# What is THE quintessential 70's song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263 "2016-03-08T06:36:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/141 "2016-03-12T04:51:26Z")
“You Should Be Dancing.” Yep, it’s disco. Oh well. I was 14 when I first heard it. I was spending a week visiting with my aunt and uncle, and it came on the radio while we were in the car. It was stunning. It was kind of like what older people say about Elvis–there had just never been anything like it. I lay awake half that night turning the song over and over in my head. Maybe it sounds like exaggeration now but that song changed everything. (Second place goes to “Rapper’s Delight.” Although it also altered the course of music, it came out in 1979, a little too late to fit the criteria.) ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Matt\_Mason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Major\_Matt\_Mason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Matt_Mason)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/142 "2016-03-13T09:21:48Z")
Unfortunately, the answers are: 1. Wildfire 2. Honey 3. Angie Baby 4. Billy, Don’t Be A Hero Let’s face it, the 70s sucked. -MMM- ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/143 "2016-03-14T13:52:04Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > What immediately popped into my head was “What’s that ridiculous song with the cake in the rain? The only good to come of that was the Weird Al cover.” > > [MacArthur Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Park_(song)). Which actually came out in the late 60’s. But in my defense, there were covers all the way through the 70’s as well (including disco). According to the Wiki page, WJW-TV City Camera News used it as its theme song from 1970-77. > > So I’m sticking with my answer. In fact, I think it set the stage for everything musically gross about that decade. The actual original song makes sense, if you catch the metaphor. Donna Summer covered it in a version that left out the parts that tie it together, and made it a mess that should have been covered - in a cat pan. The original version is about a lost/failed relationship the singer is looking back on; in particular a vignette of a picnic in MacArthur Park. The cake has no physical existence; it is a metaphor for the relationship he worked hard to create, and is gone now. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/144 "2016-03-14T14:01:09Z")
Jeez - Why don’t I just post the playlist on my mp3 player and get it over with? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/145 "2016-03-14T14:03:56Z")
[QUOTE=MacLir] The cake has no physical existence; it is a metaphor for the relationship he worked hard to create, and is gone now. ☹ [/QUOTE] You say the cake is a lie? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/146 "2016-03-14T15:10:14Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was first released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley. Plus vocals by Phil Rizzuto. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/147 "2016-03-14T16:13:00Z")
> [@Major\_Matt\_Mason](#): > > Unfortunately, the answers are: > > 1. Wildfire > 2. Honey > 3. Angie Baby > 4. Billy, Don’t Be A Hero > > Let’s face it, the 70s sucked. > > -MMM- Angie Baby is a great song. ---
**Author:** ![hosspower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ec9cab/32.png) [@hosspower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hosspower)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/148 "2016-03-14T22:56:42Z")
Suspicious Minds Kentucky Rain or anything from the “Vegas Years” of Mr Hunka Hunka Burning Love - Elvis Presley . it doesnt get any better than “Aloha from Hawaii Live via Satellite” - sequined suits with high collars, mutton-chop sideburns, barely restrained karate moves, a crack band, and That Voice which got better with age (like fruitcake does) - that, for me, was the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/149 "2016-03-14T23:56:13Z")
Here let me set phasers on wide beam and take a shot at this since the 70’s had so many genres: Instrumental non-soundtrack: [Edgar Winters-Frankenstein](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8f-Qb-bwlU) Soundtrack-[Theme From Shaft](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFvRvSxsW-I) Novelty-[Ray Stevens-The Streak](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtzoUu7w-YM) to be continued… ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/150 "2016-03-15T01:51:07Z")
From the central Indiana AOR point of view: _Turn the Page_, by Bob Seger. Egads, how I have come to hate that song!! yes, it’s your fault, WFBQ!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/151 "2016-03-15T02:09:31Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > From the central Indiana AOR point of view: > > _Turn the Page_, by Bob Seger. > Egads, how I have come to hate that song!! > > yes, it’s your fault, WFBQ!!! Not _Indiana’s Calling?_ ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/152 "2016-03-15T02:18:22Z")
TV Theme Song-[Welcome Back Kotter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmm3KTa601s) Country crossover-[Charlie Rich-Behind Closed Doors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf_baiRNUYU) Adult soft rock-[Leo Sayer-You Make Me Feel Like Dancing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE-Okqna4sQ) ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/153 "2016-03-15T02:37:58Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees [This](https://youtu.be/5WXVaChA3Q0?t=6). ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/154 "2016-03-15T02:51:03Z")
Rhinestone Cowboy Devil Went Down to Georgia Evergreen ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/155 "2016-03-15T19:38:19Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > ooohhh! I just thought of another one! > > “Horse with no Name”, or anything else by America. > Soft, mellow, laid-back,…but ,ya know,…deep, man, _deep._ > You could look for meaning while you were passing the joint. This. Because this was the quintessential _type_ of '70s music. Songs like “Layla” and “Stairway to Heaven” were really the tail end of the Sixties from a musical perspective, since musically, The Sixties began with the Beatles. And disco ruled for just a few years in the late 1970s. “Stayin’ Alive” may have been the quintessential Disco Era song, but it fortunately didn’t last very long, even though it clearly left an impact on our psyches. But mellow rock that hinted at depths that it didn’t really have, from America to the Eagles to Jackson Browne to Gerry Rafferty - yep, that was The Seventies, from one end to the other. ---
**Author:** ![MikeD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed655f/32.png) [@MikeD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeD)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/156 "2016-03-16T08:04:56Z")
Seriously it has to be Frampton Comes Alive and in particular DO YOU FEEL LIKE WE DO ---
**Author:** ![northdakotatroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@northdakotatroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/northdakotatroy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/157 "2016-03-16T21:00:21Z")
Thunder Island - Jay Ferguson Sausalito Summernight - Diesel _Edit_ Also, Lido Shuffle by Boz Scaggs ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/158 "2016-03-16T22:30:15Z")
At the Copa (Copa Cabana). The hottest spot north of Havana! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/159 "2016-03-16T22:43:37Z")
[Running On Empty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av3DXCDsABY), by Jackson Browne ---
**Author:** ![strandedinthejungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@strandedinthejungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/strandedinthejungle)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263/160 "2016-03-17T15:43:22Z")
What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye. Right on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-quintessential-70s-song/748263.md?page=9)