# Worst songs of the 70s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 7, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924 "2021-11-07T04:58:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/81 "2021-11-08T14:00:48Z")
[“The best-selling single of all time by a female group”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baccara) was the unforgivable Euro-disco track **“Yes Sir, I Can Boogie”** (1977) by Spanish pop duo Baccara. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/32wDFCM7iSI/maxresdefault.jpg "Baccara - Yes Sir, I Can Boogie (Starparade 02.06.1977)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32wDFCM7iSI) ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/82 "2021-11-08T16:39:19Z")
I swear that in the late 1990s, there was a TV advertisement for a 70s hits compilation album that included about 50% of the songs that have been mentioned in this thread. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find it on Youtube. I seem to recall that the album title was _AM Gold_, but it appears that Time Life Records put out more than one album under that title. I think that almost every song in that commercial has been named in this thread! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/83 "2021-11-08T16:42:32Z")
> [@Mortimus](#): > > I thought this song went away in the 70’s but then it got new life as a backing track to Green Bay Packers football at Lambeau Field in the 90’s: Not just at Lambeau; it was used by a ton of sports teams in the '90s and early 2000s, before Glitter’s conviction on child sex offenses. It looks like the NFL instructed teams to stop playing the song at that point. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/84 "2021-11-08T16:51:58Z")
Apparently had a huge crush on Stevie Nicks (Didn’t we all?) Frightening look at what cocaine can do to someone. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/85 "2021-11-08T17:50:42Z")
Oddly, I really like this song. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/86 "2021-11-08T18:14:13Z")
This is an interesting discussion. Some terrible songs listed here, but also some good ones. Can we all agree to hate this? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vsBak0oCgdY/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGFwgRyhyMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDGsSrWS8mJlp1hhBqopjuRPK_nhQ "Anita Ward - "Ring My Bell" 1979") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsBak0oCgdY) > **[Ring My Bell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_My_Bell)** > > "Ring My Bell" is a 1979 disco song written by Frederick Knight. The song was originally written for then eleven-year-old Stacy Lattisaw, as a teenybopper song about kids talking on the telephone. When Lattisaw signed with a different label, American singer and musician Anita Ward was asked to sing it instead, and it became her only major hit. > "Ring My Bell" went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the Disco Top 80 chart and the Soul Singles chart. It also reached number one on the UK ... ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/87 "2021-11-08T18:18:01Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Can we all agree to hate this? I’ll be a nay vote on that. That’s a fun, peppy, breezy disco song, one of the defining songs of the genre, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/88 "2021-11-08T18:18:53Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Oddly, I really like this song. It’s a great little song, despite the clumsiness of the metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/89 "2021-11-08T18:31:35Z")
_MacArthur Park_ was so bad that the badness extended two years into the future. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/90 "2021-11-08T18:47:34Z")
Rosanna by Toto. It makes me gag. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/91 "2021-11-08T18:54:22Z")
I can see that, but it’s kind of legendary in music circles for Jeff Porcaro’s drum part (it’s a type of half-time shuffle a la Bernard Purdie and then John Bonham that is seen as a high point in drumming. Like, literally, almost every rock drummer will know about the Rosanna shuffle.) While it’s not one of my favorite songs, Porcaro’s groove cannot be denied, so, for me, it’s hard to put it anywhere near the worst of the 70s. That said, I understand one’s revulsion towards the song. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/92 "2021-11-08T18:56:29Z")
Ooops, Toto’s Rosanna was from 82,so it does not qualify. Change my submission to “You Little Trustmaker” by The Tymes. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/93 "2021-11-08T19:04:33Z")
In the “McArthur Park” and “You’re Havin My Baby” genre, I offer this piece of crap for which I have an almost irrational hatred. [Midnight at the Oasis.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlrKETxwRvM) ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/94 "2021-11-08T19:26:41Z")
I’ve always hated “[Copacabana](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toV8Lb9h0Vs)”. I’m surprised there’s not more hate here for Barry Manilow, what with “Mandy,” “Looks Like We Made It,” “Can’t Smile Without You,” and “Ready to Take a Chance Again.” Styx has always got on my nerves. “[Lady](https://youtu.be/Z3Pl_MGBq_Y),” “[Babe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FIOjLwwj-U),” and “Come Sail Away,” are awful. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/95 "2021-11-08T19:56:25Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > _MacArthur Park_ was so bad that the badness extended two years into the future. I’m hoping they are referring to the Donna Summer version. Because the Richard Harris version is awesome. Donna’s, well, “disco sucks”. (as I kid - what did I know? - I thought there were two RH, the actor and the singer.) ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/96 "2021-11-08T20:22:49Z")
OOF, that one is annoying as fuck. And there’s NO GODDAMN CACTUS IN AN ARABIAN DESERT. Stop saying “cactus is our friend!” It’s a stupid fucking line even if the song took place in the American Southwest, but again there’s NO FUCKING CACTUS IN THE DESERT THAT YOU’RE REFERRING TO!!! AGHH! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/97 "2021-11-08T20:38:51Z")
We need to include the entire Gary Puckett/Union Gap catalog. I don’t know or care when they were recorded. They all suck cue-balls through PVC pipe. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/98 "2021-11-08T20:50:54Z")
There is a song that repeats, “I’m getting closer to my home” for about 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/99 "2021-11-08T20:52:11Z")
Actually, there are lots of cacti in the American southwest. Not many camels, though. And we generally speak of a “waterhole”, not an “oasis”. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924/100 "2021-11-08T20:53:12Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > There is a song that repeats, “I’m getting closer to my home” for about 15 minutes. “I’m Your Captain (Closer To Home)”, by Grand Funk Railroad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-songs-of-the-70s/953924.md?page=6)