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OLD 55's Yearly Top 10 Singles Of The Rock Era


OLD 55

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WELCOME TO THE SEVENTIES !

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No, they're not womens' shoes. The male exponents of Glam Rock would have been wearing these in the 70s. Let's have a look at the Decade which saw the demise of the Beatles; the death of Elvis; great new Groups such as ABBA and the blossoming of 60s Groups such as Led Zeppelin; The Jackson Five Vs. The Osmonds; U.K. exports Elton John, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, The Bay City Rollers; Punk, Glam Rock and of course DISCO.

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Here's the TOP TEN U.S. SINGLES OF 1970.

1. BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER / SIMON & GARFUNKEL

2. I'll Be There / The Jackson 5

3. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head / B.J.Thomas

4. (They Long To Be) Close To You / The Carpenters

5. My Sweet Lord / George Harrison

6. I Think I Love You / The Partridge Family

7. War / Edwin Starr

8. American Woman / The Guess Who

9. Ain't No Mountain High Enough / Diana Ross

10.The Tears Of A Clown / Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

.................................................

* The Beatles had their last U.S. #1s with Let It Be and The Long And Winding Road, two beautiful Paul McCartney ballads.

* My vote for Top Song of the 70s would go to Bridge Over Troubled Water.

You don't need me to tell you what a magnificent song it is.

* Nice to see 2 Burt Bacharach songs at #3 and 4.

* Two first time Solo efforts at #5 and 9.

* War ! Simple, but one the best anti-war songs ever.

* William "Smokey" Robinson. One of THE GREAT songwriters of our time.

.................................................

In the U.K. the Top Song was In The Summertime by local Group, Mungo Jerry. I'm mortified to say it was also #1 in Australia. A catchy little song, but very forgettable.

................................................

On a personal note, our first child, Karen, was born on 15th September 1970.

Love you, Kid.

:)

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let's not forget the three best bands of all time:

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Fleetwood Mac (the lineup including Lindsay and Stevie), and the Eagles. :grin:

All great Bands, Shawna. ABBA was just an example - although they were the standout Group of the 70s worldwide.

:)

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one of my guilty pleasures are The Carpenters. They were master song makers.

I love them Of course, I came out of the closet very late... I was supposed to be a rock music connoisseur, so working in the rock/punk/new age scene I had to defend The Carpenters, The Bee Gees and Burt Bacharach more than once... as soon as my working mates discovered what kid of music I had in my walkman!! :laughing:

I have been listening to The Carpenters for a long while yesterday... then my friend came home with his new album (he´s a drummer in a rock band) and I guess my husband -who was a guitar player in a couple of rock bands too- was happy to stop hearing "Solitaire", "I´ll say goodbye to love" or "We´ve only just begun"... :grin:

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Yes, I like Guess Who also Laurie. American Woman is a great song. Another of theirs that was big here in my home state was Clap For The Wolfman.

One of my favorite U.S. Groups of the 70s, Three Dog Night, also had their first #1 in 1970 with Mama Told Me Not To Come.They'll be high in the Top 10 tomorrow with another song.

.................................................

It's easy for some to dismiss The Carpenters as "schmaltzy" , but as you know, I think they were brilliant. I was devastated when I heard of Karen Carpenter's death. Such a waste of a young life.

..................................................

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In the U.K. the Top Song was In The Summertime by local Group, Mungo Jerry. I'm mortified to say it was also #1 in Australia. A catchy little song, but very forgettable.

"Have a drink

Have a drive

Go out and see what we can find"

.... perhaps an accident.

I always change the dial if that song is aired on the radio.

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Geez, I fell too far behind in these discussions. The late 60's and early 70's were amazing in terms of the quality of Top 40 music.

I mean the top 10 of 1970 had ballads, Motown, soundtracks, psychedelia....wow.

Radio was amazing back then too. You didn't miss having an 8 track or cassette in the car because the radio was always playing great tunes.

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Boone should have stuck to the ballads instead of becoming the tool of radio stations that refused to play the original black versions of the hit songs. Boone singing Tutti Frutti is not only sacrilege but it's flat out terrible to the point of being rediculous. Made me ashamed to be white when I heard that crap.

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Edna, I agree about Burt Bacharach. Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Herb Alpert ( This Guys In Love) all did great recordings of his songs. Elvis Costello released a whole album of Bacharach songs a couple of years ago. It was good. Gotta Go. I have a job interview in one hour. Victim of "downsizing".

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Good luck Phil. Nice to see some animated discussion and some witty comments. Where've you been Kevin? Now if we could just get Sammy here too....

I got to thinking about what Shawna said about great Groups of the seventies, and thought of a couple of of my favorites she didn't mention, Queen and the Doobie Brothers. I looked them up and saw they were both formed in 1970, (also Aerosmith).

And I should have mentioned the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. !!!

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Here's the TOP TEN U.S. SINGLES OF 1971.

1. JOY TO THE WORLD / THREE DOG NIGHT

2. Maggie May / Rod Stewart

3. It's Too Late / Carole King

4. One Bad Apple / The Osmonds

5. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart / Bee Gees

6. Knock Three Times / Dawn

7. Brand New Key / Melanie

8. Go Away Little Girl / Donny Osmond

9. Family Affair / Sly & The Family Stone

10.Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves / Cher

................................................

11. Me And Bobby McGee / Janis Joplin *

Musical Chaos within a period of less than 10 months, with the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and *Janis Joplin last September/ October 1970 and Jim Morrison on July 3 1971.

.................................................

Some great songs in the Top 10 in 1971, the year that Pink Floyd and Deep Purple visited Australia. I didn't see them. Probably couldn't afford to buy tickets.

*Three Dog Night were a great Group and deserved their #1 spot.

*Rod Stewart and the Bee Gees gave a taste of things to come with their first U.S. #1s.

*Two superb Singer/ Songwriters in Carole King and Melanie scored big. "I Feel The Earth Move" is generally credited as a Double A side with "It's Too Late".

*Another Super Songwriter, Ellie Greenwich sang on "Knock Three Times" (and "Candida"). I'll come right out and say I love Tony Orlando And Dawn's bright songs.

*The Osmonds got the better of the Jacksons in 1971.

*Sly & The Family Stone must have been a U.S. phenomenon. They didn't score a national Hit in Australia, and only a few in the U.K. Maybe they didn't get the airplay they deserved here.

*Cher had her first solo #1. And that's not the way I'd spell "Gypsies".

..................................................

Hot Love / T Rex fronted by Marc Bolan (THE perfect example of Glam Rock) topped the U.K. Charts for 6 weeks.

My Sweet Lord / George Harrison topped the AUSTRALIAN Charts for 11 weeks. Some of those were in 1970, but it reached #1 in 1971. Top local Group Daddy Cool had one of our most enduring Hits Eagle Rock - it still gets regular airplay on both AM and FM stations.

Three Great New Groups formed in 1971:

Abba, The Eagles, Electric Light Orchestra. You couldn't ask for much better!

:)

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1971 was a good year then! And here's one for you Old55!

Eagle Rock

Daddy Cool

Now listen,

Oh we're steppin' out

I'm gonna turn around,

Gonna turn around once and we'll do the Eagle Rock.

Oh momma!

Oh you're rocking well!

Hmm yeah you do it so well,

Well we do it so well when we do the Eagle Rock

Now momma,

Yeah you're rockin' fine!

Why don't you give me a sign?

Hmm just give me a sign and we'll do the Eagle Rock.

Hey Hey Hey, good old Eagle Rock's here to stay,

I'm just crazy 'bout the way we move,

Doin' the Eagle Rock.

Oh Oh Oh come on fast, you can come on slow

I'm just crazy 'bout the way we move,

Doin' the Eagle Rock.

Go momma!

Well you're rockin' fine!

Why don't you give me a sign?

Just gotta give me a sign and we'll do the Eagle Rock.

Oh baby!

Well I feel so free!

Hmm what you do to me!

What you do to me when we do the Eagle Rock.

Now listen,

More we're steppin' out.

Yeah, gonna turn around,

Gonna turn around once and we'll do the Eagle Rock.

Doin' the Eagle Rock.

Doin' the Eagle Rock.

Doin' the Eagle Rock.

:bow: :rockon:

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I wonder if any of our "overseas" friends have ever heard it Katie ? Thanks for the words - I only know the chorus. My Wife's much better than me with lyrics.

Wait'll we hit them with "Farewell Aunty Jack" (1974) and "Australiana" (1983). Do you reckon you could please find the lyrics of those, and post them for the corresponding years when we get to them? I'll find a pic of "Aunty Jack".

:)

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