More ’70s songs that just wouldn’t fly today
The comments section spoke up and made a good point. Why does rock keep taking the heat while hip-hop and R&B walk away clean? That article is coming. But first, one more pass at the 1970s. Pop, soul, and disco had blind spots, too.
Wiki Commons
“Having My Baby” by Paul Anka
Paul Anka’s 1974 No. 1 hit earned him a Keep Her in Her Place Award from feminist groups almost immediately. It frames pregnancy entirely around the man’s pride, reducing the woman to a supporting role in her own story. NOW calls it one of the most offensive songs ever recorded. That verdict still stands.
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“My Sharona” by The Knack
“My Sharona” was among the fastest-selling singles of 1979. What the radio didn’t mention was that Sharona Alperin, the real-life inspiration, was 17 when guitarist Doug Fieger, then 25, became fixated on her. That breathless delivery now lands very differently. Today’s audiences are less forgiving of the arithmetic.
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“Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas
Carl Douglas recorded this 1974 smash as a throwaway B-side, yet it sold eleven million copies and cemented every broad Asian stereotype the decade had to offer. It rode the Bruce Lee craze and treated Chinese culture as a novelty costume. Several UK radio stations pulled it in 2008. Its breezy reductiveness is hard to ignore.
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“Short People” by Randy Newman
Newman has always insisted “Short People” was satire, a parody of blind prejudice. In 1977, audiences weren’t so sure. Multiple states moved to ban it, and short-stature advocacy groups organized protests. The irony was real, but a song requiring a lengthy explanation of its own intent has a problem that satire probably shouldn’t have.
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“Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band
A textbook case of the decade’s gift for disguising adult content in wholesome packaging. This 1976 chart-topper is about a midday romantic rendezvous, wrapped in the warmth of a family singalong. It won two Grammys, including Best New Artist. The Academy has since had ample time to reflect.
Image Credit: Kingkongphoto / Wiki Commons.
“Lady Marmalade” by LaBelle
LaBelle’s 1975 recording is one of the great performances of the decade. Raw, theatrical, and electric, it is also a song in which a Black woman is cast as a Creole entertainer propositioning a stranger in the French Quarter. Whether that makes it exploitative or empowering is a debate that is fifty years old and still unresolved.
Image Credit: Photograph By Francesco Scavullo. Distributed By Casablanca Records / Wikimedia Commons.
“Bad Girls” by Donna Summer
Donna Summer’s 1979 disco classic opens on a Los Angeles street corner at night, car horns honking at women with no better options. Summer wrote it as an empathetic portrait, not a condemnation. Radio played it wall to wall with no one pausing to ask what it actually described. That absence of scrutiny is precisely the point.
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The bottom line
Rock had no monopoly on the decade’s blind spots. Pop, soul, and disco all had their share and were rewarded with Grammys and heavy rotation. The hip-hop article is next. That reader had a point.
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Related:
- Quiz: Can you guess the 1971 song from just one lyric?
- Can you guess the 1975 song from just one lyric?
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