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Which band best defined the 70's?

The '60s also weren't just The Beatles. It was also Hendrix and The Doors and The Lettermen and Lulu and The 5th Dimension and....

Yeah, you can't just boil it down to one in ANY decade.
 
thumbtack said:
The Village People best define our modern-day image of the seventies.
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Which is silly, because they, like disco, were only in the last few years of the 70s. I insist that Zeppelin is the "best" (although not perfect) answer to this question, as somebody who actually lived through it.
 
voggmo said:
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.
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Tony Orlando and Dawn
 
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
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I agree. This is simply impossible to do as the early 70's, when we were still in Vietnam, were very different from the late 70's, when disco took over for a while there.

If I had to pick I'd probably go with The Eagles as they were the most liked by everyone - you'd have been hard pressed to find someone back then who didn't like the The Eagles.

However, Led Zepplin was very popular with a large number of people as well.

It was such a mixed bag though - everything from Zepplin to Donna Summer to Kansas to KC and the Sunshine Band to The Carpenters to The Eagles to (ACK!) Tom Jones!
 
PKTrekGirl said:
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
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I agree. This is simply impossible to do as the early 70's, when we were still in Vietnam, were very different from the late 70's, when disco took over for a while there.

If I had to pick I'd probably go with The Eagles as they were the most liked by everyone - you'd have been hard pressed to find someone back then who didn't like the The Eagles.

However, Led Zepplin was very popular with a large number of people as well.

It was such a mixed bag though - everything from Zepplin to Donna Summer to Kansas to KC and the Sunshine Band to The Carpenters to The Eagles to (ACK!) Tom Jones!
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I hate The Eagles, and Tom Jones rarely fails when it comes to the girls, it's nowhere near Marvin Gaye, but works
 
You know what? The 60s had some pretty good bands (aside form the Beatles), but the 70s was an AMAZING decade for music. Including bands like ZZ Top which started in the 70s but didn't hit big 'til later.

The 80s... not so much.
 
Good posts Australis, I will have to disagree a bit though on 80's, ( 90's did suck dogballs though, Nirvana & Pumpkins excepted). Priest emerged 81-82, Sabs had their 2nd GREAT time with Dio, & of course Maiden, Metallica & U2 all exploded. Great time for Metal & new wave. Now I didn't say it beat the 70's, just that a lot of great bands did happen then. Yes I admit I was a closet Duran Duran fan. MTV also happenned. as for dance music, you'd have to ask those fans, but Madonna & Michael & Paula Abdul popped then too right?
 
voggmo said:
( 90's did suck dogballs though, Nirvana & Pumpkins excepted).
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Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam were just as influential and kicked a lot of ass.

I'd argue that Pearl Jam's Ten was just as influential as Nirvana's Nevermind.

Ten was also one of the best albums of the decade.
 
Australis said:
though I'm a Deep Purple fan m'self
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Hear, hear!

I agree that no one band can define the 70s. There's too much going on musically to identify it with one band. Zeppelin may have covered a range of musical styles (although I don't think they were as diverse as people like to make them out to be) but they never did a disco tune, and that was certainly a big part of the second half of the 1970s.

On the other hand, Kiss did a disco song, so maybe they should be the answer to the question. ;)
 
Garth Rockett said:
On the other hand, Kiss did a disco song, so maybe they should be the answer to the question. ;)
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Hey, are you trying to get coaster started? :p


........................
No one came from miles around
and said "Man, who's he?"
Heh.
 
JonathonWally said:
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
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My man, you are the Blackest White dude I know.:lol:
 
While many bands were better than they were, I feel few typify the decade as much as Kiss did.
 
JonathonWally said:
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.
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Donna Summer defined it
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I'm sure se had a huge part. As long as it wasn't "The Hustle" byVan McCoy. :)

BTW; Did Aerosmith, BTO, and Kansas play a part?
 
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