70s Music Quiz: Guess the Song With Friends and Family

This is a 70s quiz built from the songs that still fill classic-rock radio, wedding dance floors and karaoke nights: disco, stadium rock and the soft-rock ballads your parents knew every word of. It's a great pick when the room spans generations, because the older players finally have home advantage and the younger ones know more of it than they expect. Hit "Play this quiz" and you're a minute away from the first song.

How to play this quiz

1. Open this page on the big screen (a smart TV browser, a laptop hooked up to the TV, or just a laptop) and hit "Play this quiz", then start the game. The room is created with the 70s playlist already loaded.
2. Everyone scans the QR code with their phone and types a name. Nothing to install, no account. The first person in is the host and picks the mode and the target score.
3. A clip plays. Whoever buzzes first stops the music and gets 20 seconds to type the song; the search box suggests titles from the playlist. A wrong answer costs a point and a 3-second lockout, and the music keeps going for everyone else.
4. Our pick for this decade: "Song and year" mode. Most of the 70s sounds "old" to modern ears, so deciding whether a song goes before or after another on your timeline is a real test. Play to 10 points and leave the time each song plays before skipping at 30 seconds (the default), because plenty of these intros take their time.
5. Playing with kids? Switch to "Song only" and search by title and artist, so the suggestions help them out.

Songs that can come up

Deezer maintains the playlist and it can change, but these are among the songs you'll hear.

Disco

• "Dancing Queen" – ABBA (1976): that sweeping piano run at the top.
• "Daddy Cool" – Boney M. (1976): the bass line and finger snaps before the vocal.
• "Rasputin" – Boney M. (1978): galloping beat and a Russian folk feel.
• "How Deep Is Your Love" – Bee Gees (1977): soft keys and falsetto, from Saturday Night Fever.
• "You're the One That I Want" – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (1978): the Grease duet; the opening bass and guitar give it away.
• "Got to Be Real" – Cheryl Lynn (1978): a bass groove and horns. A deep cut for anyone who didn't grow up on disco.

Classic rock

• "Hotel California" – Eagles: the twelve-string guitar intro. The album came out in December 1976, the single in 1977.
• "Stairway to Heaven" – Led Zeppelin (1971): recorder and acoustic guitar, from Led Zeppelin IV.
• "Sweet Home Alabama" – Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974): the riff and the "Turn it up" count-in.
• "Sultans of Swing" – Dire Straits (1978): Mark Knopfler's clean, bright guitar.
• "Highway to Hell" – AC/DC (1979): three guitar hits and you're done.
• "Go Your Own Way" – Fleetwood Mac (1976): the driving guitar and drums. Released as a single in December 1976, ahead of Rumours.
• "Mr. Blue Sky" – Electric Light Orchestra: pounding piano and a vocoder. On the 1977 album; a single in 1978.

Ballads and soft rock

• "Your Song" – Elton John (1970): piano and voice from the first second.
• "Ain't No Sunshine" – Bill Withers (1971): the "I know, I know, I know…" run.
• "Lean On Me" – Bill Withers (1972): the walking piano; a singalong for every age.
• "I'm Not in Love" – 10cc (1975): a wall of layered voices that sounds like a synth.
• "Year of the Cat" – Al Stewart (1976): a long piano intro and, eventually, a sax solo.

Difficulty and tips to win

Medium difficulty. The famous ones aren't hard to recognize; the problem is that a lot of intros are long, and a few artists show up several times. ABBA, the Bee Gees, Boney M. and Fleetwood Mac all have more than one song in the list, so knowing the band isn't enough — you need the title.

• Listen to the kick drum. Four-on-the-floor means disco. Looser drums with a guitar out front means rock.
• Falsetto usually means Bee Gees — but they have more than one here ("How Deep Is Your Love" and "More Than a Woman"), so wait for the hook.
• Sort out Fleetwood Mac by tempo. "Dreams" is slow with a prominent bass; "Go Your Own Way" and "The Chain" are the rockers.
• In "Song and year", use the big landmarks. Saturday Night Fever and Grease are late-decade, the disco boom sits around 1976–1979, and piano singer-songwriters like Elton John and Carole King lean early. More tricks in our guide to guessing what year a song is from.

Playing with grandparents and grandkids

The 70s are the best decade we know for mixed ages. What works for us: mixed teams sharing one phone (the older player names it, the younger one types), "Song only" mode and 5 points for the first game. Then a rematch in "Song and year", which the older side usually wins because they remember when each song was on the radio.

Want to keep going? The 80s songs quiz is the natural next round, and if your crowd is all about guitars, try classic rock.

FAQ

Do we need to install an app?

No. The big screen runs the game in the browser and phones join by scanning a QR code. No Spotify or Deezer account needed.

How many people can play?

A group of friends or the whole family. One phone each, or play in teams sharing a phone.

Can we play without a TV?

Yes. A laptop with decent speakers works fine; the TV just makes the scoreboard easier for everyone to see.

Is it all American and British music?

Mostly, yes — it's an English-language hits playlist. A fun one to know: Baccara, of "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie", were a duo from Spain.