The Music of 1970

A weekly look at America's top singles in the year that The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel broke up

By: Ken F. Jarrell

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Radio listeners in 1970 would be treated to some of the greatest hits of the coming decade. They would marvel at the soaring vocals of Art Garfunkel on Simon & Garfunkel’s #1 smash recording of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. They may have shed a tear upon hearing the melancholy last single and record-setting 20th #1 Hot 100 hit from The Beatles, ‘The Long And Winding Road’. Many would celebrate the joyful sound of the uber-talented Jackson 5 and their four #1 hits in 1970. The AM airwaves would be filled with the soft pop hits of the brother and sister act, Carpenters, big hits from Canadian stars like The Guess Who, Gordon Lightfoot and Anne Murray and the usual raft of hits from Motown acts that, in 1970, included Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes, R. Dean Taylor, Rare Earth, Edwin Starr and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, in addition to The Jackson 5. Sadly, 1970 was the year that both The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel broke up and Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin both died tragically young. However, The Bee Gees, on the very cusp of a lasting breakup, reunite with their biggest hit yet in America, ‘Lonely Days’.
The singles artists of the year had to be The Jackson 5 who scored 4 straight #1 hits but the single of the year, according to Billboard was ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Simon & Garfunkel. The rest of the Top 10 singles of 1970 were, in order, ‘(They Long To Be) Close To You’ by Carpenters, ‘American Woman’ by The Guess Who, ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’ by B. J. Thomas, ‘War’ by Edwin Starr, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ by Diana Ross, ‘I’ll Be There’ by The Jackson 5, ‘Get Ready’ by Rare Earth, ‘Let It Be’ by The Beatles and ‘Band Of Gold’ by Freda Payne.
Besides The Beatles and The Jackson 5 who each scored more than one #1 song, a number of other artists also had more than one big hit. This eclectic mix of musical talents included Carpenters, The Guess Who, Rare Earth, Three Dog Night, Neil Diamond, The Supremes, The Temptations, Bobby Sherman, Stevie Wonder, Charles Wright And The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Tom Jones, Simon & Garfunkel, Chicago, The Four Tops, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Elvis Presley, Santana, Aretha Franklin, Chairmen Of The Board, James Brown, Joe Cocker and Creedence Clearwater Revival. For Creedence Clearwater Revival, they will start the year with their 1969 double-sided hit, ‘Down On The Corner’/‘Fortunate Son’ still in the Top 10 and then they will release three more singles, all double-sided hits which all make the Top 5, though they never in their career reach #1.
A total of 21 different songs made their way to the top of the Hot 100 in 1970. For 14 artists, it is their first #1 hit. These acts include B.J. Thomas, The Jackson 5, The Shocking Blue, The Guess Who, Ray Stevens, Three Dog Night, Carpenters, Bread, Edwin Starr, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, The Partridge Family Starring Shirley Jones Featuring David Cassidy, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and George Harrison. Of course, both Ross and Harrison have been at #1 many previous times as members of The Supremes and The Beatles, respectively, but this is the first time they reach the #1 spot as a solo act. Only the veterans, The Beatles, with two, and the upstart The Jackson 5, with four, score multiple #1 records in 1970. With the exceptions of The Beatles and George Harrison from the UK, The Guess Who from Canada and The Shocking Blue from The Netherlands, all the acts with #1 hits are American. For Edwin Starr, The Guess Who, Ray Stevens, Bread and The Partridge Family Starring Shirley Jones Featuring David Cassidy, their 1970 #1 song is the only time they hit the top spot in their careers.
1970 will see fantastic one-hit wonders like The Shocking Blue with ‘Venus’ and Norman Greenbaum with ‘Spirit In The Sky’ and the first big hits from future stars like Elton John, Anne Murray, Chicago, Gordon Lightfoot, Badfinger, Santana and James Taylor. 1970 was quite a year in music.