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Are these really the WORST songs of the '70s?
Be ready to stand up for your favorite!
Hey look, tastes change...
Back in 2011, Rolling Stone published a list of the 10 worst songs of the '70s, according to that site's readers.
We want to know whether you agree! Are these songs true clunkers, well beyond defense? Or were they wrongly maligned, and maybe exist as a guilty pleasure for you and other listeners?
Let us know, and if you have any strong enough opinions, please share them in the comments section below!
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Rick Dees – ‘Disco Duck’
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Starland Vocal Band – ‘Afternoon Delight’
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Paul Anka – ‘(You’re) Having My Baby’
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Debby Boone – ‘You Light Up My Life’
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The Captain and Tennille – ‘Muskrat Love’
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Rupert Holmes – ‘Escape (The Pina Colada Song)’
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Terry Jacks – ‘Seasons In The Sun’
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Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods – ‘Billy Don’t Be A Hero’
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Morris Albert – ‘Feelings’
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Minnie Riperton – ‘Loving You’
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Are these really the WORST songs of the '70s?
Your Result...
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Elvis - The Stare
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Sun Record Co. - Logo
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Jimi Hendrix - Woodstock
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Yes - Yessongs
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Elvis - Long Live the King
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Elvis - Mugshot
$19.95
Yes - Logo
$21.95
Duran Duran - Pink Duran
$19.95
Elvis - Original Son
$19.95
Duran Duran - Logo
$19.95
Woodstock - Love Revolution
$19.95
Pink Floyd - DSOTM
$19.95
Elvis - Red Scarf
$19.95
The Rolling Stones - Mick
$19.95
Guns N' Roses - AFD '87
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219 Comments
Marked clunker on most of these. They are ones that largely do make me cringe upon hearing them.
All I can think of when ‘Feelings’ is mentioned is the episode of The Gong Show where every contestant sang it!
Yep. Eunice Higgins even did it on The Carol Burnett Show. I think mostly because of that. 😄
And I would have added Barry Manilow's "I write the songs" Ugh I hate that song..
Alot of people don't know that Minnie Ripperton is the mother of Maya Rudolph. I was doing research for the song loving you for my podcast and found that tidbit to be interesting.
70% similar.
I still have the 45's of #s 1 (at first I liked only the instrumental on the B-side), 4, 6, and 8. For those who weren't aware, "Escape" was Billboard's *very last* #1 single of the 70's.
I still have the 45's of #s 1 (at first I liked only the instrumental on the B-side), 4, 6, and 8. For those who weren't aware, "Escape" was Billboard's *very last* #1 single of the 70's.
I don't think Feelings was a true clunker but a lot of people sure made fun of it :)
Wasn't it a big hit?
Wasn't it a big hit?
70% similar
Me, too.
90%
NEVER Minnie Riperton...the nerve!
With lyrics by Rod McKuen, how could Seasons in the Sun ever be considered a clunker?
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Wasn't that Alone Again, Naturally? Omg. Even the title is depressing
as a kid, we changed the lyrics. "we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, but the cop with the gun shot us right between the buns".... ahh, youth..
Except it wasn't. It was adapted from a French poem .
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100% similar - 100% similar to the most popular responses. Wow, that's the first time I agreed with 100% of the responders. We must all be of the same age group or at least have similar tastes in music.
Congratulations! But don't take it so seriously if you ever get 0%. You just have your own opinion. I got 70%. But I did not recognize all the songs to really have an honest opinion. I think a popular song deserves the benefit of the doubt, so I voted "maligned" in those cases.
The question I have is interpreting the word "Klunker": How can a song be a "Klunker" when it was able to reach Number One on the Billboard Singles Chart and even number one on your local radio station's singles chart? Most of these songs made it to the top of the Billboard Singles chart and the rest were in the Top 10. I understand the consternation of a popular song which I hated being #1 and worst yet, being #1 for a number of consecutive weeks bringing me half-earache half-headache and the feelings of nausea.
So, is it a "clunker" or not?
You tell me.
BTW, MeTV, "clunker" is spelled with a "C" and not with a "K". Try running your "Spell-Check" once in a while.
You tell me.
BTW, MeTV, "clunker" is spelled with a "C" and not with a "K". Try running your "Spell-Check" once in a while.
Klunk can be spelled with a K.
Most of these songs are Klunkers. Feelings was my wedding song, so that’s a HUGE klunker. And The Escape Song was a hit when we split up and divorced, so that’s my FAVORITE on the list. Only I perceived it in a different way than how the song actually ends, because I really escaped….lol
Interesting how points of view can be so different. My wife and I were married in '76, and "Afternoon Delight" was popular then, and it brings back so many good memories. Hard to believe it'll be 50 years next year, and I'm glad I was lucky enough to find the right one. She's a drunkard's dream if I ever did see one. It makes me wonder if I'd hate the song if things turned out differently.
Minnie Riperton had an incredible voice, and her "Lovin' You" is still a joy to listen to today. I love the end where she sings "Maya, Maya, Maya" to her new daughter Maya Rudolph, who is a great talent in her own right.
Minnie Riperton sang "Loving You" extraordinarily. Her voice was very sexy. Most men imagined a beautiful woman singing it. It is surprising that she wasn't chosen to sing other well known songs. That is why her name isn't better known. There is no one who could have sang "Loving You" better, and very few who could have sang it as good.
This list is missing "Midnight at the Oasis" (The original version was sung slightly out of tune), "Troglodyte" (Caveman), "I'm Hooked on a Feeling" (Blue Suede version), "Sylvia's Mother", and of course, "Afternoon Delight".
Afternoon Delight is on the list. Troglodyte was hilarious when I was 14, as was Hooked on a Feeling. (My grandsons love that version. Sylvia's Mother was a country parody. Have seen Dr. Hook and Maria Muldar in concert.
Troglodyte was funny. Always made me smile listening to it on the radio while driving. "Her name was Bertha. Bertha Butt. One of the Butt sisters". lol
I liked all of those, and I'm wondering how they managed to skip the biggest Clunker of the entire decade: "Once You Understand" by Think.
My sister works with a woman named Bertha Butt. No kidding. She was born before that song came out.
"Gotta find a woman...gotta find a woman...gotta find a woman..."
I have the 1968 original version of "Hooked on a Feeling" by B.J. Thomas on a 45.
It was issued twice: once in 1971 on Laurie and again in 1974 on Big Tree. (Both labels were owned by the same man, Doug Morris.)
70% similar
60% similar
70% similar kinda torn about some these songs because I enjoyed them back then but not really now
They should've included "The Night Chicago Died".
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The band have admitted that the events in the song never happened in real life.
It was about Al Capone taking over the city. Look up the words to the song. It will explain that.
Crimes in major US cities declined in 2024. You're getting your "news" from an entertainment network, not a real news network.
That has zero to do with this and Chicago is still a great city.
70% Similar