1970's in the World and Music

The 1970’s in music showed the rise of many artists, who would later be big influences for today’s musicians. New media sources changed the way people found music, and changed their listening habits. Things like television and motion pictures were beginning to get popular with large audiences, and bands took advantage of this. They did this by going on late night shows, and making movies like the Bee Gees did, among others.

New Genres also began to arise. Art rock and progressive rock began to take rise as well. Both of which had started in the late 60’s. Bands like Genesis capitalized on this, by making their music very progressive, with complex structure and lyrics. Hard rock also took shape, with bands like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Genres like disco, and glam rock also were popular in the late 1970’s. Jazz, which had been popular for many years, began a fusion towards Jazz-Rock. This helped the development of funk music which was made popular by James Brown. In the mid 70’s punk rock began to develop, with bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols. Another genre which also developed was Caribbean. This genre was led along by Bob Marley. Overall, the 70’s were very busy, with many different genres being created. A very important event happened at the beginning of the 70’s that shaped music for years to come, the Beatles broke up. Many bands were trying to feed off of their popularity and be the next big thing, so we got a lot of copy cat bands trying to cater to younger girls. These were bands like Badfinger and the Knack

Around the world in the 1970’s many things were happening. Gasoline shortages in both 1973 and 79’ caused there to be restrictions on usage. As a result of this, ecological awareness rose, because people saw that non-renewable resources can only last so long. Modernism ended with this.

Another movement that started to peak was feminism. Although it started in the late 60’s, the 70’s brought its voice even louder. Most efforts of repealing the oppression and inequality of women were successful. Women gained success in many areas such as business and politics. On a similar note, the black rights movement began to slow down with the death of Martin Luther King. However, many of its goals had already been reached.

Television and cinema were also very popular during the 70’s. Television shows were now for everyone and not just stay-at-home moms. Programs such as game shows, variety shows, comedy and western shows were there for the whole family to enjoy. In cinema some of the most famous movies were produced such as Jaws and Star Wars. A new era of visionary directors had arrived. There were many trends that happened in the 1970’s. One of the popular ones was Disco. People would go out to clubs and just dance. This helped them get away from the stress of work and the Cold War. Disco was influenced by underground gay culture, but surfaced in the late 70’s. Many bands gained popularity from disco, such as ABBA. Movies were also made about Disco and the nightlife, such as Saturday Night Fever, whose soundtrack sold in vast quantities. Another trend started in the 1970’s when the first face lifts were performed. Drug use was very high in this era. This was due to two reasons; the cold war and disco. The cold war caused everyone to be stressed so to take away the stress they would go to a disco club. While at the club they would do such drugs as cocaine, which was more widely accepted then. I believe one of the most important things to come out of the 70’s is the fact that people started to pay attention to their governments. This is very evident in Genesis’s music, which took influence from this and talked about politics, either discretely or otherwise. People took the criticism of the hippies, who complained about the government but didn’t do anything productive and finally began to take a stand. By protesting, and taking the initiative to get things done.