The 1960s’ had a nice thing going musically thinking, until of course the advent of disco had to kill the mojo. Still, the 70′s gave us a few memorable hits in its time, though by no means as prolifically enduring or consistently inspirational, the cream of the crop is as good as any decade. After all, disco didn’t really peak until the mid to late 70′s, giving music a little over 5 almost untainted years to work with. Here’s a guided tour down memory lane.
- “Stairway to Heaven” (Led Zeppelin) Considered by some to be the greatest rock ‘n roll song of all time, Stairway to Heaven achieved its magnetic popularity without even being released as a single. Not to mention, the track is well over 7 minutes long, topping even “Hey Jude” in duration. The reigning most requested song of all time has a different meaning to everybody, depending on where one is in their life, which is perhaps why it is both so endearing and enduring.
- “Born to Run” (Bruce Springsteen) The Born To Run album brought The Boss to mainstream popularity, with its namesake track serving as its biggest hit. To this day it is still Springsteen’s most recognizable tune and generally recognized as one of the greatest songs of its era.
- “American Woman” (The Guess Who) Though younger fans may be more familiar with Lenny Kravitz 1999 cover, the original classic marks arguably the greatest success of any Canadian band on the American charts. Widely speculated as an anti-war song, as the song came out in 1970, still in the midst of the Vietnam War, lyrical interpretation is still up for debate. Bassist Jim Kale insists it was merely a commentary on the refreshing nature of returning home to see the more strait-laced Canadian girls they’d grown up with as compared to groupies that flocked to big city tours.
Bonus: “Gimme Shelter” was released in December of 1969, but the timeless Stones track saw its rise to fame in 70′s and would surely near the top of the list were it included.
