Last updated 5/6/2022
The Top Songs of 1970, as charted by Billboard Magazine, will be presented each week during the season.
635 records appeared on the Hot 100 chart in 1970.
Songs that reached the Top 10 on another chart are marked with EL (Easy Listening), HC (Hot Country), and S (Soul).
Songs 37-68 are located here.
Songs 69-100 are located here.
Song 1
Peaked at #1 on 2/28/70 for 6 weeks. EL #1.
Last of their three #1 hits.
Larry Knechtel, who plays piano on this record, joined the group Bread in 1971.
Transferred from a 24/192 high-res download.
#1 – “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel
Song 2
Peaked at #1 on 10/17/70 for five weeks. S #1.
Fourth of their four #1 hits for the year.
Peaked at #1 for Mariah Carey in 1992.
Transferred from a 24/192 high-res download.
#2 – “I’ll Be There” by The Jackson 5
Song 3
Peaked at #1 on 1/3/70 for four weeks. EL #1.
Burt Bacharach’s first choice to sing this was Ray Stevens. He turned it down, though he did record it later. It was supposedly also offered to Bob Dylan.
#3 – “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” by B.J. Thomas
Song 4
Peaked at #1 on 7/25/70 for four weeks. EL #1.
First of their twelve Top 10 hits.
Previously recorded by Richard Chamberlain, Dionne Warwick, and Dusty Springfield.
This is the original stereo single version.
#4 – “(They Long To Be) Close To You” by Carpenters
Song 5
Peaked at #1 on 12/26/70 for four weeks.
Based on which weeks it was #1, this should have been the #6 record of 1971 instead.
Transferred from a 24/96 high-res download.
#5 – “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison
Song 6
Peaked at #1 on 11/21/70 for three weeks. EL #8.
The first of their three Top 10 hits. David Cassidy had one more as a solo artist.
#6 – “I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family
Song 7
Peaked at #1 on 9/19/70 for three weeks. S #1. EL #6.
Peaked at #19 for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967.
This is the mono single edit.
#7 – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross
Song 8
Peaked at #1 on 5/9/70 for three weeks.
Their only #1 hit.
#8 – “American Woman” by The Guess Who
Song 9
Peaked at #1 on 8/29/70 for three weeks. S #3.
His second and last Top 20 pop hit.
#9 – “War” by Edwin Starr
Song 10
Peaked at #1 on 4/11/70 for two weeks. EL #1.
This is the 2015 remix of the single version.
#10 – “Let It Be” by The Beatles
Song 11
Peaked at #1 on 12/12/70 for two weeks. S #1.
Originally recorded in 1967 but remixed for U.S. single release after becoming a hit in England.
The group’s only #1 pop hit.
Transferred from a 24/192 high-res download.
#11 – “The Tears Of A Clown” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
Song 12
Peaked at #1 on 7/11/70 for two weeks.
Written by Randy Newman.
This is the stereo album version, faded early to match the single.
#12 – “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)” by Three Dog Night
Song 13
Peaked at #1 on 4/25/70 for two weeks. S #1.
Second of their four #1 hits for the year.
Transferred from a 24/96 high-res download.
#13 – “ABC” by The Jackson 5
Song 14
Peaked at #1 on 6/27/70 for two weeks. S #1.
Third of their four #1 hits for the year.
Transferred from a 24/96 high-res download.
#14 – “The Love You Save” by The Jackson 5
Song 15
Peaked at #1 on 2/14/70 for two weeks. S #1.
Second of the group’s three #1 hits.
Transferred from a 24/192 high-res download.
#15 – “Thank You (Falettin Me Be Mice Elf Agin)” by Sly and the Family Stone
Song 16
Peaked at #1 on 5/30/70 for two weeks. EL #1.
First of his two #1 records. He only had four Top 10 hits.
#16 – “Everything Is Beautiful” by Ray Stevens
Song 17
Peaked at #1 on 6/13/70 for two weeks. EL #2.
The last original Beatles single, and the last one on Apple.
This is the 2015 remix.
#17 – “The Long And Winding Road” by The Beatles
Song 18
Peaked at #1 on 8/22/70. EL #4.
First of their six Top 10 hits, and their only #1.
#18 – “Make It With You” by Bread
Song 19
Peaked at #1 on 1/31/70. S #1.
First of their four conseutive #1 records, and the only good one.
Transferred from a 24/192 high-res download.
#19 – “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5
Song 20
Peaked at #1 on 2/7/70.
Only Top 40 hit for the Dutch group.
Peaked at #1 in 1986 for Bananarama.
This is a mono recording.
#20 – “Venus” by The Shocking Blue
Song 21
Peaked at #1 on 10/10/70. EL #2.
Despite his 12 Top 10 solo hits, he only reached #1 twice, both times for one week.
Transferred from a 24/192 high-res download.
#21 – “Cracklin’ Rosie” by Neil Diamond
Song 22
Peaked at #2 on 10/31/70 for four weeks. EL #1.
Their second hit, and the first of their five records to peak at #2.
This is the original single version, not the more common remixed and overdubbed version.
#22 – “We’ve Only Just Begun” by Carpenters
Song 23
Peaked at #2 on 12/26/70 for two weeks. EL #1, S #4.
Third-biggest hit of the group’s career, and the third-biggest hit of the year for Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
#23 – “One Less Bell To Answer” by The 5th Dimension
Song 24
Peaked at #2 on 6/6/70 for two weeks. EL #6.
First of two Top 40 hits for the group.
Susan and Terry Jacks split in 1973, and Terry had a solo hit that was the #2 record of 1974.
#24 – “Which Way You Goin’ Billy?” by The Poppy Family (Featuring Susan Jacks)
Song 25
Peaked at #2 on 3/7/70 for two weeks.
Biggest hit of the year for CCR.
#25 – “Travelin’ Band” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Song 26
Peaked at #2 on 10/3/70.
Second-biggest hit of the year for CCR.
#26 – “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Song 27
Peaked at #2 on 2/21/70. S #2.
Holman’s only Top 40 hit. This is the single edit.
Peaked at #27 as “Hey There Lonely Boy” for Ruby and the Romantics in 1963.
#27 – “Hey There Lonely Girl” by Eddie Holman
Song 28
Peaked at #2 on 3/21/70.
The group’s only Top 40 hit.
#28 – “The Rapper” by The Jaggerz
Song 29
Peaked at #2 on 5/23/70.
The group’s only Top 40 hit.
#29 – “Vehicle” by The Ides Of March
Song 30
Peaked at #3 on 3/27/70 for three weeks. S #2.
This is the mono single version.
#30 – “Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today)” by The Temptations
Song 31
Peaked at #3 on 10/31/70 for three weeks. EL #7.
Taylor’s first, and second-biggest, Hot 100 record.
#31 – “Fire And Rain” by James Taylor
Song 32
Peaked at #3 on 4/18/70 for three weeks.
Norman’s only Top 40 hit.
#32 – “Spirit In The Sky” by Norman Greenbaum
Song 33
Peaked at #3 on 3/28/70 for three weeks.
The UK artist credit was “Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band,” though Yoko is only on the B-side.
George Harrison plays on the record. Phil Spector produced.
#33 – “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)” by John Ono Lennon
Song 34
Peaked at #3 on 12/5/70 for two weeks.
Hyland’s first Top 40 hit in four years, and his last. Produced by Del Shannon.
Peaked at #20 for The Impressions in 1961.
#34 – “Gypsy Woman” by Brian Hyland
Song 35
Peaked at #3 on 10/3/70 for two weeks. EL #8.
So producers Hank Medress and Dave Appell had a song they wanted to record for Bell Records and were looking for a singer. After one failed attempt, they asked their friend Tony Orlando, a former Top 40 singer who was then managing the publishing division of Columbia Records. Orlando was hesitant, because he did not want to lose his Columbia job. He finally did it because it would be released under a fictitious group name, and because he believed the song would be unsuccessful and would not attract any attention. Fortunately for him, it did attract attention. A few years later, I was sitting in CBS Television City in Hollywood, watching Tony Orlando and Dawn tape an episode of their TV variety series.
Toni Wine, the female singer from The Archies, co-wrote the song and sings backup. The two singers who later became Dawn, Telma and Joyce, did not perform on the early records.
#35 – “Candida” by Dawn
Song 36
Peaked at #3 on 10/17/70 for two weeks.
This is the “short single” version, the most common one.
#36 – “Green-Eyed Lady” by Sugarloaf
Unless otherwise indicated, all tracks are stereo 320 kbps mp3 files.
Most were converted from CD-quality FLAC files (16 bits/44.1 KHz).
Some tracks were converted to mp3 from higher-resolution digital files (24 bits/88.2, 96, 176.4, or 192 KHz FLAC files; or Direct Stream Digital (DSD) files at 2.8 MHz), and those are marked as “high-res”.
The source reference for this list is “Joel Whitburn’s Pop Annual 1955-1999.” Joel originated the tracking of Billboard chart data in 1970, so he’s known as the expert in the field.
The structure of the annual charts is simple: records are rated on the highest position reached on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the number of weeks spent at that position. Ties are broken by the number of weeks spent in the Top 10, Top 40, and Top 100.
If a record charted in more than one year, all of its chart history is treated as if it occurred in the year that the record first hit its peak position, so it will not appear at all in the other year’s listing.