1970
The year in music, movies, TV, fads & memories
In 1970, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel topped the Billboard year-end Hot 100 and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel and ABC by The Jackson 5 were on every turntable. Patton, M*A*S*H and Love Story were in theaters, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Partridge Family and Monday Night Football were on TV.
The headlines: Kent State shootings. New that year: Boeing 747 enters service. Fads of the year: Lava lamps and Macramé. Gas was 36¢ a gallon, a stamp was 6¢ and a movie ticket ran ~$1.55. On the shelf: a Laffy Taffy, an RC Cola and a game of Simon, with The Jetsons on Saturday morning.
🎂 What music raised you?
Drop your birthday and we'll rewind to your golden era — the years the songs imprinted for life.
🔙 Backtrack — 1970
The world around the music — what was on screen, and what was on the shelf.
🎬 Set the scene
1970: a Spirograph out on the rug, a Fresca going flat, and just enough time to hang the drive-in speaker on the car window.
🎬 At the movies
📼 Saturday cartoons
- Scooby-Doo👕 tee →
- Schoolhouse Rock!
- Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
- The Pink Panther Show
- Hong Kong Phooey
- The Jetsons
- The Flintstones
📰 Headlines
- Kent State shootings
- Apollo 13 'successful failure'
- First Earth Day
- Beatles break up
- US invades Cambodia
💡 Tech & Firsts
- Boeing 747 enters service
- Floppy disk introduced (IBM)
- UNIX first edition released
- Bar code patented
- Computer mouse patent
🏆 Sports
- Orioles win the World Series
- Chiefs win Super Bowl IV
- Bruins win the Stanley Cup
- Brazil wins the World Cup
- Knicks win the NBA title
🤪 Crazes & fads
- Lava lamps
- Macramé
- Earth Day eco-craze
- Smiley-face boom
- CB radio rising
👖 Clothes
- Bell-bottoms
- Tie-dye
- Hot pants emerge
- Fringe vests
- Peasant blouses
💵 What it cost
- Gas: 36¢/gal
- Stamp: 6¢
- Movie ticket: ~$1.55
- New car avg: ~$3,500
- Median home: ~$23,000
🧸 Toy chest
🍬 On the shelf
Billboard Year-End Hot 100
📊 Full chart →- 1
Bridge Over Troubled WaterSimon & Garfunkel - 2
(They Long to Be) Close to YouThe Carpenters - 3
American WomanThe Guess Who - 4
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My HeadB.J. Thomas - 5
WarEdwin Starr - 6
Ain't No Mountain High EnoughDiana Ross - 7
I'll Be ThereJackson 5 - 9
Let It BeThe Beatles - 10
Band of GoldFreda Payne - 11
Mama Told Me (Not to Come)Three Dog Night - 12
Everything Is BeautifulRay Stevens - 13
Make It With YouBread - 14
Hitchin' a RideVanity Fare - 15
ABCThe Jackson 5 - 17
Cracklin' RosieNeil Diamond - 18
CandidaTony Orlando & Dawn - 19
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)Sly & the Family Stone - 20
Spill the WineEric Burdon & War - 21
O-o-h ChildThe Five Stairsteps - 22
Spirit In the SkyNorman Greenbaum - 23
Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)Melanie & The Edwin Hawkins Singers - 24
Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)The Temptations - 25
Love On a Two-Way StreetThe Moments - 26
Which Way You Goin', Billy? (feat. Terry Jacks & Susan Jacks)The Poppy Family - 27
All Right NowFree
More from 1970
🎤 Big in 1970
🎚️ 1970 genres
🎛️ Behind the boards & the pen — 1970
The hands behind 1970 — the producers and songwriters who actually shaped that year's records.
🎚️ Related vibes
All themes →Themed rooms that lean on the sound of 1970.
🌀 Things 1970 remembers wrong
All Glitch Files →Mandela-effect cases that were on the shelf, the screen or the radio in 1970. Which do you remember?
What does 1970 remind you of?
The drive, the dance, the heartbreak, the summer. Add a memory of 1970.
Community Memories
How well do you remember 1970?
7 quick questions — the songs, the artists, the year. No cheating. 😏
📼 Take this 8-track with you
Build this in your own Spotify in two taps — free, no account needed here. (For Apple Music or YouTube, open songs one-by-one below.)
Then open the free helper
🎵 1970 albums on vinyl
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📻 70s gear
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