Rocking in the 1970s
20 great rock and roll songs from the ‘70s
The music of the 1970s will always hold a special place in my heart because it is, quite literally, the music I grew up with.
I was born in the mid-1960s. My earliest memories of music are from the early ’70s when I’d watch TV shows featuring music. I regularly watched cartoons based on The Jackson Five and The Osmonds. I also loved watching live-action shows about “bands” like The Banana Splits, The Bugaloos, and The Partridge Family.
By the time I was seven or eight years old, I was addicted to music. I was soon listening to the radio every day and buying records whenever I could.
The 1970s had a very interesting mix of popular music in it: bubblegum, rock, funk, easy listening, soul, pop, disco, etc.
I loved it all. I still do.
Writer Paul Combs recently wrote a great article about the music of the ’70s. A lot of people (especially ones who weren’t yet around back then) seem to associate the music of the Seventies primarily with disco and soft-rock songs.
Paul expertly and entertainingly reminds people that there was also a lot of great rock music back then too:
Paul’s article inspired writers Terry Barr and David Acaster to also write about their own rock favorites from the ’70s. Terry’s article can be found here and David’s can be found here. They’re both great articles and I highly recommend them.
All of the above inspired me to share 20 of my own favorite rock and roll songs from the 1970s. I decided to choose two songs from each of the years of the decade.
1970
Come And Get It — Badfinger. This great song was written for Badfinger by the amazing Paul McCartney. Badfinger’s version is on the Spotify playlist at the end of the article, but here’s a version Paul recorded as a demo in 1969. He played all of the instruments on it and sang all of the vocals:
Roadhouse Blues — The Doors. From the band’s great album Morrison Hotel. It’s one of my favorites by them. Jim Morrison sounds fantastic on it and the music is awesome. I especially love the instrumental jam towards the middle of it after Jim says, “Do it, Robby. Do it!”
1971
I’ve Seen All Good People — Yes. I’ve always thought this song is amazing. Absolutely incredible vocals and music on this one.
I Woke Up In Love This Morning — The Partridge Family. Some might see that this song is by The Partridge Family and instantly dismiss it as a mindless bubblegum song. I would instantly (but respectfully, since I’m a nice guy) disagree with them — because this song rocks. David Cassidy’s singing on this one is fantastic, especially during the very catchy-sounding choruses.
1972
Your Mama Don’t Dance — Loggins & Messina. Before his amazingly successful solo career, Kenny Loggins put out a lot of great music with Jim Messina. This fun song was their first big hit together.
Jesus Is Just Alright With Me — The Doobie Brothers. I’ve loved this one since I was a kid. The harmony vocals on it are fantastic.
1973
Live And Let Die — Wings. This is one of Paul McCartney’s most famous songs and a lot of people consider it to be one of the best theme songs of the James Bond movies. Those people are right — at least as far as I’m concerned.
The Real Me — The Who. If I ever make a list of my Top 10 Favorite Songs by The Who, this song will be on it. It features absolutely incredible bass playing by John Entwistle. Amazingly, the bass parts on the song were completed in only one take.
1974
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet — Bachman-Turner Overdrive. B-b-b-babies, you know, you know, you know, you ain’t seen n-n-nothin’ yet.
Okay, you’re right. I have no idea what you have or have not seen.
However, I do know that I love this song from B.T.O.
Some Kind of Wonderful — Grand Funk Railroad. This is another one that has great bass playing in it. For most of the song, the bass is the primary instrument heard— and it sounds funky, rocking, and awesome. Plus, the vocals in the song are great too.
1975
Walk This Way — Aerosmith. This classic is from the band’s fantastic Toys In The Attic album.
As much as I love the original, I also have a lot of love for the 1986 version by Run-DMC and Aerosmith. The video for it always makes me smile when I watch it:
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out — Bruce Springsteen. This is one of my favorites from The Boss. My favorite part of it is when Bruce sings about “The Big Man” joining the band. Then you immediately hear The Big Man Clarence Clemons playing his saxophone.
It’s just a few lines of vocals and a few moments of music, but there’s something magical about it.
1976
Still The One — Orleans. This great song was written by band member John Hall and his wife Johanna. She got the idea for the lyrics when she was inspired by the thought that there seemed to be a lack of popular songs about long-lasting relationships. She then wrote the lyrics on a napkin and handed them to John — who wrote the music for the song in an astoundingly short 15 minutes.
Flaming Youth — Kiss. This is probably the least popular song I’m including in this article. It’s from the band’s album Destroyer, which was one of the first albums I ever bought. It’s still one of my favorite albums to listen to.
There’s nothing especially deep or musically outstanding about “Flaming Youth,” but I don’t care. It’s fun to listen to and it makes me happy when I hear it — which is exactly what I want from music most of the time.
1977
Smoke From A Distant Fire — The Sanford Townsend Band. One of the things I love about this song is that you get to prominently hear most of the band members in it. Some perform short solos and others are featured in parts of the song where their instruments are the main ones you can hear.
The guitarist, the bassist, the keyboardist, the sax player, the drummer — they all have fantastic moments in this song where they get to shine.
I’d be remiss to not also mention the great vocals in “Smoke From A Distant Fire.” The background and harmonies are awesome and lead singer Johnny Townsend sounds fantastic throughout the entire song.
Hot Legs — Rod Stewart. Rod is justifiably very well-known for his many successful ballads and pop songs, but “Hot Legs” is a perfect example of what a wonderful and powerful rock singer Rod can be.
This song rocks right from the beginning and it keeps rocking right until the very end when Rod passionately belts out, “I love you, hon-eeeey!”
1978
Hot Blooded — Foreigner. This was from the band’s popular Double Vision album. The music on it is great and the lead vocals from Lou Gramm are outstanding. I’ve always thought that Lou is underrated as a great rock singer. Whether it’s ballads or rockers like this song, Lou Gramm always sings with a lot of passion.
Mr. Blue Sky — Electric Light Orchestra. This is one of the band’s most popular songs and darn it, it deserves to be. It’s got a bit of everything in it, doesn’t it? Fun music, great lyrics, exceptional lead and background vocals, etc.
It’s one of those great, magical songs that always makes me happy when I hear it.
Every. Single. Time. For well over 40 years now.
Thank you for that, Electric Light Orchestra.
1979
Dream Police — Cheap Trick. Do you have songs that you love like crazy, yet you probably can’t put into words what it is about the song that makes you feel the way you do about it?
That’s how it is with me and “Dream Police.”
Maybe it’s the somewhat bizarre lyrics. Maybe it’s the exceptional lead vocals from Robin Zander. Maybe it’s the great rocking music…the way it builds towards the ending of the song and then keeps hitting harder and harder and harder.
Or maybe it’s something else. I don’t know.
I just know that I love it. That’s all that matters to me.
Tusk — Fleetwood Mac. I remember not liking this song when it first came out — probably because it sounded very, very different than some of the band’s recent hits like “Don’t Stop” and “Dreams.” Compared to those songs, I initially thought that “Tusk” was kind of weird.
It grew on me over time and now it’s one of my favorite songs by Fleetwood Mac. I still think it’s a little weird…but in a wonderful kind of way. The lyrics don’t make a lot of sense, but the music in it rocks.
I’ve also always enjoyed the music video for “Tusk.” At the time that it was filmed, bass player John McVie was unable to be there. Since he couldn’t be there in person, the band used a cardboard cutout of him in the video — which I think was a pretty amusing way to still include him in the proceedings.
And here is my complete Spotify playlist of all 20 songs. If you listen to it, I hope you enjoy it.
What are some of your favorite rock and roll songs from the 1970s? If you feel like it, let me know in the comments below.
Thank you very much for reading the above. Have a wonderful day.
Keep rocking!