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(Credits: Far Out \/ NASA \/ Uwe Conrad)<\/p>\n
Thu 9 October 2025 13:30, UK <\/p>\n
If I were given the appropriate budget to buy six 1970s<\/a> records from my local store, I fear I might not complete the task. The sheer amount of brilliant music that existed that decade would unfortunately leave me trapped in a state of choice paralysis.<\/p>\n But, in the interest of my hypothetical dreamstate, it\u2019s worth taking a stab at where I might start, which is undoubtedly with Marvin Gaye\u2019s seminal What\u2019s Going On. If we are talking about the art form of the album, where ideas can spread across more than just the standard three-minute lifespan of a single song, then this record is the perfect fit. Sonically concise, while lyrically provocative, it had everything you would want from Marvin Gaye and a soul record in general.<\/p>\n How could any 1970s catalogue albums be complete without Led Zeppelin<\/a>, either? The band who dominated the decade with their unrelenting brand of rock would undoubtedly slip into my basket and most likely in the form of Led Zeppelin IV, which seemed to capture them at their most enigmatic.<\/p>\n Joining Zeppelin and Gaye would be Stevie Wonder\u2019s Songs in the Key of Life for its outrageous display of songwriting innovation across the entire runtime. Rounding off these musical behemoths would likely be Maggot Brain by Funkadelic<\/a> and The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, and slotting in on the sixth spot would have to be George Harrison\u2019s All Things Must Pass, just to get one subtle hit of something Beatles-related while I can.<\/p>\n Whether you agree with my final line-up or not, surely we can find common ground on the fact that these are all worthy choices in some capacity, and go a long way to proving just how rich the landscape of music was in this decade, moving a chain of events that saw the sonic world embracing the album over single releases.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, not one of these records I just mentioned held the number one spot for ten weeks or more in the 1970s. It leaves me wondering, which ones did in fact reach that feat, and what were they doing to achieve such charting pinnacles?<\/p>\n Which 1970s albums stayed number one for 10 weeks or more?<\/p>\n In total, there were six albums that held the accolade, and sadly, only one of them fell into the realms of what we would consider a conventional album and that\u2019s Simon and Garfunkel\u2019s Bridge Over Troubled Water, reaching number one on February 21st, 1970, and staying there for 13 weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n You would have thought this would have set out an exciting and futuristic stall for albums, but the rest of the decade didn\u2019t follow suit, with the remaining either compilation records or film soundtracks, proving that there was still a commercial underbelly to the 1970s charts.<\/p>\n Some instances include Elton John\u2019s Greatest Hits staying at number one for 11 weeks from November 1974 onwards, The Beach Boys\u2019 20 Golden Greats doing ten weeks from July 1974, and The Carpenters\u2019 The Singles: 1969\u20131973 doing 11 weeks from March 1974.\u00a0<\/p>\n