13 songs from the 1970's that should have been bigger hits

[1960'sTVfan]

The 13 songs from the 1970's that I'm listing here all charted on the Billboard hot 100, but not the top 40. In my opinion, these songs deserved to do better on the charts and be in the top 40. I did include these songs in my hits of the 70's collection which has 440 songs on 36 CD's.

1. "You, Me, And Mexico" by Edward Bear- song reached the #68 spot on Billboard in 1970.

2. "San Bernadino" by Christie- song reached the #100 spot on Billboard in 1971.

3. "You Are The One" by The Sugar Bears- song reached the #51 spot on Billboard in 1972.

4. "Money Back Guarantee" by The Five Man Electrical Band- song reached the #72 spot on Billboard in 1972.

5. "Summer Sun" by The Jamestown Massacre- song reached the #90 spot on Billboard in 1972.

6. "Mammy Blue" by The Stories- song reached the #50 spot on Billboard in 1973.

7. "Silly Milly" by Blue Swede- song reached the #71 spot on Billboard in 1974.

8. "It Only Hurts When I Try To Smile" by Tony Orlando & Dawn- song reached the #81 spot on Billboard in 1974.

9. "Two Lane Highway" by The Pure Prairie League- song reached the #97 spot on Billboard in 1975.

10. "Someday (I Didn't Want To Have To Be The One)" by Henry Gross- song reached the #85 spot on Billboard in 1976.

11. "January" by Pilot- song reached the #87 spot on Billboard in 1976.

12. "Find Em, Fool Em, And Forget Em" by Dobie Gray- song reached the #94 spot on Billboard in 1976.

13. "Turn Loose Of My Leg" by Jim Stafford- song reached the #98 spot on Billboard in 1977.

If I find more good, underappreciated/below top 40 hit songs from the 1970's I'll list them but these 13 are the ones I've discovered so far.

[1960'sTVfan]

There is another song I discovered but I didn't include this one in the collection, the title is "(I Remember) Summer Morning" by Vanity Fare- song reached the #98 spot on Billboard in 1970. I believe the song is actually from 1968 but it didn't chart in the USA until 1970.

Also, these next songs I'm mentioning I consider more in the classic rock category instead of chart hits, these were also hot 100 hits but below top 40:

"Roll With The Changes" and "Time For Me To Fly" by REO Speedwagon reached the #58 and #56 spots on Billboard in 1978.

"Wheel In The Sky" by Journey reached the #57 spot on Billboard in 1978.

"Surrender" by Cheap Trick reached the #62 spot on Billboard in 1978.

"Silver Lining" is a really good song by the band Player that reached the #62 spot on Billboard in late 1978/early 1979.

[JO Sweet Heart]

Every song from this late beautiful precious gentleman should've gone all the way, but to me, this song is at the top of the list for him.



God bless you and those who have loved him longer than me always!!!

Holly

[opus]

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

3. "You Are The One" by The Sugar Bears- song reached the #51 spot on Billboard in 1972.

[1960'sTVfan]

The Sugar Bears was a pop group created to promote the Post cereals product Super Sugar Crisp. Five different Sugar Bears songs were placed on the back of the cereal boxes, these were actual records that could be cut out from the back of the cereal box and played on a phonograph. You Are The One became a popular song and was the most difficult to find when searching through the cereal boxes at the grocery store. It was eventually released as an actual 45 RPM single on the Big Tree label. Big Tree also released a Sugar Bears album, the LP was titled "Presenting The Sugar Bears".

You Are The One was actually a top ten hit in Chicago, reaching the #6 spot on the WCFL survey in April of 1972.

http://www.oldiesloon.com/ilc/wcfl041372.htm

[JO Sweet Heart]

Here is another song from Billy Joe Royal that I think should've gone all the way.



God bless you and his family and other fans always!!!

Holly

P.S. This song was released in 1972. "We Go Back" was released in 1971. I could be wrong, but I don't believe that either song charted.

[1960'sTVfan]

Here is the 9th song on my list, "Two Lane Highway" by The Pure Prairie League. Sounds like a top 40 hit to me but it only reached #97 on Billboard. Such a shame, it deserved to do much better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioMQent_Ca0

[MIKEPR]

While I don't think there's anything wrong with songs that didn't make the Top 40 to have made it there I figure you can't expect every song to do so.


Interestingly Summer Sun though never making it there, besides charting in the Chicago area did do well in some others markets, including in Hawaii.


Matter of fact there's a band there called "Greenwood" that does a great version of it.

[Dude111]

I dont remember any of those songs listed!!!!! (I guess I would have to hear them to see if I indeed had heard them)

[1960'sTVfan]

The band Stories had a #1 smash hit with "Brother Louie" in the summer of 1973, then followed it up later that year with "Mammy Blue", the 6th song on the list I posted. Mammy Blue is equally as good a song as Brother Louie, but I believe what happened was the band Stories broke up not too long after Mammy Blue was released as a single, so promotion for the song stopped and it ended up stalling at #50 on the Billboard chart.

Listen to "Mammy Blue" here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vcALMy7YOA

[MIKEPR]

Originally Posted by Dude111

I dont remember any of those songs listed!!!!! (I guess I would have to hear them to see if I indeed had heard them)

If you notice it appears most of the songs didn't make the Top 40.

The way I figure most of those aren't as memorable to most.


I'm guessing they lacked airplay by many major stations when first released.

[opus]

Originally Posted by Dude111

I dont remember any of those songs listed!!!!! (I guess I would have to hear them to see if I indeed had heard them)

Feel free to listen to 'You Are The One' in post #4. Nice visuals

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by Dude111

I dont remember any of those songs listed!!!!! (I guess I would have to hear them to see if I indeed had heard them)

You might not remember them because none of the songs were top 40 Billboard hits although some of them did do better in certain local markets. The songs I listed can be found and listened to on You Tube if you're interested. Good songs that for various reasons didn't get the overall attention they deserved.

[JO Sweet Heart]

Originally Posted by Dude111

I dont remember any of those songs listed!!!!! (I guess I would have to hear them to see if I indeed had heard them)

The reason why you don't remember them is because of why they are being acknowledged here in the first place. They were pretty much swept up underneath the rug from the very beginning when some of us believe that they should've been out there with all of the other songs that were never put on the shelf.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

[Dude111]

Well thank you Holly...

I would love to hear them all in analogue