Friday, May 30, 2025

My Top 100 Singles of 1970

 




Here's the Spotify playlist:

1. Chicago - "25 Or 6 To 4"
2. Stevie Wonder - "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)"
3. Black Sabbath - "War Pigs"
4. The Jackson 5 - "ABC"
5. Badfinger - "No Matter What"
6. Neil Young - "Cinnamon Girl"
7. James Brown - "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine"
8. Mountain - "Mississippi Queen"
9. The Beatles - "Let It Be"
10. Simon & Garfunkel - "Cecilia"
11. The Temptations - "Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)"
12. Sugarloaf - "Green-Eyed Lady"
13. The Kinks - "Lola"
14. Sly & The Family Stone - "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"
15. Loretta Lynn – “Coal Miner’s Daughter”
16. The Doors - "Roadhouse Blues" 
17. Norman Greenbaum - "Spirit In The Sky"
18. The Carpenters - "(They Long To Be) Close To You"
19. James Taylor - "Fire And Rain"
20. James Brown - "Funky Drummer"
21. James Gang – “Funk #49”
22. Grand Funk Railroad - "I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home)" 
23. Blues Image - "Ride Captain Ride"
24. John Lennon - "Instant Karma!"
25. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - "The Tears of A Clown"
26. Grateful Dead – “Casey Jones”
27. Dionne Warwick - "This Girl's In Love With You"
28. Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Lookin' Out My Back Door"
29. Joni Mitchell - "Big Yellow Taxi"
30. Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"
31. Led Zeppelin - "Immigrant Song"
32. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - "Ohio"
33. Melanie – “Look What They’ve Done To My Song, Ma”
34. Five Stairsteps - "O-o-h Child"
35. James Brown – “Super Bad”
36. Santana - "Black Magic Woman"
37. Grateful Dead – “Truckin’”
38. Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Travelin' Band"
39. B.J. Thomas - "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"
40. George Jones - "A Good Year For The Roses"
41. Chicago - "Make Me Smile"
42. The Doors - "Peace Frog"
43. James Taylor – “Sweet Baby James”
44. The Delfonics - "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)"
45. Leon Russell – “A Song For You”
46. The Partridge Family - "I Think I Love You"
47. Kris Kristofferson – “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”
48. The Guess Who - "No Sugar Tonight"
49. James Brown – “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved”
50. The Ventures - "Hawaii Five-O"
51. Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Run Through The Jungle"
52. Simon & Garfunkel - "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
53. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - "Woodstock"
54. Melanie with the Edwin Hawkins Singers – “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)”
55. Sly & The Family Stone - "I Want To Take You Higher"
56. Eric Burdon and War - "Spill The Wine"
57. Edwin Starr - "War"
58. R. Dean Taylor – “Indiana Wants Me”
59. Lynn Anderson – “Rose Garden”
60. The Doors - "Waiting For The Sun"
61. Eric Clapton – “After Midnight”
62. The Guess Who - "No Time"
63. The Who - "The Seeker"
64. The Jackson 5 – “I’ll Be There”
65. Bob Dylan - "Wigwam"
66. James Brown – “Ain’t It Funky Now (Part 1)”
67. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - "Carry On"
68. The Spinners – “It’s A Shame”
69. Free - "All Right Now"
70. Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Up Around The Bend”
71. The Allman Brothers Band – “Revival (Love is Everywhere)”
72. Shocking Blue - "Venus"
73. The Carpenters – “We’ve Only Just Begun”
74. Bread – “Make It With You”
75. Curtis Mayfield – “(Don’t Worry) If There Is A Hell Below, We’re All Going To Go”
76. Todd Rundgren – “We Got To Get You A Woman”
77. Santana - "Evil Ways"
78. The Delfonics – “Trying To Make A Fool of Me”
79. Linda Ronstadt – “Long Long Time”
80. Neil Young – “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”
81. Dionne Warwick - "I'll Never Fall In Love Again"
82. Grateful Dead – “Uncle John’s Band”
83. The Jackson 5 – “The Love You Save”
84. Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - "Express Yourself"
85. The Kinks – “Apeman”
86. Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Who'll Stop The Rain"
87. The Moments – “Love On A Two-Way Street”
88. Diana Ross - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
89. Joe Cocker - "The Letter"
90. The Band – “Time To Kill”
91. T. Rex - "Ride A White Swan"
92. Ernie (Jim Henson) – “Rubber Duckie”
93. Cat Stevens – “Wild World”
94. The Who - "Summertime Blues (live)"
95. Elvis Presley – “Patch It Up”
96. Jay and the Americans - "This Magic Moment"
97. Willie Nelson – “Laying My Burdens Down”
98. John Lennon – “Mother”
99. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - "Teach Your Children"
100. The Guess Who - "American Woman"

One fun thing about doing these lists is realizing how many hits some people had in one year. Crazy year for James Brown, for Creedence, for Neil Young and CSNY. I wasn't even alive yet in 1970 but a lot of these songs conjure visceral memories for me, singing "Rubber Duckie" in the tub as a kid, playing "25 Or 6 To 4" in my high school marching band, my wife's car that was named after "Cecilia." 

Previously:

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