Rant #2,516: I Want You Back, Venus, as Raindrops (Keep Fallin' On My Head) with a Whole Lotta Love

As things try to get back to normal after this week's tragedy, since it is the last Friday of the month, it is time to look back 50 years ago, to this very week in 1970s, for music that was soothing our soul way back when.

We were at war, hippies' ways were clashing with common values, and I was preparing for my bar mitzvah, just a few short months away.

It was an interesting period in our history, and the music we were listening to reflected that moment in time--and out entrance into a new decade, the 1970s.

So here is Billboard's Top 10 list of the most popular songs of the week of January 31, 1970:

Peter, Paul and Mary had their final big hit of their careers, "Leaving On a Jet Plane," which came in at No. 10 this week. The song also introduced us to the talents of songwriter John Denver, who would soon have his own bushel of big hits during the decade.

Diana Ross and the Supremes went out with a blaze of glory with "Someday We'll Be Together," which this week came in at No. 9. Ironically, Diana Ross is the only Supreme on the record, with another female group backing her up--not Mary Wilson, and not Cindy Birdsong.

Sly and the Family Stone was still turning the music world on its ear with "Thank You (Faletitnme Be Mice Elf Again/Everybody Is a Star," which came in at No. 8 this week on its eventual run to the top spot a few weeks later. This was one of the bevy of two-sided hits that came about around this time period.

"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" was just one more of the numerous hits from Dionne Warwick, this week No. 7 song. The song was written, of course, by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who used Warwick as their muse on a multitude of top songs.

One of Elvis Presley's final big hits was the two-sided "Don't Cry Daddy/Rubberneckin'," which came up at No. 6 this week. The song was written by Mac Davis, who would have his own list of hits and became quite ubiquitous not only on the music charts, but on television and in the movies during this decade.

Tom Jones continued his hit string with "Without Love (There Is Nothing), which came in at No. 5 this week. Propelled by his weekly TV show, Jones cemented himself as one of the top pop performers around during the late 1960s and into the 1970s.

Led Zeppelin was not known for their singles, but even this album/FM radio act could break through to the other side. "Whole Lotta Love" did just that, and this week was at No. 4 on the chart. They had become such a big act that even the AM radio format had to acknowledge it, and this was one of their few singles not only released, but making the top echelon of the singles charts.

B.J. Thomas had probably the biggest hit of his very long career with "Raindrops (Keep Fallin' On My Head)," featured in the popular film, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," which hit the No. 3 spot on this week's chart. Thomas continued to have pop and country hits well into the 1980s.

Acts from lands other than the U.S. and England often have hits in America, and one of the biggest worldwide smashes of all time was "Venus" by the Dutch group the Shocking Blue. The future No. 1 record had an interesting lead vocal by the visually sultry Mariska Veres, whose androgynous vocal has baffled audiences to this day.

And the No. 1 song on the chart for this week, 50 years ago was--

"I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5. One of the greatest songs ever to come out of the Motown stable, the song, propelled by lead singer Michael Jackson's straight-on vocals, has been covered by many, but never, ever duplicated. This was the only week it spent at No. 1, but it is one of those songs that is etched in our minds forever.

The highest debut record for the week was another two-sided single, "Travelin' Band/Who'll Stop the Rain" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song came in this week at No. 50, and would eventually get as high as No. 2 on the chart by the end of the month. CCR never had a No. 1 hit single in the U.S., but this one probably came the closest to topping the chart of all the singles that they put out in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The biggest mover on the chart, the song that jumped the most places last week to this week, was Brook Benton's "Rainy Night In Georgia," which was No. 34 this seek after being at No. 63 the previous week. The song, one of the biggest hits of the veteran crooner's career, eventually rose as high as No. 4 in a few weeks' time.

So that's it, the top 10 singles for this week 50 years ago.

I think we can all agree that there was no filler on the chart this week, once classic after another, and songs that we continue to hear in all forms of media today.

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.