'70s Movie Hits

From the street-savvy soul of Superfly to the orchestral sweep of space — Star Wars — these songs made the ’70s a decade of movies you heard as vividly as you saw. Don’t forget the hillbilly pleasures of Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down” from Smokey and the Bandit or those incredible “Dueling Banjos” from Deliverance.

“Stayin’ Alive” from Saturday Night Fever
“Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky
“East Bound and Down” from Smokey and the Bandit
“Main Theme” from Star Wars
“Theme from ‘Shaft’” from Shaft
“You’re the One That I Want” from Grease
“Evergreen” from A Star Is Born
“Live and Let Die” from Live and Let Die
“Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show
“Cabaret” from Cabaret
“Ben” from Ben
“Theme from ‘Mahogany’ (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)” from Mahogany
“Dueling Banjos” from Deliverance
“The Harder They Come” from The Harder They Come
“Everybody’s Talkin’” from Midnight Cowboy
“Last Dance” from Thank God It’s Friday
“That’s the Way of the World” from That’s the Way of the World
“Car Wash” from Car Wash
“Main Theme” from Jaws
“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
” from Monty Python’s Life of Brian
“Can You Read My Mind” from Superman
“Nobody Does It Better” from The Spy Who Loved Me
“Pinball Wizard” from Tommy
“Superfly” from Superfly
“The Entertainer” from The Sting

The psychedelic majesty of “Aquarius” looms large in this section of songs from the movies that mattered . . . from the decade that changed movies forever. Bob Dylan compounded the elegiac feel of Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid with “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” Nino Rota wrote the definitive mafia melody with “The Godfather – Waltz,” and the Ramones provided the title track for Rock ’N’ Roll High School.

“Main Theme” from Superman
“The Way We Were” from The Way We Were
“Aquarius” from Hair
“Let’s Do It Again” from Let’s Do It Again
“The Rose” from The Rose
“Convoy” from Convoy
“Night Fever” from Saturday Night Fever
“Summer Nights” from Grease
“Ready to Take a Chance Again” from Foul Play
“Got to Get You Into My Life” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
“Rock ’N’ Roll High School” from Rock ’N’ Roll High School
“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” from Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
“Animal House” from Animal House
“Suicide Is Painless” from M*A*S*H
“The Hands of Time” from Brian’s Song
“Thank God It’s Friday” from Thank God It’s Friday
“The Godfather – Waltz” from The Godfather
“You Light Up My Life” from You Light Up My Life
“Through the Eyes of Love” from Ice Castles
“Across 100th Street” from Across 110th Street
“How Deep Is Your Love” from Saturday Night Fever
“FM” from FM
“My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” from The Electric Horseman
“On Broadway” from All That Jazz
“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” from Harold and Maude

The suburban snottiness of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” — the perfect standard for Jonathan Kaplan’s teenage rebellion classic Over the Edge — stands in stark contrast here to the midnight-dark dirge of Leonard Cohen’s “Sisters of Mercy,” from Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller. But these soundtrack staples painted their respective films’ landscapes as vividly as any cinematographer.

“Harper Valley P.T.A.” from Harper Valley P.T.A.
“Surrender” from Over the Edge
“Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar
“I’m Easy” from Nashville
“Bolero” from 10
“Chase” from Midnight Express
“Theme from ‘Summer of ’42’” from Summer of ’42
“Bless the Beasts and the Children” from Bless the Beasts and the Children
“Friends” from Friends
“Die Walküre: The Ride of the Valkyries” from Apocalypse Now
“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” from Slap Shot
“Trouble Man” from Trouble Man
“The Name of the Game” from ABBA: The Movie
“Day By Day” from Godspell
“Book of Rules” from Rockers
“Sisters of Mercy” from McCabe & Mrs. Miller
“Late for the Sky” from Taxi Driver
“Cavatina” from The Deer Hunter
“Get the Funk out Ma Face” from Mother, Jugs & Speed
“All the Way from Memphis” from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
“Death Wish (Main Title)” from Death Wish
“The Last Time I Felt Like This” from Same Time, Next Year
“Theme of Foxy Brown” from Foxy Brown
“Memo from Turner” from Performance
“The Tale of Sir Robin” from Monty Python & The Holy Grail

From the best films of the ’70s came the best songs of ’70s. These are the tracks that made Rocky a champion of the people, kept us out of the ocean for fear of sharks, and sent John Travolta strutting down the streets of Brooklyn. Isaac Hayes will remind you of blaxploitation at its best, John Williams lends the blockbuster its epic sonic dimensions, and Paul McCartney adds a reggae break in the middle of one of James Bond’s finest signature tracks (“Live and Let Die”). All this and The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, M*A*S*H . . . cinephiles and music lovers, rejoice.

“Stayin’ Alive” from Saturday Night Fever
“Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky
“East Bound and Down” from Smokey and the Bandit
“Main Theme” from Star Wars
“Theme from ‘Shaft’” from Shaft
“You’re the One That I Want” from Grease
“Evergreen” from A Star Is Born
“Live and Let Die” from Live and Let Die
“Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show
“Cabaret” from Cabaret
“Ben” from Ben
“Theme from ‘Mahogany’ (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)” from Mahogany
“Dueling Banjos” from Deliverance
“The Harder They Come” from The Harder They Come
“Everybody’s Talkin’” from Midnight Cowboy
“Last Dance” from Thank God It’s Friday
“That’s the Way of the World” from That’s the Way of the World
“Car Wash” from Car Wash
“Main Theme” from Jaws
“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from Monty Python’s Life of Brian
“Can You Read My Mind” from Superman
“Nobody Does It Better” from The Spy Who Loved Me
“Pinball Wizard” from Tommy
“Superfly” from Superfly
“The Entertainer” from The Sting
“Main Theme” from Superman
“The Way We Were” from The Way We Were
“Aquarius” from Hair
“Let’s Do It Again” from Let’s Do It Again
“The Rose” from The Rose
“Convoy” from Convoy
“Night Fever” from Saturday Night Fever
“Summer Nights” from Grease
“Ready to Take a Chance Again” from Foul Play
“Got to Get You Into My Life” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
“Rock ’N’ Roll High School” from Rock ’N’ Roll High School
“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” from Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
“Animal House” from Animal House
“Suicide Is Painless” from M*A*S*H
“The Hands of Time” from Brian’s Song
“Thank God It’s Friday” from Thank God It’s Friday
“The Godfather – Waltz” from The Godfather
“You Light Up My Life” from You Light Up My Life
“Through the Eyes of Love” from Ice Castles
“Across 100th Street” from Across 110th Street
“How Deep Is Your Love” from Saturday Night Fever
“FM” from FM
“My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” from The Electric Horseman
“On Broadway” from All That Jazz
“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” from Harold and Maude
“Harper Valley P.T.A.” from Harper Valley P.T.A.
“Surrender” from Over the Edge
“Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar
“I’m Easy” from Nashville
“Bolero” from 10
“Chase” from Midnight Express
“Theme from ‘Summer of ’42’” from Summer of ’42
“Bless the Beasts and the Children” from Bless the Beasts and the Children
“Friends” from Friends
“Die Walküre: The Ride of the Valkyries” from Apocalypse Now
“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” from Slap Shot
“Trouble Man” from Trouble Man
“The Name of the Game” from ABBA: The Movie
“Day by Day” from Godspell
“Book of Rules” from Rockers
“Sisters of Mercy” from McCabe & Mrs. Miller
“Late for the Sky” from Taxi Driver
“Cavatina” from The Deer Hunter
“Get the Funk out Ma Face” from Mother, Jugs & Speed
“All the Way from Memphis” from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
“Death Wish (Main Title)” from Death Wish
“The Last Time I Felt Like This” from Same Time, Next Year
“Theme of Foxy Brown” from Foxy Brown
“Memo from Turner” from Performance
“The Tale of Sir Robin” from Monty Python & The Holy Grail