3 Rock Songs From the 70s That Were Rereleased and Became Major Hits

As is the case with huge hits like a-ha’s “Take On Me”, sometimes you have to believe in a song enough to give it another chance. Here are some rock songs from the 70s that achieved hit status after getting a second shot at success.

“Dream On” by Aerosmith

When it was first released in 1973, “Dream On” did pretty okay, reaching No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100. Upon its rerelease in 1976, it peaked at No. 6.

According to Joe Perry, Aerosmith guitarist, “Dream On” was different from other songs because it was more of a ballad. He wasn’t the biggest fan of the song at first.

“Back in those days you made your mark playing live. And to me rock ‘n’ roll’s all about energy and putting on a show,” he told Classic Rock, per Songfacts. “I don’t know if we really played [‘Dream On’] much live, in those days if you only had half an hour to make your mark, you didn’t play slow songs. So it wasn’t until after it became a single that we really started playing it.”

“Layla” by Derek & The Dominoes

This song, which chronicles the love triangle between Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Pattie Boyd, was actually first released in 1971, before achieving chart success in 1972.

In an interview with Mike Hrano, Clapton once talked about what it was like performing “Layla” live:

“…‘Layla’ is a difficult one, because it’s a difficult song to perform live. You have to have a good complement of musicians to get all of the ingredients going but, when you’ve got that… It’s difficult to do as a quartet, for instance, because there are some parts you have to play and sing completely opposing lines, which is almost impossible to do. If you’ve got a big band, which I will have on the tour, then it will be easy to do something like ‘Layla’ – and I’m very proud of it. I love to hear it. It’s almost like it’s not me. It’s like I’m listening to someone that I really like…”

“Nights In White Satin” by The Moody Blues

“Nights In White Satin” was first released in 1967 as a single and later reissued in 1972. In 1972, the song became the band’s most successful single in the US, reaching number two for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Cash Box Top 100.

Justin Hayward wrote this song at 19, after his girlfriend gave him a set of satin sheets.

Photo by: Gibbons/Redferns/Hulton Archive/Getty Images