The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 70's--#40-#31

Can we get even more soulful than we already have in the countdown?  With each song, the hits are even better on the R&B chart.  We're up to #40 now--let's get going!

                 #40--"Use Ta Be My Girl" by the O'Jays

Here's one of the top R&B acts of all-time, who charted on that chart with no less than 56 singles.  This is one of their biggest.

"Use Ta Be My Girl" reached #1 on May 27, 1978 and stayed there for five weeks.  Outside of "Close the Door", it didn't have a lot of great competition or it would have ranked higher.  This song went on to be a best-seller on the R&B chart for 21 weeks and sell a million copies.  It was nominated for Best R&B Song of the Year and the O'Jays were also nominated for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group at the 1979 Grammy Awards.



 



       

        #39--"Spanish Harlem" by Aretha Franklin

This powerful song reached #1 on August 28, 1971 and held off all-challengers for three weeks.

"Spanish Harlem" featured Dr. John on keyboards.  It spent 13 weeks on the R&B chart and sold over a million records.  Its competition wasn't great but it did have to battle "Mercy Mercy Me" from Marvin Gaye. 



 

                         #38--"Good Times" by Chic

We're really getting into the big R&B hits of the decade.  R&B fans loved this song much more than the general public.  They made the song #1 for six weeks in July, August and September of 1979.

"Good Times" charted for 18 weeks and sold over a million copies.  What's more, it competed against songs like "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge, "Ring My Bell" from Anita Ward", Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" and Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", amazing competition to rack up six weeks at the top.



 

 

#37--"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" by Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams

Mathis had of course been a favorite of the previous generation.  Deniece Williams was an up-and-coming star.  Their paring worked magic on the R&B chart.

The song reached #1 on April 15, 1978 and spent four weeks at the top.  "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" spent 20 weeks on the chart and sold a million records.  It held another duo, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, to two weeks at #1.

 

      

             #36--"Disco Lady" by Johnnie Taylor

Johnnie Taylor is next in our special at #36.  It's a #1 song from the summer of 1976 that spent 21 total weeks on the R&B chart and was the first single ever to be certified as platinum (two million units sold) by the Record Industry Association of America.  "Disco Lady" was nominated for Best R&B Song of the Year at the 1977 Grammy Awards and Taylor was nominated for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance.

This song spent six weeks at the top, beginning on  March 13, 1976, but there was little in the way of competition at the time.  Plus, the song has gotten virtually no airplay in the 36 years since.  It still has to be recognized by being a huge song at the time, just not where it would have been had it continued to be popular.

     

     #35--"Never Can Say Goodbye" by the Jackson 5

This song came about in the middle of a streak of six songs to reach either #1 or #2 on the R&B chart and another one in which they racked up 17 consecutive Top 10 R&B songs.

This song spent 13 weeks on the chart but did not go gold.  However, its stats would have been padded were it not for the fact that it was sandwiched in between great songs like "Just My Imagination" by the Temptations, "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye and the Honey Cone's "Want Ads".  And yet still found enough popularity to land at #1 for three weeks in May of 1971.  The song also earned a nomination for Best R&B Song of the Year at the 1972 Grammy Awards.  At #36 in Inside the Rock Era's list of The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 70's*, "Never Can Say Goodbye".

 

      

        #34--"Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae

The artist at #34 hails from West Palm Beach, Florida.  He accomplished the rare feat of having his first release go to #1 on the popular chart.  It was written by Harry Wayne Casey and George Finch of K.C. & the Sunshine Band.

McCrae also hit #1 on the R&B chart for two weeks in July of 1974.  The song spent 19 weeks on the chart.  The top songs out at the time were "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Roberta Flack and "Sideshow" from Blue Magic.  "Rock Your Baby" was nominated for Best R&B Song of the Year at the 1975 Grammy Awards; McCrae also earned a nomination for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance for the song.  

       

            #33--"Superstition" by Stevie Wonder


As mentioned previously, Stevie has the most songs that were among the most dominant R&B songs of the 70's-eight of them.
   
This song started out the year 1973 at #1 and remained there for three weeks.  It spent 17 weeks on the chart but did not go gold.  It took over from another R&B smash which we've already heard in The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 70's*--"Me and Mrs. Jones" and also warded off "Could It Be I'm Fallin' In Love" by the Spinners and "Love Train" from the O'Jays.  Wonder won Gammy Awards for Best R&B Song of the Year and Best R&B Male Vocal Performance for this song in 1974.  Stevie Wonder checks in at #33 with "Superstition".

                 #32--"Mercy Mercy Me" by Marvin Gaye


This legend from Washington, D.C. was one of the all-time greats by almost any measure.  He charted 63 times on the R&B chart.  

We've seen this song featured in Inside the Rock Era's Most Important Songs of the Rock Era*.  It's a powerful message and a timeless one too.  It spent 13 weeks on the chart and did not go gold.  But it did reach #1 for two weeks in August of 1971, competing against "Mr. Big Stuff" by Jean Knight and Aretha Franklin's "Spanish Harlem" so very good competition that kept it from more weeks at the top.

                   #31--"Me and Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul


Let me just preface this by saying I detest the whole idea of this song.  But I have to rank it where it deserves to be ranked.  And that's all I will say about the matter.

Paul, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, released this song right out of the gate as his debut single.  He took over from Al Green's "You Ought To Be With Me" on December 9, 1972 and remained at #1 for four weeks.  Paul held on despite a strong challenge from Stevie Wonder's "Superstition".  It spent 18 weeks on the chart and sold over two million copies.  Paul won the Grammy for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance in 1973 and the song was nominated for Best R&B Song of the Year.  At #31, Billie Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones".