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Which band best defined the 70's?

V

voggmo

Commodore
Toughie, but a few names immediately come to mind, Zeppelin, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, & perhaps Floyd. But with so many styles & musical trends that happenned, there is no band that covers it all, but if I were pressed, I'd go with Zeppelin. They set an outdoor attendance record in 73, & even in 78 they were THE band at high school most were into.

& album sales & attendance records are not the main or only measuring barometer, it was more their attitude, like the Eagles they had a very mellow side, stoners band of choice no doubt. & they could play folk, rock, accoustic, & Morroccan & Indian bits. & had plenty of bombast for the hard rock fans. Few bands were such a cultural and musical phenomenon at that time.

Stones & Who were huge, but didn't have the same Tolkienesque stoner sit & wonder sort of thing. Foghat is another possible contender.
 
I'd consider buying a ticket to the ZepEagle Floyd supergroup concert.

Otherwise? At least in the US, The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and probably Wings for much of the decade, if not the whole thing for any of them.
 
Boston and Chicago and of course, The Commodores. P Funk, Sly and the Family Stone. KC and the Sunshine Band.

70s rock is great, but you can't forget to bring the funk, the funk defined the 70s
 
No one band defined the 70's. There were three distinct movements in pop & rock.

The Vietnam Era rock, disco, and post-disco rock. So one band couldn't possibly define the entire decade.

--Ted
 
BAck in the day, when I had a show on college radio, we did a 4 part doco, a potted history of modern music, called Rock In A Nutshell. A large component of that was discussing how in the Seventies music began to fly apart, no one band defined the era, like the Beatles did earlier, a process still evolving today. No one band could define the Eighties nineties or Noughties :). Some bands like the Police stand out in the Eighties but with so many different recoignised types, I can't see that happening again.

I was going to say Pop would be defined by ABBA,. Heavy Rock by Led Zeppelin (though I'm a Deep Purple fan m'self), Rock and Roll by the Stones, Funk by Parliament, Punk by The Clash (though they probably wouldn't like that).

Disco, I dunno, KC and the Sunshine Band maybe. It really was plastic music made by plastic bands for plastic people (baby boomers trying to stave off the increasing gravity of parental responsibility) and so is harder to describe as durable when you're thinking of bands that define an era. And note I'm not saying all dance music is disco.
 
Didn't much care for music in the 70s until Punk hit. I was never a fan of most of the groups out at the time and didn't buy their albums. Of course now when I hear those songs on the radio or on VH1 I find myself singing along and wondering when, how and why those lyrics snuck into my brain.
 
Australis said:
Disco, I dunno, KC and the Sunshine Band maybe. It really was plastic music made by plastic bands for plastic people (baby boomers trying to stave off the increasing gravity of parental responsibility) and so is harder to describe as durable when you're thinking of bands that define an era. And note I'm not saying all dance music is disco.
Click to expand...


Donna Summer defined it
 
TG Theodore said:
No one band defined the 70's. There were three distinct movements in pop & rock.

The Vietnam Era rock, disco, and post-disco rock. So one band couldn't possibly define the entire decade.

--Ted
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly, although more eloquently stated than what was going through my brain. :lol:

However, my biased nature says Pink Floyd. :angel:
 
If talking the entire era, then I think Mr. Bowie (I know, big surprise) might be the best choice. He began the decade being a thoughtful singer-songwriter, shifted into full on glam rock star mode, tapped into soul, heralded the beginning of electronic music, and had a profound influence on the punk music of the decade. Plus, not only did he release a string of amazing records to rival any of the above mentioned bands (see Hunky Dory, Ziggy, Diamond Dogs, Aladdin Sane, Young Americans, Station to Station, "Heroes" Low, Lodger), but he also produced some of the best records by the likes of Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.

Bowie owned the 70s.
 
Led Zepplin. Defining the era, the Zep had a transcendent sound that still holds up decades later. While many different bands and styles existed only one band ruled the roost. Most of the others mentioned in this thread were knock-offs(did someone say Foghat?), released music that now sounds dated(KC and the Sunshine Band anyone?) or was too far out in left field to appeal to a larger audience(Floyd, Bowie, the Punk movement). Led Zepplin is the defining sound of the era. IMO.
 
How can you say Floyd didn't appeal to a larger audience. Most of their 70s albums were massive hits and two of them are in the all-time list. For me the definitive band of the 70s is Pink Floyd.
 
Ted and JWally were on the right track. There's simply no way to distill the decade down to a single band, not if you expect to make any sense.
 
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