Top 10: April 11, 1970

At the turn of the decade, just as they were breaking up, the Beatles still ruled the pop charts, with the Jackson 5, Badfinger, and Simon & Garfunkel filling out a mostly stellar week in music.

Apr 10, 2025

I SOMETIMES LIKE to go back and listen to the Top 10 from the years of my youth, adolescence, and early adulthood. I am often surprised by how many great songs populated the Top 10 in the 1960s and 1970s in any given week. (There was also a fair share of mediocre pop fluff and novelty material.) I also enjoy how the various hits tell a collective story about the musical culture of the time. For example, in the list below – capturing the Top 10 of 55 years ago this week– one can see how the Beatles, on the verge of their final, official breakup, still had such a strong hold on the music we were listening to at the time, either through their own recordings, in Beatles-adjacent groups like Badfinger, or simply via their incredibly powerful influence over all music that followed in their wake.

Click on the above playlist to listen to the songs discussed below.

1. “Let It Be,” The Beatles – The same week that the era-defining ballad “Let It Be” hit number one, Paul McCartney, who wrote and sang the song, announced publicly that he was leaving the Beatles. Thus did the song -- which McCartney began writing in 1968 and the group recorded at the end of January 1969 -- take on new and poignant resonance. Did radio listeners this week realize that they were hearing two of the all-time greatest pop-rock ballads in “Let It Be” and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”?

2. “ABC,” Jackson 5

Listen closely to the Jackson 5’s second big hit (“I Want You Back” was the first) and you can hear an essential element that made them the most commercially successful of Motown artists: the buzzing electric-guitar sound derived from rock music (as opposed to R&B and soul, where guitars were as much rhythmic elements as anything). Although the young Michael Jackson is featured as lead vocalist, the other members trade off on lines and phrases, and the song contains an instrumental break evocative of Latin music. (Trivia: The single featured guitarist Louie Shelton and bassist Wilton Felder, both of whom went on to accompany pop-rock duo Seals & Crofts.)

3. “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)”, John Ono Lennon

In case radio listeners did not quite understand the subtext of the Beatles’ “Let It Be,” John Lennon made it clear with “Instant Karma!” The song -- featuring bandmate George Harrison on guitar as well as the Beatles-adjacent musicians Klaus Voormann, Alan White, and Billy Preston -- became the first solo single by a member of the Fab Four to sell a million copies, peaking at number three, and was Lennon’s biggest solo hit. The recording was produced by Phil Spector, who at Lennon’s invitation went on to apply the controversial, Spectorian finishing touches to the Beatles’ final album,Let It Be.The record was a strong statement regarding Lennon’s new sonic direction as a solo artist. Bandmate Harrison directed the dozens of backup singers who join in towards the end of the song. How exciting it must have been for Beatles fans to listen to the radio that week and hear “Let It Be,” “Instant Karma!”, and the Beatles-adjacent Badfinger’s “Come and Get It” (written by Paul McCartney) together in heavy rotation.

4. “Spirit in the Sky,” Norman Greenbaum

As popular as it was (topping out at number three), Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” was a bit of an oddity (perhaps “novelty” is too strong a word; perhaps not -- as leader and composer for Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band, Greenbaum recorded the novelty hit “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago”). For one, the song’s lyrics, heavy on mentions of Jesus, could easily have been those of a gospel song (even though singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household). The music, however, is decidedly not gospel (other than some gospel-influenced backup vocals). The record kicks off with crunching, fuzzy, distorted guitars, the sound that would soon characterize boogie-rock (think ZZ Top), and incorporates psychedelic elements that were de rigueur at the time. Greenbaum’s wispy, delicate vocals keep it from veering into heavy-metal territory, but Greenbaum was undoubtedly influenced by Jimi Hendrix and British blues-rockers. The recording earned Greenbaum the dubious honor of being one of the most successful one-hit wonders of all time.

5. “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Simon and Garfunkel

Another faux-gospel song written by a Jewish singer-songwriter, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” – unlike “Spirit in the Sky” – transcended its gospel roots to become of the greatest ballads of the rock era. From the get-go it was acclaimed for Simon’s lyrics and Art Garfunkel’s virtuoso vocals, spending six weeks at number one, winding up as the top hit of the year, and earning five Grammy Awards. Simon & Garfunkel’s version sold six million copies worldwide; numerous cover versions, including most famously Aretha Franklin’s soulful take and Elvis Presley’s glitzy rendition, added to that total. As with the Beatles’ “Let It Be,” the song took on additional meaning as relations between the singing duo began to fray, lending poignancy to the “troubled water” of the title.

6. “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes),” Edison Lighthouse

Another of the greatest all-time one-hit wonders, Edison Lighthouse was not even a going concern – they were just a group of musicians (including some members of obscure English soft-rock band Greenfield Hammer) put together for the purpose of recording “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes).” The all-white band did a halfway decent job of pulling off a Motown-style tune, albeit with a sweetness – some might call it insipidity – that sucked the soul out of it, lending it a bubblegum-rock feel, while the producers laughed all the way to number five, where the song peaked.

7. “House of the Rising Sun,” Frijid Pink

With roots dating back to English folk music in the 19^th century, “House of the Rising Sun” garnered numerous cover versions over the decades, with versions by the likes of Clarence “Tom” Ashley, Roy Acuff, Jean Ritchie, Woody Guthrie, Josh White, Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Miriam Makeba, Joan Baez, and Nina Simone. Frijid Pink’s acid-rock version relates most directly to the Animals’ number-one hit rendition of 1964, juiced up with some very Jimi Hendrix-influenced buzz-drenched guitar noise. Personally, I have no memory of ever hearing this version.

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8. “Come and Get It,” Badfinger

Badfinger’s debut hit bore the sonic and actual imprint of the Beatles, who signed the Welsh rock group the Iveys to their Apple label and renamed them Badfinger. Paul McCartney wrote and produced the single, which was the opening theme for the film The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. The song established Badfinger as a commercial powerhouse of the early 1970s, helping to transition the sound of the Beatles into the new genre of post-Beatles “power pop.” The group maintained its connection to the Beatles with subsequent hits produced by members of the Fab Four (including “Day After Day” produced by George Harrison, who also lent some signature slide-guitar licks to the number, and “No Matter What,” produced by Beatles right-hand man Mal Evans), and several members of Badfinger appeared on Harrison albums, including All Things Must Pass and in the backing band at The Concert for Bangladesh. The Beatles, as you are probably picking up on by now, did not go gentle into that good night after their breakup; they continued to make music as solo artists, songwriters, producers, occasional collaborators, and through their unprecedented influence on all music that came after them. Listen especially to the harmony vocals and the harmonic modulation at the end of the song to hear the strong Beatles DNA that runs through the single.

9. “Easy Come, Easy Go,” Bobby Sherman

First recorded by Mama Cass Elliott in 1969, former teen idol Bobby Sherman scored a bubblegum hit with this bouncy bit of pop fluff, distinguished by its elaborate horn arrangements, one of seven Top 40 hits the California native charted between 1962 and 1976, when he forsook music and acting for work as a paramedic and a deputy sheriff. Sherman was discovered by actor Sal Mineo in 1962 at a Hollywood party; Mineo wrote two songs for Sherman, and the two enjoyed a brief romantic relationship. Songs like “Easy Come, Easy Go” were tailored for parents of young rock ‘n’ roll fans and ready for prime-time TV variety show audiences. The only thing offensive about it is its mediocrity.

10. “The Rapper,” the Jaggerz

A few weeks after peaking at number two, the Jaggerz’s biggest hit, “The Rapper,” still clung to the top 10 with its funky, pop-soul in the vein of contemporaneous band War. The song’s title has nothing to do with what became known as rap music; the “rapping” here refers to the smooth talk of a seducer. Written by band member Donnie Iris, the song was prevented from reaching the top of the chart by Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The song was later covered by DJ Wolfman Jack. The group, out of Pittsburgh, formed in 1964, and released its debut album in 1969, produced by Philadelphia soul legends Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. This is another tune I had no memory of ever hearing before my research into this week in music.

In solidarity,

Seth Rogovoy

“Well, I don’t want to go on the roof.” -- George Harrison

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