'70s Pop Vol. 2

The '70s saw a huge boom in pop, what with the rise of glam and disco, and the ABC debut of Countdown . . . which means we've been obliged to assemble this supplementary list of standout '70s Pop Essentials. The decade supplied a surfeit of sonic colour, and these hits were among the most dazzling, from Samantha Sang's dance-floor smoocher "Emotion" (recorded in collaboration with the Bee Gees) to Wings' bagpipe ballad "Mull of Kintyre." You can also sing along with Scottish gusto to tartan-clad lad band the Bay City Rollers ("Bye Bye Baby") or go all intense and literary with Kate Bush ("Wuthering Heights").

The '70s glam clan makes some noise, in Next Steps.

The '70s was a time when pop and fashion collided with spectacular results. From foot-wide flares to leather pants and safety pins, the decade changed its style to the sound of cutting-edge pop, like Blondie's snarling "Hanging on the Telephone" and the Police's punked-up reggae rocker, "Roxanne." Sweet (aka the Sweet) bust the glam barn-doors wide open with "Ballroom Blitz," which topped the pop charts here in Australia, 1973, rock's self-styled dandy-prince Marc Bolan added to the decade's foppish eccentricity with T-Rex, who scored big with "Telegram Sam" in '72, and Skyhooks festooned the middle of the decade with "All My Friends Are Getting Married."

Girl groups, legends and sultans gather for a '70s pop party, in Deep Cuts.

The mind-blowing pop turmoil of the '70s — when pop's many elements collided in one big, surreal sonic kaleidoscope — is honed to a point of sharp contrast in the most bizarre section of our mix, where Irish sister act the Nolans ("I'm in the Mood for Dancing") shares floor space with the driving piano rock of the Faces — "Cindy Incidentally" from their final studio album Ooh La La, with Rod Stewart magnificent on vocals and future Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood on guitar — and the jaunty pop rock of Christie ("Yellow River"). Throw in a little Smokie ("Living Next Door to Alice") and some Dire Straits ("Sultans of Swing"), and the picture just gets richer.

From glam-rock and bubblegum to punk and disco, the '70s didn't stand still for a second. While rock's giants turned out increasingly epic concept albums, the pop charts rang to the chimes of classic singles. In hindsight, the decade seems like the most golden of pop eras: an all-inclusive house party where the bold, the bland and the sparkly of trouser lived in hairy harmony. This second selection of '70s Pop Essentials encompasses the effervescent charms of the New Seekers — "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" — the Stateside rock rebellion of Alice Cooper ("School's Out"), and the narrative brilliance of Squeeze ("Cool For Cats"). Icons came and went, one-hit wonders evaporated, super-troopers survived, and the cheese was never so cheesy . . . but for a rollicking good time, the '70s rule.