"Stayin' Alive" would've been the obvious choice, but really any song from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack would've worked here. Its drive and thrash build to a delirious – some think epileptic – height before rattling away to silence. Their ever-evolving sound meshed with a Floydian level of the surreal in the lyrics to create this one-note stomper where Colin Newman twisted his voice into unlikeable shapes to create a sonic earworm that you’d never forget. As the track grows more sinister, mutant monsters take their revenge until humanity reverts to a primitive state where it must once again earn its place. –Jenn Pelly, Listen: Delta 5: “Mind Your Own Business”  See also: Mekons: “Where Were You” / Slits: “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “Caravan” fits into an established tradition of songs about listening, a metatextual lyric about gathering with friends and dancing to a song on the radio, made into a song one might gather with friends and dance to. ひろみ、野口五郎などが活躍。 The greatest anthem from pub rock’s greatest exponents, it’s the spidery riff that really makes the song, although the story goes it was a lift from Ornette Coleman’s ‘Ramblin”. Needless to say, this Irish singer-songwriter left his mark on pop culture during that decade. A clanging, multi-layered, Velvet Underground-aping thumper which would influence his Berlin experiments with Bowie and a decade of synth/sonic exploration. Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. By the end, Chance advocates total annihilation: “Once you forget your affection for the human race/Reduce yourself to zero, and then you’ll fall in place.”, Still, “Contort Yourself” is nihilism you can dance to, and it typified the Contortions’ unique mix of punk, funk, and jazz. The sting was matched by the sloping tease of the music, highlighted by a sleazy guitar solo, hazy cowbell and Jagger’s (surely ironic) backing vocals. Let us know what you think of the Last.fm website. It hit number one on the Hot 100 and R&B charts. Serene, pristine and deranged, nobody should underestimate quite how shocking it was when the teenaged Bush emerged to the world with this haunting piano melodrama of her own creation. With the groundwork for a new sense of aesthetic and personal freedom laid in the swinging 60s, people experimented with their sound, look and entire persona in more and more extreme ways. Marley implores people to dry their tears and have faith that things will get better, as he once did to his girlfriend. Hip hop’s first proper hit was mired in controversy. For a new wave band playing with dance, it’s a first-time winner. –Minna Zhou, Listen: Manu Dibango: Soul Makossa  See also: Chakachas: “Jungle Fever” / Lafayette Afro Rock Band: “Darkest Light”. Flack's vocal gift is on full display in this chart-topper from 1973. “Can I lick the crumbs from your table? Following its success on the charts, the song found extended life as theme music for golf on ABC Sports. Rod the Mod’s first solo No.1 wasn’t even supposed to be an A-side but it only took a fortnight for it to elbow ‘Reason To Believe’ off the front of the disc. Top 20 Alternative Christmas Records . And it was played at John Peel’s funeral. ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ is a strip of bubblegum in punk clothing, its churning guitars rolling around Joey Ramone’s slurring vocals as the band set a template for punk’s rock’n’roll revival. It perfectly captures that butterflies in the feeling you get when you start to fall for someone. The opening track on Born To Run, ‘Thunder Road’ is one of the Great American Songs, the tale of a couple down on their luck, “praying in vain/For a saviour to rise from these streets. As a piece of free-jazz funk that predates Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band, “Théme de Yoyo” is an early reflection of the benefits the Art Ensemble reaped from their refusal to be tied to a single genre. This theme of parental domination fits perfectly with the urgency of the music – part new wave muscle, part very British ska-ish funk workout. Their seminal cover of Dandy Livingstone’s 1967 rocksteady track showed they could skank along gaily with the most light-hearted of them, and as one of the key tracks on their 1979 debut album, this was a turning point for the blooming 2Tone label. 871,239 listeners, Pink Floyd Freddie Mercury‘s crystal clear vision and magnificent vocals perfectly reflect his genius, shining proudly against the mountainous triumph of all ’70s songs. It was positively unheard of in the Punk scene. If that’s how Mick Jagger wanted to spend his days, more power to him. Taylor's funky disco track has the distinction of being the first single to ever earn platinum status by the RIAA when the concept was initially introduced. Houston’s performance is remarkable: her vocals are as composed as they are exposed, stable as they are sensitive. A blend of innuendo – “strap your hands across my engines” – runaway sax from Clarence Clemons and full Wall Of Sound cacophony from the E Street Band, ‘Born To Run’ is a chest-bursting tour de force that even survived a Frankie Goes To Hollywood cover. The world wasn’t ready for Sabbath and War Pigs says it all. Ari Up makes a simple, direct, but biting attack on the perceived attitudes to femininity, at once offering up a delicious and mischievous alternative. Under the guidance of super-producer Thom Bell, they embodied the sound of ’70s Philadelphia soul: lush, sensual, and ridiculously generous, all strings and bells and orchestral grandeur. It’s positively throbbing with vibe and pulsating with the unmistakable essence of James Brown. The Bowie-sponsored Stooges were on a hiding to nothing as far as cold hard cash was concerned but with sweaty, steely rawk like ‘Search And Destroy’ they would reveal their hand as dodgy uncles of punk. Betty Davis’ voice is where pleasure meets pain, so of course she had to cut a song about S&M. The uplifting horns and vocals were the heart of a track that empowered for a generation going hopefully and nervously into a brand new decade. No such luck for The Kinks manager Robert Wace, who had his unfortunate encounter immortalised in what would become one of the band’s most iconic songs. Free from The Impressions, Mayfield’s solo debut ‘Curtis’ featured many shining moments – but ‘Move On Up’ was perhaps the finest.

Top 10 Monkees Songs. In London there was punk, with The Sex Pistols and The Clash leading a tribe of pierced, leather-clad young upstarts that stuck two fingers up to the establishment. Did Blake Lively Just Draw Shoes onto Her Feet? It’s just a matter of that bassline, isn’t it? The marriage of The Boss’ broad rock sensibilities and Smith’s yearning delivery yielded a rarity – a love song with a real, visceral heart. Where Is the Cast of 'The Brady Bunch' Now? As a producer, he shaped defining albums for Grand Funk Railroad, Hall & Oates, and Meat Loaf...but also the New York Dolls, Patti Smith, and the Tubes. Perhaps we’ll never know who it was about, but the reflected narcissism Simon showed in the lyrics had an uncharacteristic bite to it.

Casting herself as tragic heroine Cathy from Emily Bronte’s gothic romance, perhaps the reason so few pop songs are based on classic novels is that they’d have to live up to this. Simply one of the best songs every written, Bernie Taupin was at his most inspired with Elton John at his effortless best. ‘Heart Of Glass’ had been kicking around since it was a demo called ‘Once I Had A Love’ in 1975 but Blondie found the courage to release their disco record once they were established on the chart scene. For the title track of his second 1977 album, he took a page from Summer’s “I Feel Love” and similarly traded soaring strings for undulating synths, but did so without the overt sex. Over the course of a dozen-plus records cut in the 1970s, the band’s sound made good on the malleability suggested by this varied public image, as they created delicate improvisations and noise blowouts alike. Gossip aside, Davis’ act was scandalizing because it starred a powerful young black woman in control of her own desires. He revealed in interviews that the lyrics were inspired by his divorce. The cover was also nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammys. “Caravan” has a kind of rhomboid structure, its energies constantly building toward an acute angle; the individual instruments in the song—including, Waylon Jennings: “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?”, Lee Perry & the Full Experiences: “Disco Devil”, James Chance & the Contortions: “Contort Yourself”, If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Wanna Be Right), Idris Muhammad: “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This”, Thelma Houston: “Don’t Leave Me This Way”, The Spinners: “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love”. A decade before Michael Jackson lifted it for “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and long before Rihanna sampled Jackson’s version in “Don’t Stop the Music” (and both got sued for uncleared usage), “Soul Makossa” was a disco scene staple. Otherwise LA band The Knack’s debut single is the one memorable note of an on-off 30-year career, a Mike Chapman (of Blondie fame) production with a spiky riff that punkifies the power pop and pushed the track all the way to a Billboard No.1. The song was also a Grammy-winning hit for the Fugees in 1997. 75 Best Breakup Songs Of All Time. Still, “Contort Yourself” is nihilism you can dance to, and it typified the Contortions’ unique mix of punk, funk, and jazz. The single went to No.2 in the States, the album to the top of NME’s all-time albums list in 1985. Find the latest in 70s music at Last.fm. According to keyboardist Blue Weaver, "Night Fever" was inspired by Percy Faith's "Theme from A Summer Place". Still, the riff is Keefy dynamite and singer Bon Scott – who would die just a few months later – has just the right Satanic squeal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DqK2PkFgtw. It started as the B-side to a hymn Manu Dibango wrote for his native Cameroon’s football team in honor of their country hosting the 1972 Africa Cup of Nations.

As with all Green’s tunes from a classic period, lazy horns offer the perfect bed for his keening falsetto, soaking the song with heat and lust. Still, they brought something new the table with their muso chops and – specifically – the spellbinding guitar interplay between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. The drifting Ska of the track showed the stylistic range of band unafraid of crossing genre lines which made them an more authentic representation of young Britain than some of their contemporaries.

Pat Boone's daughter stepped into the music scene when she released this song, a cover of Kasey Cisyk's theme for the film of the same name. But ‘Sex Machine’ positively throbs and thrusts, keeping you in the moment and in the mood, building to an eventual happy finish.

The decade’s ultimate hippie song, as Joni looks out across the landscapes of Hawaii and just sees just concrete, and her heart sinks. In his simultaneous solo career, he stayed one step ahead of the trends he solidified with other artists, veering between soft-rock rebellion, prog fantasias, and experiments in song suites and remakes. Rather ungallantly, Cohen revealed that the lady in question had been Janis Joplin, which he lived to regret, saying later, “an indiscretion for which I’m very sorry, and if there is some way of apologising to the ghost, I want to apologise now, for having committed that indiscretion.”.

Sydney Sounds: a free sample pack curated by... A foolproof guide to finding your perfect Fender... 43 years after its release, Fleetwood Mac’s 'Rumours' is back in the Top 10, Stevie Nicks says there wouldn't be a Fleetwood Mac if she didn't have an abortion, On Connection, Bob Marley: Portrait of the Legend and more: Happy's Weekend Reading.

You don’t have to have a degree in composition like Matthews did to wrap your head around the melodic composure of “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This,” their peak achievement together and Muhammad’s biggest hit. Top 10 Halloween Songs.

–Marc Masters, Listen: James Chance & the Contortions: “Contort Yourself”  See also: A Certain Ratio: “Do the Du (Casse)” / Teenage Jesus & The Jerks: “Orphans”.