Hard rock was at its peak in 1973, and plenty of young baby boomer listeners were having the time of their lives. If you were a fan of the genre that year, the following four tracks are probably still playing in your head after all these years.
“We’re An American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad from ‘We’re An American Band’
“Funk” may be in their name, but this classic from Grand Funk Railroad is as hard rock as it gets. This Todd Rundgren-produced banger remains one of the band’s most famous songs, and it was a smash hit on the charts, too. Those chunky, catchy rhythms just can’t be beat.
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“We’re An American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1973.
“No More Mr. Nice Guy” by Alice Cooper from ‘Billion Dollar Babies’
Alice Cooper was riding the wave of the hard rock boom in the early 1970s. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” is just one of many hard rock classics from the Godfather of Shock Rock to become a massive hit. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” has a touch of power pop to it. And it’s still quite catchy after more than half a century. Cooper allegedly wrote this tune about his mother’s church group’s reaction to his fairly shocking live performances. The song peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100 chart.
“48 Crash” by Suzi Quarto from ‘Suzi Quarto’
Suzi Quatro was a rare female voice in the world of hard rock in the early 1970s. And she had a smash hit on her hands with the glam-flavored tune “48 Crash”. Straight from her debut album, the song made it all the way to No. 3 on the UK Singles chart and did similarly well in countries like Norway, Australia, West Germany, and others.
“20th Century Boy” by T. Rex
If you’re a baby boomer fan of this often underrated English hard rock band, you might just remember this unique gem from 1973. “20th Century Boy” by T. Rex is hard rock at its core. But it also has a glam rock, punk rock flavor to it that makes it special among the endless hard rock drops of the time. “20th Century Boy” was a No. 3 hit on the UK Singles chart.
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