It’s time to cast your ears back to the year 1976, and jam to some of the awesome tracks that are turning 50 this year. This list is based on year-end Hot 100 data from ’76, so these are the best performers of the year.
Which means that a lot of songs you might expect to see aren’t on the list.
For instance, Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” didn’t make the Top 100, even though it’s been featured in TONS of movies and TV shows over the years, not to mention one of the most iconic “SNL” skits of all time.
Anyway, here are the Top 20:
1. “Silly Love Songs”, Paul McCartney & Wings
2. “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, Elton John and Kiki Dee
3. “Disco Lady”, Johnnie Taylor
4. “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”, The Four Seasons
5. “Play That Funky Music”, Wild Cherry
6. “Kiss and Say Goodbye”, The Manhattans
7. “Love Machine”, The Miracles
8. “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”, Paul Simon
9. “Love Is Alive”, Gary Wright
10. “A Fifth of Beethoven”, Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
11. “Sarah Smile”, Daryl Hall and John Oates
12. “Afternoon Delight”, Starland Vocal Band
13. “I Write the Songs”, Barry Manilow
14. “Fly Robin Fly”, Silver Convention
15. “Love Hangover”, Diana Ross
16. “Get Closer”, Seals and Crofts
17. “More, More, More”, Andrea True Connection
18. “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Queen
19. “Misty Blue”, Dorothy Moore
20. “Boogie Fever”, The Sylvers
A few other songs in the Top 100 that are turning 50 include . . . “Take It to the Limit” by the Eagles, “Golden Years” by David Bowie, “Dream On” by Aerosmith, “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac, “The Boys Are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy, and “Take the Money and Run” by the Steve Miller Band.