The Official best-selling singles from the 1970s

As BBC Pick of the Pops on BBC 2 celebrates its 70th anniversary , we at Official Charts have opened the vaults and crunched the numbers to reveal alongside Pick of The Pops, the Top 20 biggest singles from the 70's - 00's. 

We're going to be taking a look at the defining hits of the 1970's, 80s, 90s and 00s. Firstly, lets zone in on the 70's. 

The list of 70s hits sees a wide array of tastes on display; from Christmas songs and novelty singles that touch upon overtly queer culture, to the emergence of New Wave, punk and of course, baroque British rock. 

Disclaimer: This is a list of the best-selling singles released from 1970-1979, compiled from Official Charts Company data representing pure, physical sales from 1970 - 2022.

Positions 11-20 include some absolute hits, from the upbeat pop banger of Don't Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee (20), to the outrageous Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick by the ever eclectic Ian Dury and The Blockheads (17). 

Moving up the rankings, Pink Floyd see their iconic Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) which has become one of the most influential songs of all time at Number 14, while Swedish giants and UK favourites ABBA find the universal Dancing Queen at 12. 

Here is your Top 10 below: 

10. Merry Xmas Everybody
Artist: Slade
Released: 1973
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK sales: 1.33 million

Very fitting, given that Christmas is on the horizon...Slade's glam-rock ode to the festive season is a deliriously camp holiday tune, dripped in glitter and melting snow. 

The sixth and final Number 1 single from Noddy Holder and co., Merry Xmas Everybody remains a staple of a UK Christmas, and is officially one of the biggest-selling Christmas songs of all time in the UK.

9. Heart of Glass
Artist: Blondie
Released: 1979
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK sales: 1.34 million

Emerging right at the end of the 70s, Heart of Glass had one eye set dramatically to the future; to the coming decade, that would be swamped with New Wave, synth-based acts, most of them trying (and, let's be honest, failing) to emulate the effortless cool purr of Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry.

Taken from Blondie's heavily influential third album Parallel Lines, Heart of Glass became the first of six UK chart-toppers for Blondie, and Debbie Harry herself says it's the song she's most proud of writing, along with Rapture (naturally).

8. YMCA
Artist: The Village People
Released: 1978
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK sales: 1.53 million

Imagine us typing this doing the dance moves. 

A panache disco classic, YMCA may be a novelty record in the most conventional sense, but look a little deeper into the lyrics and you'll find a song that speaks to underground gay culture, in a time when the sexuality of queer people was especially fraught with prejudice and misunderstanding. 

7. Summer Nights
Artist: John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (from Grease)
Released: 1978
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK sales: 1.65 million

The first showing in this list from the blockbuster musical Grease, Summer Nights is the opening number of the musical, explaining the circumstances between the first meeting of star-crossed lovers Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John). 

6. Imagine
Artist: John Lennon
Released: 1975
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 6 (1975), Number 1(1980)
Total UK sales: 1.74 million

One of those very special songs that ignites a fire within the heart of the culture that burns brightly, long after its been released.

John Lennon's biggest solo hit was an ode to a kinder, calmer world that Lennon really, truly believed we could achieve. Imagine didn't reach Number 1 during its initial release, but in reaction to the horror of Lennon's assassination in 1980, it reached Number 1 for the first time. 

 

1979: Blondie - Parallel Lines

1979 was a massive year for Blondie. Their third album Parallel Lines became their international breakthrough and saw them reach new heights on home soil.

Look over Blondie's full Official UK Chart history

5. Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord
Artist: Boney M
Released: 1978
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK sales: 1.90 million

Another Christmas classic! 

This effervescent disco classic from is a cover of the 1956 standard, originally written by Jester Hairston. Of course, in the hands of Boney M, it takes the songs calypso origins and spins it into another, decadent universe. 

4. Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl In The Ring
Artist: Boney M
Released: 1978
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK sales: 2.04 million

Another strong showing for the German disco-pop group, Rivers of Babylon was the first chart-topper in the UK for Boney M boasting over 2 million sales. 

3. You're The One That I Want
Artist: John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (from Grease)
Released: 1978
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK sales: 2.08 million

The biggest hit from Grease, You're The One That I Want is the musical's effervescent musical number where Sandy finally gets her guy...after entirely compromising her individuality for him and his friends?! (Actually, let's not get into that now). 

According to Official Charts Company data, in the all-time sales chart (which excludes streams), You're The One That I Want remains one of the UK's Top 5 best-selling singles of all time with 2.08 million sales. In the UK's all-time singles charts (which now includes streaming data), You're The One That I Want still charts at Number 73 with 2.49 million chart sales.

2. Mull of Kintyre/Girls' School
Artist: Wings
Released: 1977
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1
Total UK sales: 2.10 million

The biggest hit from Wings, made up of former Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife Linda, Mull of Kintyre was the band's first (and surprisingly only) UK Number single. 

Written as an ode to the Scottish farm that the McCartney's owned (and where Paul had sought vigil following the end of The Beatles), Mull of Kintyre proved to be a pivotal record for Wings following a so-far muted critical reception to their work, and was even the coveted Official Christmas Number 1 single of 1977.

View Wings' Official Charts history in here.

1. Bohemian Rhapsody
Artist: Queen
Released: 1975
Official Singles Chart peak: Number 1 (1975 & 1991)
Total UK sales: 2.62 million

Could it have honestly been anything else by any other act? 

After setting an Official Charts record in 2022 with Greatest Hits becoming the first album in UK chart history to reach 'sales' of 7 million, Queen can also now claim the biggest-selling single from the 1970s with Bohemian Rhapsody.

Their masterpiece, nothing has quite sounded like Bohemian Rhapsody before or since. The second best-selling single in the history of the Official Charts, Bohemian Rhapsody has had the honour of becoming Number 1 twice; once upon its original release in 1975 for nine weeks, and then once again in 1991 following the death of Queen's effervescent front man Freddie Mercury. 

The Official Top 20 best-selling singles from the 1970s

POS	TITLE	ARTIST	PEAK	YEAR
1	BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY	QUEEN	1	1975
2	MULL OF KINTYRE/GIRLS' SCHOOL	WINGS	1	1977
3	YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT	JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN	1	1978
4	RIVERS OF BABYLON/BROWN GIRL IN THE RING	BONEY M	1	1978
5	MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD	BONEY M	1	1978
6	IMAGINE	JOHN LENNON	1	1975
7	SUMMER NIGHTS	JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN	1	1978
8	YMCA	VILLAGE PEOPLE	1	1978
9	HEART OF GLASS	BLONDIE	1	1979
10	MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY	SLADE	1	1973
11	BRIGHT EYES	ART GARFUNKEL	1	1979
12	DANCING QUEEN	ABBA	1	1976
13	DON'T GIVE UP ON US	DAVID SOUL	1	1976
14	ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL (PART 2)	PINK FLOYD	1	1979
15	I FEEL LOVE	DONNA SUMMER	1	1977
16	I LOVE YOU LOVE ME LOVE	GARY GLITTER	1	1973
17	HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK	IAN DURY AND THE BLOCKHEADS	1	1978
18	I WILL SURVIVE	GLORIA GAYNOR	1	1979
19	SAILING	ROD STEWART	1	1975
20	DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART	ELTON JOHN & KIKI DEE	1	1976

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