4 Incredible Songs From the 1970s That Sound Like They Were Recorded Yesterday

If you’re a fan of 1970s music, chances are you’ve heard a few songs from the era that really didn’t sound like they came from the 1970s. Some tunes from that era were so ahead of their time that modern-day listeners might mistake them for a recent hit, or at least a song from the 21st century. Let’s take a look at a few ahead-of-the-curve examples, shall we?

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“Oxygène (Part IV)” by Jean-Michel Jarre (1977)

This song has always sounded like a turn-of-the-century tune to me, or possibly a vaporwave track. At the very least, “Oxygène (Part IV)” by Jean-Michel Jarre sounds like it came out in the 1980s. All of the above are, surprisingly, incorrect. This electronic ambient composition was released in early 1977, and it remains one of the most pioneering songs of its time.

“I Feel Love” by Donna Summer (1977)

This Donna Summer hit was produced by the legend Giorgio Moroder, and it utilizes elements that would come to be extremely popular in electronic dance music in the years that followed its release. Synthesizers were definitely common by 1977, but few songs boasted full backing tracks that were synthesized. It’s the kind of old-school classic that you’d expect to hear in a modern-day EDM club, or at least one from the 2000s. Honestly, this song just sounds like music from the future.

“Vivaldi” by Curved Air (1970)

I remember hearing this track from progressive rock outfit Curved Air and being totally blown away. The long-winded song, which starts as a prog-rock orchestral cover tune before leading into an experimental wonderland, sounds so fresh and new compared to the prog-rock songs of the 1970s. And yet, it was released in 1970 on the album Air Conditioning. I still can’t believe it.

“Autobahn” by Kraftwerk (1974)

As we’ve mentioned before, synthesizers were already becoming popular in the 1970s, though they wouldn’t really kick off in popularity until the 1980s. And ahead of that curve was Kraftwerk, one of the most legendary electronic outfits of all time. Their famous tune “Autobahn” is a shockingly warm synthetic tune, which contrasts their image as a cold, robotic synth-pop outfit. “Autobahn” has the coziness and warmth of the 1970s song but the instrumentation of something much newer.

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