# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1976 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977 "2014-09-30T16:44:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/21 "2014-09-30T18:57:05Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > This is the year that I really started to get into the Beatles. I was 14, and had sort of missed them the first time around, but after getting the Red 1962-1966 album for Christmas this year I got majorly hooked. And now I can see why. What an awful year for pop music this was. The Beatles had a hit in '76 with Got to Get You into My Life but it only hit #7. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/22 "2014-09-30T19:04:54Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > The Beatles had a hit in '76 with Got to Get You into My Life but it only hit #7. Yes. I recall that. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/23 "2014-09-30T19:06:28Z")
I really can’t in good conscious vote for any of these songs. The most I can do is list the few that don’t mortally offend me: Saturday Night Let Your Love Flow Welcome Back Kiss and Say Goodbye Play That Funky Music • There is value, as I’ve said, in simple, catchy pop songs. “Saturday Night” is OK in this realm, but there are so many better examples. • “Let Your Love Flow” is OK, but the Bellamy Brothers came out with a whole bunch of much better songs once they started having hits exclusively on the country charts. • I dearly love John Sebastian and think his work with the Lovin’ Spoonful is vastly underrated. There’s nothing wrong with this song; again, it’s just that he had SO many others that were leagues better. • The Manhattans song is good 70s smooth soul. Just not a knockout in any way. • I despised the Wild Cherry song when it came out, but I’ve come to appreciate the humor behind it. Not to be taken seriously, just a fun diversion. Sorry to offend anyone here, but I find most solo Paul Simon to be insufferably cloying and precious. That goes for this one. The rest range from non-entities to vomit-inducing. Allow me to say that the ascendency of The Ramones in the latter part of this year was the last-ditch savior for the sinking of the fatally wounded ship of rock ‘n’ roll. I know they were more a reaction to pretentious, bloated “serious” rock as opposed to most of the stuff here, but they nevertheless saved the soul of rock from terminal mediocrity. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/24 "2014-09-30T19:09:39Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > The Beatles had a hit in '76 with Got to Get You into My Life but it only hit #7. There was definitely a big wave of Beatles nostalgia hitting around this time - Elton John’s cover of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” had been a #1 the previous year, and it additionally showed up this year on the soundtrack of the all-but-forgotten (and with good cause, so I’ve heard) _All This and World War II_, which combined WWII stock footage with Beatles covers. The musical adaptation of _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_ had already become a hit off-Broadway at this point, and was headed for its eventual movie adaptation. Probably could have mentioned this in the 1975 poll, but Elton’s version of “Lucy” is one of only two Beatles covers to reach #1. The other, of course, is the Stars on 45 medley, which we’ll get to in the 1981 poll. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/25 "2014-09-30T19:13:49Z")
Oh my god, what a bleak year for music. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/26 "2014-09-30T19:15:39Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > It’s the Starland Vocal Band for me! > > I like you anyway. Ah - but it is Hooked On a Feeling awful! Meaning it is catchy and silly enough to use in current shows to evoke that 1975 feeling! I don’t know that I like it as a guilty pleasure, but I almost…respect it’s 1975-ness, if you follow. Whereas songs like Seasons in the Sun and Billy Don’t Be a Hero were simply put on this earth to annoy. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/27 "2014-09-30T19:20:04Z")
Question: When did Paul McCartney write Silly Love Songs? Answer: All of his life. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/28 "2014-09-30T19:34:37Z")
“50 Ways” wasn’t exactly one of Paul Simon’s best songs, but it’s the best of a pretty crappy set of #1’s. It’s _got_ to get better, right? Actually, it _was_ better [at the same time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_200_number-one_albums_of_1976), just not on the #1 singles. Dylan’s _Desire_ was the #1 album in early 1976, and while it wasn’t the equal of the previous year’s _Blood on the Tracks_, it was still pretty damn good. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/29 "2014-09-30T19:39:25Z")
I picked 50 Ways. Love the drum part in that one. Song’s got a nice groove. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/30 "2014-09-30T19:42:46Z")
How on earth did I make it thru the 70s and maintain my will to live? I was tempted to vote for “Convoy” or “Disco Lady” in the same way I am tempted to smell that container I found forgotten in the back of the refrigerator for a couple of months, but I regained my sanity in time. Unfortunately that just left “You Should Be Dancing” as one of the many regrettable memories that I retain of disco, so I had to go with that. Regards, Shodan Celebrating the Nation’s Bicentennial with Barry Manilow and the Starland Vocal Band ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/31 "2014-09-30T19:49:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Shameful admission time. Back when I was in high school, I was a fan of punk. I didn’t go overboard - I wasn’t shaving my head or putting safety pins through my nose. But I liked the genre. > > Like many things you love when you’re a teenager, you look back on them twenty years later with a twinge of embarrassment. I can now see the silliness in much of punk. (But the Clash are still great.) > > But when I look at this list of what was the pop mainstream, I remember why punk seemed like a good idea at the time. This. Oh so much this. Paul Simon gets the nod for a decent song in the midst of utter crap. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/32 "2014-09-30T19:53:03Z")
This poll really puts the Ramones in perspective. ETA: Little Nemo beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/33 "2014-09-30T19:53:57Z")
Well, it looks like it’s time to kiss soul music goodbye. It’s just about dead and buried. Disco has thrown the last shovelful of dirt on the grave. Casting my vote for The Manhattans. An amusing note for this year: I remember a DJ on one of Chicago’s soul stations (WVON I think) saying how happy he was to play KC and the Sunshine Band because he finally got to say the word “booty” on the air. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/34 "2014-09-30T19:58:39Z")
The choice to go with Paul Simon - and the LEGENDARY Steve Gadd - was easy. Other choices were The Sylvers ([because of course](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnCP-IJ1MIk)), The Ohio Players, The Miracles, and The Four Seasons. Like I said in the 1975 thread, '76 was a _dire_ year for chart toppers. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/35 "2014-09-30T20:10:01Z")
By far the worst list to choose from to date. When Bohemian Rhapsody can only struggle to #9 and Rhiannon only gets to #11, something is dreadfully wrong. I’ll take Wild Cherry’s effort for the funk. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/36 "2014-09-30T20:11:47Z")
“50 Ways” got my vote, with “Silly Love Songs” coming in second. Everything else . . . meh. IMO, “50 Ways,” rather than being an OK song in the midst of awful ones, is a great song (still in the midst of awful ones). I’m a big Paul Simon fan, and it was the first solo song of his I ever heard, so nostalgia may be clouding my view, but I don’t think so. The beginning sequence (_“The problem is all inside your head,” she said to me . . ._) has a very nice tone, the lyrics are clever, and it’s damn catchy. > [@JohnGalt](#): > > Question: When did Paul McCartney write Silly Love Songs? > > Answer: All of his life. You’d think people would have had enough - but I look around me and see it isn’t so. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/37 "2014-09-30T20:15:02Z")
Disco Lady got my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/38 "2014-09-30T20:19:50Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > By far the worst list to choose from to date. When Bohemian Rhapsody can only struggle to #9 and Rhiannon only gets to #11, something is dreadfully wrong. I’ll take Wild Cherry’s effort for the funk. Bohemian Rhapsody _did_ eventually peak at #2… but not until 1992, when it was rediscovered thanks to its iconic use in the Wayne’s World movie. For our purposes, it’s fortunate that it didn’t make it to #1, because that would just make the 1992 poll unfair. 🙂 A scenario similar to this happened in the UK in 2009, when “Killing In the Name Of” by Rage Against the Machine hit #1 17 years after it was released, having only made it to #25 there on its original run, though the British charts are much more prone to things like that since they’re based entirely on sales and airplay is not a factor. (In this case, an internet campaign got the song to #1 by urging people to mass-buy the song online so that the winner of The X Factor wouldn’t get the Christmas-week number one; such a campaign would be orders of magnitude more difficult under Billboard’s system, if not impossible). ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/39 "2014-09-30T20:20:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I went with Chicago. Am shocked to see nothing from ABBA on the list! :eek: ABBA would feature next year. By the way OP, the “Disco Sucks” t shirts came out later when disco peaked, in 1976 it was only starting to becoming mainstream. Am I right or wrong, I was not around back then. The whole anti disco thing makes me cringe. Stupid rock fans, as if anything with a guitar is good. Thank God rock does not exist as the only genre. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977/40 "2014-09-30T20:26:33Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > There are quite a number of songs on that list that I like, but I had to go with “You Should Be Dancing” by the Bee Gees. I know that a lot of people found their “helium sound” to be annoying, but I was always a big fan of the Gibbs’ trademark “disco / falsetto” songs. The helium sound is Barry, Robin and Maurice had distinct voices. In fact Andy Gibb who was never a Bee Gees member and a separate artist, sounded close to to Barry in falsetto. Their early material shows each brothers’ voices which were distinct. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1976/699977.md?page=3)