Soft rock songs of the seventies are kind of like a cool drink on a hot summer day. Whether you grew up during this wonderful decade, or you were already grown, perhaps no other decade is as identifiable with it’s music as the seventies. Soft rock hits bring memories of some kind back to anyone that was around back then. For me, it brings back the hot summer days of my youth, and the beginning of my infatuation with girls. Because of the heartfelt emotion in the soft rock songs of the seventies, they take me back to my first crush, my first kiss, and even my first heartbreak. A top five list of this kind was nearly impossible to do, so I went with my own personal favorites. Here are my personal top five soft rock songs of the seventies:
5. Bread - “Baby I’m - A Want You” (1971)
In 1971 I was just only three, yet somehow the song remains entrenched in my memories. I remember it as being a relaxing song that my Mom and Dad loved to listen to as we sat on the front porch. I would be out in the yard playing with my army men, and my sister would be riding bikes in the yard with our next door neighbor. Bread was a very underrated band, and they had a number of hits. This one, to me, was their greatest.
4. Seals & Crofts - “Summer Breeze” (1972)
Again, this song is from my early childhood. This song was so popular, however, that it was still being played on the “modern” radio stations years later. This song was one of the songs that defined this genre of music, and will always be special to me. It also was one of the first songs that I learned the words to and tried to sing. The results were less than spectacular.
3. Starland Vocal Band - “Afternoon Delight” (1976)
Now this is where the fun began for me. Afternoon Delight was my “weekend song” back when I was young. In our home back in 1976, the weekends were everything. This was when my friends and I got to “spend the night” at each other’s home, and when we got some freedom to roam around. Afternoon Delight always seemed to be the backdrop for those activities. Perhaps no other song screams the seventies more to me.
2. Kansas - “Dust In The Wind” (1977)
Kansas was my first exposure to teen coolness. We had a neighbor that was 13 years old, and he was known to be a “teen problem child” primarily because he played guitar, and he had long hair. The guy would hang out in his basement all summer playing guitar and doing other “teen rebellion” activities. One summer day, he invited me and my best friend down to the basement. Dust in the Wind was playing in the background as I was exposed to playing guitar for the first time. It stuck in my head, and the song takes me right back there.
1. Styx - “Babe” (1979)
Without a doubt, Styx was the king of the music world for a lot of people in the late seventies. Babe was the quintessential soft rock song, and a ballad that would eventually be the backdrop for a huge number of my dates. It was impossible to go anywhere in America in the late seventies without hearing Babe. In the supermarket, malls, and even in the doctor’s office, Babe was a regular thing on the radio. You simply do not hear it enough anymore.
Well, those are my top five soft rock songs of the seventies. What songs do you think were the greatest? Leave them in the comments below!
