The 1970s was the decade when music grew up and entered the modern era. Yes the 60s had been a revolution in many ways, but quite frankly much of that decade is best forgotten. The same cannot be said for the 70s. You could pretty much wrap this argument up by listing just a few of the bands from the 70s. This would, however, be a touch cheap. So I’m going to break it all up for you and explain piece by piece why the 70s are and will probably always be the greatest musical decade.
Bam! Right on the nose, in the very first year of this supreme decade Led Zeppelin emerged from being merely talented interpreters of black American Blues music into arguably the greatest band of all time with the release of III. Within a year they followed it with arguably the greatest album of all time IV. Black Dog, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Four Sticks, and Stairway To Heaven (yes I know, I’m sorry), redefined what could be done with rock music. This sparked an incredible advance in the output of rock music. This decade was to witness some of the finest rock records ever made. Free’s Fire and Water, Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak, Queen’s A Night At The Opera, The Groundhog’s Split, Robin Trower’s Bridge of Sighs, Black Sabbath’s Paranoid. The list could go on indefinitely.
What is so important about this period, however, in contrast to any other period is the emergence of a resistance to the mainstream. Whereas in the 60s people heard the Beatles and thought “I’d like to try that” in the 70s thousands, if not millions, took one look at the likes of Led Zep, Yes, and Queen and said “Fuck Off.” Punk was born. A veritable explosion of musical bile and venom that taught us all not to take ourselves so seriously. The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Buzzcocks, and The Undertones. Less angry but as resistant to the musical excesses of the great rock bands were the likes of Blondie, The Police, The Velvet Underground, Joy Division, Iggy and The Stooges! Iggy and the Stooges! Listen to 1969, No Fun, I Wanna Be Your Dog, Gimme Some Skin, they are all still so fresh, so true and simply brilliant songs. Television’s Marquee Moon created Indie music as we know it, more so than anything Joy Division did. Those two lead guitar’s playing off one another, the simple bass lines, the lo-fi drums, and the yelps and yearnings of Tom Verlaine are the blueprint for indie music everywhere.
There is scarce time left and I haven’t even got onto the revival of Folk music, with the likes of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pushing the boundaries of this rather staid and restricted genre. Most tragic of all we haven’t the time to get funky. Parliament, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, coupled with the soulful pop sensibilities of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye took black music and made it essential listening for all. Their musical achievements are an essay in themselves.
So I shall wrap it up here, and leave you with this. If nothing else the 1970s gave us the first six albums by the worlds single greatest musical talent: Tom Waits. Nuff said.
