4 Surprising No. 1 Rock Singles From 1970

It’s always fun to take a look back at the pop charts from different years in the past to see what was happening. You likely wouldn’t be too surprised to see that certain songs hit the top of the charts, based on the impact they left.

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But you’ll also find that certain songs that went all the way to the top might surprise you. Here are four from 1970 that snuck up on us when we realized that they were No. 1 singles in the US.

“Venus” by Shocking Blue

You’ve heard about the British Invasion? Well, how about the Dutch Diversion? OK, well maybe we made that last one up. But Shocking Blue did indeed surprise the world by making it over from the Netherlands to the top of the US pop charts. Because Bananarama’s cover of “Venus” in 1986 proved to be so popular, it somewhat usurped the original when it came to the public consciousness. That’s why it might be easy to forget that Shocking Blue reached the US No. 1 spot for a single week in 1970. The band’s guitarist, Robbie Van Leeuwen, wrote the track. He handed off to lead singer Mariska Veres. Veres’ slippery hold on English diction is part of what makes the original so special.

“Everything Is Beautiful” by Ray Stevens

Coming into 1970, Ray Stevens was regarded as the Weird Al Yankovic of his era. He mostly dealt in parodistic songs, such as “Gitarzan”. While he made a name for himself in this arena, Stevens always had his eyes on the prize in terms of recording serious material. “Everything Is Beautiful”, which he also wrote, scratched that itch for him. It’s easy listening at its most genteel, right down to the elementary school kids who sing on the track. Stevens not only topped the charts for a week in 1970 with “Everything Is Beautiful”, but he also won a Grammy for it in a category that included Elton John, Brook Benton, Joe Cocker, and James Taylor. Not too shabby for an artist known to that point for comedy.

“Make It With You” by Bread

Bread bounded onto the scene with a self-titled debut album in 1969. Three singles from that album came and went without a trace. But then “I Wanna Make It With You”, the first single from On The Waters in 1970, took off. It established the David Gates-led band as one of the premier soft-rock artists of the era. And it was good timing too, because the early 70s made much more room on the charts for music of that kind. In the next several years, Gates and company would be staples on the pop charts with songs like “Diary”, “If”, and “Everything I Own”. One wonders if they would have reached those peaks had not “Make It With You”, with its gently randy outlook, first cleared the path.

“Cracklin’ Rosie” by Neil Diamond

When an artist like Neil Diamond releases as many hits as he has managed to do throughout his career, it becomes harder to gauge the impact of individual songs. If pressed, our guess is that many Diamond fans might not consider “Cracklin’ Rosie” to be one of his biggest hits ever. And yet, it stands tall as one of just three No. 1 songs that he managed in the United States. (The other two: “Song Sung Blue” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, his duet with Barbra Streisand.) Writing about vino proved to be pretty lucrative over the years for Diamond. (See also “Red Red Wine”, which UB40 covered and turned into a UK No. 1). In the case of “Cracklin’ Rosie”, we can all, like the lyrics say, get on board with this pop gem.

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