# What's the "Seventies-est" song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 25, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777 "2010-03-25T18:00:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/161 "2020-07-30T03:17:19Z")
I’m gonna back my 10-year-old post and once again nominate, [“Chevy Van” as the most 70’s song.](https://youtu.be/BSVcey-9gto) It has staying power, because it IS the most 70’s song. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/162 "2020-07-30T03:23:50Z")
Didn’t even realize it was a 10 year old resurrected thread until you mentioned it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/163 "2020-07-30T04:08:07Z")
Wow, ok old thread about old music man, TURN IT UP!😉 Rock Me Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again by Lyn Collins 1974. At the very least you can’t get any more 70s than that song title. Any song performed by Gordon Lightfoot. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/164 "2020-07-30T07:37:36Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I’m gonna back my 10-year-old post and once again nominate, [“Chevy Van” as the most 70’s song.](https://youtu.be/BSVcey-9gto) It has staying power, because it IS the most 70’s song. I’d agree. That song just reeks of the 70s: anonymous pre-AIDS no-worries sex, the “shaggin’ wagon” 1970s van culture, hitchhiking still being an accepted way to get around, and a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar. Neither Gordon Lightfoot nor John Denver could define the 1970s as well as Sammy Johns did with “Chevy Van.” ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/165 "2020-07-30T18:04:01Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > [Carry On Wayward Son](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw6_VXPwm6U), Kansas (you know - the \*Supernatural \*song). When I saw thread title, I’m pretty sure my brain tried to come up with this song, but somehow “Dust in the Wind” took hold instead. I was getting ready to post it, but thought I’d read the others first. Then I saw this, played each, and _Carry on Wayward Son_ is clearly the winner. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/166 "2020-07-30T19:20:08Z")
Lou Rawls - You’ll never find [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XCW1i5HQ0o0/hqdefault.jpg "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCW1i5HQ0o0) I love this song but its about as '70’s as you can get ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/167 "2020-07-30T19:24:00Z")
Andy Kim - Rock me gently [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/a_YwzCH58wY/maxresdefault.jpg "Rock Me Gently") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_YwzCH58wY) ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/168 "2020-07-30T19:29:13Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > First, the most seventies song should be one that was a hit in its time but has never been heard since and no one has covered. Just a shock when you are listening to 70’s compilation that you remember that song you haven’t heard in 40 years. By that criteria, I would nominate “After the Goldrush” by Prelude: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W2Taxuott5s/hqdefault.jpg "After The Goldrush - Prelude") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Taxuott5s) This was one of my favorite songs of the era, and after it disappeared from the radio, I’d remember snatches of it but never enough to find it again. I finally did a project where I attempted to listen to every top 100 song starting in 1970, to find this and other songs I’d forgotten. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/169 "2020-07-30T20:02:50Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Lou Rawls - You’ll never find > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCW1i5HQ0o0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCW1i5HQ0o0) > > I love this song but its about as '70’s as you can get When I worked on the radio, we announced this with “Special dedication, goin’ out from OJ to Nicole.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/170 "2020-07-30T20:03:47Z")
I’d rather post 70’s songs that were actually good. As others said, I don’t think the 70’s had a ‘sound’, as the music was just all over the place. It was a very experimental time, and some of the best music of the 70’s is pretty timeless. Here are some that really bring back memories of my 70’s: **Blinded by the Light** - Manfred Mann’s Earth Band **Hotel California** - Eagles **Werewolves of London** - Warren Zevon **That Smell** - Lynyrd Skynyrd **Flirtin’ With Disaster** - Molly Hatchet **Money** - Pink Floyd **Barracuda** - Heart **Hello in There** - John Prine **Rocky Mountain Way** - Joe Walsh **Tush** - ZZ Top **Sweet City Woman** - Stampeders **Sunny Days** - Lighthouse The 70’s is still my favorite era of music. There was lots of absolute dreck on AM radio, but then there always was. FM rock in the 70’s was awesome. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/171 "2020-07-30T20:22:08Z")
“Disco Inferno” — The Trammps (“Special dedication, goin’ out to all you Branch Davidians out there!” 😃 ) “No, Honestly” — Lynsey De Paul “If I Can’t Have You (I Don’t Want Nobody, Baby)” — Yvonne Elliman “Yes, Sir, I Can Boogie” — Baccara “Parlez-Vous Francais?” — Baccara “Sorry, I’m a Lady” — Baccara “Mississippi” — Pussycat “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart” — Elton John and Kiki Dee “Back in the USSR” — The Beatles (Yes, I know it’s older, but it was freakin’ **everywhere** in the UK in the summer of 1976!) “You’re So Vain” — Carly Simon ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/172 "2020-07-30T21:00:34Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Back in the USSR” — The Beatles (Yes, I know it’s older, but it was freakin’ **everywhere** in the UK in the summer of 1976!) So was “Got to Get You Into My Life” (66 version) if I remember correctly—so much so that they rereleased the single in the mid-70’s, when I bought it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/173 "2020-07-30T23:46:43Z")
Does the song have to be _from_ the '70s? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/i1JXgffaQ_I/maxresdefault.jpg "DJ Hurricane - 70's In The Cut") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1JXgffaQ_I) ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/174 "2020-07-31T17:57:36Z")
I was going to say Afternoon Delight, because it hit on a couple of themes common to 70s music and the 70s zeitgeist: One-hit wonders White people singing coyly about having sex, especially maybe out of wedlock sex! However, as much as I dislike the song, I think Chevy Van may be a better choice. In addition to: One-hit wonders White people singing coyly about having sex, especially ~~maybe~~ out of wedlock sex! It includes the themes of Automobiles Hitchhiking Country influenced sound. Meta reference to rock&roll It’s almost like the perfect light rock song for the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/175 "2020-07-31T18:51:43Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > but somehow “Dust in the Wind” took hold instead I can say that only two songs really are associated with specific memories in the 1970s. One is “Macho Man” by the Village People, mostly because I recall it being on the PA in the five-and-dime when I was a little kid at one point. The other is “Dust in the Wind”, and I remember that because it was on the car radio when I was probably 4 or 5, and I remember thinking it was the most horrible, sad and depressing song I’d ever heard. I actually resolutely avoided the song for the better part of the next two decades, as a result of that listening experience. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/176 "2020-07-31T18:57:14Z")
“Have You Never Been Mellow?” — Olivia Newton-John 'Cause everyone was like, you know, so _mellow_ back in the '70s. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/177 "2020-08-01T15:09:21Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > However, as much as I dislike the song, I think Chevy Van may be a better choice. My problem is that I associate “Chevy Van” with Chevrolet commercials from subsequent decades. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/178 "2020-08-01T17:04:14Z")
I really want to say it is [“Aquarious: Let the Sun Shine In”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06X5HYynP5E) but that is 1969. Feels very emblematic of the 70’s to me though I was born in '67 so my memory doesn’t really start till 1970(ish). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/179 "2020-08-01T17:07:48Z")
_Help Me_ by Joni Mitchell. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777/180 "2020-08-01T17:12:10Z")
“Please, Mister, Please (Don’t Play B-17!)” — Olivia Newton-John. Fer cryin’ into yer beer. 😢 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-seventies-est-song/533777.md?page=10)