1970 Top Ten Songs

Okay, grab your leisure suit and a fondue fork, because we’re time-traveling to 1970. Bell-bottoms were flapping, sideburns were reaching for the sky, and the music charts were a glorious mess of genres fighting for dominance. Forget everything you think you know about the Me Decade’s music; 1970 was a year of surprising giants and baffling trends.

The Unlikely King: Simon & Garfunkel’s Lonely Hit

The Number One song of the entire year wasn’t a thumping rock anthem—it was a haunting, reverb-drenched folk tune about a breakup. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel sat on top like a melancholy king. The funny thing? Art Garfunkel hated the song’s title at first, thinking it sounded like a highway sign. He was spectacularly wrong, and we owe him a collective apology.

The Jackson Five and a Phenomenal Hair Secret

Speaking of wrong predictions, who thought a kid with an afro the size of a weather balloon could dominate the charts? No one. Yet “I’ll Be There” by The Jackson Five became the year’s second-biggest hit. Fun fact: producer Berry Gordy insisted Michael Jackson sing through three layers of socks to muffle his voice, making him sound older. It worked too well—and that hair got its own fan mail.

Just behind them was a song that defined “make-out sessions in wood-paneled basements”: “ABC” by the same Jackson Five. Yes, they had two monster hits in the same year. Try teaching algebra when “ABC” is stuck in your head—it’s impossible.

The Bizarre Ballad of a Wristwatch

Now, let’s talk about a song that makes zero sense in 2024 but was a massive hit in 1970: “The Tears of a Clown” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. This was originally a B-side that got thrown onto an album as filler. Then a radio DJ in England accidentally played it backwards. Smokey literally wrote the bassline while eating a tuna sandwich—and it became their only Number One.

Top Hits Of The 1970S – Hits Des Années 70 Youtube – VHKTX

You Can’t Spell “1970” Without “Chaos”

The remaining spots on the Top Ten were a battle royale. “Let It Be” by The Beatles hit Number One, but John Lennon secretly recorded a parody version called “Let It Bleep” because he was bored. Meanwhile, “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” by Three Dog Night was the weirdest party anthem ever—lyrics about a guy showing up to a party where a woman is wearing a “hat that’s like a pie and a dress that’s like a flag.” What does that even mean? It doesn’t matter; it sold a million copies.

Then there’s “(They Long to Be) Close to You” by the Carpenters. This song was rejected by half of Hollywood, including Herb Alpert and Dionne Warwick, because it was “too soft.” Karen Carpenter’s voice was so calm it could soothe a rabid raccoon, and it became the biggest wedding song of the decade. Irony: Karen hated performing it live because she thought it was cheesy.

Top Songs of 1970 - YouTube

The One-Hit Wonder That Almost Wasn’t

Finally, a song that proves the 70s were a lawless musical frontier: “American Woman” by The Guess Who. It’s a scathing anti-draft, anti-war political protest... that people danced to at sock hops. The guitar riff was literally an accident—lead guitarist Randy Bachman broke a string mid-song, kept playing on the remaining strings, and everyone thought it was genius. It was.

So there you have it—1970’s Top Ten was a delicious, chaotic stew of accidental hits, sock-muffled voices, and terrifyingly beautiful ballads. The 70s were weird. They were wonderful. And they gave us songs about pie hats and tuna sandwiches, all with a straight face.