There was just a lot of dreck out there, too.

I think you can find good and bad from any given era.

It seems to be kind of cyclical, if you ask me.

Right now, we're definitely in the "down" phase, IMHO.

But, hey, what do I know, maybe Justin Bieber is actually the greatest musical genius since Lennon and McCartney and I'm just too stupid to recognize it?

And, well, sorry to offend, but the 80's kicked the 70's ass bigtime.

I think from 1979 to about 1988 was a great time for pop music...

Was watching a documentary about Peter Gatien, the owner of the Limelight club in NYC, and they made the point that clubs like the Limelight, the Tunnel, Max's Kansas City, and CBGB provided artists a forum to try out their music and experiment before they went mainstream. Bands like the Ramones, Smashing Pumpkins, Madonna, Blondie, Jay-Z, etc. all played in these clubs in NY.

Today, corporations own music, and want to grow artists through American Idol and The X Factor, which render the artists nothing more than Karaoke singers.

even the very corny. It's my station of choice n the car.

span from about 1966 to around 1990 or so.

But the 70s definitely have a special place in my heart, music (and other) wise.

Like this one:

BeeGees (disco) SUKKED!

some of the earlier stuff was ok ("I Started A Joke"--good theme for the Romney campaign, incidentally...) but the disco crap needs to be shoved into the toilet of music history and flushed--twice, for good measure.


Just my well-reasoned, highly-respected, much-worshipped opinion, of course.

those songs were freakin' LOOOONNNNNG! Right? 4 tracks on each Pink Floyd LP, whereas the norm was 10-12. But when you listen to those long pieces, you can't believe the dynamics these bands lay on you. There's so much nuance and sublime texture! The songs start with one instrument, then another shows up 8 bars later, then the whole melody builds to a wonderful crescendo so it's like a classical opus.

Not only that, but when you listen to Led Zeppelin, the hooks, choruses, bridges, et al just make the song. You don't hear anything like that today.

Back then, most Rockers got their inspiration from The Blues, a genre that trades licks back and forth, and also showcases each instrument (including voice) with a few bars of a solo. Nowadays, musicians might not even know some of these old guys--and let's face it: we have a FAR shorter attention span now! Most of these Baby Listeners wouldn't give a song a chance if it took too long to get to the point. Too bad. IMO, dynamics vs one driving volume is like great sex vs scratching an itch!

You give a most excellent analysis of what the music was like.
1968 to 1980 was the best time in my life, in a special way, and it seemed to be filled with great music, which was associated with so many important events, social and political.
We had it good, indeed we did.

It was an honest to goodness musical feast for the ears.

I can listen to those songs a million times and never get tired of them. My ears pick out individual instruments and notes and melodies, then I hear the entire thing all together, and then go back to the individual stuff again, and back and forth.

And talk about long songs...how freakin long is "Dazed and Confused" on Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same" album? But there are songs within songs within songs in that one piece.

A long time ago I had a "musician" (some guy in a local band) say to me that it was the words that made the song. The really important part.

I've always thought that was bullshit.

A skillful music writer doesn't need words to convey feelings or a message.

Everything is so over-produced now that even real instruments tend to sound like computer music.

in the middle of Stairway to Heaven...

lots of great music that got little or no airplay

out and see him at a great venue here in Cleveland...

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any idea why the piano player didn't get a yellow suit?

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he's communist!

Not surprising though, 95% of the good ideas were used up by the mid 70's.

you mean the so-called "Singin 'panties'?

Jim Dandy of Black Oak Arkansas.



I loved the show and I still love the music of that era.

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Every generation has had good music and bad music.

Example: 1970s - Bad: KC and the Sunshine Band, Good: Little Feat.

1980s - Bad: Madonna (sorry, folks,) Good: The Police

1990s - Bad: Limp Bizkit, Good: Screaming Trees

2000s - Bad: Britney Spears, Good: Belle and Sebastian

2010s - Bad: Carly Rae Jespen, Good: Ariel Pink


And so it goes...

to the next and spent a lot of time in the truck. The truck only had an AM radio so we were listening to all sorts of music...

Afternoon Delight was one song that brings back a lot of memories. schlock for sure but I never thought I would be writing to....

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And I say this as someone born in '76.

'68 was a great year, with so many genres-- including instrumentals and kid songs-- making the Top 100. Lots of bands used a variety of instruments, too-- not just bass and drums, but pianos, trumpets, flutes, even an occasional harpsichord. I don't think there's much from the '70s that can compare with 1968.

But I remember 1968 very well-- it was definitely the best of times, and the worst of times. But the music from that year was definitely in the "best of times" department. To me, it seems that the great sounds of that time suddenly went POOF in the '70s.

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And beats the hell out of anything that has come since.

. . .with no less than THREE progressive, album-oriented rock stations in the NYC metro area at the time:

WNEW-FM
WLIR (Long Island)
WRNW (Westchester County, NY) (BTW, the Program director back then was Howard Stern!!)

Listening to those stations back then made me forget about television. Great times.

Dobbie Brothers, ELO, Tina Turner, Cheap Trick, Marvin Gaye, Queen, Heart, Jim Croce

has at least one song on my mp3 player on heavy, daily rotation - well, except Marvin Gaye - but China Grove, Don't Bring Me Down, Better Be Good to Me, Dream Police, Killer Queen, Barracuda and even Cats in the Cradle - I listen to ALL of these and more, still. Never get tired of them.

Because back then, it was about THE MUSIC, not THE ARTIST/ME/WORSHIP ME!!! Today's music seems more about creating a brand and franchising it, marketing branded purses and perfumes and strappy heels, rather than melodies and brass and percussion and harmony.

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.... golden age of music. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, the whole Prog Rock thing, the emergence of punk (not my taste but useful for ushering in post-punk), new-wave, and more. The early seventies were awesome, as were the late. The middle was a bit weak perhaps.

There is a reason my KIDS listen to Led Zeppelin, they don't make it like that any more. There isn't a band out there even in their league.

I feel sorry for kids today - back then they actually played good music on the RADIO, now, there is good music being made but you have to seek it out, corporations have turned radio into an artistic dead zone.

especially the fusion of rock-and-roll and jazz through groups like Weather Report, George Duke, The Tony Williams Lifetime, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Return To Forever to name a few. And if you like it REAL funky (which I do) you had the 1973 album of Tower Of Power with hits like "What Is Hip?"

....putting down the music of the 70s? Blasphemy! Just look at all the great bands listed prior to my post! Blasphemy I tell ya, blasphemy! EOM

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A 70's band. The '80's had great music, too. Nirvana was part of that, their first album, Bleach, was released in '88 or '89.

There is lots of great music being made today. You have to look for it, 'cuz it's sure as hell not being played on any big radio stations. I prefer to listen to college radio stations, like WNUR, WCLC, WCOD, etc.

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There were one of my favorite bands too! I even got to see them in concert once at GW University. Yes, the '70s did have some great music. Robert Palmer did some of the same songs Little Feat did, have you ever heard some of his versions? They were pretty good too. (Saw him in concert too). His Best of Island Years is the one to get.

I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me I'm a real live wire

You start a conversation you can't even finish it
You're talkin' a lot, but you're not sayin' anything
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed
Say something once, why say it again?

Genesis, Can, Van der Graaf Generator, Magma, Hatfield & the North, Gong, Wishbone Ash, Deep Purple, the Grateful Dead and that barely begins to scratch the surface.

The late 1970s provided Blondie, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magazine, Talking Heads, Television and many more.

Without question it was the best decade for music.

70s were great for music and me.

Both from the 1970s, too. Who woulda thunk it?

And even Disco wasn't that bad.
I maintain that the worst bands from the 70s are still better than 80% of what's being made now.

Exhibit A:

Silver clothing, polyester, gold chains, platform shoes, white suits. And men could really do some moves!

Hate to insult you, if you think they're good. I've never even heard of them.

The muscle shirt guy standing to the lead singer's right taught Travolta to dance? (to the SINGER's right, not ours) Interesting.

Black and Blue.

Some of their very best stuff, including the Mick Taylor years.

Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Marvin Gaye, Queen, James Brown, The Who, Black Sabbath, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Paul McCartney & Wings, The Isley Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, John Lennon, Chicago, Bob Marley, The Jackson 5, Earth, Wind & Fire, Al Green, Bruce Springsteen, KISS, The Clash, Curtis Mayfield, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton/Derek & the Dominos, Alice Cooper, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Allman Brothers Band, Aerosmith, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, The O'Jays, The Ramones, Bob Seger, Steve Miller Band, Grateful Dead, The Beach Boys, George Harrison, Peter Frampton, Elvis Presley, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Billy Joel, Deep Purple, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Three Dog Night, Temptations, Boston, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Commodores, Jim Croce, AC/DC, The Spinners, Kool & The Gang, Doobie Brothers, Yes, War, ZZ Top, The Guess Who, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Staple Singers, James Taylor, Barry White, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Jethro Tull, Bad Company, Steely Dan, Santana, Moody Blues, Electric Light Orchestra, Sex Pistols, Grand Funk Railroad, Journey, Foreigner, Kinks, Patti Smith, Kansas, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Heart, Donna Summer, The Chi-Lites, Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, America, Styx, The Doors, Van Morrison, Iggy Pop, The James Gang, Van Halen, Lou Reed, Traffic, Cat Stevens, Foghat, Supertramp, Genesis, Ohio Players, J Geils Band, Carole King, Mott The Hoople, Warren Zevon, Jeff Beck, Janis Joplin, King Crimson, Blue Oyster Cult, Four Tops, The Band, The Dells, Diana Ross, Ten Years After, Cheap Trick, Ringo Starr, Todd Rundgren, The Stylistics, Joe Cocker, Humble Pie, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, The Delfonics, Bobby Womack, Jefferson Starship, The Supremes, Edgar Winter, Sweet, The Dramatics, Uriah Heep, The Whispers, Bill Withers, Carly Simon, Rainbow, Nazareth, Joe Simon, Johnnie Taylor, Issac Hayes, Joe Walsh, Badfinger, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Three Degrees, 10cc, Golden Earring, Alan Parsons Project, Stephen Stills, Average White Band, Eddie Kendricks, Ike & Tina Turner, Dave Mason, Wilson Pickett, Marshall Tucker Band, Roxy Music, The New York Dolls, Slade, Meat Loaf, Boz Scaggs, Judas Priest, Harry Nilsson, The Miracles, Thin Lizzy, Rick Derringer, T-Rex, Blondie, Dan Fogelberg, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Little Feat, Don McLean, The Knack, The Hollies, Rare Earth, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Bootsy Collins, Dr John, The Impressions, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Orleans, The Grass Roots, Brownsville Station, Spirit, Smokey Robinson, Robin Trower, Clarence Carter, Dave Edmunds, Chuck Berry, Molly Hatchet, Charlie Daniels Band, Black Oak Arkansas, Joe Tex, Tower Of Power, Tyrone Davis, Billy Preston

are still at the top of my play list.

Kicked ass every Sunday night back in the '70's.

Zeppelin may have formed in 68 but they are a 70's band without a doubt.

KISS didn't have the musical chops the other bands possessed but no one put on a bigger, better show.

Lots of good stuff in the 70's.