4 Forgotten Pop Hits From the 70s That Still Sound Radio-Worthy

If you’re not loving what’s on the radio these days, have no fear! All you have to do is look back a few decades. Here are some songs from the 70s that still feel like strong pop hits, several years later.

“Dancing In The Moonlight” by King Harvest

It’s impossible not to want to dance along to this 1972 hit by King Harvest.

“Dancing In The Moonlight” ironically has a pretty tragic backstory. Sherman Kelly, who first recorded the song with his band Boffalongo, wrote it after being viciously attacked by a gang on the island of St. Croix. This song was written as an ode to how Kelly wished the world could be.

“Magic” by Pilot

This song was Scottish group Pilot’s first major hit, released on their album, cleverly titled From The Album Of The Same Name.

“Magic” is about how everyday life can be magical if you believe that philosophy for yourself. The lyrics are simple, but it’s still catchy decades later.

Oh, ho, ho, it’s magic, you know
Never believe it’s not so
It’s magic, you know
Never believe it’s not so.

“Pop Muzik” by M

This song, which chronicles the rise of pop music over the past several decades, went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Robin Scott released the song under the artist name M.

“I was looking to make a fusion of various styles which somehow would summarize the last 25 years of pop music,” Scott told The Billboard Book Of No. 1 Hits. “It was a deliberate point I was trying to make. Whereas rock and roll had created a generation gap, disco was bringing people together on an enormous scale. That’s why I really wanted to make a simple, bland statement, which was, ‘All we’re talking about basically (is) pop music.’”

“Shake It” by Ian Matthews

English musician Ian Matthews covered this song by Terence Bolan in 1978. The song became one of his most successful releases, reaching No. 13 on the US charts. It appears on his album Stealin’ Home.

Matthews said in the liner notes of Stealin’ Home: “I tried to add just a couple of songs that had Top 40 potential, without compromising the rest of the material [and the album] did precisely what it was supposed to do: it raised my profile, without lowering my credibility.”

Photo by: Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

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