Billboard charts 70's VI

This is the first of two hits from country star Donna Fargo to appear on this list, I told you there would be a ton of entries from female country artists on here which is a large reason why I dragged my feet in writing commentary for this list. Honestly the fact that she's a two-hit wonder here as opposed to a one hit wonder is the only thing separating Donna from the likes of Barbara Ray and Susan Raye.

Following the success of their Billboard chart topper "TSOP" with MFSB, this RNB girl group managed to score a massive hit worldwide with this ballad which seemed to confirm them as the hottest new act of the moment. Heck this was a huge hit when Countdown launched, so it's obvious even we Aussies were interested in what these girls had to offer for a while. Alas their popularity died out even in their native America after this.

It took him a while to release a new album following the demise of his band Simon and Garfunkel, however Paul Simon found instant success once he did release new music on his own given how much of an instant success said album and its lead single was throughout the world. True to the title, this is a song about a mother reuniting with her son after a long time apart which naturally connected with audiences.

The last time Cliff Richard had any success here in Australia was with his Eurovision track "Congratulations" from eight years prior, so to see him back in the spotlight with this track was a bit of a surprise to say the least. The real surprise came when this became a surprise hit in America, making this his first hit single on the Billboard charts.

This was the debut single for a band who named themselves after the dog from the Wizard of Oz, it was an impressive first impression given how it was a massive worldwide hit as well as making the album it came from a huge success for the band. They were in danger of being a one hit wonder here until their fourth album took home album of the year at the Grammies which made it a huge hit for them.

This is the second single released from Cosmo's factory, it was also the first of two chart toppers the band had here in Australia which goes to show how immensely popular the swamp rockers were during the height of their fame. Like many bands that began the decade on a high note, their time in the spotlight would quickly dwindle due to behind-the-scenes drama resulting in their breakup in 1972.

This is the only other hit that Melanie had in her career, although this is a much better representation of her overall sound given how this came off her magnum opus that is Candles in the rain. Here she joins forces with the Edwin Hawkins singers for a song that feels like it could've been made on Motown by the likes of the Supremes or even the Jackson five if they collaborated with a female vocalist.

This was the only hit that Lynn Anderson had here in Australia, mainly because it's named after a 1964 book that would become a box office flop later in the decade as a film adaptation. It could also be that it's yet another country ballad from a female artist which like I said earlier, permeated our music scene during the first half of the decade.

This was the only hit that Maria Muldaur managed to achieve in her career anywhere in the world, it's a folk ballad detailing a steamy date she went on which was guaranteed to be a success for her due to the level of details she provided connecting with audiences of the moment.

#12 for 1972

This was the big breakthrough hit that David Essex had in his career, it's a bit of a far cry from all the other songs we've featured so far on this list given how this feels more in line with the glam rock scene of when it was released rather than the more pop friendly tracks from the second half of the decade. Interestingly enough, it remains his only hit in America despite how much bigger his later catalogue was over this.

This was the lead single to Cosmo's factory, as such it was guaranteed to be a massive success for CCR even if it was the lowest charting single from the album here in Australia. What's interesting is that the band never made it to number one in their native America, they came close several times to the point where they have the most songs to peak at number two on Billboard without ever reaching the top spot.

This was sadly the second to last single that the Carpenters were able to achieve in Australia, their final hit being "Calling occupants" which only became as such due to how bizarre it was upon its initial release. It's certainly a far cry from this cover of the Marvelettes track which is more in line with what they had to offer throughout their career, although I get the feeling the Captain and Tennille stole their thunder with their earlier entry on this list.

Even though he had released a solo album the year prior to this ballad, this was the first solo hit that Paul McCartney had anywhere in the world due to not releasing a single from that album at the start of the decade. This went straight to number one on our charts despite it not being among the bigger hits of the decade down under.

I guess this guy having two Billboard chart toppers this year makes sense given how much of his back catalogue was finding success through covers around this time, this was the bigger of the two hits here in Australia proving that older crooners were among the more popular artists from around this time.

This was a ballad that originally went by the name "Brandy" and was a hit for Scott English earlier in the decade, I'm guessing Barry Manilow changed the name of the song to avoid confusion with that ballad even though that's the only lyrical change he made to the song. It was the first of several hit singles he scored this decade that was a cover despite him being a well-known songwriter.

This is the song from Janis Ian that my American readers will be more familiar with given how it remains her only hit on Billboard as of this writing, it was the breakthrough single from her which even at the time, connected with young women thanks to how personal the lyrics are in the song. It was another example of a song that could've made an official list of mine had it not being pushed aside by Countdown back in the day.

If the name Randy Newman sounds familiar to you, that's because he's the guy who's responsible for the iconic "You've got a friend in me" from the first Toy story flick as well as writing a bunch of songs for Disney following how well received that song was (despite it never being released as a single.) This might ruin those fond memories you have of the film if you're a little person as let's just say the lyrics aren't very sympathetic towards your wellbeing.

This is the only other hit that the Kinks had this decade in most parts of the world, it's also (to my knowledge) the earliest hit single about a trans woman given that the titular woman is described as such. This has led to a polarising reception of the song in recent years as it's both praised for being ahead of its time for humanising these individuals and criticised for not going far enough (the latter usually by "woke" individuals.)

This was the first big international hit that Dr Hook had that wasn't a hit here in Australia, I guess we Aussies only wanted to hear soft rock from these guys if you weren't able to dance to it as this wasn't able to become a hit here despite its massive international popularity. This would be the case for the rest of their catalogue save for "Girls can get it" which was that one bouncy track of theirs to make it big here.

It appears we Aussies were amused enough with this bizarre track from the Floaters for it to be a huge sleeper hit for the band during the height of the Countdown era, this is impressive given how little RNB there was throughout the decade on our charts and yet this novelty track managed to beat out the likes of Earth wind and fire and the Manhattans as one of the bigger hits of the decade from that genre.

This was the third and final single to come from ELO's breakthrough album, it's also the song which made them big both in NZ and America as it remains their biggest hit in both countries. I can see why as it's a more subdue ballad about a long-distance relationship, it's a much more conventional song in their catalogue compared to the rock opera from the rest of the album.

This was also a sleeper hit here in Australia for Peaches and herb, meaning that this was also what put the duo on the map here just like it was over in NZ before they scored their big hit with their earlier entry on this list. It's likely the first song you think of when thinking of the duo, which makes the success of their softer ballads that were genuine hits all the more puzzling in retrospect.

This was sandwiched between the duo's two earlier entries on this list, meaning that it's possible that "El condor pasa" would've been even bigger here in Australia had that been pushed as the second single over this ballad about a woman named Cecilia. I guess this goes to show that we Aussies preferred experimentation over conventionality back in the day.

I'm actually surprised that we haven't seen many anti-drug songs throughout this site, mainly because we Aussies and kiwis are certainly no strangers to protest music as you've likely noticed if you've been following it so far. Here we are with this anti-drug song from Ringo Starr which coincidentally was the final hit he had anywhere in the world as his popularity faded after this.

This was released the exact same time as Linda Ronstadt's earlier entry on this list in NZ, naturally the two had to compete with each other with "Blue bayou" obviously coming out on top over there. That said, I'm surprised this bombed here in Australia even if it was obviously due to how well the album did here.

So, Engelbert Humperdinck was able to score a hit this far into the 70's, although this did come ten years after his initial breakthrough so perhaps this was more a nostalgia hit than anything even though he would've been too young to be as John Paul Young puts it, a "yesterday's hero." Evidently this was a massive success for him in America, which is perhaps how it was a big hit in Australia as well.

This was originally a song from Neil Diamond that appeared on his (then) most recent album Comes a time, however he appeared to have donated it to his (then) girlfriend Nicolette Larson who scored a moderate hit here in Australia with her version thanks to it serving as the lead single to her debut album which was a massive hit down under.

Well, I didn't think I'd be featuring a song from the man who produced the earlier albums from the fab four on this site, however he evidently gave a music career as a frontman a shot which led to him scoring a massive worldwide hit with this pop rock track as his debut single. It was his only hit worldwide as he quickly reverted back to being behind the scenes despite its success.

This was a bit of a surprise hit for James Taylor this year, mainly because he hadn't troubled the Australian charts since his duet with his (then) wife Carly Simon from three years prior. Then again, I wouldn't call this a comeback and merely a surprise hit due to him feeling out of place this year even with all the other soft rock ballads that made it big.

Of all the songs to become a hit for Barry White here in Australia, I was not expecting this to be one of them given how it was far from his biggest hit in his native America (that and I think of Rick Astley whenever I look at the song title.) Confusingly, this was his only hit down under, meaning that the likes of "Can't get enough of your love" and "You're the first the last my everything" bombed with us Aussies.

These guys were on a roll during the first half of the decade as we have yet another appearance from the fictitious family on this list, it's a pity they would be seen as yesterday's news once the show came to an end later in the decade.

#49 for 1974

I did mention a few days earlier that this would've been a shoe in for this list, so here we are with the first of two hits that were massive in NZ for the Brothers Johnson but was only a sleeper success here in Australia for the duo. They're yet another victim of the Countdown curse given their international appeal and how that clearly didn't translate very well here.

#15 for 1974

In a strange twist of events, "Right back where we started from" was only a minor success in NZ and thus won't be reappearing on this side of my site. I bring this up because Maxine Nightingale did manage to have a hit over there with this gem three years later likely due to it being a massive hit in America even though it flopped here in Australia and throughout Europe.

This was the lead single of the 60's band the Kingston trio, a band that never saw much success here in Australia back in the day as did a lot of bands and artists who you otherwise would've thought were inescapable here. Here he recruits Stevie Nicks on backing vocals for his one and only solo hit anywhere in the world, I'm guessing her presence was what finally made him a success down under.

I did mention this barely missed the cut from appearing on this side of my site when I featured it on the NZ side, here we are with her only Billboard chart topper which likely would've been a big hit here in Australia had it not been pushed aside in favour of local artists getting promoted by Countdown at the time. Linda would of course go on to massive success later in the decade with her subsequent follow ups.

It looked like there were no signs of this husband-and-wife duo slowing down as they were able to score further success during the second half of the decade thanks to their breakthrough single "Love will keep us together" from the previous year, although their popularity here in Australia wasn't anywhere near as successful as it was in their native America where they scored a ton more success.

Well, this is something different from Chicago, here we have a jazz rock track in the vein of early Santana or Blood sweat and tears which became a moderate success at the start of the decade worldwide for the band. I guess the genre became more niche as the decade went along, hence why they transitioned to a soft rock sound with their hit "If you leave me now."

#29 for 1970

#42 for 1974

Well, this is a surprise, we have a funk track from the Commodores about them wanting the perfect woman which they describe as a "brick house" (I guess this song was ahead of its time when it came to body positivity.) This and "Lady" from 1981 were the only upbeat tracks to become a success for the band, mainly because they didn't have Lionel Richie on lead vocals, it's another connection both songs have.

We have one final appearance from Neil Diamond on this list, it's another big worldwide hit he had proving yet again that he was on top of the world during the first half of the decade regardless of where you're from.

This was the biggest of three hits that American folk singer Lobo had throughout his career worldwide, it's by far his biggest hit likely due to folk love ballads being all the rage when it was released as a single. As a final bit of trivia for this guy, his stage name is the Spanish word for a male wolf, which makes it a bit misleading for the type of music he makes.

This is one of two hits that Badfinger managed to achieve here in Australia, we'll get to the other one in a bit but suffice to say, the Welsh band who gave us the original rendition of "Without you" was decently successful back in the day even if that success down under was pitiful compared to what they achieved throughout the rest of the world.

This was originally released the previous year to deafening silence here in Australia, I'm not even sure why it flopped if I'm being honest as Livie was already one of the biggest stars here in Australia and she was acquiring a massive international audience with her country ballads. This was given a second chance following the success of her greatest hits album First impressions.

Billboard charts 70's V

#21 for 1974

#33 for 1973

This is one of the less fondly remembered singer/songwriters of the decade, mainly because he was a one hit wonder with a ballad that wasn't that big and only released two albums during his career. Even so, this did have its fans back in the day as it was a modest success around the world for the American crooner.

There weren't a lot of RNB groups to make it big in Australia back in the day, one of the lucky few who did was the Stylistics who scored a massive hit with this RNB ballad due to how inescapable it was throughout the rest of the world. Like many RNB groups of the day, they had more success over in NZ even during the second half of the decade, giving you an idea of how much they loved RNB.

It had been well over a year since Livie last touched our charts with "Banks of the Ohio" by the time she released this country ballad, as such it makes sense that it wasn't the runaway success that or "I honestly love you" was from earlier on this list despite being among her more popular pre-Grease country ballads.

This failed to appear on the Australian side of my site mostly because it was only a minor success here in Australia, I guess if Countdown hadn't of taken off when it did it would've at least been as successful here as it was in NZ for Wings.

This was yet another big hit that the Eagles had in NZ this decade, it was the second single from their breakthrough album One of these nights (at least in the southern hemisphere it was) where it became a massive hit over there despite it flopping here in Australia. As I said, all of these songs I've featured on this site from the band remain staples on oldies stations to this day.

Well Jon English managed to have a huge music career by appearing in Jesus Christ superstar, so it seems natural that someone who played the titular character in the original west end version also managed to have a massive success in NZ with a song of his own. This was Paul Nicholas who scored his one and only hit worldwide with this pop tune before returning to the world of theatre.

So, we've all seen Star Wars, right? Apparently Meco had seen it over forty times back in the day and loved it so much that he decided to make a disco rendition of the opening title sequence. Here he didn't just remix the original track, instead he got an orchestra to rearrange the melody to fit in with the disco trends that were emerging this decade which resulted in it being a huge success for him.

I told you we'd get to this version of the Mixture's earlier entry on this list eventually, here we have the debut single for Mungo Jerry who is a band named after a character from a book of cat poetry that would be the basis of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats. Honestly, I could go on all day about this track, however I'll leave it at this being the quintessential track about doing nothing ala "The lazy song" or "Hakuna Matata."

This was the only hit that Harry Chapin managed to achieve in his lifetime, indeed like some artists who made it big this decade, he didn't live for very long after he scored his big hit as he died in a car crash in 1981 meaning there was every chance he could've scored a second hit in his career if he lived through the 80's. This song was covered by Ugly kid joe in the early 90's where it became an even bigger success for them.

It took us a while, but we Aussies eventually allowed this ballad about a dead dog to become a success here in Australia following its massive popularity over in NZ and Henry's native America. I'd be remiss not to include the infamous rant that Casey Kasem made about this song which likely boosted this song's popularity with us Aussies (which I'll include here.)

We have another entry from the brothers Gibb, this will be their earliest entry to feature on my site as I don't think I'll ever be looking at what was popular in the 60's where most of their pre disco success came from.

This may have been their only hit in Australia, however it's obvious that we were touched by the band's inspiring tale that the best was yet to come for them that we granted their wishes in making them a household name with the song and the album it came from. Indeed, these guys have a lot to be proud of as this remains a staple on oldies stations to this day.

This was the only hit that Charlie Daniels and company managed to score in Australia, although considering that A: it was a country track (and one that goes hard at that) and B: the lyrics were about an outlaw causing trouble, it's a miracle that it was even as big as it was outside of the band's native America. This is a song I first heard from Coyote ugly, so I was a bit surprised to learn it was a hit back in the day.

It makes sense that these guys would perform this track on Countdown thirteen years after its initial release given how it was indeed one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia back in the day. Interestingly, this was only a hit in America two years after it became a massive worldwide success, even more curiously it was around the time that they topped our charts with "Fox on the run."

It's hard to say if this would've been as big a hit here in Australia had it been released well into the Countdown era as it seems to fit in nicely with all of the country ballads that permeated the first half of the 70's. In any case, we have the one and only hit from Billy Swan who made a huge splash worldwide with this ballad, although I guess even in his native America, he remains a one hit wonder with this song.

This was a modest success for Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds (what a weird band name) here in Australia, likely due to it being a huge hit in their native America where this type of ballad reigned supreme on the Billboard charts.

This was the first Billboard chart topper for Olivia Newton John, although she had massive success in Australia and her native UK throughout the first half of the decade as a country star when female country singers were dominating the mainstream. This was written by Peter Allen around the time he came out as gay, meaning it's possible this was about how he fell in love with a guy who was in a straight relationship that he gave to Livie to straightwash the scenario.

#35 for 1974

This is a song that by all accounts should be seen as one of the laziest ever recorded and yet works so well despite its brutal minimalism, it's sort of like a trance track from the 90's with how well it works with how little it has and it appears the general public of this year agrees with that assessment as this became a huge success for Donna Summer worldwide.

This remains the most successful song in John Lennon's catalogue outside of his work with the Beatles, although curiously this protest track didn't hit number one on Billboard despite it being a massive chart topper throughout the rest of the world. I guess American listeners didn't quite feel the positive message of world peace this song was going for, that or they felt this was communist propaganda from an out of touch millionaire.

Bread was another band who managed to achieve quite a bit of success in their native America throughout the decade, this was their biggest hit here in Australia despite it not being their biggest hit on the Billboard charts (we'll get to what was in a bit.) Bread are one of those bands who are often described as "white people music" mainly due to their lack of appeal in other demographics.

By far one of their most easily recognisable hits in their catalogue, we have this ballad from the Carpenters which became their biggest hit in the UK likely due to how tender it sounds despite it clearly being about nostalgia for the years that had gone by. It was also a huge hit in their native America, although not quite at the dizzying heights of their earlier entries.

While this wasn't the first hit single Bonnie Tyler had in her career (that honour goes to "Lost in France") this was the first hit song of hers to use her iconic raspy vocals as previously she had sounded more like your typical lovestruck pop diva that obviously didn't connect well with her audience. Here she makes such as splash on the international market that it even manages to crossover to Billboard for her.

Pablo Cruise sounds like the name of a lounge singer who would perform Barry Manilow covers as your local lounge bar, well they're actually a band which wrote their own music that is admittedly similar to what Barry was releasing throughout the 70's. This was their only hit worldwide which does indeed fit the theme of being on a cruise, perhaps it was big because of it being featured in a commercial for one.

We looked at his final hit "Strokin" from the late 80's on the NZ side of this site, time now to look at the only hit that Clarence Carter had here in Australia which is also his biggest hit worldwide due to how huge it was in the UK of all places. Clarence did find success in his native America throughout the 60's, although none of those songs managed to crossover internationally like this did.

Ever wanted to hear a disco rendition of the 2001 a space oddity theme? Well, you're in luck as we have just that from Brazilian composer Deodato who laid out the blueprints for the genre with this rearrangement of the classic theme that tickled audiences fancy upon its initial release.

You better believe this was a huge sleeper hit in NZ upon its initial release, this means that I've now featured both popular versions of this track on this site even though the Faith no more version was more successful in the southern hemisphere than this ever was. Still, it remains a huge staple on oldies stations likely due to it being the first taste of success Lionel Richie had in his career.

Although it doesn't say so on the album cover, this is in fact a duet between Donna Summer and the short-lived American trio Brooklyn dreams. In fact, this is technically their song as this doesn't appear on any of Donna's albums and was instead the lead single to their second album which was a massive flop for them even in their native America, I'm guessing because even back then people didn't realise this was their song.

While this wasn't Elvis's final hit anywhere in the world, it is the last song he released from his catalogue that has largely survived the test of time likely due to it feeling like a track from the 60's rather than the early 70's. It was a massive hit for the king of rock and roll regardless of where in the world you're from, although outside of Australia, it was a bit of a comeback for him.

We have a returning entry from my Countdown list, naturally this lead single from Foreigner's debut album was bound to make the cut here given how well received their performance of the track was on the show back in the day. Admittedly the album sales are why this failed to reach the upper echelons of our charts; however, it's remained a staple on oldies stations to this day for good reason.

Given how their earlier entry on this list was a massive success on time in NZ, it only makes sense that the kiwis would also allow the second single from their comeback album Destiny to also be a success for them this year which sadly wasn't the case here in Australia when this finally saw the light of day the following year. That's a shame because it's since become a disco classic even on our oldie's stations.

These guys didn't have a lot of success with their singles in Australia, this was mainly due to how huge their albums were and that album artists generally didn't spawn a lot of hits here in Australia with rare exceptions such as Abba and Sherbet. They did have success during the second half of the 70's given how they had the second biggest hit of the decade with "Mull of Kintyre" from two years later.

This was one of those soft rocker ballads that managed to be a massive success in America but struggled to find an international audience for the singer/songwriter in question, in this case it's Randy Vanwarmer who scored a massive breakthrough with this ballad before he faded into obscurity right when the 70's had become the 80's.

Although the Osmonds never found much success here in Australia, that didn't prevent their key member from finding a ton of success as a solo artist as this is one of many entries from Donny Osmond on this list. At least MJ appeared earlier on this list with his solo breakthrough, otherwise I'm sure this will spark an unwanted debate on how this kid copied the work of a much more talented kid of colour and found more success to boot.

If the production on this track sounds familiar to you, that's because it was sampled in Len's one and only hit "Steal my sunshine" over two decades after this came out. This is another song I feel got the short end of the stick here in Australia as this was a massive hit throughout the rest of the world, I guess Countdown listeners were put off by the seductive nature of the song in a way that didn't apply to Donna Summer.

This was a big hit for American soft rock band the Gallery here in Australia as well as their native America and interestingly enough, Canada where it was a huge chart topper for them. Despite its international success, it remains their only hit worldwide given how the band only lasted a few years together before calling it quits in 1974.

If this sounds like a KC and the Sunshine band song to you, you're not far off as it was written by Harry Casey who was the lead singer of the disco band. This was George McCrae's only hit worldwide likely due to it arriving a little too early to the disco bandwagon to be seen as anything more than a novelty at the time, if it had of come out even a year later then he probably would've had a ton more success.

You'd think that one of the most iconic songs of the decade would've been a bigger hit here in Australia, admittedly it was a huge hit for Boston in their native America as it was a Billboard chart topper for them, but it was only a modest success here for some reason. Naturally the oldies stations have added this driving anthem to their playlists so there's a good chance that you've heard this if you've ever tuned into their stations.

These guys were known as British Jigsaw in Australia due to there being a more popular band by that name during the first half of the decade, this was a common trend when it came to international artists finding success after a local act with the same name made it big here. In any case, we have another song that was made more popular in the 90's thanks to there being a dance track that covered it.

While this wasn't the first big hit that Kenny Rogers had here in Australia, this was the song which seemed to convince us and most of Europe that he was the real deal in country music which is odd because this wasn't among his bigger hits in his native America. In any case, he was able to make a huge splash with this ballad that cause his career to explode going into the new decade.

We've looked at the Boy George cover from 1987 on the NZ side of my site, time now to look at the original non reggae version from Bread which was a hit here in Australia fifteen years prior to when George's version briefly scrapped our top ten before quickly leaving our charts (making it a fan single in my opinion.) This failed to crack our top ten but stuck around for quite some time regardless.

This is the final entry from Helen Reddy to appear on this list, it's another pop country ballad that was a massive success for the pioneering feminist back in the day, proving that even back then, the music industry wasn't opposed to progressive ideas despite what online activists will otherwise tell you.

Of the four hits that these guys had in Australia back in the day, this was by far the most normal as it wasn't a cod reggae track like "Dreadlock holiday," a glam rock track like "Rubber bullets" or even a sophistopop track (or whatever the 70's equivalent of that was) like "I'm not in love." Instead, we have a fairly straight forward pop rock track from the band which came from their biggest album Deceptive bends.

Sweet were on a roll when they released their biggest hit in Australia this year, although it's worth noting that around the time this became a massive success here and in their native UK, their earlier hit "Ballroom blitz" had only just crossed over to America where it became a huge success on Billboard. This is another song that was huge back in the day to be fondly remembered today by oldies stations.

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.

Well, this is just depressing, not the song itself as it remains a disco classic to this day but rather that it was the only hit that both bands involved had here in Australia. There was little chance this was going to fail as it's a celebration of disco right when the genre seemed to be at the peak of its popularity, although it's likely due to this oversaturation that the disco backlash took place in America.