The top 25 singles from 1970

A personal top 25

Part eight of an ongoing project where I write about my twenty-five¹ favourite singles year after year. I started in 1963, when The Beatles exploded and modern pop music was revolutionised and I’ll end in 1989, when I turned 18.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Even as the album took more of a hold on serious music listeners, the single continued to be the music of the radio, the music of the disco, and the music of the moment. As we move from the psychedelic hopefulness of the 60s into the darker days of the 70s, we’ll see both blistering positively and cynical political commentary.

The 70s saw the end of The Beatles, the slow demise of Motown, saw the rise of glam rock, punk and hip hop, and music changed forever.

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But this was fun! 1970 was a year of some quite fantastic music, some of which hit the charts and some of which didn’t, but which can never be forgotten. By me, anyway! I’m still not yet alive when this music is being released, but I’ll be here soon…

The top twenty-five

25: Freda Payne - Band of Gold

Written by Parliament collaborator Ron Dunbar and Holland-Dozier-Holland, who had just left Motown and are credited as “Edythe Wayne” on the record because of the lawsuit they were caught up in, this track was released on the Invictus label. It is powered by a falling bass line, mirrored by Dennis Coffey’s cool electric sitar. Ray Parker Jr plays guitar and Payne sings with soulful cool, a tale of wedding night blues - why is she on her own? Obviously the coolest part is when everything drops out for the bass and then sitar to play that distinctive line.

24: The Bonzo Dog Band - You Done My Brain In

Steeped in jazz and in surreal nonsense, the Bonzos were consummate musicians. Neil Innes wrote this rocker, showing that the band could do psychedelic rock as well as anyone. They add their own touches, not least the bizarre opening, and what sounds like a kazoo chugging along. I still think Innes is a woefully underlooked songwriter, and here he sings with simple coolness too.

23: The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad

A song on the soundtrack to the stunning Jimmy Cliff film, The Harder They Come, this is a deceptively clever reggae track. It feels like it’s moving slowly and coolly, but the guitar is chopping out quickly and with tons of energy, and the Hammond organ swirling with fairground fun throughout. Find the film if you can, it’s quite brilliant.

22: James Brown - Funky Drummer

Probably most famous for Clyde Stubblefield’s snapping drum beat, sampled thousands of times by thousands of bands, but it’s every element of this song I love. It is pure JB funk, built around a repetitive groove over which he adds some brilliant keyboard vamps. He raps some wonderful, improvised lines that drip with cool: “Bring on the juice!”, “Make me sweat”, “Standing over there - the devil’s son in law” and then Maceo Parker blows an incredible sax solo. Of course, as the band were recording, Brown heard the beat the Stubblefield had found, and pulled him front and centre: “You don’t have to do no soloing, brother, just keep what you got... Don’t turn it loose, ‘cause it’s a mother…” He released one of the greatest moments in 20th century music. That’s why “the name of this tune is the Funky Drummer!”

21: The Beatles - Let It Be

Even as they split up, the fab four left the world with a final, beautiful song. Paul sings with delicate beauty on this track, but even as they disintegrated over the final years, this song reminds us just how well they worked together. Opening with Paul’s voice and piano, we get the band singing those remarkable harmonies as if they were born to always do it. Ringo drums with effortless confidence and even though I prefer the guitar solo on the album version, the song is a modern day hymn and a thing of beauty.

20: The Impressions - Check Out Your Mind

I make no apologies for my love of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions. This is a funky soulful soundtrack built around a wah-wah groove and descending horn lines. Curtis sings with his lilting, sweet voice, the whole band singing along, exploding in a fabulous chorus. This song was part of Mayfield’s final work with the band before he went solo, and he leaves them with a cool touch of psychedelic funk groove, held together by pure energy.

19: George Harrison - My Sweet Lord

I struggle with a lot of Harrison’s solo work, but I love All Things Must Pass and this, his first, and most successful, single. It opens with passionate acoustic guitar chords before his signature guitar sound slides in. It’s a gospel hymn, a tribute to the plethora of religions that Harrison was deeply involved with, and it’s sung with a genuine passion. He was sued, successfully, for having subconsciously plagiarised He’s So Fine by The Chiffons. I’m thankful I can listen to both songs (and He’s So Fine made my 1963 list!)

18: George Perkins & The Silver Stars - Cryin’ in the Streets

My ears pricked up when, on the song Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street) off Tom Waits’ Nighthawks at the Diner he mentioned looking for the song “High Blood Pressure by George (Cryin’ in the Streets) Perkins”. If Tom is talking about this guy he must be worth searching for. This song is a beautiful gospel track, sweet and tender soul. A gentle cry following the murder of Martin Luther King. Perkins sings his vocals with Frank Turner helping him, their words wrapping around each other, Perkins’ remarkable falsetto is full of icy power, blasting through the track. The 7” does that wonderful thing where the b-side is just part 2 of the same song.

17: Dave & Ansel Collins - Double Barrel

A number one single in the UK, featuring a young Sly Dunbar on drums, this is a powerful piece of Rock Steady, moving at a cool, prowling pace, and built around a wonderful piano line. Dave Barker preaches the vocals, yelling out, “I am the magnificent!” It’s made, for me, by the soulful snatches of bass line that burst out, descending down with funky cool. A wonderful piece of Rock Steady that makes you groove wherever you are.

16: T. Rex - Ride a White Swan

When Bolan made the decision to shorten his bands name from Tyrannosaurus Rex, he put forward Ride a White Swan as their first single. It centres around a great and simple guitar lick, pinging high and cool, with a bumping bass, wonderful handclaps and Marc’s fabulously unhinged lyrics and wavering voice. It’s early glam rock in the way it stomps and swings, but keeps one foot back in his more pastoral folk work of the earlier incarnation of the band

15: The J.B.’s - The Grunt

My god! James Brown gives his backing band a chance to shine, and boy do they shine. This is a gritty funk rocker, featuring the wonderful Bootsy and Catfish Collins on bass and guitar. Sampled to high heaven, noticeably by Public Enemy, it absolutely blasts along! Robert McCollough plays his sax with energy dripping from every note. I love when it bursts into double time, feeling like it is going to collapse at any moment, but it doesn’t, stepping back into the original time and bursting with funk power.

14: Clarence Carter - Patches

I have always had a soft spot for this piece of country soul, with Carter singing his version of the Chairmen of the Board song, another song on the list co-written by Ron Dunbar. It’s sentimental and dramatic, but made by the cool middle section in each chorus, and the dreamy chorus. It’s a powerful song of hope, of duty and hard work, and of family love.

13: Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)

Just as he was falling out with Motown as he approached his 21st birthday, Stevie was still knocking out simple, delightful, soulful pop music like this. Listen to that bass line, most probably another James Jamerson contribution. The second track on my list featuring electric sitar, an instrument that seems to have disappeared from the music world! This was co-written with Syreeta Wright, Lee Garrett, and Stevie mother Lula Mae Hardaway. It is infectious and bursts with Stevie energy - a track that makes you smile.

12: The Temptations - Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)

From an effervescent Motown song to one with a much darker energy. A political funk explosion, masterminded by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. From the count in it gets deeply funky, a heavy bass line and strange, echoing guitar arpeggios. The song sets its political agenda out quickly and precisely:

People moving out, people moving in
Why, because of the color of their skin
Run, run, run but you sure can’t hide

The funk moves like clockwork, over and over (“The beat goes on”), but although the music is bright and funky, the message is dark: “Round and around and around we go…Where the world’s headed, nobody knows”. The band had become so interesting under Whitefield’s direction, and this is a perfect example of how he pulled the best from them.

11: The Jackson 5 - ABC

I remember a friend telling me that no matter how down you got, how dark you saw the world, putting this song on could make everything right. It has always stuck with me. It seems to explode into life. Michael is in incredible voice, and everyone’s contributions push the song forward. I love that fuzztone guitar line, possibly David T Walker, and the percussive interlude that leads to the snaking bass line as they sing “Shake it, shake it, baby.” Champagne music!

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The top ten

10: The Doors - Roadhouse Blues

In contrast to ABC, Roadhouse Blues is dark blues rocker, built around a very simple but wonderfully effective guitar riff, barroom piano, wailing harmonic and Jim Morrison’s simple, blues-infected vocals. There’s none of Morrison’s mystic poetry here, just deliberately nihilistic drinking and bar room fun. Alice Cooper tells the story that he was the inspiration behind one of the lyrics: “I said that I had got up this morning and got myself a beer and while we’re talking he just writes that down”. The song featured the fabulous Lonnie Mack on bass, and moves with a blistering, bouncing, simple, infectious energy

9: Sly & The Family Stone - I Want to Take You Higher

No stranger to my “Best of “ lists, Sly pulls out an amazing track here. The song interlays different band members as they combined to make a chopping, snarling, dancing funk track. The keyboard weeps and wails, the guitar screams its line over a harmonic, and everyone in the family contribute with brilliance. It has an incredible, hypnotic power, a down home country funk at times, at others sounding like nothing that had been played before, reminding us of just how important Sly was to the world of music.

8: Stephen Stills - Love the One You’re With

A fabulous multi-instrumentalist, Still plays guitar, organ and percussion on this effervescent single, backed by Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuel on bass and the congas of Jeff Whittaker. It gallops along, built around the double drop D guitar riff. The chorus soars, Stills’ voice joined by Crosby and Nash as well as Rita Coolidge, her sister Priscilla Jones, and John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful. It has a strangely selfish message: If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with, but most importantly it’s part of that blissful folk rock sound of the time, a perfect example of what these guys were doing. It’s cool, soulful, steeped in folk and country, and effortlessly expert.

7: Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

As tender and as powerful as ever, Simon wrote this song initially as a duet, but quickly wanted Garfunkel to sing alone. Art’s voice is magnificent on this quite beautiful ballad. Those first two verses and choruses, just Art and Larry Knechtel’s piano are heart-wrenching, beautiful and mesmeric, Art’s voice simple soaring high and light. As we get further into the song, the band join in, making perfect, delicate contributions. Simon joins in for “Sail on silver girl” and Hal Blaine rolls out an amazing, overlooked drum part. Elvis turned the song into a remarkable arrangement for his early 70s sets

6: The Who - The Seeker

A non-album single, I love the guitar on this. Pete Townshend doesn’t really like it himself, “It suffered from being the first thing we did after Tommy, and also from being recorded a few too many times” but I have always loved this. Townshend get a great guitar sound out of this (possibly his Gibson SG or his Telecaster). It’s got a tripping funkiness to it, as well as great backing vocals and fabulous piano from Nicky Hopkins. The whole band rock out, Daltrey singing with that clear power he has at that time. What is it all about? Who knows? Townshend’s semi-mystical search for peace is just a fantastic song, that’s all I know.

5: Toots & the Maytals - 54-46 Was My Number

An updated version of the band’s 1968 hit 54-46 That’s My Number, this take is even better, even cooler, with the wonderful hook of Toots’ “Give it to me, one time!” being yelled out throughout. That bassline has been stolen, twisted and re-sued a million times, but never better than here. It’s pure Rock Steady, reminding me of why I prefer a bit of snapping tempo to my reggae, rather than the slowed down deep heat of the mid-70s.

4: The Five Stairsteps - O-o-h Child

A Chicago band that first began working with Curtis Mayfield, and who then worked with Stan Vincent on Buddah Records. Like lots of people of my age, I first heard this on Boyz n the Hood, Larry Fishburne’s character cranking the radio up and explaining why he loves it. I was hooked. And then I found it in my dad’s record collection. It’s a beautiful piece of soul, simple and dramatic, making great use of the blended harmonies of the band. It sings a song of hope: “Things are gonna get easier” and sings it with joy and with remarkable musical tenderness.

The top three

3: John Lennon - Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)

One evening on 27 January 1970, Lennon got together with George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Andy White, Yoko Ono and Billy Preston to quickly record this song with Phil Spector, flooding Lennon’s songwriting with the Wall of Sound. Released a week later even though The Beatles were still officially together, it made the top 5 in the UK and no. 3 in the US. It is simple but it is wonderfully effective. Lennon at the top of his game. That semi-shouted chorus hooks you in, and Lennon uses simple chord changes through the verse, moving from a major to the 6th minor chord in a range of keys. Lennon’s vocals are amongst his very best, and I love how Andy White’s drums run the show, rumbling around like a lead instrument. Lennon wanted a 50s sound and Spector gives it to him, but the whole track is wonderfully contemporary.

2: James Brown - Get Up, I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine

Fellas, I’m ready to get up and do my thing!

Possibly his most famous track, certainly one of his best. Brown took the groove he’d built in 1969’s Give It Up or Turn It Loose, and pushed it to the next level. Pure repetitive funk. The song funks like clockwork, Bootsy Collins laying out a motorik bassline, Catfish snapping those two guitar chords over and over. JB’s piano is incredible, and this whole thing live in the studio! “Take ‘em to the bridge?” he asks, before the song shifts gear into a middle section that keeps the funk high and mighty. Returning to the original groove, the track just keeps going. This skeletal robot funk is JB at his best. As the song draws to a close listen to Bootsy - listen to that rising bass line he sneak in every now and then, adding an extra funk twist to an incredible song.

1: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Ohio

On the 4th May 1970 four college students were killed and nine other wounded by the Ohio National Guard on the Kent State University campus. After a weekend of protests against the Vietnam war and its development into Cambodia, another protest took place on the Monday, May 4th. Called in to disperse the crowd, the National Guard first used tear gas and then live ammunition.

The shots were definitely coming my way, because when a bullet passes your head, it makes a crack. I hit the ground behind the curve, looking over. I saw a student hit. He stumbled and fell, to where he was running towards the car. Another student tried to pull him behind the car, bullets were coming through the windows of the car. - Unnamed eyewitness

Four students were killed: William Knox Schroeder, Allison Beth Krause, Jeffrey Glenn Miller and Sandra Lee Scheuer.

Seeing the photos in Life Magazine a few weeks later, Neil Young was inspired to quickly write the track and the band recorded it live in just a few takes.

Musically it is incredible, based around a circling guitar riff in double drop D, with Stills adding a bluesy guitar line. The band’s remarkable harmonies add real power to the chorus: “What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground?” It’s a simple track, wordless sections demonstrating the anger of Young in his writing. You can feel his anger. The band, with “Fuzzy” Samuels on bass and John Barbata on drums, are stunningly tight. The repeated mantra of “Four dead in Ohio” is powerful, and Crosby’s little interjections, “How many more…Why?” are judged perfectly. Allegedly Crosby cried when they finished recording. It is an incredible piece of art, an incredible protest song, and a reminder of what can happen when the powerful feel like they have no barriers to doing what they want to control their country.

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1. It was going to be ten, but there are too many good ones to whittle down!