The 1970's was a revolutionary time for both cinema and music in America, with the definition of 'mainstream' changing rapidly as cultural mores and expectations oscillated. While disco, punk and metal were modifying the aural landscape, new kinds of horror films and brutally realistic dramas were dominating theatres and reshaping cinematic assumptions. Occasionally, these two separate innovations converged in one place-- the film score, where sound and image harmonize to create something utterly unique.
What makes a film score from the 1970's great is how it incorporates these new musical trends in exciting ways. Synthesizers fundamentally redefined the horror movie soundtrack and, while often dated, is now experiencing a nostalgic resurgence. Reggae, disco, and soul were introduced into the mainstream, suddenly turning films into something hipper and more relevant. Singer-songwriters experimented with new sounds and more personal modes of self-expression, lending their voices to the equally personal creative visions of cinematic auteurs like Robert Altman and Sam Peckinpah. Ultimately, a great '70s score utilizes music of the time to both illuminate and extend what is special about the film itself. These are the best film scores of the 1970's.
11 Halloween (Composed By John Carpenter)
John Carpenter is one of the rare directors who personally creates the music for the majority of his films, and his scores for Escape From New York and They Live are each phenomenal, but Halloween will forever be the most famous musical accompaniment to any horror film. Carpenter's haunting, icy arpeggios and minimalist synths can still send shivers up a viewer's spine, and is still being used today in the successfully rebooted Halloween franchise.
10 Shaft (Composed By Isaac Hayes)
Hurling out from the beginning of the decade like an explosion, Shaft was the first in a litany of films which focused on urban street life, social issues, soul and funk music, and black actors in roles which were commonly given to white actors. Some of these were called 'Blaxploitation' films, but Shaft is the most recognizable and respected of them all, thanks largely to Isaac Hayes' phenomenal, catchy score which highlights the sexiness, gruffness and coolness of the film.
9 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Composed By Bob Dylan)
Bob Dylan's score for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid became much more famous than this underseen and underrated film, mostly due to the success of "Knocking On Heaven's Door" and the later famous cover by Guns N' Roses. The song is a mournful and beautiful ode to the characters within this film, cowboys and outlaws tired of the violence and loneliness of their lives, but the rest of the score (sad, wordless harmonizing and acoustic strumming) is an equally beautiful accompaniment to the Western vistas of Peckinpah's film.
8 Suspiria (Composed By Goblin)
The bizarre Italian rock band Goblin made a career scoring horror films, and Suspiria, the Dario Argento giallo, is their masterpiece. Combining gloomy synthesizers, gothic rock, and weird vocals and effects, Goblin perfectly compliments the highly stylized images of this colorful, atmospheric film.
7 Super Fly (Composed By Curtis Mayfield)
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While Isaac Hayes' Shaft score is rightfully revered, Curtis Mayfield was the funk soul brother with the greatest film score of the 1970's. The original soundtrack to Super Fly is practically a greatest-hits album, with track after track of pop perfection perfectly aligned to the movie it accompanies in both content and tone. Perhaps one of the reasons the remake failed so miserably was that it lacked Mayfield's brilliance.
6 The Godfather (Composed By Nino Rota)
Italian composer Nino Rota was famous for his sensitive, romantic scores to the films of Fellini, Visconti, and Zeffirelli, but it was his scores to the first two Godfather films which made him internationally recognized. Between classical waltzes, modern Italian ballads, reworkings of his own 1950's film music, and sweeping classical accompaniment, Rota's music is an excellent iteration of classical style while also remaining distinctly Italian and thus perfect for Coppola's The Godfather.
5 McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Composed By Leonard Cohen)
What an achingly sad score for a heartbreaking film like McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Leonard Cohen's anti-folk music is the perfect companion for Robert Altman's anti-Western film, both pieces subverting expectations and challenging assumptions. The haunting, repetitive guitar and lugubrious lyrics and vocals add texture to the gritty, empty expanse of the film, and both interact to produce a quiet melancholy which has affected viewers for decades.
4 The Harder They Come (Composed By Jimmy Cliff)
Jamaica's first feature film is said to have brought reggae to the world thanks to the outstanding score by lead actor Jimmy Cliff, who draws from his life experience to create the music and performance alike. The Harder They Come is surprisingly gritty, but Cliff's score is brimming with buoyant, beautiful earworms, remaining Cliff's greatest album date.
3 The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Composed By Richard O'Brien)
The weirdest musical sensation would never have had such a cult following if it wasn't for Richard O'Brien's endlessly catchy, highly sexualized and hilarious score. Screened and sung along to on a yearly basis, O'Brien's music is literally inseperable from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, producing a timeless Halloween classic that remains as relevant to today's teenagers as it did to the astonished viewers from the '70s.
2 Saturday Night Fever (Composed By The Bee-Gees and Various Artists)
The Bee-Gees legendary disco score for Saturday Night Fever is the second-highest selling soundtrack of all time, certified 16 x Platinum and influencing a whole generation's musical taste and dance moves. Surrounded by previous classics like "A Fifth of Beethoven" and "Night on Disco Mountain," The Bee-Gees original, immensely popular contributions take on a life of their own in the film and helped cement it as a classic representation of the often desperate and confusing but always stylish decade.
1 Star Wars (Composed by John Williams)
There are dozens of John Williams scores which could be featured-- the man has won 25 Grammys and five Academy Awards (out of a record 52 nominations), and his themes for Steve Spielberg (Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, E.T. and others) are universally famous. It is arguably his work with George Lucas on the Indiana Jones films and, especially, the Star Wars films which has made Williams a household name synonymous with movie music.