Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 1976

Cafe Society
1

Our poll takes us once again to 1976. The #1 spot was dominated by disco this year, but there’s a fair bit of rock & soul bubbling under the top spot in this pick of 25, which takes us to #46 on the year-end chart.

What’s your favorite?

Previous polls: 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975

Best #1 single polls: 1955-56 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s All-time

2

Bohemian Rapsody is way out front for me. Everything else is tied for last.

At least BR has some complexity. Any year with Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show entered twice is is not a year for the memory book, but FWIW.

Regards,
Shodan

3

This is maybe the strongest year for the 1970’s polls so far, in my view. The classic great is obviously “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which will most likely lead this poll. I think Queen is truly one of the greatest rock bands that ever existed, they had so much great songs.

Now I know and love a handful of these songs: Andrea True Connection, Donna Summer(maybe her best), Starbuck, Silver Convention, Lou Rawls, Hot Chocolate, and few I already know and so need listening.

I’ll reserve my vote for later. Tough year.

4

I went with Nazareth on this one, because;

  1. Bohemian Rhapsody is probably going to win

  2. Even if it doesn’t, it recurs on the year-end chart in 1992 so I’d have another chance to vote for it

5

This is my only chance to vote for a song about calculus. :smiley:

So I went with that, passing up the opportunity to vote for someone named Rufus.

6

You mean I’m not the only one who used to sing along, substituting “…one more time” with “…as x approaches infinity”?

7

In retrospect, I chose Bohemian Rhapsody, even though I wasn’t aware of the song at the time. Barring that, and going with what I liked back then, I’d take Hot Chocolate’s entry.

8

Had to go with Bowie…Station To Station is a damn great album (and one of my top three Bowie faves), and “Golden Years” was a fine ambassador of it.

9

I went for Hot Chocolate. I think Erroll Brown was a fantastic soul singer and very underrated. Bohemian Rhapsody is classic, but think of it as more a 1975 song.

Again some tunes I don’t know or don’t remember, but plenty of good ones that I do…

10

I voted for “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.” I also considered “My Love is Alive,” “More More More,” “Love Hurts,” and “Love to Love You Baby.” “Bohemian Rhapsody” is good but was never one of my favorite Queen songs.

“Moonlight Feels Right” is dead-ass last.

11

I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I have never liked “Bohemian Rhapsody” and do not understand all the love it gets.

I’m going with Hot Chocolate. I mean, come on: it was used for a monkey striptease on The Simpsons!

12

The Lou Rawls song takes me back. I can see the Tall Ships sailing under the GW Bridge…

13

Well, praise Og, a year with a rich and varied selection of worthwhile choices. It may take me a while to make a final decision, though I know Queen is likely to totally run away with it.

14

“A Night at the Opera” was the first LP I ever bought, all because of Bohemian Rhapsody. The whole album was good.

15

Where to begin?
First a slight nitpick, but it is Silver Convention, not Connection. Not that it matters, understandable since there is Andrea True Connection on the list, both disco. Rufus is Rufus and Chaka Khan.

How about some trivia? Did you know that Andrea True was actually a adult film actress? She starred in over 50 porn movies in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, even after recording the #4 hit “More More More”, which was sampled by Len for their 1999 song “Steal My Sunshine”.
Andrea True died in 2011 at the age of 68.

England Dan’s real name was Danny Wayland Seals, and he was the younger brother of Jim Seals, of Seals and Croft! Both duos appear on this list.
England Dan went on to a successful country music career; died in March 2009.

Seals and Croft’s three biggest hits, “Summer Breeze”, “Diamond Girl”, and “Get Closer” all hit #6 on the charts.

16

This is tough, for I could vote for

Donna Summer
England Dan and John Ford Coley(glad two voted for it)
Andrea True Connection
Hot Chocolate
Maxine Nightingale
Starbuck
Silver Convention
Queen
I also do not mind Lou Rawls, Vicki Sue Ronbinson and few others but not enough to vote.

Last on this list is the Eric Carmen song, hate it and also hate the Celine Dion cover.

So it is either Queen(I like a lot of their songs better than this one) or Andrea True Connection.

For 1976 I voted with the crowd-Queen it is.

17

What !?

No love for Donnie and Marie?

If we have all these “worthwhile” (rolleyes raised to the 10th) tunes, there MUST be some sould to throw the children a bone…

(I like the metaphor)

18

Only one song can contest “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and that song is “Love to Love You, Baby.” I voted for Donna, knowing full well Queen would walk away handily with this year’s win.

19

Me, too except:

  1. Love Hurts is really one of the great power ballads from the 70s.
20

There are 5 songs on this list I would consider, if BoRap wasn’t on the list, easy choice.