The Top 10 Hits That Took Over Fall 1970

It may have been the start of a new decade, but the music of 1970 still strongly resembled that of the 1960s. Yet by the time the fall of 1970 rolled around, the sound of the decade to come began to emerge, with bands and singers just breaking out who would become iconic in the years ahead. With the weather getting colder, the nation's kids heading back to school, and everyone spending more time indoors, there was a need for music to fuel parties and fill the giant headphones popular at the time. And even though it was pretty messed up, the 1970s music industry happily and thoroughly obliged.

After summer ended and winter began, Americans collectively grooved and swooned to a handful of songs, all of which spent a significant part of the fall season in the Top 10 of the singles chart. From Neil Diamond to the Jackson 5 and Badfinger, these are the big hits that reigned supreme on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1970.

Crooning rocker and '60s holdover Neil Diamond was the king of the cerebral musical come-on, and "Cracklin' Rosie" seems to qualify as a song about such a fleeting romance. But it's really about substituting cheap wine for the companionship of a lover. Audiences must have been able to relate on some level, listening to "Cracklin' Rosie" on the increasingly cold nights of late 1970. Diamond's first-ever No. 1 hit, it debuted in the late summer and rode the charts throughout the fall, fully uncorking at the top of the Hot 100 in mid-October.

After a bad early show failed to excite the audience, the members of the British hard rock band Free realized they needed a song that would charge up the crowd, and member Andy Fraser wrote the basics of "All Right Now" in about 10 minutes. Laid-back and propelled by a delicious and groovy electric guitar riff, "All Right Now" was one of the first pieces of '70s-style classic rock to hit it big, joining the Hot 100 in September 1970 and going as high as No. 4 in October.

Sensitive, plaintive, folk-inspired singer-songwriters did big business in the early 1970s, and James Taylor is one of the most definitive examples of that group. In September 1970, he placed a single on the Hot 100 for the very first time with "Fire and Rain." Sparse and haunting, and thus seasonally appropriate, the challenging ballad was partially inspired by the tragic death of an old friend. "Fire and Rain" reached No. 3 on the pop chart by Halloween.

Creedence Clearwater Revival missed the No. 1 spot so many times they set a record, and one of those almost-chart-toppers was "Lookin' Out My Back Door." A warm, comforting, and old-fashioned-sounding slice of catchy country rock, the song was inspired by Dr. Seuss's "To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street," and CCR leader John Fogerty wrote it to entertain his toddler son. A hit at home and everywhere else, "Lookin' Out My Back Door" could only make it as high as No. 2 on the pop chart, hitting that position in early October.

Easily the biggest new act of 1970 was the Jackson 5. Consisting of five singing, dancing, instrument-playing young brothers from Gary, Indiana, led by the powerfully-piped Michael Jackson, the group was the first to ever hit No. 1 with its initial four singles. The first three were killer Motown dance-pop, opening the door for something different with "I'll Be There." A tender and powerful ballad promising endless devotion, the love song must have dominated fall social activities that year, spending five weeks at No. 1 across October and November.

A hot new TV sitcom in the fall of 1970, "The Partridge Family" was about a family rock band. The in-show songs were performed primarily by session musicians backing star David Cassidy, who became one of the major teen idols of the era on the strength of bubblegum pop confections like "I Think I Love You." Cassidy tells a story with his performance, moving from confused to accepting to gleeful as his narrator realizes he's falling in love. The combo of song, star, and pop culture moment sent "I Think I Love You" to No. 1 for three weeks.

With "The Tears of a Clown," Motown Records proved that it could still make some moves on the charts with its deeply appealing pop-soul blend, even if the piece sounded like it was recorded nearly a decade earlier. Co-written by the Miracles' eponymous breakout star, Smokey Robinson, "The Tears of a Clown" uses an exceedingly happy melody to obscure lyrics about keeping one's sadness secret. The song made a play onto the Hot 100 in mid-October, eventually making it up to No. 1 in mid-December, spending two of the last weeks of fall in the top slot.

Before it climbed the charts, this song was a commercial jingle for California's Crocker-Citizens National Bank. Richard Carpenter, the piano-playing, arranger half of the sibling duo the Carpenters, saw the ad and pursued recording a full-length version of "We've Only Just Begun" featuring sister Karen Carpenter on lead vocals. Only the second Top 40 hit for the act, "We've Only Just Begun," a tune about looking into the bright future ahead with a new, committed partner, reached the pop chart halfway through September 1970 and settled into its peak position of No. 2 by the end of October.

While psychedelic rock was perceived as strange and off-putting in the late '60s, by the fall of 1970 it was mainstream and entrenched, to the point where psychedelic pop could nearly top the Hot 100. Sugarloaf took its time with the languid, mystical, and trippy "Green-Eyed Lady," which also happened to have an audience-hypnotizing hook of a chugging bass line. It first showed up on the Hot 100 in August, but when the fall arrived, "Green-Eyed Lady" gained momentum and reached No. 3 on the pop chart by mid-September.

One of the best songs to nail the sound of '70s power pop, "No Matter What" by British band and Beatles protégés Badfinger is as crunchy and infectious as rock gets. A blast-off of an opening riff leads to soaring harmonies, playful drums, and a lyrical guitar solo, making this an instantly nostalgic radio hit. Debuting on the Hot 100 on Halloween of 1970, "No Matter What" raced up the charts through November until it peaked at No. 8 in early December.