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Our list of 20 songs that only those of us who grew up in the seventies will remember fits in perfectly with other types of lists that prove if you didn’t grow up in the seventies, you probably would have no idea what a Pet Rock was, what the Have a Nice Day smiley face meant, or why phrases like “Danger, Will Robinson!” still make us laugh. Although that last one originated in the 1960s, many of us watched Lost in Space in syndication after school throughout the 1970s.
Of course, there are countless things in pop culture that people from the 1970s remember, but this list is all about the songs. Some were huge hits that never really followed us into the 21st century. Others were songs from one-hit wonders, deeper album tracks, or records that simply resonated with us whether we liked them or not. If you were there, you’re going to remember these.
#20 – “The Night Chicago Died” – Paper Lace
I just felt like this was a great one to open the list with because how could you forget the opening of this song with the sirens wailing, the drums marching, and that opening line about Daddy being a cop on the east side of Chicago? Paper Lace’s fictional gangster story became a huge hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. Yet it never really followed us into the 21st century the way so many other number-one songs did. It’s one of those records that seems to have stayed in the seventies.
#19 – “Seasons in the Sun” – Terry Jacks
Terry Jacks made a song about dying and saying goodbye to loved ones that somehow sounded happy. This was another enormous song from 1974 that seemed to be on the radio every 10 minutes. The song came from Jacques Brel’s 1961 French-language composition “Le Moribond,” which Rod McKuen adapted into English as “Seasons in the Sun.” Terry Jacks turned it into a worldwide hit and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This may be pushing it a bit to say only those from the seventies remember the song, because it has lasted. What I really mean is that only those of us who were there remember just how dominant it was.
Read More: Top 10 Terry Jacks Songs
#18 – “Do You Know What I Mean” – Lee Michaels
It’s always tough finding out that your girlfriend or wife is cheating on you. And usually, when you catch them, they blame you for not paying enough attention to them. That’s what this song is all about. “Do You Know What I Mean” was a Top 10 hit in 1971, reaching number six on the Billboard Hot 100. The video below comes from Lee Michaels’ appearance on The Midnight Special. For those of us who grew up in the seventies, shows like that were among the few places where we could actually see rock music performed on television.
Read More: Top 10 Lee Michaels Songs
#17 – “Popcorn” – Hot Butter
Gershon Kingsley wrote and recorded “Popcorn” in 1969 using a Moog synthesizer. He probably had no idea how huge the song would become when Stan Free recorded a new version under the name Hot Butter. That version became an international hit in 1972. No, I am not making this up. If you were there in 1972, you know that I speak the truth. This is truly one that only those of us from the seventies will remember.
#16 – “Dancing in the Moonlight” – King Harvest
Part of the fun of putting together this list is adding songs I really enjoyed, and I think millions of others who grew up during the 1970s did too. This was one of them. King Harvest released “Dancing in the Moonlight” in 1972, and it reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1973. In the United States, the band never had another Top 40 hit. But this one just had that feel to it, that soothing kind of wanting-to-hang-out-at-night feeling that so many of these songs had. Who didn’t love that opening electric piano lick?
#15 – “Moonlight Feels Right” – Starbuck
Yeah, I think this one fits perfectly right after the last one. Two moonlight songs in a row. “Moonlight Feels Right” was released in 1975 but didn’t become a major hit until 1976, when it climbed all the way to number three on the Billboard Hot 100. I think what many of us remember is that laugh just before the chorus and, of course, that unforgettable marimba solo. Starbuck never came close to matching the success of this one, although the band did score another Top 40 hit in 1977 when “Everybody Be Dancin'” reached number 38.
#14 – “Bad Blood” – Neil Sedaka
Most people remember Neil Sedaka for his huge 1960s hit “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” and, of course, his early-seventies smash “Laughter in the Rain.” Sedaka and Howard Greenfield also wrote Captain & Tennille’s number-one 1975 record “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which never seemed to vanish from the radio that year. But the real gem for me was Sedaka’s 1975 song “Bad Blood.” Written by Sedaka and Phil Cody, the song featured uncredited backing vocals from Elton John and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Read More: Top 10 Neil Sedaka Songs
#13 – “Trudy” – The Charlie Daniels Band
I don’t want this list to be just about pop hit singles. I also want to dig into some deeper album tracks. “Trudy” was released on The Charlie Daniels Band’s great 1974 album Fire on the Mountain. It was never as famous as songs such as “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” but this was one of those Charlie Daniels songs that people who were really into the band seemed to love. It’s exactly the kind of track that belongs on a list like this.
Read More: Top 10 Charlie Daniels Band Songs
#12 – “I Never Dreamed” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s music has lived on from the 1970s deep into the 21st century. Their biggest songs from the seventies have continued to be played on classic rock radio and live by later versions of the band. However, one of my favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd songs has always been the deep track “I Never Dreamed,” released on Street Survivors, the band’s final studio album before the 1977 plane crash. The song was written by Steve Gaines and Ronnie Van Zant. This one was special, and it seemed to point toward a side of the band’s sound that makes you wonder what might have come next.
Read More: Top 10 Lynyrd Skynyrd Songs
#11 – “Highfly” – John Miles
John Miles never became the big star in the United States that he was in Europe. “Highfly” was one of the singles that gave American listeners a chance to discover him, reaching number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 after becoming a Top 20 hit in the United Kingdom. It’s a masterpiece of a pop single, and it was released on his amazing debut album Rebel. Yeah, you had to be from the seventies to know this one, but you also had to be really into rock and roll music and someone who dug deep.
Read More: Top 10 John Miles Songs
#10 – “Ride Captain Ride” – Blues Image
We go back to the start of the decade with this hit single from Blues Image. “Ride Captain Ride” was released in 1970 and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. I always remember hearing this song in TV commercials when they were trying to sell those superstar-hits-of-the-seventies collections. Those K-Tel collections always seemed to include songs like this on albums packed with 20 or 25 tracks, and sometimes the sound quality was so poor you wished you hadn’t wasted your money.
#9 – “Last Song” – Edward Bear
So many sad songs released in the 1970s became hits. Everyone was always leaving someone. I blame Jimmy Webb and Burt Bacharach for setting the standards in heartbreaking songs that inspired records like this one. Edward Bear’s “Last Song” reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973 and number one in the band’s native Canada. And no, Edward Bear was not the name of the singer. It was the name of the band.
#8 – “Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne” – Looking Glass
Everybody remembers “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass. Even people born much later know the song because it has continued to show up in movies, television, and popular culture, including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. But far fewer people remember “Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne.” The song reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973, making it the band’s only other Top 40 hit. Quite frankly, even a lot of us in the seventies didn’t know this one because it wasn’t that big of a hit, but it was really good. Do you remember it?
#7 – “So It Goes” – Nick Lowe
The 1970s gave us such a variety of musical styles throughout the decade. One of my favorite periods was the last few years, especially 1978 and 1979, when a new sound seemed to arrive that blended punk, new wave, pub rock, power pop, and basic rock and roll. Nick Lowe was right there at the center of that scene. “So It Goes” actually arrived a little earlier, in 1976, as Lowe’s debut solo single and the first single ever released by Stiff Records. It sounded like a warning shot for what was coming next.
#6 – “And You and I” – Yes
We couldn’t leave progressive rock off this list because it was such a huge part of the 1970s music scene. Yes was one of the decade’s biggest bands. They were never really built around hit singles, although “Roundabout” became a genuine U.S. hit and “Long Distance Runaround” became another beloved radio track. But one of the great Yes songs of the entire era was “And You and I,” released on the band’s magnificent 1972 album Close to the Edge. If you were a Yes fan in the seventies, you knew this one very well.
#5 – “Rock the Boat” – The Hues Corporation
Just like we couldn’t leave out progressive rock, we couldn’t ignore disco. If you were there in the seventies, you were surrounded by it at one point or another. “Rock the Boat” is often cited as one of the earliest major disco hits, although to me it always sounded as much like soul music as disco. The fact is that the record went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1974. It was quite a sign of where pop radio was headed over the next several years.
#4 – “I Just Want to Have Something to Do” – Ramones
And of course we can’t leave out punk. Although I’ve always felt that the Ramones were much bigger than just punk. They were rock and roll played at lightning speed. Their impact was felt for decades. My favorite Ramones album will always be Road to Ruin, and “I Just Want to Have Something to Do,” which opened that 1978 record, has always sounded like one of their most underrated gems. If you were there and you were into the Ramones, you remember this one.
#3 – “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)” – Jim Croce
I always wondered what kind of musical career Jim Croce would have had if he hadn’t lost his life at such a young age. In just a few short years, he left behind an incredible body of work and proved himself one of the finest singer-songwriters of the early seventies. “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)” reached number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. This is the Jim Croce song I have always loved most, and anyone who was deeply into music in the 1970s knows it really well.
#2 – “Danny’s Song” – Loggins & Messina
Loggins & Messina were a very successful duo in the early seventies. They had plenty of great songs and were very much loved. Those who grew up later, in the eighties and nineties, probably recognize Kenny Loggins’ name more quickly than Loggins & Messina. Their original recording of “Danny’s Song,” released on Sittin’ In in 1971, was not a major Top 40 single for the duo, but the song received significant radio play and became even more famous after Anne Murray turned it into a Top 10 hit. Regardless of who remembers what, I can honestly tell you that this song was huge among all my friends, especially the girls.
#1 – “Magnet and Steel” – Walter Egan
There’s just something really special about this song. It’s that one record that brings me right back to the summer of 1978. It doesn’t matter what age you were, although for me it was the summer before my senior year in high school, so it’s probably even more special. But it’s also the song itself. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham both contributed backing vocals, while Buckingham also helped produce the record. This one is pure magic, and if you were there in 1978 when it seemed to be playing on the radio all summer long, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
For a complete look at the various types of articles we have on the site, make sure to check out our Classic Rock Bands List and Directory. Don’t miss our fun, in-depth article on the Top 500 Classic Rock Songs Of All Time. If you want to see how we rank our favorite bands, check out our Top 200 Classic Rock Bands Of All Time article. If you love interviews with legendary rock stars, we have thousands of them that you can find in our Rock Star Interviews List.
Published September 2, 2026.
20 Songs Only Those Who Grew Up in the ’70s Remember article published on ClassicRockHistory.com © 2026
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