POP MUSIC OF THE 70s

Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, Carpenters, James Taylor, BJ Thomas and more.

Top 50 UK Singles Chart - 25 May 1974

The Arrows, The Intruders, The Isley Brothers, Diana Ross, Harry Chapin and more.

Top 40 Years Ago: November 1977

Bee Gees, Elvis Costello, Diana Ross, Mistral, Earth & Fire and more.

In the 1970s Supremes

UPDATE FEB 2021

Mary Wilson, who co-founded The Supremes and remained a member of the group until they split up, has died at the age of 76.

The singer passed away at her home in Henderson, Nevada, her publicist Jay Schwartz announced, but he did not confirm the cause of death.

The Supremes were known for hits such as Baby Love and You Can't Hurry Love.

The group was founded in Detroit as The Primettes in 1959, when Wilson was 15 years old.

The classic Tamla Motown group that made a huge impact in the 1960s, and made a mega star out of Diana Ross. The group actually started as the Primettes started in 1959 before changing their name later. The group is still the most successful female group in the US. In terms of the Billboard charting.

The group had several 1970 group members which including the founder member Mary Wilson (born 1944) she was with the Supremes until 1977 and saw the group take twelve No. 1 U.S. hits, also having THIRTY THREE top forty hits. Mary would several times take lead vocals during the coming and going of other group members.

Mary had big legal battles with Motown in the late 1970s, and she also went into solo work too, releasing her album Mary Wilson in 1979.

Diana Ross (born 1944) was another founder member who left in the first year of the 70s decade. Her career from the Supremes to solo to icon is another article al in itself On January 14^th 1970Diana sand in Las Vegas with the Supremes for the very last time

Cindy Birdsong joined the group in 1967 and left in 1972. She rejoined the group again in 1973 to 1976. Cindy sang with Patti Labelle in the 1960s. As a solo artist she had a 1970 single called Why (Must We Fall In Love).

Jean Tyrell was brought in to the group in 1970 to replace Diana Ross, but she left in 1973. With her in the group the singles came thick and fast and she was seen as a hard worker, but a few within the Motown group did not her in the group. Lynda Lawrence joined in 1972 and left in 1973, Sherrie Payne joined in 1973 and left in 1976 and Susaye Green joined for only one year in 1976.

1970 saw several UK hits in the top forty with songs like Why (Must We Fall In Love), Up The Ladder To The Roof, RiverDeep Mountain High. But the biggest song hitting No. 3 that year was Stoned Love which had Jean Tyrell on the lead. The song was about peace, especially poignant as the Vietnam War was well in the American consciousness. Some people wrongly assumed it was about drugs and thus some radio stations banned the single written by Kenny Thomas and Frank Wilson.

1971 saw Motown classic hitting the UK charts with two top ten singles. The first was Nathan Jones, a song about a guy who left his lady a year ago and a guy who was always being thought about by his ex-girlfriend. His name of course was Nathan Jones.

The second top ten hit was Floy Joy which was written and produced by the legendary Smokey Robinson.

1972 saw several hits, but only one top ten hit which was Automatically Sunshine, which was another Smokey Robinson produced and written single and came from the album Floy Joy, Although Lynda Laurence is featured on the album's cover, she is not featured on any of the songs. She replaced Cindy Birdsong in the Supremes just after the recordings were finished.

The following year of 1973 gave the group no top twenty hits in the UK, but by 1974 they re released an earlier Supremes song called Baby Love which was recorded by Diana Ross in the 1960s. The song made the No. 12 in the UK. Strangely Diana Ross took the group full circle as that was the last single the Supremes ever charted with.

American Bandstand 1976- Interview The Supremes

Twenty nine top forty singles in the UK during the life of the group, and add that to seventeen top forty UK albums; it is easy to see why this group lives on in the memories of the baby boomers in the 1960s and the 1970s.

Remembering Florence Ballard - 40 years

Top Selling Singles of 1971

Here are the Top Ten Best selling singles in the UK from the year 1971.

Top Hits of 1971

   1 George Harrison My Sweet Lord

Ex Beatle George  Harrison, who died in 2001 from cancer, was later this year in Bangladesh to sing and meet Ravi Shanker.

This single came from his 1970 album “All Things Must Pass”, and the single is all about the Krishna God, but the record caused legal problems as it was claimed it was similar to an older record called “Hes So Fine” by The  Chiffons, however George said the song was actually inspired by the song “Oh Happy Day”.

Later George bought the rights to “He’s So Fine”, and had the last laugh.

   2 Rod Stewart Maggie May  Article on Rod Stewart

   3 Middle of the Road Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

   4 Dawn Knock Three Times Article about Dawn
   5 T Rex Hot Love Article about T.Rex
   6 Mixtures The Pushbike Song
   7 New Seekers Never Ending Song Of Love Article about New Seekers
   8 Diana Ross I'm Still Waiting  Article about Diana Ross
   9 T Rex Get It On Article about T.Rex
   10 The Tams Hey Girl Don't Bother Me

GREATEST HITS : 1973

The greatest hits of 1973 featuring tracks by Slade, Sweet, T Rex, Diana Ross, David Bowie, The Carpenters, Gilbert O'Sullivan, The Osmonds, Alvin Stardust, Marie Osmond, Elton John, David Cassidy, Donny Osmond and more...

Richard Harrison in 1973

GOLDEN HOUR: DECEMBER 1977

This NON-STOP playlist features an hour of hits from December 1979. Each track played peaked in the UK charts in this month. A track that missed the top 40 is also played. Artists include Wings, ELO, Boomtown Rats, The Dooleys, Diana Ross, Boz Scaggs, Paul Simon, Noosha Fox, Boney M, Ruby Winters, Bee Gees, Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers, Debby Boone, Hot Chocolate, Darts, & Elvis Costello. The number 1 album in this month was a compilation album called "Disco Fever", but all of the tracks were hits earlier in 1977.

More from the seventies

In Memory Gerry Goffin

Gerry Goffin was married to Carol King and was born in 1939 and died June 2014. Although best known for his writing of big hits in the 1960s he also had several big hits in the 1970s too as a writer and co-writer.

Here are just a few of those songs we will never forget.

Mahogany by Diana Ross.

Go Away Little Girl by Donny Osmond

Oh No Not My Baby by Rod Stewart

70s Artist Watch: Diana Ross

This lady could have articles for her covering the 60s,70s,80s and beyond, she is a superstar, and we salute her time in the sensational 1970s.

Born in 1944 and making huge hits with The Supreme in the 1960s on the famous Tamla Motown label with hits like Someday We'll Be Together, she entered the era of the 1970s with a solo career, and her first single hit was "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" which came from her début album"Diana Ross" and  was a great single but only got to No. 20 in the US.