For the OtC show of September 9, 2013, I searched for lists of the top artists of the 70's. I found a number of such lists and present four of them in the table below. You can see that there is far from a unanimity of opinion, and I certainly don't agree with every entry or ranking. But, take a look and see what you think.
My exact sources were as follows:
+ AcclaimedMusic.net, based on an aggregation of critics' opinions of most-acclaimed albums & songs
+ Last.fm, based on song play frequency on their website
+ DigitalDreamDoor.com, based on sales + influence of their recorded work during the 70s decade
+ VinylSurrender.com, based on votes of site's users
My exact sources were as follows:
+ AcclaimedMusic.net, based on an aggregation of critics' opinions of most-acclaimed albums & songs
+ Last.fm, based on song play frequency on their website
+ DigitalDreamDoor.com, based on sales + influence of their recorded work during the 70s decade
+ VinylSurrender.com, based on votes of site's users
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 | acclaimedmusic.net David Bowie Neil Young* Stevie Wonder Bob Marley* The Rolling Stones Led Zeppelin The Clash Marvin Gaye Pink Floyd Bruce Springsteen Sex Pistols Joni Mitchell John Lennon Elvis Costello Bob Dylan Roxy Music Ramones Kraftwerk The Who Al Green Lou Reed Steely Dan Van Morrison Black Sabbath Funkadelic/Parliament Patti Smith Elton John Brian Eno Talking Heads The Stooges Fleetwood Mac Big Star T. Rex Randy Newman Queen Sly & the Family Stone Curtis Mayfield Eagles Deep Purple Television Rod Stewart Miles Davis Blondie The Jam Chic Derek & The Dominos Aerosmith The Velvet Underground Wire Can Carole King Jackson Browne Lynyrd Skynyrd Joy Division Iggy Pop The Police Gram Parsons AC/DC Nick Drake Simon and Garfunkel James Brown Michael Jackson New York Dolls CSN&Y* The Doors Grateful Dead CCR* The Allman Brothers* Alice Cooper Todd Rundgren Thin Lizzy Genesis Gang of Four Public Image Ltd. Jonathan Richman* Paul McCartney/Wings Donna Summer Pere Ubu Buzzcocks Santana ABBA The Specials Little Feat Mott the Hoople Paul Simon Suicide Yes The Temptations Jimmy Cliff Janis Joplin/Big Bro.* Willie Nelson John Cale The O'Jays George Harrison Ian Dury Robert Wyatt Captain Beefheart* James Taylor KISS The Beach Boys | last.fm David Bowie ABBA Fleetwood Mac Led Zeppelin Electric Light Orchestra Elton John Bee Gees Queen Carpenters T. Rex Stevie Wonder Eagles Ramones Steely Dan John Lennon The Rolling Stones Supertramp Cat Stevens The Doobie Brothers America Pink Floyd Earth, Wind & Fire The Who Rod Stewart Neil Diamond Roxy Music Chicago Bill Withers Big Star 10cc Deep Purple Sweet Lynyrd Skynyrd Carole King Jim Croce Lou Reed Donna Summer Paul McCartney & Wings KC & The Sunshine Band Paul McCartney The Clash George Harrison Michael Jackson Dr. Hook Smokie Boney M. Three Dog Night Don McLean Bread Steve Miller Band Iggy Pop Bob Dylan Jethro Tull Patti Smith CCR* Aerosmith Al Green Uriah Heep Billy Joel Sex Pistols Bruce Springsteen Carly Simon Paul Simon Chic Boston KISS Black Sabbath Hot Chocolate Commodores Marvin Gaye Blondie Slade ELP* Harry Nilsson The Jackson 5 Thin Lizzy The Runaways Genesis Blue Oyster Cult Neil Young* Todd Rundgren Wings Bay City Rollers Kansas The Kinks Curtis Mayfield Grand Funk Railroad Gloria Gaynor Bachman-Turner* Rodriguez Peter Frampton Linda Ronstadt Suzi Quatro Nazareth Sparks Seals & Crofts Bob Marley* Judas Priest Television Gerry Rafferty | digitaldreamdoor.com Stevie Wonder Led Zeppelin Elton John Pink Floyd Rolling Stones The Eagles Marvin Gaye Queen James Brown The Who Black Sabbath Aretha Franklin David Bowie Paul McCartney/Wings Parliament/Funkadelic The Isley Brothers Fleetwood Mac John Lennon Bee Gees Chicago Bob Marley* The Jackson 5 Earth, Wind & Fire Al Green Bruce Springsteen KISS The Clash Curtis Mayfield Lynyrd Skynyrd Eric Clapton/Derek* Alice Cooper Gladys Knight* The Allman Brothers* Aerosmith Neil Young* Bob Dylan Rod Stewart The O'Jays The Ramones Rush Bob Seger Steve Miller Band Grateful Dead The Beach Boys George Harrison Sly & the Family Stone Peter Frampton Elvis Presley CSN&Y* Billy Joel Deep Purple CCR* Three Dog Night Temptations Boston Jackson Browne Joni Mitchell Commodores Jim Croce AC/DC The Spinners Kool & The Gang Doobie Brothers Yes War ZZ Top The Guess Who ELP* The Staple Singers James Taylor Barry White Bachman-Turner* Jethro Tull Bad Company Steely Dan Santana Moody Blues Electric Light Orchestra Sex Pistols Grand Funk Railroad Journey Foreigner Kinks Patti Smith Rufus, ft. Chaka Khan Kansas Harold Melvin* Heart Donna Summer The Chi-Lites Paul Simon Linda Ronstadt America Styx The Doors Van Morrison Iggy Pop The James Gang Van Halen Lou Reed | vinylsurrender.com Stevie Wonder Pink Floyd Elton John David Bowie Queen Joni Mitchell Led Zeppelin Blondie Bob Dylan Roxy Music Brian Eno T.Rex The Ramones ABBA Paul McCartney/Wings Marvin Gaye Fleetwood Mac Lou Reed Electric Light Orchestra Michael Jackson Big Star John Lennon Neil Young* Barry White Bee Gees The Eagles Todd Rundgren Al Green The Rolling Stones Aretha Franklin Sweet Deep Purple Cat Stevens The Doors The Who Television Paul Simon 10cc The Beach Boys Santana Jethro Tull Joy Division The Clash The Jam Steely Dan Bob Marley* Simon & Garfunkel James Taylor The Raspberries Genesis Derek & The Dominoes Janis Joplin/Big Bro.* The Buzzcocks The Cars Kraftwerk Van Morrison Lynyrd Skynyrd The Congos Badfinger The Beatles Larry Norman Alice Cooper Minnie Riperton Elvis Presley Elvis Costello Gloria Gaynor Kate Bush The Jackson 5 Patti Smith George Harrison Randy Newman CCR* Dire Straits The Commodores James Brown Sly & the Family Stone J.J.Cale Jean Michel Jarre Linda Ronstadt Talking Heads Rainbow Billy Joel Jackson Browne The Sex Pistols Bruce Springsteen Black Sabbath The Temptations Eric Clapton Andrew Gold Sparks Chic Sister Sledge ELP* Don McLean Bill Withers The Police Gwen McCrae Carole King The Velvet Underground Gary Numan |
* - Notes: For space reasons, I had to abbreviate a few of the group names. The Allman Brothers is really The Allman Brothers Band. The Bob Marley listing should really be Bob Marley and the Wailers. I had to drop "Overdrive" from Bachman-Turner to make them fit. The full name of Capt. Beefteart's group is Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band (sometimes listed as "His" Magic Band). CCR is Creedence Clearwater Revival. The CSN&Y designation includes Crosby, Stills and Nash with and without Neil Young. ELP is Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Eric Clapton/Derek refers to his solo career plus his time with Derek & the Dominos. (VinylSurrender has separate listings for Eric Clapton and Derek & the Domonos.) Gladys Knight would include "the Pips" if there was just a little more room. The full listing of Harold Melvin should be "Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes". "Janis Joplin/Big Bro." refers to Joplin as a solo artist and the group Big Brother and the Holding Company of which she was a member. The Jonathan Richman listing also should include The Modern Lovers. Neil Young often shared billing with his backup band Crazy Horse.
There are a number of oddities in these lists. I notice that Last.fm has separate listings for "Paul McCartney & Wings" (#38) and later just "Wings" by themselves (#82). DigitalDreamDoor is the only one that includes Gladys Knight (at #32). The Bee Gees don't make AcclaimedMusic's list at all, while no other site has them lower than #25. Last.fm doesn't have a listing for Derek & the Dominos OR Eric Clapton. It seems like old Slowhand ought to be in there somewhere, even if that means Gerry Rafferty (#100) would be bumped off the bottom of their list. Surely, Clapton belongs above Smokie (#45) and the Bay City Rollers (#83). Or they could remove the duplicate Wings listing and include both Gerry AND Eric. I'm sure if I looked longer, I would find many more questionable entries.
Some of these artists, I've never heard of, like Rodriguez (last.fm #90), the Congos (vinylsurrender.com #58), Gwen McCrae (vinylsurrender #97), and Wire (acclaimedmusic.net #49). OK, maybe I've heard of Wire, but do they belong ahead of ABBA, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, and Todd Rundgren? I don't think so.
There are a number of oddities in these lists. I notice that Last.fm has separate listings for "Paul McCartney & Wings" (#38) and later just "Wings" by themselves (#82). DigitalDreamDoor is the only one that includes Gladys Knight (at #32). The Bee Gees don't make AcclaimedMusic's list at all, while no other site has them lower than #25. Last.fm doesn't have a listing for Derek & the Dominos OR Eric Clapton. It seems like old Slowhand ought to be in there somewhere, even if that means Gerry Rafferty (#100) would be bumped off the bottom of their list. Surely, Clapton belongs above Smokie (#45) and the Bay City Rollers (#83). Or they could remove the duplicate Wings listing and include both Gerry AND Eric. I'm sure if I looked longer, I would find many more questionable entries.
Some of these artists, I've never heard of, like Rodriguez (last.fm #90), the Congos (vinylsurrender.com #58), Gwen McCrae (vinylsurrender #97), and Wire (acclaimedmusic.net #49). OK, maybe I've heard of Wire, but do they belong ahead of ABBA, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, and Todd Rundgren? I don't think so.