Playlist: The 50 best songs of 1973
1973: It was the year of the UK’s three-day week that old fellas have recalled in pubs ever since, the year the Watergate hearings rocked the world as Americans absolutely could believe what they hearing, and the Sydney Opera House graced Circular Quay with its astounding presence. Amid all this tumult and turmoil was some truly glorious music thanks to the likes of David Bowie, Roxy Music, Tom Waits and Roberta Flack.
The days of Woodstock had well and truly waned and now music was far less rose-tinted. Amid the increasingly dystopian tides of international politics, musicians looked to scurry around experimentally under the cloak of darkness cast upon them. This opened up the zeitgeist as rock ‘n’ roll lost its prominence, and the first buds of punk and disco began to appear.
Musically, it began with Carly Simon tapping into the pop culture power of gossip as people asked who, exactly, is it that swaggers around on sea legs? Then Elvis Presley proved that the old king could still swing as a live international broadcast of his concert in Honolulu, Hawaii is said to have had a record-breaking audience approaching a billion (a fair chunk of the world’s population back then)!
Then Dark Side of the Moon was released, and it has since shifted around 45+million units, putting it in the top ten of all time. Roberta Flack then made everyone cry with ‘Killing Me Softly With his Song’; the song in question, incidentally, was the music of Don McLean after Flack was wowed when witnessing him perform live. Meanwhile, Jamaica caught fire as reggae became the newest genre to take over the world thanks to the exploits of Bob Marley and his pals in The Wailers.
However, rock ‘n’ roll was still in the mix as Led Zeppelin played the largest stadium concert the world had ever seen at that point; it was only 56,800 at Florida’s Tampa Stadium, but it pushed the potential of PA systems to new heights at that stage. And Queen debuted with their new record. But punk was coming for the heads of classic rockers showcased by the arrival of New York Dolls.
In short, it was quite a year. Thus, to celebrate it, we’ve curated a playlist of the 50 best singles that graced us in 1973. We’ve got all the classics from above with a few gems that skirted under the radar to boot, thanks to the likes of Tower of Power and Loudon Wainwright III. After all, it was an eclectic year, so an eclectic playlist must follow.
The rules were that no names appear twice, and it’s in alphabetical order so as not to betray any favourites (but if you want my take, you can’t beat the beauty of Tom Waits’ ‘Martha’). Enjoy…
The 50 best songs of 1973:
- ‘20th Century Boy’ – T. Rex
- ‘A Good Time’ – John Prine
- ‘Angie’ – The Rolling Stones
- ‘Berlin’ – Lou Reed
- ‘Blinded by the Light’ – Bruce Springsteen
- ‘Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)’ – John Lennon
- ‘Call Me (Come Back Home)’ – Al Green
- ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ – King Harvest
- ‘Daniel’ – Elton John
- ‘Didn’t I’ – Darondo
- ‘I Lost Something in the Hills’ – Sibylle Baier
- ‘I Need Somebody’ – The Stooges
- ‘If You Want Me to Stay’ – Sly & The Family Stone
- ‘In Every Dream Home a Heartache’ – Roxy Music
- ‘It’s Not Easy’ – Ofege
- ‘Journey’ – Duncan Browne
- ‘Killing Me Softly with His Song’ – Roberta Flack
- ‘Lady Grinning Soul’ – David Bowie
- ‘Let Me Roll It’ – Wings
- ‘Let’s Get It On’ – Marvin Gaye
- ‘Lonely Planet Boy’ – New York Dolls
- ‘Long Train Runnin’’ – The Doobie Brothers
- ‘Love Train’ – The O’Jays
- ‘Love, Love, Love’ – Donny Hathaway
- ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ – Gladys Knight & the Pips
- ‘Moonshake’ – Can
- ‘Needle In the Camel’s Eye’ – Brian Eno
- ‘Nobody’s Fool’ – Dan Penn
- ‘Ooh La La’ – Faces
- ‘Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone’ – The Temptations
- ‘Paris 1919’ – John Cale
- ‘Piano Man’ – Billy Joel
- ‘Reelin’ in the Years’ – Steely Dan
- ‘Sabbra Cadabra’ – Black Sabbath
- ‘Sailing On’ – Toots & The Maytals
- ‘She’s Gone’ – Hall & Oates
- ‘Stir It Up’ – Bob Marley & The Wailers
- ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ – Stealers Wheel
- ‘Such a Night’ – Dr John
- ‘Superfly’ – Curtis Mayfield
- ‘Superstition’ – Stevie Wonder
- ‘Swimming Song’ – Loudon Wainwright III
- ‘The Pearl’ – Judee Sill
- ‘The Punk and the Godfather’ – The Who
- ‘The Sad Skinhead’ – Faust
- ‘The Song Remains the Same’ – Led Zeppelin
- ‘Time’ – Pink Floyd
- ‘What is Hip?’ – Tower of Power
- ‘Yesterday Once More’ – The Carpenters
- ‘You’re So Vain’ – Carly Simon
