What I mean by this is if you were alive in the 1970's what song is it that can take you immediately back to that time period in your mind?
there are probably lots of them but for me, so many songs were not only popular in the 70's but continued to be popular and are still popular today so they dont quite have the same nostalgic power that a song that was hugely popular and then faded away.

One such song that immediately comes to my mind is Baker Street by Jerry Rafferty, if that song dont take you back to the summer of 78, nothing will

Yeah, there are many, many songs that take me back to another place, another time.

Angie-The Stones
Roxanne-The Police
That's the Way I Heard it Should Be-Carly Simon
Touch me in the Morning-Diana Ross


That's only a few.



Cat

Raise A Little Hell - Trooper

A hit in 1978, which is when I was a little hell raiser in my crib ;D

SATURDAY Night - Bay City Rollers

"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," "When I Need You," and "More Than I Can Say" by Leo Sayer

Still The One by The Orleans always takes me back..

Still The One by The Orleans always takes me back..

I remember roller skating to that one!

Man, that's a hard one.  I could come up with 1000 top 10 lists for the 70's just as anybody could that grew up during that time period.  I'll start with these since I do not see many of them listed by others on here with the acception of 'Angie' by the Stones, and 'Baker Street', these were (are) two of my all time favs.

1. Legend - Poco
2. Old Man - Neal Young
3. Animal Zoo - Spirit
4. Low Spark of High Heeled Boys - Traffic
5. Down by the River - by ? (70's burnout!!)
6. Sharing the Night Together - Dr. Hook
7. Every Time I Think of You - The Babys
8. Sentinental Lady - Bob Welch
9. Dream Weaver - Gary Wright
10.Black Water - Doobie Brothers
Tears of a Clown - Smokey Robinson (oops, that goes on the next 10, sorry)

I have a few:

I believe...Triumvirat
Cross-eyed Mary...Jethro Tull
Subway Terror...Starz
Chidren Of The Grave...Black Sabbath
Danger Money...U.K.
The Gates Of Delirium...Yes
Squonk...Genesis

  Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Elton John/Kiki Dee) has that effect on me...

  Anything from The Captain & Tennille, also...

  Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Elton John/Kiki Dee) has that effect on me...

  Anything from The Captain & Tennille, also...



Muskrat Love has an effect on me, too but I won't say what kind of effect.  :P

:D ;D ;D ;D



Cat

What I mean by this is if you were alive in the 1970's what song is it that can take you immediately back to that time period in your mind?
there are probably lots of them but for me, so many songs were not only popular in the 70's but continued to be popular and are still popular today so they dont quite have the same nostalgic power that a song that was hugely popular and then faded away.

One such song that immediately comes to my mind is Baker Street by Jerry Rafferty, if that song dont take you back to the summer of 78, nothing will

ELO Telephone line... takes me back to Jr. high

There are so many good Nostalgic songs that transport me back to the 70's & here's a handful

Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Heart Of Gold - Neil Young
Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Doctor My Eyes - Jackson Browne
I'd Love To Change The World - Ten Years After
Takin' Care Of Business - Bachman Turner Overdrive
Jessica - Allman Brothers Band
From The Beginning - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Free Ride - Edgar Winter
Everything I Own - Bread
Schools Out - Alice Cooper

8)
Baby Blue -Badfinger
No Matter What - Badfinger
Day After Day - Badfinger


I was in High School when most of these songs were released.  It was a really good time for music

a couple more  8)

Rock Candy - Montrose
Do You Feel Like We Do - Peter Frampton

There are so many good Nostalgic songs that transport me back to the 70's & here's a handful

Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Heart Of Gold - Neil Young
Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Doctor My Eyes - Jackson Browne
I'd Love To Change The World - Ten Years After
Takin' Care Of Business - Bachman Turner Overdrive
Jessica - Allman Brothers Band
From The Beginning - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Free Ride - Edgar Winter
Everything I Own - Bread
Schools Out - Alice Cooper

8)
Baby Blue -Badfinger
No Matter What - Badfinger
Day After Day - Badfinger


I was in High School when most of these songs were released.  It was a really good time for music



Hey man, great post!
Badfinger is one of my favorite bands too and so is Queen.

Thanks bro!

Hey man, great post!
Badfinger is one of my favorite bands too and so is Queen.

Thanks bro!
anytime, nice thread

Its hard to narrow it down to just one because there are so many that come to mind.

The one that popped into my mind first was Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts. 

There are so many songs that take me back to the 1970's...Being only a kid back then (born in 1972) they mainly take me back to the late 70's, even songs that were released in the early to mid 1970's take me back to the late 70's because this is the time I remember from the 1970's.

All of Fleetwood Mac's hits from their self titled album and Rumours...as well as Silver Springs.

Bob Welch's Ebony Eyes

Racey's Some Girls

Short People (cant remember who sang it right now)

Girls Talk (cant remember who sang it right now either)

Shake Your Body Down To The Ground by The Jacksons

Dont Stop 'Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson




There are way too many to mention.









AN

Its hard to narrow it down to just one because there are so many that come to mind.

The one that popped into my mind first was Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts. 

this is a very good choice for most Nostalgic song from the 70's

Short People (cant remember who sang it right now)


AN





That would be Randy Newman (who I sometimes get confused with Gary Newman who sang Cars). Short People is one of my theme songs because I am only 5'2"  :D ;D ;D ;D



Cat

There are a few that will instantly take me back, some cool, some gay... The Streak by Ray Stevens, Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jack, and one by the Carpenters, which I can't seem to find the title for- Every Sha Na Na? That one brings back strong memories of summer camp in Maryland for some reason.

How Do You Do - Mouth & McNeal

I hadn't heard this song in a long time and then heard it somewhere last week

Oh! And I can't forget to add Spinning Wheel!

The Doobie Brothers were played and heard quite a bit  the 70's
these two songs take me back to my High School days

Listen to the Music
and
Long Train Runnin'

2 more to add to my list:

WOLD & Taxi-both done by Harry Chapin.




Cat

Five songs that make nostalgia from the 70s for me are:

Song Of Joy ~ Miguel Rios
Streets Of London ~ Ralph McTell
Rock 'N Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life) ~ Kevin Johnson
Uptown Uptempo Woman ~ Randy Edelman
All By Myself ~ Eric Carmen

Treat Her Like A Lady - Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose

'That would be Randy Newman (who I sometimes get confused with Gary Newman who sang Cars). Short People is one of my theme songs because I am only 5'2"'

They say good things come in small packages.

Another song that takes me back is Eleanor Rigby by Mud (I think it was anyway). A heavy version of the Beatles classic.





AN

'That would be Randy Newman (who I sometimes get confused with Gary Newman who sang Cars). Short People is one of my theme songs because I am only 5'2"'
There again, it is Gary Numan (born Gary Anthony James Webb)

Which one was on the Simpsons?

Which one was on the Simpsons?
Randy Newman has written songs for The Simpsons.

There again, it is Gary Numan (born Gary Anthony James Webb)



I knew one of them had a "u" in their name-again, I couldn't remember which one. Like I said, I tend to mix the two of them up.


At least I don't mix them up with Alfred E. Newman.  ;) :D ;D ;D



Cat

I knew one of them had a "u" in their name-again, I couldn't remember which one. Like I said, I tend to mix the two of them up.



Cat
I remember it as Randy (Newman) writes the better songs.

Green-Eyed Lady - Sugarloaf
Hold Your Head Up - Argent

both played a lot on the radio when they came out in the 70's so hearing them reminds of that time

I Recall A Gypsy Woman by Don Willaims remind of the hot summer of 1976.

I Recall A Gypsy Woman by Don Willaims remind of the hot summer of 1976.
that's a very good song, and worth a Youtube search

sad that when I enter Gypsy Woman on Youtube, mostly versions of Hillary Duff's song come up  :\'(  very sad

sad that when I enter Gypsy Woman on Youtube, mostly versions of Hillary Duff's song come up  :\'(  very sad
You cannot beat the original

I Recall A Gypsy Woman by Don Willaims remind of the hot summer of 1976.
are you meaning the Brian Hyland version of Gypsy Woman because Don Williams is a (twang) country singer

are you meaning the Brian Hyland version of Gypsy Woman because Don Williams is a (twang) country singer
Sorry, I have always thought that was the original, so I will retract and say, Don Williams does a very good version, as I never heard of Brian Hyland version.

are you meaning the Brian Hyland version of Gypsy Woman because Don Williams is a (twang) country singer



Sorry, I have always thought that was the original, so I will retract and say, Don Williams does a very good version, as I never heard of Brian Hyland version.
...and no one can take my memoreis from me.

Sorry, I have always thought that was the original, so I will retract and say, Don Williams does a very good version, as I never heard of Brian Hyland version.
I've never heard the Don Williams version and will have to give it a listen

I've never heard the Don Williams version and will have to give it a listen
Where can we find sound clips to hear these versions of the song.

and one by the Carpenters, which I can't seem to find the title for- Every Sha Na Na? That one brings back strong memories of summer camp in Maryland for some reason.


Yesterday Once More

Yesterday Once More

That sounds about right. Thanks  :)

just watched and enjoyed a Youtube video of one of my favorite 70's songs

Conquistador - Procol Harum

whenever I hear any of these songs from Steely Dan  I feel & remember the early 70's

Do It Again
Bodhisattva
Reelin' In The Years
Show Biz Kids
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
My Old School

feelings of nostalgia occur whenever I hear  *Maybe I'm Amazed* - Paul McCartney

This is probably an odd choice but I choose:

Don McLean - American Pie.

The song itself is about nostalgia and the loss of a more innocent time. The song always makes me feel and long for another time that I wasn't even around to remember.
The theme may be about a 50's tragedy (the Buddy Holly/Big Bopper/Ritchie Valens plane crash), but whenever I hear it, I think back to 1971.

This is probably an odd choice but I choose:

Don McLean - American Pie.

The song itself is about nostalgia and the loss of a more innocent time. The song always makes me feel and long for another time that I wasn't even around to remember.
The theme may be about a 50's tragedy (the Buddy Holly/Big Bopper/Ritchie Valens plane crash), but whenever I hear it, I think back to 1971.

I think it's a good choice, that song really helps set the era as it was on all the time & most everyone loved it. It brings back memories of me & my friends going almost every day to the San Joaquin river, & driving on the the levees to get down to the river so we could  party, fish & hunt. I had a Chevy and drove it on the levee all the time. very nostalgic

ten years after.......id love to change the world.

This is probably an odd choice but I choose:

Don McLean - American Pie.

The song itself is about nostalgia and the loss of a more innocent time. The song always makes me feel and long for another time that I wasn't even around to remember.
The theme may be about a 50's tragedy (the Buddy Holly/Big Bopper/Ritchie Valens plane crash), but whenever I hear it, I think back to 1971.




I'm with Badfinger Fan-good choice. We play that song all the time (GOTTA CRANK IT!!!  ;D ;D ;D  And we can never play it just once-have to play it several times in a row.)  It does bring me back, not so much to a specific time for me-but more of an era. Though, it does kind of remind me of the place I was living when it came out.



Cat

Precious & Few - Climax    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAxxXPDyY4I

check out the bell bottoms  8)

Slippin’ Into Darkness - War      (the seven-minute LP version)

There are so many great songs from the 70's, but I still listen to my favorite ones all the time, so they don't necessarily take me back as much as the ones I almost never hear... So some of the ones that really do take me back are Midnight Blue by Melissa Manchester and You Are The Woman by Firefall.

There are so many great songs from the 70's, but I still listen to my favorite ones all the time, so they don't necessarily take me back as much as the ones I almost never hear... So some of the ones that really do take me back are Midnight Blue by Melissa Manchester and You Are The Woman by Firefall.


EXACTLY!
That was my whole point of this thread. There are so many great songs from the 70's that are still played heavily TODAY so they dont take me back. You know, led Zep, Pink Floyd, ELO, etc., all still heavily played. but its the ones you rarely here anymore that take you back, like that Firefall song you mentioned, thats a perfect example. let me see if I can think of a few others off the top of my head, maybe Gary Wright, some of his stuff I have hardly heard since 1975, like Dream Weaver

Couldn't Get It Right - Climax Blues Band
Sweet City Woman - Stampeders
Welcome Back (Theme From Welcome Back Kotter) - John Sebastain

That would be Randy Newman (who I sometimes get confused with Gary Newman who sang Cars). Short People is one of my theme songs because I am only 5'2"  :D ;D ;D ;D



Cat

It's one of mine too!  Also Iggy Pop "Five-Foot-One."

I'm ambivalent about Randy Newman's song because his intentions were good, he was spoofing bigotry, but he picked a group that unfortunately faces outright discrimination, short men more so than short women.  At the same time as I think a sense of humor is quite necessary, I have in fact been mistreated time and again due to my height. 

SONGS THAT BRING BACK A '70S CHILDHOOD--PARTIAL LIST:
(Not measured on personal taste, but strength of reminiscence; non-ranking)

The Bee Gees: How Deep Is your Love
Bob Welch: Sentimental Lady
Steely Dan: Deacon Blues
Aereosmith: Dream On
Led Zeppelin: All of My Love
The Rolling Stones: Miss You
Kansas: Dust in the Wind
The Cars: Let the Good Times Roll
Gary Numan: Cars
Pink Floyd: Money
Eric Clapton: Lay Down Sally
Steve Miller Band: Fly Like an Eagle
Al Stewart: Time Passages
Donna Summer: MacArthur Park (J. Webb)
The Bee Gees: Night Fever
Chic: Dance Dance Dance (Yowsa Yowsa Yowsa)
Wild Cherry: Play that Funky Music
Barry Manilow: Copa Cabana
Toto: Hold the Line
Pink Floyd: Another Brick In the Wall (part whatever)
Blondie: Heart of Glass
Cheap Trick: I Want You to Want Me
Tangerine Dream: Phaedra
Kraftwerk: Autobahn
Jethro Tull: Aqualung
Heart: Magic Man
Elvin Bishop: Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Paul McCartney: Maybe I'm Amazed
John Lennon: Give Peace a Chance
The Rolling Stones: It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust

....and that'll do it for now!

I do enjoy revisiting those nostalgic memories via song and the songs listed in this thread take me back
here's a couple more that may or may not have been named yet.


Love Or Let Me Be Lonely - Friends Of Distinction
Yellow River - Christie
Hitchin' A Ride - Vanity Fair
Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor
In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry
One Toke Over The Line - Brewer & Shipley
Temptation Eyes - The Grass Roots
The Rapper - The Jaggerz

Your Song -Elton John
Bennie & The Jets-Elton John
Midnight Train To Georgia-Gladys Knight & The Pips
Tonights the Night-Rod Stewart
Freebird-Lynyrd Skynyrd
Le Freak-Chic
Rock Me Gently-Andy Kim
Lay It On The Line-Triumph
Desperado-Eagles
Drivers Seat-Sniff "n" The Tears
Heart of Glass-Blondie
Stairway To Heaven-Led Zeppelin
Sir Duke-Stevie Wonder
Superstition-Stevie Wonder
Country Roads-John Denver
How Much I feel-Ambrosia
Rikki Don't Lose That Number-Steely Dan
Rock On-David Essex
Joy To The World-Three Dog Night
The Joker-Steve Miller

Just to name a few ;D

Sister Golden Hair - America
Jackie Blue - Ozark Mountain Daredevils (I have an older sister named Jackie, my older brothers used to tease her when this song came on  ;D)
Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennille (this song epitomizes the 70's for me)
Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas (I remember my brothers buying this album when it first came out)
More Than A Feeling - Boston (ditto)
Lowdown - Boz Scaggs (ditto)
Anything off the Hotel California album by the Eagles (ditto)
We Are The Champions - Queen
Hooked On A Feeling - Blue Swede (I remember some of the older kids chanting "Ooga shaga, ooga ooga ooga shaga!")

The 70's is one decade I don't wish to go back to. I try to avoid listening to songs that do that...

Wasted Time ~ The Eagles

Hello It's Me by Todd Rundgren and Jackie Blue by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils always take me back to my early childhood.  :)

For me without a doubt it's Car Wash.
My best friend and I saw it three times. That movie is the  mid 1970's.

Linda Ronstadt - Your No Good
Elton John - Benny and the Jets
Carly Simon - Your So Vain
Fly Like An Eagle - Steve Miller Band
If You Leave Me Now - Chicago
Love Will Find A Way - Pablo Cruise
Handy Man - James Taylor
Bridge Over Trouble Water - Simon & Garfunkel
If - Bread

I was very young in the 70's.  Blondie's "Heart of Glass" (1979) transports me to the back seat of my mom's station wagaon.

Its Too Late - Carole King
When I hear this song, I can smell the beach, on  a sunny 1971 July afternoon .
Man, that was a HUGE album back then!

If Not You ~ Dr Hook (1976)

Wow, a lot of great songs mentioned here. Badfinger, almost all of your songs I myself was going to mention! I gotta say, Summer Breeze is about the best/most nostalgic song to me about the 70s, most notably the early 70s. We all have our personal nostalgia...I'm always reminded of people being outside in Queens, New York on the grass on a beautiful day outside the house. A lot of my family pictures from the 70s are in that exact setting, and the color is great.

Others that bring memories:

I feel the earth move/It's too late baby- Carole King
Dancing in the Moonlight- Kings of Harvest
How sweet it is to be loved by you- James Taylor
You're so vain- Carly Simon
Ohio/Carry On- CSNY
Jackie Blue- Ozark
Say that you love me- Fleetwood Mac
American Pie- Don McLean
Free Ride- Edgar Winter
Odd Couple Theme Song- Neal Heati
Woodstock- Matthews' Southern Comfort (Obvious Woodstock is 69' but this song was made in 71' and has that early 70s harmony rock element to it)
Spirit in the Sky- Norman Greenbaum
Still the One- Orleans
Aqualung- Jethro Tull (Reminds me of Britain in the 70s moreso--the whole mythical/folklore/fantasy nostalgia thing was going on ther)

Obviously while I do love Led Zeppelin and Floyd and Jethro Tull and several other 70s more mainstream bands, even more so then these songs (cept' the jethro tull song i mentioned), I think the ones I mentioned are just more prone to striking up nostalgia with hearing them, because of their AM radio, soft qualities. Of course I associate Led Zeppelin IV with the mood of the 70s, but I do also see it more on a universal level, while the other ones are very descriptive and apparent to the years they were made.

Oh, and does anyone get what I meant about the mythical/folklore nostalgia in England lol? I'm just referring to how there was a lot of appreciation for the middle ages in early 70s british culture and fashion, such as with Monty Python, Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and a lot of other British sitcoms at the time. It was kind of influenced by the whole Progressive Rock Movement as fantasy was kinda a popular element in the music's style.