TikTok has been good and bad for quite a few different reasons. But one can’t deny that some excellent old-school gems have been repopularized through the social media platform. Many a 2020s teen has fallen in love with the same 70s songs that teens from that era also fell in love with. Musical appeal really never changes, it seems. Let’s take a look, shall we?
“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” by ABBA from ‘Greatest Hits Vol. 2’ (1979)
This super-addictive disco jam from ABBA has been sampled by many a musician over the years, including Madonna. She sampled the iconic hook from the song in her 2005 hit dance-pop tune “Hung Up”. Users of TikTok, naturally, made the connection and mashed up the two songs, and the subsequent “sound” went viral for a while in the early 2020s, complete with users showing off their disco dance moves. Back in 1979, teens also loved “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”, and it peaked at No. 3 in the UK.
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“Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac from ‘Rumours’ (1977)
This is one of the most obvious shoo-ins for this list. In late 2020, one Nathan Apodaca posted a video to TikTok of him skateboarding down a road in Idaho, drinking cranberry juice, and vibing to Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 hit song “Dreams”. The song was repopularized in an instant, and streams of the song suddenly grew by 90% in just a few days. Back in 1977, teens loved the song too, and it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by the end of the year.
“Long Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt from ‘Silk Purse’ (1970)
This time around, TikTok wasn’t wholly responsible for repopularizing this entry on our list of 70s songs among teens. We can thank the 2023 season of The Last Of Us for doing that. One episode of the series features the song prominently and is even titled after the tune. Spotify later announced that streams of the 1970 classic rose a whopping 4,900%. And back in 1970, fans loved Ronstadt’s cover of this Gary White classic, and it peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100 chart.
(Photo by Richard Creamer/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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Paul Revere & The Raiders Perform American pop group Paul Revere & the Raiders perform in matching outfits, probably on a television studio set, mid 1960s. The band includes Mark Lindsay (third left) as the vocalist and Paul Revere (right) on keyboards. (Photo by Authenticated News/Getty Images) -
Glen Campbell playing guitar circa 1967. (Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images) -
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Dottie West Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images -
Iron Maiden, group portrait, Islington, 1982, clockwise from bottom left . (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images) -
BOULDER, CO – OCTOBER 1972: John Prine performs at The Telagi music club in October 1972 in Boulder, Colorado (Ron Pownall/Getty Images) -
LOS ANGELES – FEBRUARY 7: Vicki Lawrence, CBS television actress and singer. February 7, 1973. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) -
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Iron Butterfly Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images