3 Songs That Were Written in the 1970s but Became Massive Hits Later

Lots of songs have a life of their own before they ever truly get discovered by the world. Here are some songs that were originally written in the 1970s, before somebody made them into a massive hit.

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“Delta Dawn” by Alex Harvey (Tanya Tucker)

Before it was made into a country classic by Tanya Tucker in 1972, “Delta Dawn” was first recorded by Alex Harvey, then Helen Reddy and Bette Midler.

“Delta Dawn” was written by Harvey and Larry Collins and was inspired by a vision Harvey had involving his mother. Years before the song came to be, she had died in a tragic accident, which he blamed himself for for years. In his vision, Harvey saw his mother while he was just messing around on the guitar.

“I looked up and I felt as if my mother was in the room. I saw her very clearly. She was in a rocking chair and she was laughing…” he explained to Songfacts. “I really believe that my mother didn’t come into the room that night to scare me but to tell me, ‘It’s okay,’ and that she had made her choices in life and it had nothing to do with me.”

“I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton (Whitney Houston)

Before Whitney Houston gave this song a new life on The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1992, it was Dolly Parton’s bittersweet song for Porter Wagoner.

When Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You”, it was meant to be a parting gift for Wagoner. The TV host had given her a big break as the “girl singer” on The Porter Wagoner Show for years. When she chose to move forward in her career, Parton knew that it would be a tough conversation to have. That’s what inspired “I Will Always Love You”, which Parton would hear on the radio for the first time again, years later, as she told Howard Stern.

“I was coming home from my office downtown on Music Row to my home in Brentwood,” she explained. “By the time I realized [“I Will Always Love You” was playing], [Whitney] was ready to go into the chorus and then when she started that, I almost wrecked. Honest to God. Had to pull over to the side at a Walgreens,” Parton shared.

“It was the most overwhelming sensation because I couldn’t believe my little country sad song could even be done like that.”

“Dancing In The Moonlight” by Boffalongo (Toploader)

In 2000, “Dancing In The Moonlight” was a massive hit for Toploader. But before that, it was actually written by Sherman Kelly of the band Boffalongo, who recorded it in 1970. Then in 1972, it became a big hit for King Harvest.

If it had it not been for a certain tragic event, however, the song probably would not have come about. In an interview, Sherman Kelly shared that he wrote “Dancin’ In The Moonlight” after suffering a vicious attack by a gang in the Virgin Islands with his then girlfriend.

“In [“Dancing In The Moonlight”] I was trying to envision a world that was a lot better than the one I had experienced,” he shared.

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