3 One-Hit Wonders From the 1970s That Will Give You Chills

Music is everywhere. It’s floating around in your home, the apartment building down the street, the cafe up the road, the television show you will put on tonight to unwind, and it’s in the movie you wish you had time to see tonight, but the kids need their dinner! Music brushes our skin and dances off our earlobes. But sometimes it goes way deeper.

Videos by American Songwriter

Sometimes a song can wiggle its way into your soul or deep into your bones. And when it does, it can simply give you the chills, that almost trembling feeling where the hair on your arms stands up and you are awash in tingling. That’s what we wanted to examine here today. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders from the 70s that will give you the chills.

“Mr. Big Stuff” by Jean Knight from ‘Mr. Big Stuff’ (1971)

Sometimes the elements of a song come together so perfectly that it’s as if they fell from the heavens and just landed in a recording studio or the mind of a songwriter. That’s what happened (we think, at least) when it comes to Jean Knight’s song “Mr. Big Stuff”, which is the Platonic Ideal of soulful rock. The tambourine, the vocal performance, the staccato guitar, the deep bass. They all come together to form a perfect 1970s song that will send the chills up and down your spine.

“Love Hurts” by Nazareth from ‘Hair Of The Dog’ (1974)

What do you get when you mix power and vulnerability? Well, when it comes to a 70s rock song, you get “Love Hurts” by Nazareth. The track, which is a cover of an Everly Brothers tune, blends lightning bolt vocals and the smack of the drum kit and electric guitar with lyrics that display a soft heart and a hopeful mind. Singing about the pain of love is not easy. You have to dive deep into your center and let the darkness out while also letting the light shine. But that’s just what happens on this tune from Nazareth, which is why it can give you the chills up and down your neck.

“Turn The Beat Around” by Vicki Sue Robinson from ‘Never Gonna Let You Go’ (1976)

When a song just finds its groove, that’s something special. And that’s exactly what happened on this soulful disco track that benefits from beautiful strings, wonderful vocal harmonies, and a syncopated rhythm that will get you dancing (or rollerskating) around your living room. It’s a song that’s so of the 1970s, but it’s also one that lives on as timeless today. For that fact alone, you may get tingling down your arms and legs.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns