I love 70’s music, and especially 1973…but that is an unfortunate collection, for the most part, of pop glam, bad bubblegum and some nation-centric stuff. Exceptions being ‘War is Over’ and ‘Ballroom Blitz’. ‘For the Good Times’ is a fine song, but not that version. Irish youth appear to be stuck between dipping their toes in edgier music and sticking with teenage love songs.
I wouldn’t even make an exception for “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” It reaches terminal levels of stupidity in the opening quatrain, and doesn’t do anything notable to redeem itself in the rest of the song.
I wouldn’t make an exception for “Ballroom Blitz,” either: fun little song, but it’s definitely “pop glam.” “Whiskey in the Jar” wipes the floor with the rest of that list.
I guess the invasion was pretty one-sided, except for Tony Orlando, Donny Osmond and Perry Como.
Not that the American list for 1973 was that much better. The early '70s were a lovely mix of music that’s stood the test of time, and some really sappy pop tunes. Here’s the top 20 from the Billboard list:
- “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” - Tony Orlando and Dawn
- “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” - Jim Croce
- “Killing Me Softly with His Song” - Roberta Flack
- “Let’s Get It On” - Marvin Gaye
- “My Love” - Paul McCartney & Wings
- “Why Me” - Kris Kristofferson
- “Crocodile Rock” - Elton John
- “Will It Go Round in Circles” - Billy Preston
- “You’re So Vain” - Carly Simon
- “Touch Me in the Morning” - Diana Ross
- “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” - Vicki Lawrence
- “Playground In My Mind” - Clint Holmes
- “Brother Louie” - Stories
- “Delta Dawn” - Helen Reddy
- “Me and Mrs. Jones” - Billy Paul
- “Frankenstein” - Edgar Winter Group
- “Drift Away” - Dobie Gray
- “Little Willy” - Sweet
- “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” - Stevie Wonder
- “Half-Breed” - Cher
Just for comparison, Billboard has these for the US
1 “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” Tony Orlando and Dawn
2 “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” Jim Croce
3 “Killing Me Softly with His Song” Roberta Flack
4 “Let’s Get It On” Marvin Gaye
5 “My Love” Paul McCartney & Wings
6 “Why Me” Kris Kristofferson
7 “Crocodile Rock” Elton John
8 “Will It Go Round in Circles” Billy Preston
9 “You’re So Vain” Carly Simon
10 “Touch Me in the Morning” Diana Ross
11 “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” Vicki Lawrence
12 “Playground In My Mind” Clint Holmes
13 “Brother Louie” Stories
14 “Delta Dawn” Helen Reddy
15 “Me and Mrs. Jones” Billy Paul
16 “Frankenstein” Edgar Winter Group
17 “Drift Away” Dobie Gray
18 “Little Willy” Sweet
19 “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” Stevie Wonder
20 “Half-Breed” Cher
What, no poll?
Pshaw.
IMHO, 3,4,8,10,15,16,17 are unequivocal gems…with arguments I would make for others as well.
However, the list I posted are all number one singles, not a top twenty list. An American number one singles list would probably not fare well.
#1 singles would be
“You’re So Vain” Carly Simon
“Superstition” Stevie Wonder
“Crocodile Rock” Elton John
“Killing Me Softly with His Song” Roberta Flack
“Love Train” The O’Jays
“Killing Me Softly with His Song” Roberta Flack
“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” Vicki Lawrence
“Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” Stevie Wonder
“Frankenstein” The Edgar Winter Group
“My Love” Paul McCartney & Wings
“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” George Harrison
“Will It Go Round in Circles” Billy Preston
“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” Jim Croce
“The Morning After” Maureen McGovern
“Touch Me in the Morning” Diana Ross
“Brother Louie” Stories
“Let’s Get It On” Marvin Gaye
“Delta Dawn” Helen Reddy
“Let’s Get It On” Marvin Gaye
“We’re an American Band” Grand Funk
“Half-Breed” Cher
“Angie” The Rolling Stones
“Midnight Train to Georgia” Gladys Knight & the Pips
“Keep on Truckin’ (Part 1)” Eddie Kendricks
“Photograph” Ringo Starr
“Top of the World” The Carpenters
“The Most Beautiful Girl” Charlie Rich
“Time in a Bottle” Jim Croce
Ah! Here are the singles which hit #1 in the US in 1973.
About half of them do seem to hold up pretty well, IMO, and there are singles from three out of the four Beatles (though Mac’s song did the best of the three):
“You’re So Vain” - Carly Simon (3 weeks at #1)
“Superstition” - Stevie Wonder (1 week)
“Crocodile Rock” - Elton John (3 weeks)
“Killing Me Softly with His Song” - Roberta Flack (5 total weeks)
“Love Train” - The O’Jays (1 week, bracketed by Roberta Flack)
“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” - Vicki Lawrence (2 weeks)
“Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando (4 weeks)
“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” - Stevie Wonder (1 week)
“Frankenstein” - The Edgar Winter Group (1 week)
“My Love” - Paul McCartney & Wings (4 weeks)
“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” - George Harrison (1 week)
“Will It Go Round in Circles” - Billy Preston (2 weeks)
“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” - Jim Croce (2 weeks)
“The Morning After” - Maureen McGovern (2 weeks)
“Touch Me in the Morning” - Diana Ross (1 week)
“Brother Louie” - Stories (2 weeks)
“Let’s Get It On” - Marvin Gaye (2 total weeks)
“Delta Dawn” - Helen Reddy (1 week)
“We’re an American Band” - Grand Funk (1 week)
“Half-Breed” - Cher (2 weeks)
“Angie” - The Rolling Stones (1 week)
“Midnight Train to Georgia” - Gladys Knight & the Pips (2 weeks)
“Keep on Truckin’ (Part 1)” - Eddie Kendricks (2 weeks)
“Photograph” - Ringo Starr (1 week)
“Top of the World” - The Carpenters (2 weeks)
“The Most Beautiful Girl” - Charlie Rich (2 weeks)
“Time in a Bottle” - Jim Croce (1 week)
The Helicopter Song was about the 1973 helicopter jailbreak of a number of IRA men. I dunno if you get edgier than that!