1. The Way We Were - Barbra Streisand

 

The top song of 1974 was a melancholic tune sung by Babs for the 1973 movie she starred in with Robert Redford, also called The Way We Were. While the movie got a mild-to-positive reception, the song became a massive hit and revitalized Streisand's career. It not only won Best Original Song at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes, but earned the 1974 Grammy for Song of the Year. Gladys Knight & The Pips later recorded a cover that also had some success on the charts.

2. Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks

 

Another song that isn't the feel-good pop you might imagine during the disco era. "Seasons in the Sun" was an English adaptation of a Belgian song about a dying man saying goodbye to his loved ones. The English version gives the dying man closure and ends on a more uplifting note than the original. Terry Jacks never had another song as a solo artist reach the same success, and later pivoted to producing music and working on environmental projects.

While the song received commercial success, recent critics have called it over-sentimental and even put it on lists of the worst pop songs ever. 

3. Love's Theme - The Love Unlimited Orchestra

 

"Love's Theme" was one of the only purely instrumental songs to reach #1 in the U.S. Top 100. The recording was considered to be an influence on the emerging disco scene. The group, formed by Barry White and later joined by the famous Kenny G, never had another #1 on the U.S. Top 100, but their later single "Satin Soul" reached 22.

4. Come and Get Your Love - Redbone

 

While Redbone had previously shown up on the US Hot 100 with their previous single "The Witch Queen of New Orleans", their major hit "Come and Get Your Love" made them the first Native American band to reach top five on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The song had a resurgence in popularity in 2014 when it was used in the film Guardians of the Galaxy, as a song on a mixtape used by character Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). The soundtrack to the movie reached #1. The song was later heard again in Marvel movies Avengers: Endgame and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

5. Dancing Machine - The Jackson 5

 

"Dancing Machine" came at a difficult period for the hit machine that was The Jackson 5. It was their first single to crack the US Top 10 since 1971's 'Sugar Daddy" and came just a couple years before the group would rebrand themselves as The Jacksons as part of a contract dispute. 

The song popularized the "robot" dancing technique after Michael Jackson performed the dance on Soul Train. "Dancing Machine" was nominated for a Grammy Award in the R&B Duo/Group category, but lost to Chaka Khan and Rufus' "Tell Me Something Good".

6. The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk Railroad

 

Two iconic dance move moments in a row? You bet! This song is especially unusual for making three different appearances in the US Top 3 under different artists: Little Eva in 1962, Grand Funk Railroad in 1974, and Kylie Minogue in 1988.

This was the second #1 hit from Grand Funk Railroad, following the previous year's "We're an American Band".

7. TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) - MFSB

 

The first TV theme to reach number one on the US Hot 100, people grooved out to this song every week on Soul Train. Though it was only the theme for the show's 1973-1975 run, it remains the best-known theme. This is another chart-topper that gets recognized for its influence on disco sound.

8. The Streak - Ray Stevens

 

In the Seventies, the "streaking" fad (or menace, depending on who you asked) was streaking - sorry, sweeping the nation. Stevens decided to write this country comedy song after reading an article about the phenomenon. The song follows a reporter covering disturbances at a supermarket, service station, and high school sports games, where each time the same man describes what he saw and telling his wife "don't look, Ethel!"

Notably, less than a week after the release of "The Streak", there was a public uproar when the 46th Academy Awards was disrupted by a streaker. 

9. Bennie and the Jets - Elton John

 

1974 was a good year for Elton John. Two more of his songs made the '74 Hot 100 - "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" at #72 and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" at #78 - but he had the most singles crack the top 10 that year of any artist, with five hits (the other two were "The Bitch is Back" and his cover of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds".)

However, "Bennie" is the one that made the top 10. Today, everyone can recognize it... even if you don't always know the words.

10. One Hell of a Woman - Mac Davis

 

Interestingly, while it came in at #10 in the year-end charts, this song never cracked the top 10 of the weekly charts. It peaked at #11. However, it spent 10 weeks in the top 40 and 28 weeks on the national charts. 

Davis enjoyed a career as a songwriter as well as a singer, notably writing for Elvis early on, and later established himself as an actor, working on TV, movies, and Broadway.