For as long as I can remember, music has been a huge part of my life. From the earliest days of my childhood, I can always think back to particular songs that moved me or that when I hear them take me back to a feeling or a memory of a moment in time. The face of music has changed a lot over the years but there's always one decade that brings back the most memories for me and that's the 70's. It was such a unique time for music. The 70's brought such a great, diverse offering of music that you literally did not know what you might hear next on the radio.
In a day before MTV (when they actually played videos), iPod's and iPhones, Sony Walkman's (for us older folks), Pandora, YouTube or even the internet for that matter, music was mainly received through the radio. AM radio was dying out and FM was where it was at. Tune in to your favorite station and you might get Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond and The Bay City Rollers all in the same hour of music. Tuning into Casey Kasem's American Top 40 on the weekends was an experience the country shared together. Hearing the hits of the day would inspire generations to go out and purchase albums and 8-tracks of their favorite artists and it wasn't just about a single (although there were plenty of one-hit wonders to choose from), but it was about the ALBUM. The entire album was an experience. This decade became the birth of Album Rock.
So now I present to you - the top 10 reasons that the 70's was THE GREATEST decade in music!!!
10.) The Birth of Disco (and death) - Say what you will about disco music. This music defined the late part of the 70's. Ask some random people about the 70's and disco WILL come up in the conversation. People claim that they can't stand disco, but put on "Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees or "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor and I guarantee people will sing every word as loud as they can and do their best John Travolta - Saturday Night Fever (not to be confused with Saturday Night Live) dance moves. Disco wasn't just a style of music, it became the whole scene of the late 70's. It determined the style of clothing, it determined the popularity of clubs (Studio 54 anyone?), it determined the popularity of movies, it was every where. So popular was the style of music that even rock bands jumped on the bandwagon. Bands like KISS, The Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart had huge hits with disco songs.
Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBR2G-iI3-I
KISS - I Was Made For Lovin' You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7isxoTIeYM
Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iw_BE_X9sA
Rod Steward - Da Ya Think I'm Sexy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hphwfq1wLJs
Other bands fully embraced the disco era and they defined the genre. No other band had more of an impact than The Bee Gees. The Bee Gees had a string of hits in the 60's and early 70's but they were turned into Mega-Stars once Barry Gibb developed his falsetto singing style set over a disco beat. Their soundtrack and the movie Saturday Night Fever is a true time-capsule into the impact of disco on the country. This album is still in the top 10 list of highest selling albums of all-time. Personally I felt like the plot was empty with this movie, but I still absolutely love it. I will watch it any time I happen across it on tv. This movie and soundtrack not only launched the Bee Gees into super-stardom, but also John Travolta. If you've never seen it, check it out sometime. You'll be longing for the days of leisure suits and light-up dance floors
Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY
ABBA was another "disco band" that achieved huge success based on their danceable hits. They were a band from Sweden and they garnered a huge following with their disco sound. Songs like "Dancing Queen", "The Winner Takes It All" and "Take A Chance On Me" could be heard on the radio and in clubs across the country.
ABBA - Take A Chance On Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOR5GA4gDfM
One other band that has to be mentioned is The Village People. The Village People was a "gimmick band" comprised of 6 different "masculine cultural" personalities that sang disco hits. The members were made up of a cop, a Native American, a soldier, a construction worker, a cowboy and a leather "biker". They started out with just a gay following, but soon broke out into international superstars with their disco hits "Macho Man", "In The Navy" and of course "YMCA". People still can't help but throw up their arms to YMCA when they hear it.
Village People - YMCA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k
There are many other bands and one-hit wonders that had huge successes in the disco era, but these were major players to the genre. Disco was so huge in the 70's that it completely absorbed pop culture and choked itself out. By the end of the decade, people were so sick of hearing disco that a backlash ensued. People were sporting "Disco Sucks" t-shirts and bands that had jumped on the disco bandwagon were accused of being sell-outs. Band like KISS had a huge backlash that took years to recover due to "selling out" their music for disco. On July 12th, 1979, there was a huge event held at Comiskey Park in Chicago called Disco Demolition Night in which disco albums were blown up on the field. This is known as "The Day Disco Died"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zN-oLCKo4
Say what you will about disco, but it's impact on the decade cannot be denied. The songs are catchy and still hold up today. You can still hear many of them in clubs and at sporting events across the country
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