Remember of course that a cheat is allowed in here.
That said, I didn’t know I was cheating.
So do tell. I always thought it was a hit from before I was lucid.
Speaking of people who deserve their own threads. Alice–and his band back then–was not just a fright wig and Dolly deserves any accolades anybody throws before her, and more.
No, no…the version I posted is cheating, since Strawberry Switchblade didn’t release their cover until 1985. The Dolly Parton original is safely in the 70s.
Ah, gotcha!
No clip this post. I think LabotomyBoy gave us clips to last us the weekend, and there were a bunch more added by others. . .thanks to all of you, btw. I’ve been stuck in the 70’s the last few years, looking for tunes I half-remember, finding others I’d never heard of. Since they stopped making the rock I loved and labeled it “Classic Rock”, I’ve been dredging the 70’s for little-remembered and “new to me” stuff.
Here’s a source for tunes some of you might not have heard. Wolfgang’s Vault:
http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/
This has decades of concert recordings from Bill Graham’s vaults you can listen to online. I get emails informing me of the artists they’re featuring each week. I’m listening to a 1977 Meat Loaf concert as I type this. Jim Steinman’s playing piano, with Meat and an unknown female artist(Karla Devito? Ellen Foley?) performing, “River Deep, Mountain High.”
http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/dt/meat-loaf-concert/20051131-4593.html
I’m pretty sure you have to register (I did a long time ago), but it’s free, and nothing more personal than an email address is needed, IIRC.
Here’s my cheat, since there isn’t any 70’s music there that I can see: The Internet Music Archive.
http://www.archive.org/browse.php?collection=etree&field=%2Fmetadata%2Fcreator
You can download free, legal* music from there (recorded in-concert) in FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and good old MP3 format. Some of the ppl there are very obsessive-compulsive about the quality, which you gotta love. Here are some examples of what is available there:
The Robert Randolph Band
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Aetree%20AND%20creator%3A"Robert%20Randolph%20[and%20The%20Family%20Band]"
If you’re interested in the harmonica, check out Jason Ricci and the New Blood.
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Aetree%20AND%20creator%3A"Jason%20Ricci%20And%20New%20Blood"
Jason’s one of the best young harp players out there. Start with his version of “Amazing Grace”, then go from there. “Sun Shines Sometimes” is also very cool, and accessible. If that’s boring to you, check out his other stuff-the tunes I mentioned are among his most conventional work.
Apologies to LobotomyBoy if I’m wandering too far off-topic here, but I thought some of you, who so obviously enjoy your music, might not have heard of these resources. I probably should have started a new thread for this. OK, here’s a mystery clip by way of apology. 
*-Additional info on the legal status of the music:
http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#240
http://www.archive.org/about/faqs.php#101
One thing I look back and love about the seventies — and which I realized only after watching a televised rock concert and seeing lots of close-ups of the crowd — was that we could grow our hair out and wear it any way we wanted, or just let it be, and that was great, we were doing our own thing. No hair snobs.
Funny, I posted him and that song elsewhere. Great tune, IMO. Didn’t realize he died this year at age 85. How cool is it, though, that he had this hit in his late 40s? Gives all us wannabe rockers some hope.
When I started this thread, one quote I was thinking of (roughly): “The great thing about country music is that if you ever have a hit, people never forget you.” Hmm, I wonder if that only applies to country. Maybe pop and rock just have more dilettantes? I prefer to believe Bob Seger: “You can come back, baby, 'cause rock and roll never forgets.”
I was hoping for some nuggets like “Oh, babe…”: one-hit wonders and/or songs that didn’t get enough airplay. But hey, post’em all because they’ll trigger associations.
Shit, the Association! Wait, that’s pre-70s. I looked it up; I’ll use my cheat here.
“Cherish,” I think, was one of the stepping stones between the straitlaced 60s and 70s. Earnest but restless…a little bluesy there at the end. Or I could be wrong.
Back to the 70s. Did Keith Carradine have another hit besides “I’m Easy”?
For that matter, Lobo had “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” and “I’d Love You to Want Me,” but his best song, IMO, was “Don’t Expect Me to Be Your Friend.”
Funny too, I keep posting R&B stuff in here but it wasn’t really all that prevalent on WLS in the 70s. It’s a testament that even though I heard it only a few times, I remembered the greatness.
Staple Singers/I’ll Take You There
Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway
(Is this R&B? I don’t know: great tune, though).
Stevie Wonder/Send One Your Love
This song reminds me of how good a guitar player I’m not. I can transpose and all that, but Stevie’s stuff is clearly written for keyboard. Lurrrrv this song, but can’t play it. 
If I mentioned “Overjoyed”—another of his songs I can’t play—as possibly his best song, that would be a double cheat…so I won’t do that 
Bill Withers & Grover Washington Jr./Just the Two of Us
Wait, that was 1981, never mind, 'cause that would be a triple cheat!
But hey, Bill Withers:
1971: Ain’t No Sunshine—http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo
1972: Use Me----http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3hBYTkI-sE
Marvin Gaye/Let’s Get It On
I bought a guitar chord book for something or other, and this was in there. I tried singing it…once. This was my epiphany on how “Very White” I am.
Carl Carlton/Everlasting Love
Three Degrees/When Will I See You Again?
I could go on and on…but I already have. 
More clips:
Elvis Costello - “Pump It Up”
70s Bob Dylan - “Hurricane”
Ohio Players - “Love Rollercoaster”
Great thread! The songs being mentioned have brought up so many memories of dinners, parties, concerts, break-ups, the gamut of my young adulthood!
R&B
Dorothy Moore/Misty Blue
Rock
Mott the Hoople/All the Young Dudes
New Music (as it was called back in the day)
Joe Jackson/Stepping Out
My cheat
These are all bands we knew about back then, but not (necessarily) from the radio.
“Live music is better. Bumper stickers should be issued.”
Santana in '73 (AKA the New Santana Band, my favorite era)
Every Step Of The Way
Allman Brothers in '70 (the actual Live At The Fillmore)
In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed
Jeff Beck in '74 (working toward “Blow By Blow” but not there, yet)
She’s A Woman
Little Feat in '77
Day At The Dog Races
Return To Forever in '76 (Unplugged!!!)
The Romantic WArrior
Joe Walsh (with Barnstorm) in '72
The Bomber
Humble Pie in '71 (where’s Peter?)
I Don’t Need No Doctor
Doobie Brothers in '76 (-ish? The Michael McDonald era band, but older songs)
I Cheat the Hangman/China Grove
Three Dog Night in '75 (Yeah, people dressed like that. Your kids will make fun of you someday, too.)
Eli’s Coming
Frank Zappa in '74 (Why can’t you do that on stage anymore?)
Stinkfoot
Grand Funk in '74
Footstompin’ Music
James Gang with Tommy Bolin (not a performance, just an interesting homemade video)
Mystery
A little known Australian song.
@criminey—thanks for posting “Stepping Out.” I’m a huge Joe Jackson fan, with probably 15 of his CDs on my shelf. Here’s the one that started his career, a minor hit:
Joe Jackson/Is She Really Going Out With Him?
“Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street…” Great stuff!
“Baby Stick Around” is another great song on that album. Couldn’t find a video by Joe, but here’s a guy practicing the bass line. Graham Maby is a terrific bass player—Joe finds the best musicians!
Moving on…Janis Ian/At Seventeen
The guitar, her voice…the rhyme and poetic components…this song is a masterpiece; I knew it the first time I heard it.
Queen/You’re My Best Friend
This lived in the shadow of Bohemian Rhapsody for a long time.
James Taylor/Handy Man
Billy Joel/Only the Good Die Young
Bette Midler/Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Yeah, I know…a remake. But a great one!
Not sure why they thought mermaid costumes were the ticket…
Cheat (1983…I could have sworn it was earlier) Dire Straits/Twistin’ by the Pool
No links, because we all know them - the enitre Saturday Night Fever album, 1977
I know many folks will roll their eyes at me but I love classic disco.
Eh…
Muppets. Twiggy. Doing Beatles.
The Little River band had a great deal of success in the late 70’s to early 80’s. I’ve played their greatest hits CD for friends who didn’t know who they were, and song after song, they’d say, “Oh, I know that!”
I have a strong love for “It’s a Long Way There”, an eight-and-a-half minute beast filled with great vocals and harmonies, and what must be four minutes of slick, tasty, ever-so-slightly restrained guitar solos. Most ppl know the single edit, but if you love your guitar (and what fan of 70’s music DOESN’T?) find the album cut.
This is, I think, the 80’s-era lineup, but it’s a good live version.
“Cool Change.” Again the 80’s lineup, but Farnham does a great job with the vocals.
Here they are with the original lead singer, lip-syncing “Lady”.