Every Friday, I’m publishing my top ten songs from a single year and this week it’s the turn of 1970.

For previous top ten tunes, please click on the year: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

In 1970, the half crown coin ceased to be legal tender, the grave of Karl Marx was vandalised by anti-Germanic racists at Highgate, London, four years after the declaration of independence Rhodesia is finally declared a republic and severs ties with the British Crown, 18 victims of Thalidomide are awarded £370,00 in compensation, Paul McCartney announces that he has left the Beatles and files a lawsuit against the other members of the band- effectively ending the band, Tonga became independent from the UK, the World Cup takes place in Mexico, the bodies of two children are discovered in shallow graves in woodlands in Essex and they form the Babes in the Woods case, the first General Election takes place where 18 year-olds can vote– the Conservatives win and Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister, British Army officers battle with the IRA in Belfast and 3 civilians are killed & 10 officers injured, 112 people are killed when a Manchester to Barcelona plane crashes into mountains in Spain- no one survives, dockers vote to strike which led to a state of emergency as food supplies become short, the Commonwealth Games take place in Edinburgh, riots take place in Notting Hill, Jimi Hendrix dies in London from a suspected drug-induced heart attack, the first Glastonbury Festival is held, the Gay Liberation Front arranged it’s first march in London, the Apollo 13 mission has a problem, the world’s first Jumbo Jet has its first commercial flight from New York to London, the US invades Cambodia, a cyclone in Bangladesh kills 500,000, 100,000 gallons of oil are spilled into the English Channel creating a huge oil slick, a fire at a nightclub in France leaves 142 teenage clubbers dead, Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose and the films Kelly’s Heroes, MASH, Catch-22, Airport, The Railway Children and Let It Be are released.

Welcome to the 70s! As bereft as I was to wave goodbye to the 60s, the 70s start off strong.  Here’s all my favourites, in no particular order. Spotify playlist at the end as always.

1. Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine by James Brown

2. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) by Stevie Wonder (we played this at our wedding as we signed the register. Terribly tacky, I know, but we cared very little)

3. Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell

4. (They Long to Be) Close to You by Carpenters

5. Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel (controversial that I picked this instead of Bridge Over Troubled Waters?)

6. ABC by the Jackson 5 (Interestingly, I have featured The Jackson 5/The Jacksons more than I ever did with Michael Jackson as a soloist in these lists)

7. Band of Gold by Freda Payne (the dancing in this video is sublime)

8. Lola by the Kinks

9. Your Song by Elton John

10. Let It Be by the Beatles (the last time the lads will feature in these lists *sniff*)

Some people may be sick of hearing this song, but I think my favourite this week is Elton. Pray tell me, WHICH ONE IS YOURS?

See you next week for 1971!