The most memorable songs from '70s movies

If there’s a reason why “Shaft” rose above its blaxploitation brethren, it’s probably largely on the strength of the soundtrack. No song sticks out more than Isaac Hayes’ “Theme From Shaft,” which is a truly killer track. Sure, without the movie the lyrics wouldn’t make sense, but that instrumentation is unimpeachable even if you have no idea that Shaft is one bad mother (shut your mouth).

You can already see John Travolta walking down the street. The Bee Gees and “Saturday Night Fever” go hand in hand, and no song is more indelible from that movie than “Stayin’ Alive.” In fact, that’s even what they called the sequel.

“Tommy” is weird. The Who’s rock opera is about, well, a deaf, dumb, and blind kid who sure plays some mean pinball. In the film, The Who are joined by Elton John, who does the actual singing on the song in the movie. “Pinball Wizard” is definitely out there, but it’s also a classic.

The Ramones are featured heavily in “Rock ‘N Roll High School.” However, most of the music predates the cult classic. That’s not true of “Rock ‘N Roll High School,” which in the world of the film is written by Riff Randell for the Ramones to perform. And they do it, with aplomb. Then the school gets blown up. What a movie.

Most people haven’t seen “Car Wash.” It’s not what you’d called a “good” movie. And yet, we know that Rose Royce’s “Car Wash” has now popped in your head. That’s a groovy song that supersedes the film it is in to become something large.

We have a couple of James Bond themes on here, but forgive the doubling up. Both of them had to be included. After all, this one is from Paul McCartney and his band Wings. How could we leave a Beatle off this list, especially when “Live and Let Die” is an all-time great Bond theme.

Just the opening strains of this song get you wanting to punch meat and run stairs. “Rocky” is an iconic sports movie, and a Best Picture winner as well. Would it have made it there without Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now?” Perhaps, but we don’t want to imagine a world where Rocky Balboa isn’t doing his training montage to this song.

Curtis Mayfield had many successes in his career, but perhaps the greatest of them is the soundtrack to “Super Fly.” It’s an exploitation film through and through, but don’t tell that to the soundtrack. The title song is definitely the standout, and unlike “Theme From Shaft” works outside the context of a movie.

Here’s a first for us: A song on a list sung by a frog. OK, so maybe it was Jim Henson, and not Kermit going rogue. Still, this ditty from “The Muppet Movie” opens the film and sets a tone for a family favorite that has stood the test of time. Even if it’s sung by a frog puppet, you might get choked up.

There are so many songs from “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” It’s a musical after all. However, one song has transcended the film, and that’s “Time Warp.” Everybody knows it’s just a jump to your left and then a step to your right, don’t they?

We can’t say all (or even most) of “Animal House” holds up. However, one thing that has stood the test of time is the performance of the Isley Brother’s 1959 classic “Shout.” We have no interest in joining Bluto and company at a toga party, but we still can’t get enough of this infectious song.

Here’s the way you know this is a memorable song: “The Way We Were” the song comes up first on Wikipedia, before the movie that shares it’s title. In fact, you could argue “The Way We Were” the film is kind of forgotten. On the other hand, the Barbra Streisand song lived on as a massive hit. She also happened to costar in the movie.

Which “Grease” song were we going to go with? The titular theme song? “Grease Lightning?” “Beauty School Dropout?” In the end, we went with the big show-stopping number at the end, “You’re the One That I want.” Let’s just say it gives us chills, and they quickly multiply.

This is an unusual Bond theme song, because it isn’t the name of the film. No, they haven’t called a Bond movie “Nobody Does it Better,” at least not yet. However, if you listen to the Carly Simon hit, you’ll know what movie it’s from. Hint: It’s probably the only pop song to ever include the lyric “The spy who loved me.”

There’s a bunch of Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) on the “Harold and Maude” soundtrack. This includes two original songs for the soundtrack. Of those, the one that has really stuck around is “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” a cheerful tune that can raise your spirits, even if you are a death-obsessed teenager.

The Guns ‘N Roses cover of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” may be the most famous version, but it all started with Bob Dylan. Specifically, it started with the movie “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” It wasn’t a terribly popular movie, but this song became a part of the zeitgeist nonetheless. When a song is one of the most well-known of Dylan’s tunes, you know it’s made an impact.

Maybe you think of “Rock Around the Clock” as the first-season theme song for “Happy Days.” You know why they used it, though? It’s probably because the song was used to great success in another ‘50s nostalgia piece, “American Graffiti.” Both projects feature Ron Howard. Coincidence? Possibly, but also possibly not.

“You Light Up My Life” is a totally forgettable movie. We didn’t even know what it was about until we had to research it. Apparently Didi Conn plays a woman who wants to be a singer but her dad wants her to be a comic? What a weird dilemma for a movie. Either way, “You Light Up My Life” rose above that to become a bit hit. However, Kasey Cisyk’s performance of the title song won an Oscar and a Grammy. Debbie Boone would then turn it into an even bigger hit.

How memorable was this song from the film “Cooley High.” Well, Boyz II Men called their debut album “Cooleyhighharmony” and covered “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” That introduced the song to a whole new generation, but let’s not forget about G.C. Cameron’s performance in the 1975 film.

“New York, New York” is certainly not Martin Scorsese’s most-beloved film. However, it’s also his only song to spawn a hit song. In the film, “New York, New York” is belted out by Liza Minelli. She does a fine job, but of course these days the song is more associated with Frank Sinatra, who make it a signature hit of his own. Also the gremlins sing it in “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.”