7 iconic songs that will transport you back to the '70s
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 1970’s was a simpler time for some, and with hits like these, it’s easy to see why.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Listen to the top 7 songs of the 1970’s and take a journey back in time.</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY">Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees</a></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This song was made iconic as it played over the opening credits of 1977 film </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Saturday Night Fever</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as John Travolta struts through the streets of NYC. The song was written specifically for the film and quickly climbed through the charts.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The band was well aware that they were creating a heart-thumping rhythm with the song.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We thought when we were writing it that we should emulate the human heart," Robin Gibb explained in Daniel Rachel's </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We got Blue Weaver who was the keyboard player at the time to lie on the floor and put electrodes on his heart and put it through the control room. Then we got the drummer to play the heartbeat. We were the first people in the world to do a drum loop based on that."</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CFuCYNx-1g">Superstition by Stevie Wonder</a></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Believe it or not, Stevie Wonder wrote this song about the dangers of believing in superstitions.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The song incorporates many elements of rock music, which was ideal for Wonder at the time as it helped extend his appeal to a white audience.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It worked as it was his second #1 hit in the U.S.</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s">Dancing Queen by ABBA</a></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">ABBA had recorded this song a year before it was released, and it was written around the same time as “</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fernando</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">”. However, they chose to release </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fernando</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as the single as they knew they were onto something big with </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dancing Queen.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This song was the only one of ABBA’s 14 US Top 40 hits to make it to number one and it’s easy to see why.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The song also reached number one in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Rhodesia, South Africa, Sweden and Germany.</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgl-VRdXr7I">Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack</a></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The story goes that the inspiration for this song is Don McLean, who was famous for </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">American Pie</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The songwriting team of Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel intimately wrote the track back in 1973, and it wasn’t until Roberta Flack heard the original artist sing the song that she decided to record it herself.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Charles Fox first heard from Flack after Quincy Jones gave her his number.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I was at Paramount Pictures one day walking through the music library, and someone handed me a telephone and said, 'This is for you.' And the voice on the other end of the line said, 'Hi, this is Roberta Flack. We haven't met, but I'm going to sing your songs.'</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“So it was kind of magical at that - that thing just doesn't happen to people. She had just won the Grammy Award for '</span><a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/roberta-flack/first-time-ever-i-saw-your-face"><span style="font-weight: 400;">First Time Ever I Saw Your Face</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.' Beautiful record. So it's kind of remarkable to get a call from her in the first place. And she did go on to sing other songs. And actually, she sang on the main title for me of a show that was called </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Valerie</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after Valerie Harper."</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZmCJUSC6g">You’re So Vain by Carly Simon</a></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It looks like no one apart from Simon herself will know who she’s singing about, although this hasn’t stopped people from trying to figure it out.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rumours include Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens and Mick Jagger.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, Richard Perry, who produced the album, has his own ideas about who the song is about.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said in the book </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Record Producers</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">: "It's about a compilation of men that Carly had known, but primarily Warren Beatty."</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ">Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen</a></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It seems like no one will know what this song is about either, apart from the band and Freddie Mercury himself.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When pressed, Mercury remained tight-lipped.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mercury himself stated, "It's one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The band has always been very keen to let listeners interpret the music in a way that’s personal to them instead of imposing their own meaning on the songs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The song was Queen’s first Top 10 hit in the US. In the UK, the song shot up to #1 and stayed there for nine weeks, which was a record for the time. </span></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrcwRt6J32o">Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel</a></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paul Simon wrote this song about providing comfort to a person in need. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">He revealed this in the documentary </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Marking of Bridge Over Troubled Water</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I have no idea where it came from,” Simon said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It came all of the sudden. It was one of the most shocking moments in my songwriting career. I remember thinking, 'This is considerably better than I usually write."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Upon its release, it was one of the few songs to top the US and UK charts at the same time. It was #1 in the US for six weeks and #1 in the UK for three. </span></p>
