1970s Wedding Songs: Trending Hits & Timeless Dance Tracks

Updated October 31, 2023 | Written by Matthew Campbell

Are you considering using 1970s songs at your wedding? There are so many great genres and hits to choose from and I am sharing the popular songs from the 70s that I have played.

1970s Wedding Songs

When picking out 1970s songs for your wedding, you must consider the following 3 factors:

  1. What is the tempo of the song to determine the style of dance?
  2. What is the meaning of the song and is it appropriate for your wedding?
  3. Does the song’s genre match the theme of your wedding?

Let’s start with the most popular right now.

Trending 1970s Wedding Songs

  1. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA
  2. “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire
  3. “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge
  4. “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” by Stevie Wonder
  5. “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry
  6. “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
  7. “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
  8. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver
  9. “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees
  10. “Y.M.C.A.” by the Villiage People
  11. “Doon’t Stop Me Now” by Queen
  12. “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole
  13. “Dancing In The Moonlight” by King Harvest
  14. “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” by James Taylor
  15. “Piano Man” by Billy Joel
  16. “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson
  17. “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton
  18. “Hooked On A Feeling” by Blue Swede
  19. “Come And Get Your Love” by Redbone
  20. “Brick House” by Commodores

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As an experienced wedding DJ, I’ve assembled a list of popular 1970s songs to get people on the dance floor and for romance at your wedding! The list is grouped by genre to match your taste in music.

1970s Popular Pop Hits

  1. What I Like About You – The Romantics
  2. My Sharona – The Knack
  3. You’re The One That I Want – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (party dance song)
  4. Hot Child In The City – Nick Gilder
  5. Rich Girl – Daryl Hall & John Oates (money dance song)
  6. The Things We Do For Love – 10cc
  7. Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain & Tennille (cocktail hour song)
  8. Fooled Around And Fell In Love – Elvin Bishop (dinner song)
  9. Dream Weaver – Gary Wright
  10. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – Steam (last dance song)
  11. Imagine – John Lennon
  12. Your Song – Elton John (first dance song)
  13. I Think I Love You – The Partridge Family

Tip

Next, read love songs from the 70s.

 

1970s Disco Dancing

  1. Good Times – Chic
  2. Funkytown – Lipps. Inc. (dance party song)
  3. Take A Chance On Me – ABBA
  4. Le Freak – Chic
  5. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
  6. We Are Family – Sister Sledge (dance party song)
  7. Y.M.C.A. – Village People
  8. Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees
  9. Dancing Queen – ABBA (dance party song)
  10. Disco Inferno – The Trammps
  11. Get Down Tonight – KC & The Sunshine Band (dance party song)
  12. That’s The Way (I LIke It) – KC & The Sunshine Band
  13. December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night!) – The Four Seasons (dancing starter)
  14. Don’t Leave Me This Way – Thelma Houston
  15. The Hustle – Van McCoy
  16. Kung Fu Fighting – Carl Douglas

Tip

Listen to a disco wedding playlist of dance favorites.

 

1970s Rock Favorites

  1. Highway To Hell – AC/DC
  2. Old Time Rock & Roll – Bob Seger
  3. Crazy Love – Poco
  4. Babe – Styx
  5. Kiss You All Over – Exile
  6. Just What I Needed – The Cars
  7. Werewolves Of London – Warren Zevon
  8. I Want You To Want Me – Cheap Trick
  9. Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton (slow dance song)
  10. Paradise By The Dashboard Light – Meat Loaf
  11. I Go Crazy – Paul Davis
  12. We Are The Champions – Queen
  13. Hotel California – The Eagles (dinner song)
  14. Still The One – Orleans (anniversary dance song)
  15. Happy Days – Pratt & McClain
  16. The Boys Are Back In Town – Thin Lizzy (groomsmen song)
  17. Walk This Way – Aerosmith
  18. Rock And Roll All Nite – Kiss
  19. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
  20. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd (party dance song)
  21. Saturday Night – Bay City Rollers
  22. Drift Away – Dobie Gray (dinner song)
  23. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown – Jim Croce
  24. Reelin’ In The Years – Steely Dan (cocktail hour song)
  25. The Joker – Steve Miller Band
  26. Crocodile Rock – Elton John
  27. The Loco-Motion – Grand Funk Railroad
  28. Stuck In The Middle With You – Stealers Wheel (cocktail hour song)
  29. Listen To The Music – The Doobie Brothers (cocktail hour song)
  30. Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) – The Hollies
  31. American Pie – Don McLean
  32. Me And Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin
  33. Bang A Gong (Get It On) – T. Rex
  34. Brown Sugar – The Rolling Stones
  35. Joy To The World – Three Dog Night (party dance song)
  36. All Right Now – Free
  37. Fire And Rain – James Taylor
  38. Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin
  39. Spirit In The Sky – Norman Greenbaum
  40. Get Ready – Rare Earth
  41. Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
  42. Let It Be – The Beatles

Tip

Put on headphones and listen to wedding songs of the 80s.

 

1970s R&B Party Tunes

  1. Rapper’s Delight – Sugarhill Gang (party dance song)
  2. Rock With You – Michael Jackson
  3. Three Times A Lady – Commodores
  4. September – Earth, Wind & Fire (party dance song)
  5. Brick House – Commodores (party dance song)
  6. Always & Forever – Heatwave
  7. Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
  8. You Sexy Thing – Hot Chocolate
  9. Low Rider – War (limbo song)
  10. Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe – Barry White
  11. Lady Marmalade – Labelle
  12. Midnight Train To Georgia – Gladys Knight & The Pips
  13. Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye (garter song)
  14. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life – Stevie Wonder (father-daughter song)
  15. Lean On Me – Bill Withers (parents’ dance song)
  16. Superstition – Stevie Wonder (party dance song)
  17. Love Train – The O’Jays
  18. Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone – The Temptations
  19. Let’s Stay Together – Al Green (anniversary dance song)
  20. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) – The Temptations
  21. Tears Of A Clown – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
  22. I’ll Be There – The Jackson 5 (parents’ dance song)

Tip

Check out love songs from the 80s.

 

1970s Country Tracks for the Reception

  1. Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffett (party dance song)
  2. Let Your Love Flow – The Bellamy Brothers
  3. Rhinestone Cowboy – Glen Campbell
  4. Thank God I’m A Country Boy – John Denver
  5. The Most Beautiful Girl – Charlie Rich
  6. Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver (last dance song)

Do you have a favorite 1970s wedding song that isn’t on my list? Please share it in the comments. I read and respond to all comments.

FAQs

First of all, if your parents are GenXers or young Boomers, these are the songs they love.

So, since they’re paying for the wedding, how about giving them some great songs? (Wait. They’re paying, right?)

Secondly, a lot of people in that generation are getting remarried.

Thirdly, the lyrics. Those are some well-written, emotion-packed songs.

Then you add in the groove, and that is the way to fill up your dance floor.

Every era has its boom in culture. After WWI, we had the roaring twenties! After WWII, we had 50’s music and swing dancing. As the Vietnam War continued into 1975, people took to dancing to forget about the war and be happy. This time, they went to the Disco.

The music of the 1970s can be most remembered as the birth of Disco! I can hear the high hat now. It just makes you want to dance. Popular disco music artists included the Bee Gees with “Stayin’ Alive”, Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, and “Dancing Queen” which was practically the anthem but don’t forget the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.”.

Another music style popular in the 1970s was progressive rock. Progressive rock songs were typically longer in length and may not be conducive to weddings, but who doesn’t love Freebird? Those songs got longer as recording technology changed. Each side of a record could only be so long.

“Led Zeppelin never released ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ which is 8:02 minutes, as a single, but the track still became the stuff of legend.” Mashable https://mashable.com/2014/11/23/pop-song-length/

Finally, punk rock also started in the 1970s with heavy guitar riffs and anger in the lyrics, and projection in the singers. Punk rock-style music kickoffs with bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. Bob Marley had a huge fan base in the U.S. performing Jamaican reggae music as well.

The dance of the Best 1970s music that was typical in dance clubs, aka discos, was the Hustle. You can learn to do this groovy dance with the following tutorial.

The music genre was named after the music played in discotheques — the nightclubs people danced in. The Hustle was invented in 1970 and thought to be in New York City.

Offspring of the Hustle were the Basic Hustle, Latin, Spanish and Tango Hustle, and Swing Hustle. (See swing dance music) Other popular dances of 1970s music included the Bump, Pen

The 1970s had its own fads for teens such as pet rocks, mood rings, and the creation of the Rubik’s cube. Popular fashion trends saw long hair on men, bell-bottom pants, and hot pants. There were many new inventions for teens in the Seventies which included the floppy disc, the game console Atari, the videocassette recorder (VCR), and the invention of email in 1971.

The 1970s also gave birth to affirmative action, legalized abortion, and Earth Day. Many 1970s bands increased their following in the States and worldwide because of the invention of the 8-track tape.

Blockbuster films of the seventies included “Star Wars,” “The Godfather I and II,” and “Grease.” TV shows of the 1970s included “The Brady Bunch,” “Happy Days,” “All In The Family,” and “Sesame Street” for children. With the advancement of TV, sports became a big business. This was the beginning of wealthy sports owners and highly paid baseball players with free agency by the end of the decade.

Why trust Matthew Campbell?

DJ, Author, Music Lover

matt

Matthew (Matt) Campbell is the founder/editor of My Wedding Songs from his experience as a wedding DJ. He is the author of two wedding planners: ‘Wedding Songs Planner’ and ‘The Wedding Music Toolkit’. Matt is the host of the ‘Wedding Songs Podcast’. He shares music inspiration in his weekly newsletter the ‘Wedding MusicLetter’. His articles have been published on Rolling Stone, DJ Life Magazine, and DJ Times. Matt resides in the wedding capital of the world – Las Vegas.

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