Movie soundtracks as albums were just beginning to take off by the 1970s. Of course, there were earlier examples, The Graduate featuring Simon and Garfunkel from 1967 for example. The 1970s though, especially the latter half, were when they started selling in much bigger numbers.
The 1970s, as the title indicates, had five multiple platinum-selling albums, as awarded and ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That number rose in the 1980s which had 17 multiple platinum soundtrack albums from the big movies of the time. By the 1990s the upward trend was soaring higher, that decade had a staggering 40 multiple platinum-selling film albums.
The 1970s may have had smaller numbers, but was very much a remarkable period for great music in the movies. The likes of the themes created by John Williams for Star Wars and Superman or the award-winning soundtrack for The Godfather by Nino Rota come to mind. As does The Last Waltz, featuring The Band, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Quite a variety in style and type of music.
The top five multi-million selling 1970s movies soundtracks
Those soundtrack albums though didn’t hit anywhere near 1m and platinum sales, never mind the multiple platinum status of the top five. FM, the 1978 movie based on a radio station, had many great tracks making an attractive record package to release. I recall buying it myself at the time for that reason. It was slightly more successful achieving over 1 million sales, but still below that multiple platinum level.
So let’s focus on those top five for 1970, it may not be many for a list, but they sold in hefty numbers. As you’d expect, they came from big-hitting movies. The soundtracks are powerful and many have iconic songs within them.