The 25 best Classic Rock tracks of 1973
25 October 2025, 13:00
1973: all four Beatles, Bowie, Zeppelin, Roxy Music, the Stones and early Queen! What a year for the rock connoisseur - here are 25 of the best tracks and singles.
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The Faces - Cindy Incidentally: release date 9th February 1973
From the album Ooh La La, this was The Faces' biggest UK hit, peaking at Number 2. The track was written by Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and Ian McLagan.
Faces - "Cindy Incidentally" live - February 24, 1973 LWT Studios, London UK TV "Russell Harty Plus"
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ELO - Roll Over Beethoven: release date 12th January 1973
Founding member Roy Wood had already left ELO to form Wizzard by the time this orchestral adaptation of the Chuck Berry hit was released. The single peaked at Number 6 in February 1973.
Rod Stewart Cindy Incidentally
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Bruce Springsteen - Blinded By The Light: release date 23rd February 1973
Taken from The Boss's debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park NJ, a cover version by Manfred Mann's Earth Band made Number 6 in the UK and topped the charts in America three years later.
Blinded By The Light
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Roxy Music - Pyjamarama: release date 23rd February 1973
Roxy's second, standalone single came after their debut Virginia Plain and peaked at Number 10 in the UK. It wasn't included on the band's self-titled debut album, but a remixed version would latter appear on their first Greatest Hits album in 1977.
Roxy Music - Pyjamarama (Live, 1974)
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Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize: release date 23rd February 1973
The fourth number 1 from the much-loved British band following Cuz I Love You, Take Me Back 'Ome, Mama Weer All Crazee Now and Skweeze Me Please Me. Later covered by Oasis and Quiet Riot, Cum On Feel The Noize remained at the top spot for four weeks, keeping the likes of The Faces, T-Rex and Donny Osmond at bay. The follow-up, Skweeze Me Pleeze Me, also topped the charts, as did their last single of 1973, the immortal Merry Xmas Everybody.
Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize • TopPop
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T Rex - 20th Century Boy: release date 2nd March 1973
The ninth Top 5 single in a row for Marc Bolan, whose Tanx album was released the same month. While 20th Century Boy peaked at Number 3 and remains an all-time rock classic, 1973 was the end of the golden era for Bolan. After follow-up single The Groover made Number 4 that summer, he'd never visit the British Top 10 again... while his rival Bowie would become ever more successful.
T.Rex - 20th Century Boy (Full Version) [HD]
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Pink Floyd - Money: release date 16th March 1973
Taken from the monumental album The Dark Side Of The Moon, this Roger Waters-penned classic wasn't issued as a single in the UK (their next British 45 would be Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2 in 1979), but was used as a promo for the LP in America, where it made Number 10 on the Cash Box chart.
Pink Floyd - Money (Official Music Video)
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Alice Cooper - No More Mr Nice Guy: 16th March 1973
The third single from Alice's album Billion Dollar Babies made Number 10 in the UK and was covered by thrash legends Megadeth in 1990.
No More Mr. Nice Guy (2023 Remaster)
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Nazreth - Broken Down Angel: release date 23rd March 1973
From the Scottish rockers' third album Razamanaz, this single reached Number 9 in the UK, making it their first and biggest chart hit.
Nazareth - Broken Down Angel
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Led Zeppelin - Over The Hills And Far Away: release date 28th March 1973
Zeppelin "didn't do singles" remember, although this track and Dancing Days were issued as a 7" in America, were it crept to Number 28 on the Cash Box chart. Taken from the album Houses Of The Holy.
Led Zeppelin - Over the Hills and Far Away (Official Audio)
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10cc - Rubber Bullets: release date 30th March 1973
After the doo wop parody Donna made Number 2 a year earlier, Stockport's finest went one better, topping the charts for a single week in June 1973. The BBC thought it was about The Troubles in Northern Ireland, but the lyrics are actually a mix of 1930s gangster films, and the then-recent Attica State prison riot.
10cc - Rubber Bullets (TOTP 1973)
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Wizzard - See My Baby Jive: release date 6th April 1973
After Roy Wood had jumped ship from ELO, this was his next band's second single after the previous year's Ball Park Incident. See My Baby Jive went to Number 1 for four weeks and would be an influence on ABBA's Waterloo. The follow-up, Angel Fingers (A Teen Ballad), also topped the charts, but their perennial favourite I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday stalled behind Slade that year (see above)
Wizzard - See My Baby Jive (TOTP 1973)
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David Bowie - Drive In Saturday: release date 6 April 1973
This 50s pastiche was the follow-up to The Jean Genie and also taken from the album Aladdin Sane. In the US, they went for the track Time instead - presumably as they didn't know what the word "w**king" meant. 1973 was an eclectic year for Bowie singles: Drive-In went to Number 3, as did a reissue of Life On Mars originally released two years earlier, and so did Bowie's cover of The Merseys' Sorrow from his Pin-Ups collection. Adding to his total of Top 10 hits that year was another reissue - the 1967 novelty tune The Laughing Gnome!
David Bowie - Drive-In Saturday
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Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You: release date 27th April 1973
Reservoir Dogs has forever ruined this Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan-penned tune, but the single made Number 8 in the UK in June of 1973 - it was the Scottish band's only Top 10 entry.
Stuck in the Middle with you - Stealers Wheel
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George Harrison - Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth): release date 25th May 1973
Opening The Quiet One's Living In The Material World album, this spiritual song pushed Paul McCartney's My Love off the top of the Billboard Hot 100. In Britain, it made Number 8, just above Macca's Live And Let Die. It would be George's last UK Top 10 hit until 1987, when Got My Mind Set On You formed part of the ex-Beatle's big comeback.
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) (2009 Remaster)
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Wings - Live And Let Die: release date 1st June 1973
Amazing to consider that McCartney's classic Bond theme only made it to Number 9 in Britain, where it was stuck behind his ex-colleague's Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) for three weeks (see above)! In some US charts it made Number 1 (on the Billboard Hot 100, it made second place). The Guns N'Roses cover version actually did better than Paul's original, peaking at Number 5 at Christmas 1991.
Live And Let Die (2018 Remaster)
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Queen - Keep Yourself Alive: release date 15th June 1973
The iconic British rock band's debut 45 failed to make a splash in either their home country or the USA. It remains the only British Queen single not to make the Top 75. Keep Yourself Alive was issued as a teaser for the group's self-titled debut album, where it's the opening track on side one.
Queen - Keep Yourself Alive (Official Video Remastered)
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The Rolling Stones - Angie: release date 17th August 1973
This classic Stones ballad was the lead single from the album Goats Head Soup and topped the Billboard Hot 100. At home, Angie reached Number 5 for two weeks.
The Rolling Stones - Angie - OFFICIAL PROMO (Version 1)
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Status Quo - Caroline: release date 31st August 1973
Excellent riffing from the British band's sixth album, Hello! Peaking at Number 5, it was Quo's biggest hit until Down Down topped the charts the following year. Caroline was one of the three songs the Quo played at Live Aid in July 1985.
Status Quo - Caroline
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Bryan Ferry - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall: release date 14th September 1973
The Roxy Music frontman issued an album of covers, These Foolish Things, as his first solo album in October 1973. This version of Bob Dylan's apocalyptic 1963 classic made Number 10 in the UK.
Bryan Ferry - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
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Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: release date 21st September 1973
The title track from Elton's acclaimed seventh studio album peaked at Number 6 in October/November 1973. It did even better in the USA, topping the Cash Box chart and making Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Remastered 2014)
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Ringo Starr - Photograph: release date 24th September 1973
Probably the former Beatle's best-loved solo song, co-written with former colleague George Harrison and culled from the star-studded Ringo album. Photograph made Number 8 in the UK, and topped the charts in the US, Australia and Canada.
Photograph
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The Who - 5.15: release date 28th September 1973
A deranged train trip down to Brighton is the subject of this Who classic, taken from their Mod-themed rock opera, Quadrophenia. The single made Number 20 in the UK, and a remixed version was later included on the soundtrack to the movie adaptation in 1979.
The Who 515
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John Lennon - Mind Games: release date 9th November 1973
The title track of Lennon's third album, which rounded off a busy year of solo Beatle activity. It made number 26 in the UK, his lowest-placed British single to date.
John Lennon - Mind Games
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Eagles - Tequila Sunrise: release daye 16th November 1973
The lead single from the Desperado album was not a huge hit at the time, only reaching Number 64 in America and not troubling the charts in Britain at all. Its inclusion on the compilation Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) gave it a much wider audience, as that collection has gone an incredible 38 times Platinum in the US!
Eagles - Tequila Sunrise (Official Audio)
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Aerosmith - Dream On: release date 16th November 1973 (UK)
Steven Tyler's epic power ballad was something of a slow-burner in the USA. It stalled outside the Billboard Top 50 on its initial release, but after being reissued at Christmas 1975, the song slowly built up popularity on American FM radio. By April 1976, the single had peaked at Number 6 and it remained Aerosmith's biggest hit of the 70s. In Britain, it meant nothing - the band wouldn't break through here until 1986's Walk This Way team-up with Run DMC.
Aerosmith - Dream On (Official HD Video)
