1970s Music: Top Songs, Genres And Trends

Glam, prog, disco and punk - four scenes in ten years, and the best-selling albums of the century.

Below: the albums worth owning from the 1970s, the artists who defined it, how people listened at the time, and the biggest song of every year from 1970 to 1979.

Good for building a party playlist, setting a quiz round or working out what someone grew up listening to.

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Shop prints and posters Look back to 1970 Look back to 1971 Look back to 1972

Song and lyric prints, drawn and printed by us

Music and milestone art prints and funny cards, printed in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.

99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Cunt Rude A6 Postcard Cunt Rude A6 Postcard £3.00 Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print £12.99

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Years covered in the 1970s

  • 1970 - England defended the World Cup, the Beatles ended and eighteen-year-olds got the vote. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1970
  • 1971 - Decimal Day, the first Glastonbury as we know it and Slade on the way up. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1971
  • 1972 - Miners' strikes and power cuts, Ziggy Stardust and a very good year for glam. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1972
  • 1973 - Britain joined the EEC, the oil crisis hit and Slade wrote Christmas. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1973
  • 1974 - Two general elections, the three-day week and Abba winning Eurovision. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1974
  • 1975 - Bohemian Rhapsody, the EEC referendum and Fawlty Towers. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1975
  • 1976 - The heatwave, the drought and the first stirrings of punk. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1976
  • 1977 - Silver Jubilee street parties, Star Wars and the summer punk went overground. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1977
  • 1978 - Grease, the first test-tube baby and the start of the winter of discontent. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1978
  • 1979 - The winter of discontent, the first woman Prime Minister and the last year of the seventies. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1979
  • That is every 1970s year we have written up so far: 1970 to 1979.

Albums of the 1970s

  • Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973).
  • David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972).
  • Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (1977).
  • Led Zeppelin IV (1971).
  • Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977).
  • The Clash, London Calling (December 1979).
  • Various, Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (1977).

Artists who defined the 1970s

  • David Bowie, T. Rex and Slade in the glam years.
  • Abba, from Waterloo at Eurovision in 1974.
  • Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody was Christmas number one in 1975 and again in 1991.
  • Elton John, Rod Stewart and Wings.
  • Donna Summer and the Bee Gees for disco; the Pistols, Clash and Buzzcocks for punk.

Genres of the 1970s

  • Glam rock, the sound of Top of the Pops in the early seventies.
  • Progressive rock and the concept album.
  • Reggae, from ska and rocksteady roots into the British mainstream.
  • Punk from 1976, then post-punk and new wave.
  • Disco and northern soul on the dancefloor.

Music trends of the 1970s

  • The cassette makes music portable and copyable.
  • Top of the Pops decides the week's hits.
  • Independent labels give punk a route to market without a major.
  • Stadium touring becomes the business model.

Biggest songs, year by year

  • 1970 - 'The Wonder of You' by Elvis Presley and 'In the Summertime' by Mungo Jerry were two of the year's biggest sellers.
  • 1971 - 'My Sweet Lord' by George Harrison was the year's best-selling single.
  • 1972 - 'Amazing Grace' by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was the year's best-selling single.
  • 1973 - Slade's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' was the Christmas number one and the year's best-selling single.
  • 1974 - Abba won Eurovision in Brighton on 6 April with 'Waterloo', which went to number one.
  • 1975 - Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' went to number one in November and stayed there into the new year.
  • 1976 - 'Save Your Kisses for Me' by Brotherhood of Man won Eurovision and was the year's best-selling single.
  • 1977 - 'Mull of Kintyre' by Wings was the Christmas number one and the year's biggest seller - and for a while the best-selling UK single ever.
  • 1978 - 'Rivers of Babylon' by Boney M. was the year's best-selling single, and the Grease soundtrack was everywhere.
  • 1979 - 'Bright Eyes' by Art Garfunkel was the year's best-selling single.

How people listened

  • Sunday teatime chart show on Radio 1, taped onto cassette with the DJ talking over the intro.
  • Music papers - NME, Melody Maker, Sounds - told you what to buy. Shop this card
  • Record shops with listening booths, and Woolworths for the cheap covers versions.

How to use this

  • Party: take the running order from the 1970s playlist and pull extra tracks from the artists above.
  • Quiz round: read the year and the song, and ask for the other one.
  • Reminiscence session: the songs people sang at eighteen get the most talking.
  • Present: a print of a song from 1970-1979 beats another mug.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1970 Look back to 1971 Look back to 1972

How to write it so it lands

  • Download the tracks rather than streaming them if the party is somewhere with bad signal.
  • One song from the year someone turned eighteen does more than a whole decade playlist.
  • Check for clean versions before a family party - some of these are ruder than people remember.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

What are the best albums of the 1970s?

Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). The full list above gives real records with their release years, not a ranking - pick by what the person actually listened to.

What music genres were popular in the 1970s?

Glam rock, the sound of Top of the Pops in the early seventies. Progressive rock and the concept album. Reggae, from ska and rocksteady roots into the British mainstream. The genres section above has the full list.

Who were the biggest artists of the 1970s?

David Bowie, T. Rex and Slade in the glam years. The rest are listed above, including the British acts that mattered more here than anywhere else.

What was the biggest song of each year in the 1970s?

The year-by-year list above gives the chart facts for each year of the decade, taken from the same checked data as our year pages.

Do you sell records?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including song and lyric prints. For the records themselves, charity shops and independent record shops are the honest answer.

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