20 Worst Songs Of The 70s For Rock Fans

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We don’t usually do “worst songs” lists on this site because we respect musicians and the work it takes to make a record, no matter the style or genre. This list is about the songs that drove a lot of rock fans crazy in the 1970s, especially when radio played them over and over while we waited to hear some rock and roll. Some of these were huge hits, some were novelty records, and a few are not even bad songs in the traditional sense—they just got under our skin. The anti-disco backlash eventually exploded into Chicago’s infamous 1979 Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, where fans brought records to the stadium and a crate of them was blown up between games. That spirit of pure musical frustration is what this list is about.

# 20 – Booty Time – Disco Express

Ugh, what a way to start this list, but it is perfect in so many ways. I had to stop playing “Booty Time” while listening to it again for this article because I simply could not take any more. The record leans so hard into novelty-disco territory that it feels like somebody took every cliché of the era and packed it into one track. It never became a major chart hit, which may be the best thing we can say about it. Starting at number twenty, we already have nowhere to go but up.

# 19 – Let Her In – John Travolta

John Travolta released “Let Her In” in 1976 while Welcome Back, Kotter was making him one of television’s hottest young stars. Written by Gary Benson and produced by Bob Reno, the ballad somehow climbed all the way to number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. We love John Travolta as an actor and, by all accounts, as a person, but this song always got under our skin. The soft arrangement and breathy delivery felt miles away from what many teenage rock fans wanted to hear coming out of the radio. Sorry, John—we still love Pulp Fiction, Welcome Back, Kotter, and of course Barbarino.

# 18 – Remember You’re a Womble – The Wombles

“Remember You’re a Womble” was released in 1974 by The Wombles, the musical extension of Elisabeth Beresford’s children’s characters. Mike Batt wrote and produced the song, and it reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. For kids, the whole thing was harmless fun, and there is nothing wrong with that. For a rock fan waiting to hear Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, or The Who, however, this could feel like somebody had taken over the radio with a children’s television theme. It was cute, catchy, wildly successful, and absolutely not what we wanted to hear.

# 17 – Disco Lucy (I Love Lucy Theme) – Wilton Place Street Band

The I Love Lucy theme is one of the most recognizable pieces of television music in American history, which made “Disco Lucy” feel almost sacrilegious when it arrived during the disco boom. Producer Trevor Lawrence assembled the Wilton Place Street Band to turn the familiar theme into a dance-floor record. The single eventually reached number twenty-four on the Billboard Hot 100, proving that almost anything could be given a disco beat and sent up the charts in the 1970s. I love Lucy, but I never needed Lucy on the disco floor. Some things really are better left alone.

# 16 – Basketball Jones – Cheech & Chong

Cheech & Chong’s “Basketball Jones” came from the 1973 album Los Cochinos and parodied Brighter Side of Darkness’ “Love Jones.” Cheech Marin sings in character as Tyrone Shoelaces, backed by an astonishing cast that included George Harrison, Carole King, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Nicky Hopkins, Tom Scott, and others. The joke somehow carried the single to number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100. That lineup is almost too good for the song, which only makes the whole thing stranger. Funny once, maybe twice—but heavy radio play could make even a good joke wear out fast.

# 15 – Young Love – Donny Osmond

There were plenty of Donny Osmond singles we could have chosen, but “Young Love” was the one that really hit hard if you were a teenage rock fan in 1973. His version of the old Sonny James hit reached number twenty-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent four weeks at number one in the UK. Donny’s clean-cut teen-idol image was exactly what millions of fans wanted, but it was the opposite of the rebellious rock music many of us were living for. If you really want to drive somebody crazy, play this song all the way through and then immediately hit play again. By the third spin, you may have discovered the true meaning of insanity.

# 14 – That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll – Shaun Cassidy

The problem here is not the song because Eric Carmen wrote a great rock and roll tune and recorded it on his 1975 debut solo album. The problem, for me at fifteen years old, was Shaun Cassidy’s 1977 version turning it into teen-idol pop while millions of young fans went crazy over him. Cassidy’s recording reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, so clearly plenty of people loved it. Maybe if I had been a twelve-year-old girl at the time I would have felt differently. As a teenage rock fan, though, hearing this called “rock and roll” felt almost criminal.

# 13 – If – Telly Savalas

Telly Savalas was a great actor, and his portrayal of Kojak made him one of the coolest faces on television in the 1970s. Then he recorded a spoken-word version of Bread’s beautiful song “If,” and somehow it went all the way to number one in the UK in 1975. Savalas does not really sing the song so much as slowly talk his way through it with complete seriousness. I have watched the performance more than once and still cannot decide whether it is hypnotic or terrifying. That is all I am going to say about this one.

# 12 – D.I.V.O.R.C.E. – Billy Connolly

Billy Connolly’s 1975 parody of Tammy Wynette’s “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” took one of country music’s great heartbreak songs and turned it into complete comedy. His version replaces the emotional divorce story with an absurd tale involving a dog and all sorts of ridiculous behavior. Somehow the record reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. Connolly was a brilliant comedian, so at least the joke came from somebody who knew exactly what he was doing. Still, it is amazing to remember how enormous novelty records like this could become in the middle of the 1970s.

# 11 – Johnny Reggae – The Piglets

“Johnny Reggae” is one of those singles you might have wanted to smash with your Pet Rock before the first thirty seconds were over. Released in 1971 and produced by Jonathan King, the record was credited to The Piglets and climbed to number three on the UK Singles Chart. The exaggerated vocal style and novelty approach to reggae have aged about as well as you might expect. I know the Pet Rock did not arrive until a few years later, but you get the point. This is exactly the kind of record that made serious rock fans wonder what had happened to the radio.

# 10 – Don’t Give Up on Us – David Soul

David Soul was already famous as Hutch on Starsky & Hutch when “Don’t Give Up on Us” became a massive hit at the end of 1976 and into 1977. Written by Tony Macaulay, the song reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom. There is nothing technically wrong with Soul’s smooth performance, which is probably part of what made the record so successful. For rock fans who were already drowning in soft ballads, though, this was one more song standing between us and something with a guitar turned up loud. The fact that everybody seemed to know every word only made it harder to escape.

# 9 – Get Dancin’ – Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes

“Get Dancin’” by Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes is pure mid-1970s disco theater. Written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, the 1974 single is packed with spoken interjections, campy energy, and a beat that simply refuses to stop. The record reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the group’s signature hits. Disco fans could dance to it all night, but rock fans who wanted guitars and attitude had a very different reaction. This is one of those songs where the title also feels like an order you were not allowed to refuse.

# 8 – Feelings – Morris Albert

Few songs became a bigger symbol of 1970s sentimental pop than Morris Albert’s “Feelings.” The song became an international hit in 1975 and reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Its enormous melody and wounded vocal connected with millions of listeners, but years of radio play, lounge performances, television appearances, and parodies turned it into something many rock fans dreaded hearing again. There are songs you dislike because they are bad and songs you dislike because you have heard them approximately ten million times. “Feelings” belongs firmly in the second category for me.

# 7 – Run Joey Run – David Geddes

David Geddes’ “Run Joey Run” took the teenage tragedy song to a level of melodrama that almost has to be heard to be believed. Written by Paul Vance and Jack Perricone and released in 1975, the record tells its story through singing, spoken drama, gunshots, and enough tragedy for an entire soap opera season. Somehow it climbed to number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The record has its fans, and I understand the fascination, but the whole thing makes me angrier every time I hear it. It may also deserve some kind of special award for one of the most gloriously awkward music videos ever made.

# 6 – Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band

“Afternoon Delight” is undeniably catchy, which may be exactly why it became impossible to escape in 1976. Written by Bill Danoff, the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and later won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement for Voices. Those bright harmonies and cheerful delivery made the record perfect pop radio, even if rock fans were begging for something with a little more dirt on it. And yes, after all these years, the song can still pop into your head at the most inappropriate moment in the middle of the afternoon. Good grief—it still does.

# 5 – Torn Between Two Lovers – Mary MacGregor

Mary MacGregor’s “Torn Between Two Lovers” arrived in late 1976 and became one of the biggest soft-pop ballads of early 1977. Written by Peter Yarrow and Phil Jarrell, the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts while also becoming a major international hit. The story of a woman caught between two relationships connected with a huge audience, but the polished arrangement and endless radio rotation drove plenty of rock listeners up the wall. This was exactly the kind of record you could hear in a grocery store, a dentist’s office, and then again five minutes later on the car radio. There really was no escape.

# 4 – Convoy – C.W. McCall

C.W. McCall’s “Convoy” took the CB-radio craze of the 1970s and turned it into one of the biggest novelty records of the decade. Written by Bill Fries and Chip Davis, the song reached number one on both Billboard’s pop and country charts in January 1976. The spoken trucker dialogue, CB slang, and rolling country beat were fun the first few times, but the record became absolutely unavoidable. It eventually inspired the 1978 movie Convoy, proving that the craze had gone far beyond radio. Breaker one-nine, this rock fan was ready to get off the highway.

# 3 – You Light Up My Life – Debby Boone

Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life” was not merely a hit in 1977—it was almost impossible to escape. Written and produced by Joe Brooks, Boone’s version spent an astonishing ten consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Millions of people loved the soaring ballad, but that level of saturation can turn almost any song into an enemy if you are waiting for something louder and rougher. By the tenth week at number one, plenty of rock fans probably felt like the song had been playing for ten years. Commercial success does not get much bigger, and neither does overexposure.

# 2 – Disco Duck – Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots

Rick Dees’ “Disco Duck” may be the purest novelty record on this entire list. Written and performed by Dees with his Cast of Idiots, the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1976 and sold millions of copies. The Donald Duck-style voice over a disco beat was funny to some people, but for others it became a symbol of how ridiculous the commercial disco boom could get. By the time the anti-disco backlash exploded at Comiskey Park in 1979, songs like this had become easy targets for people who were completely burned out on the trend. If you watch the video below, keep the barf bag within reach.

# 1 – Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band – Meco

Meco’s disco version of John Williams’ Star Wars music arrived in 1977 and went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Produced by Meco Monardo, Tony Bongiovi, and Harold Wheeler, the record turned one of the decade’s most iconic film scores into a dance-floor medley. It was enormously successful and perfectly captured the moment when Star Wars mania and disco mania collided. For rock fans and Star Wars fans who thought some things should remain sacred, however, this felt like disco had finally crossed the line. That is why “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” takes the number-one spot.

Updated September 15, 2026

20 Worst Songs Of The 70s For Rock Fans article published on ClassicRockHistory.com © 2026