The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 70's--#20-#11

So we're only 20 songs away.  Try not to judge the ranking but enjoy the music.  There's a lot of great songs coming up!

                   #20--"I'll Be Around" by the Spinners

Here's the biggest R&B song out of 40 that charted for the great Detroit, Michigan group.  They also placed "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" in The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 1970's* and were close with "Games People Play", "Rubberband Man" and "Then Came You", which they did with Dionne Warwick.

"I'll Be Around" was only on the R&B chart for 14 weeks but it did go gold.  It took over from James Brown's "Get On the Good Foot" in October of 1972 and spent five weeks at the top.  The Spinners were nominated for Best R&B Group Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1973.  The only top hit coming up from behind was "If You Don't Know Me By Now" from Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.  But overall, that's enough strength to land the Spinners at #20 for the decade.

 

 

 

     

   #19--"Love on a Two-Way Street" by the Moments

This group from Hackensack, New Jersey enjoyed their biggest moment when this song reached #1 in 1970.  One of the first #1 R&B hits of the decade (it reached #1 on May 16), it did well enough to rank in The Top 20*.  

Overall, the song posted five weeks at #1, spent 17 weeks on the R&B chart and sold over a million copies.  "ABC" from the Jackson 5 was on its way down, but two huge songs ("The Love You Save" from the Jackson 5 and Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours") were battling for position.  The song has been hurt by limited airplay in the last 10-20 years.

            #18--"I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers

This group from Mississippi you remember placed "Let's Do It Again" in the special as well.  Here they are all the way up at #18 with this incredible song.

"I'll Take You There" spent four weeks at #1 beginning on May 2, 1972 and 16 weeks on the chart.  It did not go gold.  The Staple Singers were nominated for Best R&B Group Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards in 1973 for this song.  "In the Rain" by the Dramatics was not a direct competitor, but it was going down when this song hit #1.  "Oh Girl" by the Chi-Lites was the best song trying to bring it down.  Overall, good competition but not great.  That enables the other songs ahead of it to beat it out.


 

                           #17--"Le Freak" by Chic

This act from New York City was hot in the late part of the decade.  They also placed "Good Times" in The Top 100*.  This one spent 20 weeks on the R&B chart and sold over two million copies.

This was the last #1 song of 1978 (reaching the top on December 2), taking over at a time when "One Nation Under a Groove" and "I'm Every Woman" were out.  The competition coming up, however, was not good plus the song has lost relevance in the years since it came out.  Still, five weeks at #1 earns Chic #17.

 

 

#16--"Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" by the Temptations

This legendary group from Detroit, Michigan had many, many great songs in the 60's and given the success of this special, rest assured that Inside the Rock Era will be doing a Top 100 R&B Songs of the 60's!  Overall, the Temps have charted 82 R&B hits.  That ranks fourth all-time behind only James Brown (118), Aretha Franklin (94) and Ray Charles (85).

The song spent 14 total weeks on the R&B chart and did not go gold.  "Just My Imagination" only spent three weeks at #1, but earns a spot here because it did it amidst great competition in 1970.  It contended with "Never Can Say Goodbye" by the Jackson 5 and "What's Going On" from Marvin Gaye.  Tough to last longer than three weeks at #1 with those great songs nipping at your heels.


 

 

Please click on "Skip Ad" after five seconds..

.                        #15--"I Wish" by Stevie Wonder

Here's the sixth of eight Stevie Wonder songs in The Top 100*.  Other songs were bigger mass appeal hits, but this one struck a groove with R&B fans, remaining at #1 for five weeks beginning January 15, 1977, far more than his other R&B hits of the decade save one.

"I Wish" spent 18 weeks on the R&B chart but did not go gold.  Wonder won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for this song.  "Car Wash" was on its way down by the time this hit #1, but Stevie did have "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston and "I've Got Love On My Mind" from Natalie Cole reaching towards the top when his reign was over.  So not great competition but good enough to warrant a spot this high.  


 

             #14--"Serpentine Fire" by Earth, Wind & Fire

Although most Earth, Wind & Fire songs were mass appeal hits, here's one that didn't do as well.  But on the R&B chart, which is all we're focusing on, it was a mega-smash.  It's the highest of six great Earth, Wind & Fire songs in The Top 100*.

Although the song did not go gold, it helped sell a lot of albums and spent 20 weeks on the chart.  "Serpentine Fire" took over from L.T.D.'s "Back In Love Again" and spent seven weeks at #1, beginning on November 19, 1977.  Another top song--"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me" by Barry White, was also looming near the top when Earth, Wind & Fire reached #1.  The competition coming up, however, wasn't great, allowing this song to spend more weeks at #1 then it would in most times during the decade.  Still, seven weeks at the top with pretty good competition warrants a high ranking.

 

 

#13--"Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder

Songs that were never released as a single are tough to gauge, short of privately asking everyone in the world their opinion, so I made a judgement call here.  Although not released, this song contributed mightily to Songs in the Key of Life being one of The Top 5 Albums of the Rock Era*.  

Although "Sir Duke" from the album was a mass appeal hit, it didn't do well enough on the R&B chart to make The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 1970's*.  Thus, there was no representative from that landmark album.  Given the song's immense popularity, both at the time and continuing to this day, and the album's place in history, this seems to be the appropriate place to rank this song.  The others ahead of it just have to much going for them to justify being behind this song.  You might rank it a little higher; some would rank it lower.  

#12--"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" by Barry White


The man was full of soul.  Born in Galveston, Texas, he gave us so many great songs.  Here is the best of five in The Top 100 R&B Songs of the 1970's* by Mr. Romance--Barry White.

"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" spent three weeks at #1.  But remember, we've stressed you can't just look at weeks at #1.  Weeks at #1 mean nothing--nothing--if the competition around the song isn't good (like today's music, for example).  So when you take a closer look at that competition, you find that this gem took over at #1 on September 7, 1974 from Roberta Flack's "Feel Like Makin' Love", itself one of The Top 30* of the 1970's.  "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae was also in the Top 10 when this song hit the top.  Further, "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" held off another great song--"You Haven't Done Nothin'" from Stevie Wonder from reaching #1 for three weeks.  So even though other songs behind this one spent more time at #1, this one had tougher competition.  The song spent 17 total weeks on the chart and sold over a million records.  

                #11--"Got to Give It Up" by Marvin Gaye


Marvin had a lot of great songs in the 60's, but he had five songs in the 1970's that made our list.  There's still two more to come, but Marvin earns the #11 position with this great song.

"Got to Give It Up", which was recorded at the London Palladium,  spent 21 weeks.  It did not go gold.  It did, however, land at #1 on April 30, 1977 and posted five weeks at #1 on the R&B chart.  Plus, Gaye was nominated for a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.  The only thing that hurts it is relatively easy competition at the time.  There was one other top song, that being "Sir Duke" from Stevie Wonder, but that one was coming up right as Marvin was falling with this song.  Still, despite the lack of great competition, the song stands as a classic.