The 1970’s, for me, conjures up images of mini skirts, polyester suits, and platform shoes, long-haired hippies, flower children, and free love.
To many people in my generation, the Seventies will be most remembered for the rise in disco music. First creeping into dance clubs in the mid-seventies (with such hits as "The Hustle" by Van McCoy), songstresses like Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Dalida and Anita Ward popularised the genre and were described as the "disco divas”.
I have always found it fascinating looking back at old videos and pictures from the 70’s and seeing the outrageous fashion sense that was around at the time. Men were actually allowed to have hairy chests and show them off by wearing gold medallions! Also it seems to me that fashion dictated how people sang in the 70’s because there is no way that the Bee Gees could have got away with singing that high in baggy trousers!!
For many years, Disco was seen as a dirty word, out of fashion and ‘uncool’ but now times have changed and within the last 3 years Disco has made an unexpected comeback.
Many of today’s bands have been influenced by 70’s music. One group that stands out are the Scissor Sisters. They have recently had a best selling album, which has strong undertones of 70’s disco. Some of the younger generation today don’t realise what they’re listening to because this era of music is before their time. A lot of today's music is borrowed form the 70’s, but seen to be original material.
This goes for other styles that were around at the time.
Many legendary rock bands started, or hit their peak during the seventies, including Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Queen, AC/DC, U2, Black Sabbath, Eagles, KISS etc. These styles have been emulated many times by bands such as The killers, Franz Ferdinand, the Darkness and earlier groups such as The Cure. They have taken aspects from the seventies glam rock period and have made it their own, a formula that seems to work well, as they are frequent visitors to the Album and Singles charts.
It was a decade that saw film heavily influence music sales. Two great classics were released, Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Not only are these two of the longest running shows in the west end but you will always hear Staying Alive and Summer Nights when out on the town!
So the 70’s were a great time in the 20th century and the memories will always be kept alive through its music.
There will always be seventies records playing on radio stations across the globe. I have been presenting a breakfast show for nearly three years now and we are always getting requests for some seventies classics! They are imperative to the music mix at any radio station.
My advice for those of us who are unfamiliar with the 70’s music is to listen to ABBA Greatest Hits followed by The Best of AC/DC. Two albums that for me, sum up the diversity of seventies music. By doing this I finally understood what my parents mean by the "Good Old Days".
The Tom & Kez Breakfast Show
Hertfordshire’s Mercury 96.6
hertsmercury.co.uk
