70s Weekly Countdown with Mark and Pete

70s Weekly Countdown with Mark and Pete

Author: Mark Roback Language: English Episodes: 100
Every week, Mark Roback and his friend Pete dust off a random episode of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 from the 1970s. 70s Weekly Countdown with Mark and Pete is more than just a nostalgic trip through the charts. Each song in that week's lineup gets a thoughtful rating and a deep dive-they unpack the stories behind the music, the artists' trajectories, and what made those particular tracks resonate. But the context is just as important as the countdown. The conversation naturally expands to include the major headlines, the TV shows everyone was watching, and the cultural moments that defined that specific week in history. Woven into the analysis are personal anecdotes from Mark and Pete, connecting the music to their own coming-of-age experiences during that era. This podcast is a layered exploration of a decade, using the pop chart as a starting point to examine the sound, the spirit, and the surprising details of the 1970s. You'll hear passionate debates, learn obscure facts, and get a feel for what it was like to live through that time, all through the shared lens of two friends who genuinely love the material.
Episodes
Episode 21: The Week Ending September 29, 1973 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:54:15
In the 70’s there were a lot of choices. You could take the rocky mountain way to higher ground, or hitch a free ride on the midnight train to Georgia. You could choose to just keep on truckin’ and be a rambling gypsy ma…
Episode 20: The Week Ending September 19, 1970 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:12:30
In the summertime in the 70’s, you probably went out in the country to escape the war that seemed to have been going on for a long long time. There, a green eyed lady named Lola, or was it Joanne, promised peace will com…
Episode 19: The Week Ending September 14, 1974 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:10:06
At first, maybe you didn’t feel like makin' love, but she was one hell of a woman. She told you things like she never knew love before, and then came you. You were still reluctant, but you took one look at her those skin…
Episode 18: The Week Ending September 9, 1978 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:24:01
What happens when a magnet and steel come close to each other? Well the two objects bond together. Conversely, when the floor has grease all over, then you’re steppin’ in a slide zone. Back in the day, you probably thoug…
Episode 17: The Week Ending August 23, 1975 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:04:29
Supposedly the number 13 is unlucky, but is this the week when we learn the truth at 17? In fact, there were those in the 70’s who pleaded “please mister please”, don’t choose B17 on the jukebox, because that song could…
Episode 16: The Week Ending August 27, 1977 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:42:22
It wasn’t as easy to communicate back in the 70’s as it is now. At best, you could get in touch via the telephone line, but perhaps you had to resort to something more primitive strawberry letter. Perhaps the only thing…
Episode 15: The Week Ending August 7, 1971 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:49:52
What you see is what you get is not always the undisputed truth. Smiling faces sometimes turn out to be liars. However, we’ve all become wiser with as time passes like the summer sand. I just want to celebrate that we wo…
Episode 14: The Week Ending July 31, 1976 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:02:06
Someone’s knocking at the door. It could be a sophisticated lady, are you going to let her in? Or it could be that the boys are back in town and they are ready to give up the funk and tear the roof off the sucker, are yo…
Episode 13: The Week Ending July 15, 1972 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:47:02
With the Apollo space program winding down, things had really started moving fast in 1972. We were still quite young and often pleaded with our fathers, “Daddy, don’t you walk so fast; what are you some kind of rocket ma…
Episode 12: The Week Ending July 14, 1979 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01:33
With 12 episodes in the till, there ain’t no stopping us now, and you can’t change that! We started out with big dreams of making it, but not in terms of gold, only in terms of good times. As we explored the boogie wonde…