Blog Archive

All 55 posts, newest first.

The original P-Funk Mothership built for George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic tour, on display at the Smithsonian
Artists

George Clinton: One Contract Dispute Built Two Bands

George Clinton split one band into two to dodge a bad record contract. The real 70s story behind Parliament, Funkadelic, and the Mothership.

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Jim Croce holding a cigar in a 1972 ABC Records publicity portrait
Artists

Jim Croce: The Song He Released the Day After He Died

Jim Croce died September 20, 1973. His next single shipped one day later. The real timeline of his final year, verified against Billboard's own chart data.

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Carole King seated at a piano in a black and white Ode Records publicity photo from 1971
Artists

Carole King: The Same Chart, Three Different Names

Carole King topped the 1971 year-end chart as a performer, and showed up twice more as the writer behind two other artists' hits that same year.

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Willie Nelson in a black and white Atlantic Records publicity photo from the early 1970s, wearing a straw cowboy hat and singing into a microphone
Artists

Willie Nelson: The Songwriter Who Became the Star

Willie Nelson spent a decade writing hits for other singers. See how a Nashville house fire and one stripped-down album turned him into a star himself.

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Dolly Parton in a publicity photo from 1977, wearing a denim shirt with her hair styled in her signature big blonde curls
Artists

Dolly Parton: The Split, the Songs, and the Lawsuit

Dolly Parton split from Porter Wagoner in 1974, wrote two career songs in one summer, then got sued for it. Here's the real 70s story.

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Stevie Wonder in a recording studio in 1975, wearing headphones and sunglasses
Artists

Stevie Wonder: The Deal That Built His Classic Period

Stevie Wonder let his Motown contract expire at 21, then came back with full creative control. Here's the 1971 deal that built his classic period.

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Freddie Mercury performing live in November 1977, the year Queen released We Will Rock You
Songs

We Will Rock You: How Queen Built a Stadium Chant

The real story behind We Will Rock You: the crowd that inspired it, the drum-riser recording trick, and how Queen built rock's biggest stadium chant.

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Brian May of Queen playing his homemade Red Special guitar live in November 1977
Artists

Brian May and Queen: The Guitar Built From a Fireplace

Brian May and Queen built a signature sound from a homemade guitar, a coin for a pick, and an amp made from junk. Here's how it actually worked.

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Iggy Pop performing shirtless in 1977 on the Lust for Life tour, drummer Hunt Sales' bass drum visible behind him
Artists

Iggy Pop: The 1970s Collapse and Berlin Resurrection

Iggy Pop's own band fell apart on a Detroit stage in 1974. See how David Bowie and Berlin turned that collapse into Lust for Life three years later.

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Queen in 1975, the year their first Hot 100 hit arrived the same decade ABBA broke through in the ABBA vs Queen chart comparison
Trivia

ABBA vs Queen: Who Won the US Charts in the 70s?

ABBA vs Queen: real US Hot 100 data from the 1970s reveals who actually won the charts, not just global album sales totals.

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ABBA in the snow beside a large snowman, promoting Chiquitita for the 1979 Music for UNICEF Concert, the same year Gimme Gimme Gimme was recorded
Songs

Gimme Gimme Gimme: The ABBA Song America Never Got

Gimme Gimme Gimme hit number one in five countries in 1979. Atlantic Records canceled its US single release outright. Here's the real reason why.

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Benny Andersson at the keyboard on the Dutch TV show Eddy Go Round in 1975, the real working method behind his ABBA songwriting on display
Artists

Benny Andersson: The Real Songwriting Method Behind ABBA

Benny Andersson taught himself piano by trial and error. See the real backward songwriting method behind SOS and every other ABBA hit.

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Anni-Frid Lyngstad smiling on the telephone in a 1967 newspaper photo taken the day after her national television debut, years before she became one quarter of ABBA
Artists

Anni-Frid Lyngstad: Born in Wartime, Found on Live TV

Anni-Frid Lyngstad was born in wartime Norway and raised by her grandmother in Sweden. See the real story before she became one quarter of ABBA.

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The Hootenanny Singers photographed in 1967, Bjorn Ulvaeus seated at center, the real Swedish folk group he led for a decade before ABBA existed
Artists

Bjorn Ulvaeus: The Bench Where ABBA Actually Began

Bjorn Ulvaeus led a real Swedish folk group for a decade before ABBA existed. See the park bench meeting that actually started it all.

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Agnetha Fältskog photographed in the Netherlands, November 1976, the ABBA member who was already a real Swedish solo star years before the band ever existed
Artists

Agnetha Fältskog: The Solo Star Before ABBA Existed

Agnetha Fältskog topped Sweden's chart as a teenager, years before ABBA formed. See her real pre-ABBA hits and the solo album she made alongside the band.

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Bob Dylan performs in Rotterdam, June 23 1978, eyes closed at the microphone with a Fender Stratocaster, a folk rock in the 70s songwriter whose own singles never made this site's own chart archive
Genres

Folk Rock in the 70s: Bob Dylan Never Made This Chart

Folk rock in the 70s produced legends like Bob Dylan, yet three of its biggest names never touched this site's own US chart archive.

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Genesis performing The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in Chicago, November 1974, Peter Gabriel in full costume with Phil Collins on drums, the kind of theatrical concept-album staging that defined 70s progressive rock
Genres

70s Progressive Rock: The Genre That Barely Had Hits

70s progressive rock rarely charted as singles. Discover why concept albums built its real legacy, and the scenes most lists skip.

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ABBA photographed during a 1974 Dutch TopPop television appearance, the group behind the mamma mia song that would knock Bohemian Rhapsody off the UK's number one spot two years later
Songs

Mamma Mia Song: The Story ABBA Almost Gave Away

The mamma mia song almost went to another band, then knocked Bohemian Rhapsody off the UK's number one spot. Its real US peak tells a different story.

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The Route 66 marker, flatbed Ford truck, and corner statue at Standin' on the Corner Park in Winslow, Arizona, built around a single line from the take it easy song
Songs

Take It Easy: The Song Jackson Browne Couldn't Finish

Take it easy started as Jackson Browne's unfinished song. Glenn Frey completed it, and one line built a real park in Winslow, Arizona.

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Sex Pistols perform at Paradiso in Amsterdam, January 6, 1977, Johnny Rotten at the mic with Glen Matlock, Paul Cook, and Steve Jones, a defining image of 70s punk rock at its rawest
Genres

70s Punk Rock: The Genre With Zero Chart Hits

70s punk rock never touched this site's own US chart archive. See how the real data draws the line between punk and new wave instead.

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Marc Bolan of T. Rex performs in a zebra-print vest and cape during an ABC In Concert taping, May 1973, glam rock in the 70s at its most theatrical
Genres

Glam Rock in the 70s: Britain's Charts, America's Silence

Glam rock in the 70s ruled British charts but barely touched America's. See the real 16-artist roster and the data behind the gap.

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Bay City Rollers pose in matching tartan at Schiphol Airport in February 1976, wearing wooden clogs spelling out their name, one of the biggest pop songs of 70s teen-idol acts
Genres

Pop Songs of 70s: 8 Real Number Ones Hiding in the Data

Pop songs of 70s hid eight real number-one hits behind modest year-end rankings, from TV-built teen idols to Elton John's chart dominance.

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Eric Burdon fronting War in a 1971 performance, the 70s funk act with more chart entries than any other in this site's own archive
Genres

70s Funk: Why War Out-Charted Every Other Act

70s funk goes deeper than Parliament and Kool & the Gang. Discover which act actually charted the most, and the real story behind the sound.

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A massive crowd watches a live band perform at an Amsterdam stadium concert in 1972, the era this 70s music quiz puts to the test
Trivia

70s Music Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Decade

Take this 70s music quiz: 50 real multiple-choice questions, instant feedback, and a running score. Completely free, no signup.

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Don Brewer, Mark Farner, and Mel Schacher of Grand Funk Railroad, the 70s hard rock band that reached number one twice in the 1970s
Genres

70s Hard Rock: The Genre That Actually Hit #1

70s hard rock rarely gets credit for real chart success. Discover which songs actually hit number one and the genre's essential 70s artists.

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ABBA arriving in Rotterdam in 1979, near the end of the decade that made them international stars
Artists

ABBA: The Band That Needed Permission for Its Own Name

Discover the real story of ABBA: the Eurovision win that started it all, the fish company that owned their name first, and what came after.

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Eagles the Band in a 1974 Asylum Records press photo, showing Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, and Don Felder
Artists

Eagles the Band: The Lineup Swap That Changed Everything

Discover the real story of Eagles the Band: the backing-band origin, the disputed name story, and the one-day swap that led to Hotel California.

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Donna Summer in a 1977 Casablanca Records publicity photo, taken during the height of Disco Music of the 70s
Genres

Disco Music of the 70s: The Year It Peaked and Nearly Died

Discover the real story of Disco Music of the 70s: its true chart peak, the riot that tried to kill it, and the artists who built the sound.

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Queen Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor in a 1977 press photo for News of the World
Artists

Queen Freddie Mercury: Two Nights That Defined Their 70s

Discover the real story of Queen Freddie Mercury: the toothache that accidentally launched punk, and the video gamble that changed music.

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The Flying Burrito Brothers, including Bernie Leadon and Chris Hillman, at an Amsterdam press conference in 1970
Genres

70s Country Rock: The Genre Nobody Wanted to Name

Discover the real story of 70s country rock: the Gilded Palace of Sin, the guitarist who built the Eagles, and Gram Parsons' strange death.

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Carole King at the piano in 1971, the year her album Tapestry helped define 70s soft rock
Genres

70s Soft Rock: The Sound Built to Calm the Decade Down

Discover what really defines 70s soft rock, which year actually topped its charts, and the real artists behind the genre's biggest hits.

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ABBA photographed in the Netherlands in 1976, the year Dancing Queen was released
Songs

Dancing Queen: The Song ABBA Played for a King First

Discover the real story behind Dancing Queen: the secret royal wedding premiere, the year-long wait, and how it became ABBA's only US #1.

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The Eagles photographed in 1975, the year before they recorded Hotel California
Songs

Hotel California: What It Really Means (And What It Doesn't)

Discover the real story behind Hotel California: what Don Henley actually says it means, and why the Satanism theories are wrong.

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Queen photographed in 1975 for A Night at the Opera, the album that includes Bohemian Rhapsody
Songs

Bohemian Rhapsody: The Song Nobody Wanted to Release

Discover the real story behind Bohemian Rhapsody: the label that refused it, the DJ who leaked it, and the four hours that made the video.

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Don McLean photographed in 1976, five years after he wrote American Pie
Songs

Don McLean American Pie: The Real Story Behind It

Discover the real story behind Don McLean American Pie: the 1959 plane crash, the joke he told for decades, and what he finally revealed.

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Black and white 1970 photo of the Grateful Dead posed outside a barn, used in a Billboard trade advertisement for American Beauty
Artists

Grateful Dead in the 70s: The Band the Charts Missed

Discover Grateful Dead in the 70s: a drug bust that inspired their only real hit, the Wall of Sound, and the night that outlasted the charts.

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James Brown photographed arriving at Schiphol airport in January 1977, during his run as the Godfather of Soul
Artists

James Brown in the 70s: How He Became the Godfather of Soul

Discover James Brown in the 70s: the band that walked out, the album that got rejected, and how he became the Godfather of Soul.

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Talking Heads in a 1979 Sire Records publicity photo, showing all four band members including David Byrne and Tina Weymouth
Artists

Talking Heads: Built From Found Objects, Not a Plan

Discover Talking Heads: the stolen TV term that became their name, the Son of Sam coincidence, and how they built a sound from nothing.

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Village People photographed in full costume in 1978, showing the cowboy, biker, Native American chief, police officer, construction worker, and military man characters
Artists

Village People in the 70s: The Disco Act Everyone Missed

Discover Village People in the 70s: the gay club that inspired it, the Navy near-miss, and the real story behind the Y.M.C.A. arm dance.

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BBC Broadcasting House in London, the building behind many of the banned songs of the 70s decisions covered in this post
Trivia

Banned Songs of the 70s: The Real Story

Discover the real banned songs of the 70s: who banned them, why, and which famous bans turned out to be myths.

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Infographic showing the top songs of 1979, with The Knack's My Sharona at number one, Donna Summer's four year-end chart entries, and the Bee Gees' three top-40 hits
Years

Top Songs of 1979: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

Discover the top songs of 1979, from The Knack's chart-topping My Sharona to Donna Summer's record four hits on the year's biggest chart.

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Infographic showing the top songs of 1978, with Andy Gibb's Shadow Dancing at number one and the Bee Gees and Andy Gibb combining for four of the year's top six spots
Years

Top Songs of 1978: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

Discover the top songs of 1978, from Andy Gibb's chart-topping Shadow Dancing to the Bee Gees' three-song sweep of the year's biggest hits.

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Infographic showing 16 artists who each landed two hits among the top songs of 1976, including Wings, Elton John, Diana Ross, and Silver Convention
Years

Top Songs of 1976: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

The top songs of 1976 ranked Wings and Elton John at #1 and #2, while disco, live albums, and novelty hits filled out a wildly eclectic year-end chart.

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Infographic showing Rod Stewart's number one 1977 song, Fleetwood Mac and Leo Sayer's three chart hits each, and the two versions of Star Wars music that charted that year
Years

Top Songs of 1977: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

The top songs of 1977 crowned Rod Stewart at #1, while Fleetwood Mac and Leo Sayer landed three hits and Star Wars charted in two versions.

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Hand-drawn Sketch Note infographic about the top songs of 1975, showing Captain and Tennille's number one hit Love Will Keep Us Together, Elton John placing three songs on the year-end list, and Freddy Fender's two top-30 hits
Years

Top Songs of 1975: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

Discover the top songs of 1975, from Captain & Tennille's Grammy-winning #1 hit to the year Elton John placed more songs than any other artist.

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Hand-drawn Sketch Note infographic about the top songs of 1974, showing Barbra Streisand's number one hit The Way We Were, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Paul McCartney and Wings, and Jim Stafford each landing three year-end hits, and the instrumental Love's Theme reaching number 3
Years

Top Songs of 1974: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

Discover the top songs of 1974, from Barbra Streisand's Oscar-winning movie theme to a year packed with artists landing three hits apiece.

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Hand-drawn Sketch Note infographic about the top songs of 1973, showing Tony Orlando and Dawn's number one hit Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree, Stevie Wonder and War each landing three year-end hits, and Tony Orlando and Dawn's second charting song Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose
Years

Top Songs of 1973: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

Discover the top songs of 1973, from Tony Orlando and Dawn's chart-topping hit to the year Stevie Wonder and War each landed three songs apiece.

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Hand-drawn Sketch Note infographic about the top songs of 1972, showing Roberta Flack's number one hit The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Al Green's three year-end chart entries, and I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing charting twice under two different acts
Years

Top Songs of 1972: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

Discover the top songs of 1972, from Roberta Flack's chart-topping ballad to Al Green's record year and the decade's strangest chart quirk.

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Hand-drawn Sketch Note infographic about 70s soul music, showing a 14-year-old Michael Jackson singing Ben, Johnnie Taylor's platinum single Disco Lady, and MFSB's TSOP, the Sound of Philadelphia
Genres

70s Soul Music: The Artists Who Redefined a Genre

Explore 70s soul music, from Marvin Gaye's social commentary to the rise of Philly soul and disco's roots in funk and groove.

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Hand-drawn Sketch Note infographic showing the top songs of 1971, including Three Dog Night's number one hit Joy to the World, The Carpenters' record three-song year, and Donny Osmond's four chart appearances
Years

Top Songs of 1971: The Year's Biggest Hits & Trends

Discover the top songs of 1971, from Three Dog Night's chart-topping hit to the Carpenters' record year and soul music's commercial breakthrough.

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Black-and-white photo of the Bee Gees performing on stage in the 1970s
Artists

Bee Gees: The Story of Pop's Most Successful Sibling Act

The full story of the Bee Gees, from a name that never meant "Brothers Gibb" to disco's biggest phenomenon and pop's top songwriters.

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Black-and-white photo collage of five 70s chart-topping artists: Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Elton John, the Bee Gees, and Debby Boone
Songs

Best Songs of the 70s: The Ultimate Decade Ranking

Discover the best songs of the 70s, from Debby Boone's record-breaking ballad to the Bee Gees' nine number-ones and disco's commercial peak.

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Hand-drawn illustration asking 'How well do you know 70s music trivia?' with a vinyl record, disco ball, guitar, jukebox, and cassette tape
Trivia

70s Music Trivia: 64 Questions to Test How Well You Really Know the Decade

Test your 70s music trivia knowledge with 64 real questions on disco, punk, funk, and prog rock, each with a short explanation behind the answer.

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Infographic illustrating the evolution of 70s rock, from hard rock and progressive rock through glam, southern rock, arena rock, and the punk explosion that ended the decade
Genres

70s Rock: The Sound That Defined a Decade

Discover 70s rock's full story: hard rock, prog rock's chart dominance, Fleetwood Mac's record sales, and the punk revolt that closed out the decade.

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Infographic showing the top songs of 1970, including Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water and the Jackson 5's four Year-End Hot 100 hits
Years

Top Songs of 1970: The Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Countdown

See the top songs of 1970 from Billboard's Year-End Hot 100: Simon & Garfunkel's number one hit, the Jackson 5's record year, and the full top 20.

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