You can do a search for the top Billboard hits of that era, which might jog yiur memory.

Thanks mtnrd, I will check those lists too. I've already looked at most of the Best of the 70s compilations in list form. Some of the songs I didn't even recognize though bc I was living abroad during a good bit of the decade. I didn't want to get everything on the lists... Just singable and danceable ones (no Jim Croce for example) that people remember.

I do have almost all of the Carpenters already, my parents used to listen to them and I love her voice. Totally left out Michael Jackson though, and will def add Voulez Vous Couchez Avec Moi also, thanks Arcy!

Hmmm, I'm more late 60s early 70s, but I'd want to have some Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Crosby Stills Nash & Young (Suite Judy Blue Eyes is a fave), Credence Clearwater Revival, Springsteen (Born to run) Rod Stewart (given the situation, Forever Young!) Don McLean's American Pie, Fleetwood Mac, Cat Stevens, Cream, Todd Rundgren, Chicago, Carly Simon, Seals & Crofts, Stevie Wonder, Si & Gar (the boxer).

I'm less into the late 70s with disco and all, but if you're there...BeeGees, Abba, Donna Summer...

If you have Itunes radio, there are stations that play nothing but 70s music. We also have a music channel via cable that does the same thing, though as I recall, you don't have cable....

The funk and soul classics are great to dance to like:
Not Just Knee Deep
Got to Give it Up
Jungle Boogie
Brick House
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours
Lady Marmalade
Ring My Bell

I graduated HS in 1973, so Annie's list is a good one. My favorite song is also Suite Judy Blue Eyes. Definitely play Cat Stevens--I never hear his songs anymore. If she likes Carole, she liked Cat.

I'd add some more rock 'n roll and soul/Motown. Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Simon and Garfunkel.....will have to think some more.

Jujubean, I have most of those on a funk classics cd I ripped to itunes! Also Roller Coaster, Carwash, and a few others. Oh, and MC Hammer Can't a Touch That. :-)

Annie thanks for the suggestions! We are skewing more late seventies, but I forgot Creedence Clearwater Revival! I have all the Cat Stevens but it's not too danceable, so I am not using it. Have all Carly Simon ( she is one of his faves), and American Pie. Will check over my Rod Stewart as well, I should add Maggie May too! He isn't a Springsteen fan, none of that on the list.

I do have iTunes Radio but their best of channels play a lot of stuff I don't like personally. And the Pandora channels have to be babysat to "dislike" anything that is out of synch with your chosen genre, otherwise you end up with techno Euro dance club mixes. At least that is my experience with the freebie app. We don't want to pay for that (or any) music service bc between us DH and I have thousands of tracks on our respective itunes and a separate hard drive for music, and have a Sonos system with speakers in most rooms.

We were listening to Crosby Stills Nash & Young. And all of the above. The Beatles had broken up, but we were still listening plenty.

We were listening to Crosby Stills Nash & Young. And all of the above. The Beatles had broken up, but we were still listening plenty.

Thank you, May Flowers, I do have a couple of Joe Cocker songs in the playlist!

And I have allowed "scope creep" to add a few great songs a few years on either side of the decade.....like Steppenwolf's Magic a Carpet Ride. We could hardly party without that! We had a party when we lived in NYC to celebrate the release on CD of all the Beatles' albums.....Magic Carpet Ride was the only non Beatles song we played that night :-)

Looked at songs from 1972 and Al Green had several hits, if you're looking for danceable. Maybe the O'Jay's. Let's face it, we white folks didn't dance much before disco so you'll need to go to Motown for early 70s dance. Also Three Dog Night--Mama Told Me Not to Come and Jeremiah was a Bullfrog are both fun songs.

Peter Frampton (JFK Stadium, '76, raise your hand if you were there!)

I've got Three Dog Night and Bachman Turner Overdrive!

The 70's was probably my favorite music decade. Here is a sampling from my iTunes:

Little River Band - Lady (1978)
Stevie Wonder - Living For The City (1973)
April Wine - Roller (1978)
Firefall - Just Remember I Love You (1977)
Chicago - If You Leave Me Now (1976)
Steely Dan - Do It Again (1972)
Eagles - Best Of My Love (1972)
Allman Brothers - Sweet Melissa (1972)
Paul McCartney & Wings - Silly Love Song (1976)
Boston - More Than A Feeling (1976)
The Cars - All I Can Do (1979)
Fleetwood Mac - Sara (1979)
Player - Baby Come Back (1977)
Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat (1976)

Earth Wind & Fire. Sounds like fun!

Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver"
Seals & Croft "Summer Breeze"

Grateful Dead toured heavily in the 70s, if he's into that music, and there are some iconic Dead songs that most people recognize. And don't forget the rise of southern fried rock in the 70s... Allman Bros., Stevie Ray Vaughn, Marshall Tucker Band.

What a fun list you have going here! Sounds like a great party.

Not danceable but in the 70s I listened to Joni Mitchell ALL the time. Still do. And love Al Green and Marvin Gaye.

Oh, what about Dixie Chicken by Little Feat! Just tested it to make sure it's danceable. It is :-).

As I recall our prom theme was nights in white satin...

If you want to dance, you definitely need Funk music.

Suggestions that I'd like at a party:

Lowrider War
Lets Get It On Marvin Gaye
All Right Now Free
My Sharona The Knack
Lola The Kinks
Black Magic Woman Santana
Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkle
American Woman Guess Who
Get Down Tonight KC & The Sunshine Band
Stayin' Alive Bee Gees
Show Me The Way Peter Frampton

That's a start anyway. If it were me, I'd add in some more hard rock (Kiss, Aerosmith, Stones, Cheap Trick and even some early Black Sabbath-but that's ME LoL.)

Oh my! I love 70's music, even though I graduated HS in '66, I was listening to all that great music in the 70's.

Queen, Allman Brothers, Eagles, Elton John, Cat Stevens (or whatever he calls himself now - Yousef - ?), James Taylor, Janis Joplin, Don McLean, John Denver, 3 Dog Night, Neil Young, Bee Gees. And yes the Beatles were still going in the early 70's and then they broke out on their own.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.hotlitesdj.com/songlist/songs70s.html

Thanks for all these suggestions! Do have selected Marvin Gaye, including my favorite Mercy Mercy, have every Elton John song ever recorded, some Santana, My Sharona, TOTALLY forgot about All Right Now, thanks pesky, and thanks to multiple people for Seals and Croft suggestions, do have best of Eagles as well. So far I have about 550 songs on the playlist....we're going to have to make it a sleepover :-)

I think I am going to let the birthday boy vet the list, he is coming Thursday and loves to play around with the sonos with his phone app for it. I am putting ALL the music on the list and he can edit it...we will have a good time Thursday night getting the list ready!

Barry White!

Oh, anything by Jay and the Americans!!! (Cara Mia; This Magic Moment) Oh I loved those guys!

Gerry Rafferty (Baker Street; Right Down the Line)

There is not a person in the world who danced in the 1970s in the US who didn't slow dance to Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.

For the most part, I saved a lot of money by not buying new records in the 1970s. I was living in San Francisco during that decade, and so I was able to buy used records for cheap at Aquarius Records - many were DJ copies in mint condition. I resented the prevalence of disco music.

Here's what I did like, however:

"Dazz" - Brick
"Boogie Shoes" - KC & Sunshine Band
"Fame", "Suffragette City" et al.- David Bowie
"Baby's on Fire" - Brian Eno
"Respect Yourself" - Staples Singers
"Mystery Dance" - Elvis Costello
"You're Breakin' My Heart" - Nilson
"Stuck in the Middle With You" - Stealers Wheel

You can also check the soundtrack to "Undercover Brother" for some Philadelphia funk music from the 70s.

BTW, my boss was Joni Mitchell's interior designer, and she returned a few pieces to us a couple of years ago to be reupholstered, due to dog damage. I was never a fan of hers, however.

Inagodadavida (sp) Iron Butterfly!!! The longest song 17 minutes!

Publickman you obviously weren't a teenage girl in great angst about the state of the world or your love life if you never cared for my dear joni. I do hear she's not really a nice person to the "little people". Oh the shame.

Proud Mary..... Ike and Tina

Dancing in the Moonlight..not sure who did it.
Brandy
Both jumped into my head when you asked. I have an old 1972 car that I bought 18 years ago. When I got it, I bought this CD compilation to make cassettes with. Maybe there is something on here you missed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Have a nice Decade...

Dancing in the Moonlight is Van Morrison....have it and his other greatest hits.
Forgot about Brandy, thanks! Have Proud Mary by Ike and tina, all the David Bowie that exists. I'm not sure I've even heard some of the stuff on your list Publickman, so I am off to sample them and take a look at bethpen's intriguing list.

I have a couple of Barry White songs, will give them a listen, and OF COURSE I have Stairway to Heaven and everything else Led Zepplin, although haven't added much of it to the list. (I am a Robert Plant devotee but not sure about Birthday Boy.)

Also getting ready for SLAW TASTING tomorrow, at which time we will decide amongst four different slaw recipes which to use for our a Bluegrass Mass after party next month. Life is rather exciting in a small town ;-)

Not sure these are the most danceable but you need some rock perhaps?

Black Sabbath "Paranoid" or "Iron Man"
Deep Purple "Smoke on the Water"
AC/DC "Highway to Hell" "TNT" or "Whole Lot of Rosie"
KISS "Rock and Roll All Nite" "Shout it Out Loud" or if you want danceable "I was Made for Lovin' You"
Cheap Trick "I want you to Want Me" "Dream Police" "Surrender"
Queen "We will rock you/We are the Champions" "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Fat-bottomed girls"
Van Halen "Eruption/You Really Got Me" ,"Ice Cream Man",

I don't see any Styx mentioned. Loved them also the Jesus Christ superstar sound track was one of my favorites.

Oh I just looked at the amazon post and thought of escape ( piña colada song) and from 1981 Jessie's girl. Both totally singable.

I need to listen to American pie and Cecilia tomorrow too now.

Such good memories.

This post was edited by boopadaboo on Wed, Sep 10, 14 at 1:27

Oh and blondie rapture and call me. For some reason 70s In my head but actually from 1980

This post was edited by boopadaboo on Wed, Sep 10, 14 at 1:33

As a Chicagoan, have to mention Styx (Lady), and anything from Chicago.

Here is a link that might be useful: Billboard top 100 songs

Boop, I do have Call Me on the playlist even though it is firmly eighties. There was a very popular nightclub / disco club in our college town where that track was played a LOT. Sometimes I play it just to remind DH of our "club" days....I had to drag him but he enjoyed it once we were there :-)

Have Piña Colada, and two Queen anthologies already on playlist. He is not a KISS or Black Sabbath fan gsciencechick but totally forgot that Cheap Trick hit, thanks!

If there will be any slow dancing, Foreigner's 'I Want To Know What Love is'.

Oh, I remember that song, my4dogs! Will look it up!

Don't forget that good sing-a-long 'American Pie' and 'Dont Stop Believing'. You must have some good ones for singing at the top of your voices.

Kswl, be sure guests share their favorite memories associated with the songs, too!

I was prompted by this list to recall my older brother and his friends, who were Led Zeppelin fans. One friend used to claim a cousin of his died in a car accident, and when the police arrived at the scene, Stairway to Heaven was playing on the 8-track... urban legend of its day. Or, how Stairway to Heaven played backward contained satanic messages. By experimentation, I can tell you that *every* song played backward on the turntable sounds a bit creepy. ;-) Kids and their ipods are really missing out.

Yes, peony, ipod music is a private experience rather than a shared one. Sometimes that is good, sometimes not.

And speaking of sharing memories of "remember that time when"...there will be a lot of that! Listening to their coming of age era music makes most people very happy and nostalgic all at the same time. It's the magic push button of emotion. ðÂÂÂ

For playing records backwards, there was that whole "Paul McCartney is dead" mania...one of the "proofs" was when you played Revolution #9 backwards, it sounded like "turn me on, dead man". Another was that he was the only Beatle facing backward on the Sgt Pepper album cover...it was really something.

"It only takes one song to bring back a thousand memories."
~Unknown

YMCA is always fun at a party!

A funky one is "Kung Fu Fighting" (sorry don't remember the artist. It was big in Europe when I went over there. Also stuff by ABBA. Not that they were my faves, just you can dance to it.

For us, it wasn't a party unless we could dance through the whole long version of "Heard it Through the Grapevine" by Creedence Clearwater.

Hope you have a great time. Sound like fun.

My #1 favorite: "Torn Between Two Lovers, Feelin' Like A Fool..."

It's pure genius.

My all time favorite of the era - Jackson Browne -Tender is the Night and In the Shape of a Heart and Somebody's Baby

The Spinners--"It's a Shame," "I'll Be Around," "Working My Way Back to You"
Barry White--just get the greatest hits
5 Stairsteps, "Oooh Child"
Curtis Mayfield
Isaac Hayes
Al Green
The Carlito's Way soundtrack is also a snapshot in time.

Hope your friend has a great time!

Update: everyone gone, party a huge success, music fabulous, birthday boy received enough wine to stock a package store. Exhausted, even with two helpers who served and cleaned up after, as I spent most of the day working in the back yard grooming flowers, refilling hummingbird feeder, weeding, etc.-----and then it RAINED! But we had drinks and hors d'oeuvres in our new lower level before dinner and I loved the way we could go in and out between the inside and the covered patio despite the rain. Final head count of 14, two went out of town unexpectedly so it was a nice manageable number. Everyone had a wonderful time and honoree was in his element. Plans made for a repeat get together with this group plus a few absent friends at in December, for our Choral Society's Christmas concert and supper afterwards here. These people travel more than an hour to visit us, so we do our best to make it a festive occasion when they do.

Yay! Love to hear the updates about these things. Saw that the GA/SC game was rainy (and late) but didn't make the connection to your party. Darn, but aren't you glad you had your big beautiful basement!

Yes, I really am glad! Especially convenient to step outside when popping a champagne cork!