.
Although "I am woman" was the song that made Helen Reddy a star outside of Australia, it was this song that confirmed her to be the real deal when it came to women in the country scene in America as this was her second Billboard chart topper following her earlier entry. This was written by Tanya Tucker, a (then) teenage girl who seemed to be wise beyond her years given the subject matter of the songs she wrote.
