'70s Pop Vol. 3

The godfatherly figure of David Bowie looms large over our third installment of '70s Pop hits — he wrote "All the Young Dudes" for Mott the Hoople and delivered one of his finest-ever tracks in Hunky Dory's "Life on Mars?", featuring keyboards by Rick Wakeman. Don McLean laid a shroud over the '60s with "American Pie", the Police spearheaded the post-punk movement, and ABBA nailed the ageless boogie of "Dancing Queen".

For a cocktail of rock 'n' soul, try our '70s Pop Next Steps.

Philly soul and disco lubricated the '70s with the creamy harmonies of the Three Degrees. A personal favourite of Prince Charles, the trio performed at Buckingham Palace for his 30th birthday: "When Will I See You Again" will turn your heart to butter. Status Quo banged out rockin' hit after rockin' hit, sticking to a formula that was every bit as simple as punk yet accessible to the whole family: "Down Down" sees the outfit at the top of their game.

Piano men and disco ladies inhabit our Deep Cuts.

Top of the Pops gave music lovers a vital, weekly look at chart bands during the '70s and CCS (Collective Consciousness Society) — led by blues guitarist Alexis Korner and filled out by the decade's finest session players — provided the show's theme tune, an instrumental cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love". Lieutenant Pigeon recorded one of the decade's most memorable novelty tracks with "Mouldy Old Dough" — there were no lyrics, except for the words in the title.

It's small wonder we've returned to the fertile song-turf of the '70s for yet another batch of outstanding pop tracks: the decade's charts hosted the convergence of multiple styles and genres, from the new wave of Elvis Costello and the Pretenders to the Euro-disco of Baccara ("Yes Sir, I Can Boogie") and the jaunty prog rock of Supertramp ("The Logical Song"). Glamour spackled the rock of T. Rex and David Bowie; Simon & Garfunkel gave folk an epic dimension with "Bridge Over Troubled Water"; and Sparks defied all categorisation with the artful quirkiness of tracks like "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us".