Which artist had the first number-one hit of the 1970s?
1970 was a year of transition. After the turbulent and politically-fraught end of the 1960s, the rise of increasingly conservative ideals and more family-oriented ideals began to percolate as reactions to the rise in hippie culture. The “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” generation was slowly giving way to a new wave of kids who weren’t sure where they quite fit in.
In other ways, though, the early 1970s were simply the ’60s: Part II. According to writer Jesse Jarnow, the peak of LSD usage in America wasn’t during the summer of love or during Woodstock – it was actually more likely to be around the spring and summer of 1972. The Beatles might have been gone, but most of the important countercultural acts, from The Who to Bob Dylan to The Grateful Dead, were still around. Behind them, artists who were just beginning to find their voices were starting to break out in big ways.
This phenomenon wasn’t necessarily reflected in the pop charts. In America, the mourning of The Beatles also came with the rise of soft rock, catapulting artists like The Carpenters and Bread up the charts. Family-centred pop acts also invaded, with acts like The Jackson 5 and The Patridge Family providing a more approachable and anodyne version of pop music.
Over in Britain, the official UK Singles Chart had only just been established the previous year in 1969. A longing for comfort was evident, as illustrated by sweeping odes like Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. In many ways, however, Britain was still looking back on the 1960s: Matthews’ Southern Comfort’s version of ‘Woodstock’ was a number-one hit, as was Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Chile’ after his untimely death in September of 1970.
But on both sides of the pond, the 1970s kicked off not quite with a bang but with a strange start. Over in the US, B.J. Thomas’ light-as-air ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’ rode its featured appearance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid all the way to number one. The breezy track is all about letting worries go, perfectly accentuated by Paul Newman’s carefree bicycle tricks in the film.
Over in the UK, there was a slightly more serious topic to cover. Australian singer-songwriter Rolf Harris revived an old music hall number called ‘Two Little Boys’, originally associated with the American Civil War. The comparisons to the Vietnam War were all too familiar, and Harris managed to be the owner of the final number one of the 1960s and the first number one of the 1970s.
Check out both ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’ and ‘Two Little Boys’ down below.
