1970's Overview

     Time for two major changes to this blog, one being the year overviews. As we go on through the years, and my personal knowledge of each decade diminishes, I feel these overviews would become more of a chore to write. I also find it a bit redundant to re-teach history of each individual year, when I could just as easily condense it all into a "Decade Overview", instead. The other major change is the music...

     There are really two mostly separate paths that one can take when looking at the 1970's in terms of music. There's the rock and artistically progressive "FM" path, or the radio friendly, pure pop "AM" path. If you take the latter path, you'll find that as we progress through the decade, pop music will go from artistic, to corporate. It's the beginning of a long decline. 

     On the other hand, if you're a classic rock fan, and especially if you enjoy progressive rock, the 1970's could be considered the finest music decade of the 20th Century. By now, all of the countercultural and artistic bands of the 1960's had found their niches and set out to produce groundbreaking albums. Progressive rock dominated the first half of the decade, while experiencing a drastic decrease in popularity as disco, punk, and new wave came to pass. 

     Much of the early 1970's saw a major rise in the singer-songwriter. This included Paul Simon, Carole King  and Carly Simon, to name a few. Many of these singers managed to crossover onto the pop charts, while still retaining their artistic integrity. Storytelling and liberal use of the piano were trademarks of 1970's singer-songwriters. 

     Other genres such as hard rock, jazz rock, glam, and heavy metal would in later years be played side by side on classic rock stations. Yet back in the 1970's, these were distinctively different styles. The 1970's were also a decade that saw the release of classic albums which sold in record numbers. This includes Fleetwood Mac's Rumors and Boston's self-titled debut. 

     Some rock artists chose to rebel against the progressive ideals of the late '60's and early '70's. By the mid 1970's, two major styles emerged out of this movement: Punk and New Wave. The main difference between the two styles is that early punk was about not selling out. Many artists of the genre often sought an underground music career instead. Many new wave artists, on the other hand, found crossover success on the pop charts.

     Now, it can be easy to look at all of the examples I have posted above and think of the decade as a music lover's nirvana. However, quite a few of these genres are seldom represented on the pop charts. In terms of AM radio, the 1970's were actually one of the weakest decades.

     For starters, the 1970's saw a rise in saccharine soft-pop. Some of the sugary ballads released in the 1970's sound absolutely insipid today. There were also an over-abundance of novelty pop singles. Many of these had the misfortune of hitting #1. It's hard to imagine that the same time period that brought us "Fly Like An Eagle" also brought us horrors such as "Disco Duck".

     On a distant island, far away from novelty and soft-pop, R&B music had a golden period that peaked around 1973. With Marvin Gaye, Barry White, and Al Green leading the way, smooth soul music was the king. By 1974/75, a new style of music, that took the grooves of funk and prolonged the beat, emerged. This of course being the genre that most rock purists fear the most, "Disco". 

     Say whatever you will about the genre, but by 1977, disco was inescapable. So many pop and rock artists jumped on the disco bandwagon, that by 1979, many abhorred the genre. Yet, despite how you might expect me to feel about disco music, I will say there are some genuinely good disco songs such as "Staying Alive". Either way, despite it being a genre I'm not too fond of, I feel it my duty to give each song I review a fair critique. 

     So join me for the next ten years of pop music, as we move from 2nd generation hippies, artistic rock, and singer/songwriters, through disco balls, skinny ties, and selling out. We'll begin with 1970, a year which managed to maintain much of the styles and ideals of the late 1960's. Rock became heavier, soft-pop became schmaltzier, and the dividing wall between pop and rock was further reinforced. Will this be an amazing year of #1 singles, or one that time should have forgotten? Only one way to find out...

First Up For 1970 - "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" by B.J. Thomas.

Until Next Time, I'm your captain, Dr. Rock and we've got a long and winding road ahead of us -