1970
• Tension in the air made its way
into music of time period
• Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young:
“Ohio” and placed blame for
deaths of 4 at Kent State directly
on White House
1970
• The Temptations: “Ball of
Confusion”
• Edwin Starr’s angry “War”
• “sensitive singer-songwriter”
movement started during time
period
1970
• The Carpenters “They Long To Be
Close To You”
• Heavy Rock getting popular
• Grand Funk Railroad: 3 albums
on charts in period of 10 months
1970
• Jimi Hendrix: choked to death on
own vomit on September 18: 27
years old
• Janis Joplin: heroin overdose on
October 4
1970
• Elvis Presley: wrote letter to
President Nixon about being
concerned about spread of drugs
in America- Nixon invited Presley
to White House to award him a
Drug Enforcement Agency badge
1970
• Elvis told Nixon the best way to
calm student unrest was to kick
John Lennon out of country
Top Singles 1970
• Simon and Garfunkel: “Bridge
Over Troubled Water”
• The Jackson Five: “I’ll Be There”
• BJ Thomas: “Raindrops Keep
Fallin’ On My Head”
• George Harrison: “My Sweet
Lord”
• The Carpenters “They Long To Be
Close To You”
1971
• People becoming more sensitive
toward Native Americans
• The Raiders’ “Indian Reservation”
told of the plight of Native
Americans in a straightforward
manner
1971
• Freda Payne’s anti-war anthem:
“Bring the Boys Home”
• Cher’s “Gypsies, Tramps, and
Thieves” dealt with racial
prejudice
1971
• The Jackson Five: group of
brothers from Gary, Indiana- 13
year old lead singer Michael
• Michael stepped out for a solo
smash “Got To Be There”
1971
• The Osmonds: Mormon version
of The Jackson Five “One Bad
Apple” “Double Lovin” “Yo Yo”
• Donny was a teen heartthrob, had
hits of his own “Go Away Little
Girl” “Sweet and Innocent” and
“Hey Girl”
1971
• Alice Cooper: outrageous
onstage antics- he and band
produced two of the best hard
rock records of the year: Love It
To Death and Killer
38
8
56
1971
• Shaft: soundtrack to the popular
film also came out
• Carole King’s Tapestry: “Its Too
Late” “So Far Away” about what
they had been dealing with for
the last five years
1971
• Jim Morrison (The Doors) died of
a heart attack in Paris on July 3
• Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong:
three days later died
• Duane Allman: guitarist for The
Allman Brothers Band- died Oct
29 in a motorcycle accident at 24
years old
Top Singles 1971:
• Three Dog Night: “Joy to the
World”
• Rod Stewart: “Maggie May”
• Carole King: “Its Too Late”
• The Osmonds: “One Bad Apple”
• The Bee Gees: “How Can You
Mend A Broken Heart”
1972
• AM radio still big this year
• Michael Jackson: “Ben” title song
from a movie about a killer rat
• Soul and funk music growing
• The Temptations: “Papa Was A
Rollin’ Stone”
1972
• James Brown: “Talking Loud and
Saying Nothing” “Get On The
Good Foot”
• Stevie Wonder: “Talking Back”
• Curtis Mayfield: “Superfly”
Top Singles 1972
• Roberta Flack: “The First Time
Ever I Saw Your Face”
• Gilbert O’Sullivan: “Alone Again
(Naturally)”
• Don McLean: “American Pie”
• Nilsson: “Without You”
• Johnny Nash: “I Can See Clearly
Now”
1973
• Tony Orlando and Dawn’s “Tie a
Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak
Tree”
• Soul music: Gladys Knight and
The Pips and former Temptation
Eddie Kendricks: “Midnight Train
to Georgia” and “Keep on
Truckin”
1973
• Marvin Gaye: “Let’s Get It On”
• The O’Jays: “Love Train”
• Soul Train: became the TV show
to watch for kids interested in the
latest steps, music, clothes
Top Singles 1973
• Roberta Flack: “Killing Me Softly
With His Song”
• Dawn, featuring Tony Orlando:
“Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The
Ole Oak Tree”
• Paul McCartney and Wings: “My
Love”
Top Singles 1973
• Carly Simon: “You’re So Vain”
• Elton John: “Crocodile Rock”
1974
• Carl Douglas: “Kung Fu Fighting”
• Teeny bop pop, disco soul, hard
rock, folk all popular
• Harry Chapin: “Cat’s In the
Cradle”
• John Denver “Sunshine On My
Shoulders” “Annie’s Song”
1974
• Stevie Wonder: “You Haven’t
Done Nothin’” about President
Nixon
• Barry White: “Can’t Get Enough
of Your Love, Babe”
Top Singles 1974
• Barbra Streisand: “The Way We
Were”
• Terry Jacks: “Season in the Sun”
• Ray Stevens: “The Streak”
• Paul Anka: “(You’re) Having My
Baby”
• MFSB: “TSOP (The Sound of
Philadelphia)”
1975
• Barry Manilow: soft rocker
“Mandy” “Could It Be Magic” “It’s
a Miracle” “I Write the Songs”
• All in one stereos, included
AM/FM receiver, 8 track, tape
player, turntable
Top Singles 1975
• The Captain and Tennille: “Love
Will Keep Us Together”
• Silver Convention: “Fly, Robin,
Fly”
• Elton John: “Island Girl”
• Neil Sedaka: “Bad Blood”
• Tony Orlando and Dawn: “He
Don’t Love You (Like I Love You)”
1976
• 10,000 discos open in the United
States compared to 1500 in 1974
• The Hustle: combination of the
mambo and the jitterbug stepsfavorite dance
• The Steve Miller Band: “Fly Like
An Eagle”
Top Singles 1976
• Rod Stewart: “Tonight’s The
Night (Gonna Be Alright)”
• Wings: “Silly Love Songs”
• Elton John and Kiki Dee: “Don’t
Go Breaking My Heart”
• Johnnie Taylor: “Disco Lady”
• Wild Cherry: “Play That Funky
Music”
1977
• August 16: Elvis died in
Graceland Mansion bathroom, 42
years old, heart failure
• Doctor had prescribed over
11,000 depressants, stimulants,
painkillers to Elvis during last 15
months of his life
1977
• Inspired countless tribute recordsfans were in deep mourning
• Bill Conti: “Gonna Fly Now”
(Theme from Rocky)
• Continued success of Aerosmith,
Ted Nugent, Kiss
1977
• Lynyrd Skynyrd: “Sweet Home
Alabama” and “Free Bird” –
October 20 crash of touring plane
killed three members including
leader Ronnie Van Zant
Top Singles 1977
• Debby Boone: “You Light Up My
Life”
• The Emotions: “Best of My Love”
• Andy Gibb: “I Just Want To Be
Your Everything”
• Stevie Wonder: “Sir Duke”
• Barbra Streisand: “Love Theme
From A Star is Born (Evergreen)
1978
• One of the year’s most important
television events for Kiss fans:
Kiss Meets the Phantom of The
Park- made for TV movie
• Kiss had 8 albums in 3 years
• Merchandise ranging from dolls to
makeup to comic books
1978
• The Saturday Night Fever
soundtrack stayed at the top of
the charts for half of the year
• Disco had completely infiltrated
the mainstream; “roller disco”
was a combination of disco
dancing and roller skating
1978
• Grease soundtrack sold very well
• The Village People: six members
dressed as a policeman,
construction worker, cowboy,
Native American, soldier,
leatherman- straight America did
not catch the thinly veiled
homosexual references in hits like
“Macho Man” “YMCA” and “In the
Navy”
Top Singles 1978
• The Bee Gees: “Night Fever”
• Andy Gibb: “Shadow Dancing”
• Chic: “Le Freak”
• The Bee Gees: “Stayin’ Alive”
• Exile: “Kiss You All Over”
1979
• Increased oil prices affected
music industry
• Petroleum was needed to press
records
• People also started to blame disco
for record sales slipping, disco
fans were buying singles, not
albums
1979
• July 12, Chicago’s Comiskey Park:
between the 1st and 2nd games of
the Chicago White Sox-Detroit
Tigers double header, radio dj
Steve Dahl blew up a mountain of
disco records as part of “Disco
Demolition Night” and started a
riot, caused 2nd game to be
cancelled, movement against
disco from that point on
1979
• Blondie broke through to the
mainstream with “Heart of Glass”
widely considered more “New
Wave” than disco
• Bob Dylan: “Slow Train Coming”
1979
• The Charlie Daniels Band: “The
Devil Went Down to Georgia”
• 11 Who fans died in a stampede
for seats at a Who concert in
Cincinnati, OH
• Rupert Holmes: last number 1 of
the 70’s with “Escape (the Pina
Colada Song)”
Top Singles 1979
• The Knack: “My Sharona”
• Donna Summer: “Bad Girls”
• Rod Stewart: “Do Ya Think I’m
Sexy”
• Peaches and Herb: “Reunited”
• Gloria Gaynor: “I Will Survive”