As a man born in the 1970s, I didn't have much experience with 70s music hits when they first came out, because I was just a baby or small child. I have always looked back on the music of the 70s with fondness, however, because there were great rock n' roll songs, but it was also the era of disco music and the era that saw the birth of heavy metal.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a huge fan of disco music, but I do think that it has an interesting sound, and I am a huge fan of heavy metal. It is generally acknowledged that such bands as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were the originators of this particular brand of music, and that it was started in the 1970's.
In terms of actual 70s music hits from the heavy metal genre of music, the first one that comes to mind for me is Black Sabbath's Iron Man. With the intense guitar riffs and Ozzy Osbourne belting out those lyrics, how could you not fall in love?
Oddly enough, the first song that comes to mind when I think about 70s music hits is not from heavy metal or disco. It was a from a one-hit wonder group called Player, and the song was Baby Come Back.
The reason that this is always the first song that comes to mind when I think about hits from the decade of the 1970s is because I was once sent a link to a web site that told you what song was number one on the Billboard charts on the day you were born.
Baby Come Back was that song for me, and I believe that it was the only song the group Player ever had that reached number one on the Billboard charts, interestingly enough.
Disco is usually the most recognized music of the 70s, and most people that I have met either really liked it or really hated it. One thing is for certain, though, while it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between certain styles of music, nobody would ever confuse a disco song with anything else.
The 1970s is also the decade associated with the emergence of Outlaw Country, with such performers as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, David Allan Coe and Billy Joe Shaver. One of my favorite albums from this era was Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger in 1975. It had two 70s music hits, including Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.
I guess what I love the most about the decade's music was that it typically made you feel pretty good. Lyrics were usually meaningful, and the music itself was empowering, and it was not just the 70s music hits that made you feel that way; it was most of the music from that decade.