10 songs turning 50 in 2024 that are still absolute classics

Fifty years ago when glam rock was in full swing and everyone was running around in platform shoes, music was at the heart of it all.

In the year that ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest which catapulted them to global fame, Dolly Parton left the Porter Wagner Show to focus on her solo career.

With the music came fashion and while people are quick to berate the fashion choices of modern artists such as Harry Styles and Sam Smith, it was artists such as David Bowie and Mud's Rob Davis who were some of the first mainstream musicians to play with the concept of gender.

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With that in mind, lets take a look at ten of the all time classic songs which turn 50 this year.

1) Tiger Feet - Mud

And that's neat, that's neat, that's neat, that's neat. I really love your tiger feet.

This one is definitely an earworm! When it burst onto the charts in 1974, it had great success spending four consecutive weeks at number one. It sold over 700,000 copies in the UK alone and over a million copies globally. It was also the best-selling single in Britain that year.

2) Devil Gate Drive - Suzi Quatro

Devil Gate Drive was the second number one in a row for writing duo Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman who had also written Tiger Feet for Mud. It spent two weeks at number one. It would be another 13 years before Suzi Quatro would have a number-one hit in the UK.

3) Billy Don't Be A Hero - Paper Lace

This was the first number one for Paper Lace and had decent success in Australia where it spent eight weeks at the top of the charts. Despite the songs popularity, it wasn't well received by the critics with the folks over at Rolling Stone rating it as one of the top ten worst songs of the 70s - which we totally disagree with.

4) Seasons In the Sun - Terry Jacks

An English language version of the Belgian song Le Moribond, or The Dying Man, which was released in 1961, Seasons In The Sun became a worldwide hit. Irish boyband Westlife would go on to have a Christmas number one in the UK with a version of the song in 1999.

5) Waterloo - ABBA

Having won the 14th Melodifestivalen, ABBA went on to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton. It was the first song to win the contest which wasn't sung in the country's native language and the first Eurovision entry to give audiences flashy costumes and an upbeat and energetic song.

6) Sugar Baby Love - The Rubettes

The Rubettes' debut single spent four weeks at number one in the UK charts and was the only number one hit for the band. The song has been rerecorded by artists in various languages around the world.

7) Rebel Rebel - David Bowie

Originally planned to be part of a Ziggy Stardust musical, Rebel Rebel was the last song released by David Bowie in his glam rock style. Despite only reaching number 5 in the UK charts, the song has become Bowie's most covered track.

8) Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas

Kung Fu Fighting is probably the greatest one-hit wonder of all time. Released by Jamaican vocalist, Carl Douglas, the song went to number one around the world and sold 11 million copies globally, becoming a pop culture phenomena.

9) Dark Lady - Cher

This one surprisingly only reached number 36 in the UK singles charts but is an undisputed hit in our eyes. Despite that, it reached the Billboard Top 100 and became Cher's third number-one hit in the US.

10) I Will Always Love You - Dolly Parton

While this song has undoubtedly had major success following Whitney Huston's cover for the movie The Bodyguard, I Will Always Love You launched the solo career of Dolly Parton. The song is a farewell to her former business partner Porter Wagner. After hearing the song, Elvis Presley wanted to record it but Dolly refused after being informed that she would have to sign over half of the publishing rights for the song to Elvis.

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