“YMCA” and “In the Navy” are actually much better.
So is “Sex over the Phone,” but that came out in the '80s.
“Sa-sa-sa-sa Saturday Niiiiiiight!”
Was my first thought.
Then “You light up my life” - Debby Boone
And I apologize in advance for this one.
“Seasons in the sun” - Terry Jacks
The first and last songs we sang during music class in elementary school. The second one I played on piano.
I identify the 70’s with a lot of funky music. (Funkytown was released in 1980) the style started in the 60’s but the examples I know came from the 1970’s
So, another vote for Play That Funky Music (1976)
Specially because the song makes references to those days and the changes in styles.
(Hey, wait a minute)
Now first it wasn’t easy
Changin’ Rock and Roll and minds and things were getting shaky
I thought I’d have to leave it behind
But now it’s so much better (it’s so much better)
I’m funking out in every way
But I’ll never lose that feelin’ (no I won’t)
Of how I learned my lesson that day
When they were dancin’ and singin’ and movin’ to the groovin’
And just when it hit me somebody turned around and shouted
Play that funky music white boy
Play that funky music right
Play that funky music white boy
Lay down the boogie and play that funky music till you die
Till you die
Oh’ till you die
Oh, and it was a recent American Songwriter article that I read that made me realize how the musical changes of the day inspired the making of the song:
Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music” has all the essential musical ingredients to get the party started- a killer riff, funky ninth chords, in-the-pocket drums, precise horns, a simple monster bass bottom end, requisite ‘70s cowbell, scat talking vocals and an undeniable sing-along chorus that manages to poke fun at itself with an insider’s ‘we’re in on the joke’ wink.
“’Play That Funky Music’ is pretty autobiographical and quite literal. Club work was getting scarce if you didn’t play dance music, so we decided to change. Someone actually did say that to us- play that funky music white boy- insinuating that if we didn’t, we probably wouldn’t be working much longer. I remember it happening at the 2001 Club in downtown Pittsburgh, which had turned into a big disco. We were still playing Kiss, Led Zeppelin and Foghat. Someone came up to our drummer Ron and said, you better play that funky music white boy. He told that to Rob in the dressing room and I believe Rob started writing that song right then.”
Well yeah, but keep in mind I was about 5 when it came out. It’s not like I had a lot of control over the radio, or really much ability to control what sticks in my memory from my childhood.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Supertramp yet. “Dreamer,” “Bloody Well Right,” “Give a Little Bit,” “The Logical Song,” “Goodbye Stranger” are all evocative of the 70’s for more as much as any other artist.
Surely, not everyone was Kung-Fu Fighting.
Yes, we were. And don’t call me Shirley. 
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned this tune, of which I have very fond memories:
FUN FACT: The Bay City Rollers made their 1975 American debut on the premier of Howard Cosell’s Saturday Night Live. Both they and the TV show rapidly faded into ignominious obscurity.
[quote=“Zyada, post:174, topic:533777, full:true”] I think Chevy Van may be a better choice. …
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.
[/quote]
This one is pretty good too:
My vote: The Guitar Man by David Gates and Bread
It’s a bit of a pop-ish sounding tune from a decade of rock-and-roll titans that defined Classic Rock, but the wah-wah guitar sounds like pure Seventies to my ear.
Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” is always the first song that comes to mind when I think of the 70s.
This is another one I always think about when I remember the '70s. The two chicks who lived upstairs of my brother and me used to play it ad nauseam at full blast:
I’ll throw my vote to Why Can’t We Be Friends?
Has anyone nominated “Jet Airliner” by Steve Miller Band or “More Then A Feeling” by Boston?
Because those two are quintessentially 1970s, to me. Along with “Hotel Californie”, but that has already been mentioned.
That’s a good one, but I think it’s missing two of the themes:
Reference to rock and roll
One-hit wonder
Now I’m wondering about one-hit wonders. Did the 70s have an unusually large number of them, or is it common for every decade?
The bad thing about threads like this and the urrggh, nostalgia they revive is that they reinforce the idea that glurge like the songs mentioned here were all the '70s had to offer.
There was plenty of good stuff, including but not limited to punk, progressive rock and good driving rock n’ roll.
And Ray Stevens’ “The Streak”. 
I’m kinda thrilled to see this get zombied 
The Bay City Rollers one is a pretty good entry. I’d have to think more than it deserves as to explain why & how, but stylistically it’s clearly NOT a late 60s song nor a post-MTV early 80s song.