(STACKER) – Rock music electrified the 1970s, igniting a decade of creativity and innovation in music. The subgenres that stemmed from rock continue to reverb throughout our culture today.
Progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd and Yes challenged the status quo of rock music by experimenting with music production and incorporating classical music to tell intricate stories via concept albums. The genres of hard rock and heavy metal, exemplified by acts like bands Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, stormed the scene with flashy guitar riffs and thunderous drum solos that flooded soundstages worldwide. Punk rock rose from the underground in the 1970s, with bands like the Ramones and the Clash playing short, aggressive songs that punched up the musical establishment. These types of rock music—along with glam rock, funk rock, and country rock—added to the depth of the genre, each of them flourishing in the coming decades.
With so much influence from this time period, Stacker looked at the biggest #1 rock songs of the 1970s that were at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks or more and filtered it down to the rock genre according to MusicBrainz, an open music encyclopedia via the University of Waterloo.
A Horse With No Name
– Artist: America
– Date entered at #1: 3/25/1972
– Weeks at #1: 3
Bad Blood
– Artist: Neil Sedaka
– Date entered at #1: 10/11/1975
– Weeks at #1: 3
The Candy Man
– Artist: Sammy Davis Jr.
– Date entered at #1: 6/10/1972
– Weeks at #1: 3
Island Girl
– Artist: Elton John
– Date entered at #1: 11/1/1975
– Weeks at #1: 3
Baby Come Back
– Artist: Player
– Date entered at #1: 1/14/1978
– Weeks at #1: 3
Crocodile Rock
– Artist: Elton John
– Date entered at #1: 2/3/1973
– Weeks at #1: 3
Knock Three Times
– Artist: Dawn
– Date entered at #1: 1/23/1971
– Weeks at #1: 3
Family Affair
– Artist: Sly and the Family Stone
– Date entered at #1: 12/4/1971
– Weeks at #1: 3
War
– Artist: Edwin Starr
– Date entered at #1: 8/29/1970
– Weeks at #1: 3
Sir Duke
– Artist: Stevie Wonder
– Date entered at #1: 5/21/1977
– Weeks at #1: 3
Play That Funky Music
– Artist: Wild Cherry
– Date entered at #1: 9/18/1976
– Weeks at #1: 3
American Woman
– Artist: The Guess Who
– Date entered at #1: 5/9/1970
– Weeks at #1: 3
Me And Mrs. Jones
– Artist: Billy Paul
– Date entered at #1: 12/16/1972
– Weeks at #1: 3
I Think I Love You
– Artist: The Partridge Family
– Date entered at #1: 11/21/1970
– Weeks at #1: 3
Love Will Keep Us Together
– Artist: Captain & Tennille
– Date entered at #1: 6/21/1975
– Weeks at #1: 4
My Love
– Artist: Paul McCartney & Wings
– Date entered at #1: 6/2/1973
– Weeks at #1: 4
Reunited
– Artist: Peaches & Herb
– Date entered at #1: 5/5/1979
– Weeks at #1: 4
Kiss You All Over
– Artist: Exile
– Date entered at #1: 9/30/1978
– Weeks at #1: 4
Without You
– Artist: Nilsson
– Date entered at #1: 2/19/1972
– Weeks at #1: 4
Bad Girls
– Artist: Donna Summer
– Date entered at #1: 7/14/1979
– Weeks at #1: 5
Silly Love Songs
– Artist: Wings
– Date entered at #1: 5/22/1976
– Weeks at #1: 5
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
– Artist: Roberta Flack
– Date entered at #1: 4/15/1972
– Weeks at #1: 6
Alone Again (Naturally)
– Artist: Gilbert O’Sullivan
– Date entered at #1: 7/29/1972
– Weeks at #1: 6
My Sharona
– Artist: The Knack
– Date entered at #1: 8/25/1979
– Weeks at #1: 6
Bridge Over Troubled Water
– Artist: Simon & Garfunkel
– Date entered at #1: 2/28/1970
– Weeks at #1: 6
