# Can we agree that the worst decade for popular music was the 1970s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944 "2014-06-16T23:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/101 "2014-06-18T03:14:40Z")
What, the decade during which I came of age? There was some damned good music at the time, and I have fond memories of screwing and/or getting stoned while listening to it. Lots of good, lots of bad, same as any decade I guess. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/102 "2014-06-18T03:16:11Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > This made me chuckle. You’re basically arguing that the two best albums of the 70s were from the 70s. > mmm You must be easily amused. I’m arguing they’re two of the best albums of the 70s as opposed to two of the worst albums of the 70s or two of the most mediocre albums of the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/103 "2014-06-18T04:07:04Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > Kiss > Moody Blues > Neil Diamond > Barbara Streisand > Styx > Cher > Jackson 5 > Chic > KC and the Sunshine Band > Kansas > 10cc How about some Grand Funk (Railroad)? Maybe some Fifth Dimension? (Marilyn McCoo has the best woman’s singing voice in history IMHO. And yes, I know they started in the '60s, but they had one of those “stupid” variety shows in the '70s. Along with Jim Stafford, Bobby Darin and Richard Pryor) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/104 "2014-06-18T04:43:23Z")
I’m going to go out on a limb. Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Yes, I liked them. A lot. Not just the hits. They turned out some good album cuts like “Blue Collar,” “Not Fragile,” and “Lookin’ Out for #1.” Some of my favorite music. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/105 "2014-06-18T05:21:30Z")
Battle of the Network Stars? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/106 "2014-06-18T09:36:24Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > They had an idiotic variety show. Pink Lady was actually a legitimate singing duo as well, but they squandered any chance they may have had of a legitimate recording career in the US with their idiotic (but unintentionally hilarious) variety show with Jeff (who probably has a last name, but I don’t remember it). Plus, “Muskrat Love.” Yes, I’m afraid that song about muskrats is the main problem with the Captain & Tenille. As “Muskrat Candlelight” it was a forgiveable novelty number on [Willis Alan Ramsey’](http://www.willisalanramsey.com/)s one & only album. Others covered every song on that highly influential set–one of the best of the whole Texas Singer Songwriter/Cosmic Cowboy scene. (Although Willlis came from Oklahoma.) He’s alive & well & still singing–think he spent a lot of time in the British Isles. No stories of tragic debauchery or anything–but the royalties never stopped… > [@](#): > > "I learned every song off his record. I went to see him every time he played, got tennis shoes like his. I wanted to be Willis Alan Ramsey.”—Lyle Lovett ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/107 "2014-06-18T09:47:39Z")
^Bridget, I could kiss you. VERY well put post. I owe you a brew, and since we’re in the same town, you could actually collect. Let me know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/108 "2014-06-18T12:17:28Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Battle of the Network Stars? LOVED it. Especially how serious Robert Conrad was. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/109 "2014-06-18T14:13:16Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > In the 1970s American radio was not as splintered as it was later… Really?? There was Barry McGuire doing war protest/folk. You maligned Neil Young, but no song today has ever brought an age group together like [Ohio](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Ohio-lyrics-Crosby-Stills-Nash-Young/03695F794D7C52F948256D990023A09C). There was metal. REO Speedwagon & Alice Cooper, started in the 70s. There were the psychodelics, like Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix. There was the hated Disco, and Bubble gum, Brian Hyland and Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini, and the purple people eater. There was the dead girlfriend laments. But Country came into the main stream. Waylon, Willie and the Boys? Then there were the women. Bette Midler, Janis Joplin, Heart, In my opinion, it was actually the most diverse decade. Much of todays’ music grew out of those sounds. Motown. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/110 "2014-06-18T22:04:10Z")
**picunurse** , are you talking about the '60s or '70s? Almost everything on the list of what you like is from the '60s, and some of the stuff you don’t like as well. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/111 "2014-06-19T00:00:29Z")
Including the tail end of the 60s in the discussion is a bit of a cheat, and for the change in the country’s zeitgeist, I’d start no earlier than Nixon’s reelection. For pop culture purposes, the 70s thus really probably spanned from around 1973 to 1980. E.g., the Beatles broke up in 1970, but you wouldn’t call them a 70s band. But Wings, you would. As someone pointed out in [a thread about the “creepy Seventies”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634400): > [@Creepy Seventies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-seventies/605727/10): > > Yeah, the early 70s were still the 60s, the real 70s didn’t get started until the mid-70s. > > There’s a particular filthy dirty sleazy look to the 70s, like the clothes, the hair, the skin, the furniture and the food are coated with a thin layer of slime. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/112 "2014-06-19T14:18:34Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I think what’s becoming apparent is that top 40 hits are largely forgettable and only a small percentage have staying power beyond the moment, regardless of the decade. I would think it depends a lot on the listener’s developmental age. I grew up during the 70s, so I recognized a lot of the top 100 hits for 1975. I recognized a fair amount of 1985 hits, but not as much as I did the previous decade. I recognized maybe 10 of the 1995 hits. Top 40 appealed to me as a kid, then as I got older, not so much. As far as “a small percentage have staying power,” it appears Madonna is part of that elite group. She had hits in both 1985 and 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/113 "2014-06-20T01:48:55Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > As far as “a small percentage have staying power,” it appears Madonna is part of that elite group. She had hits in both 1985 and 1995. Could explain why she hasn’t known enough to quit. Hubris. Just a sad old cow now. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/114 "2014-06-21T02:28:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The 70s also gave us Billy Joel. Two of the best albums of the decade, _The Stranger_ and _52nd Street_. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > This made me chuckle. You’re basically arguing that the two best albums of the 70s were from the 70s. > mmm > [@cochrane](#): > > You must be easily amused. I’m arguing they’re two of the best albums of the 70s as opposed to two of the worst albums of the 70s or two of the most mediocre albums of the 70s. Umm, no, you weren’t. Billy Joel was not previously mentioned in the thread. Your premise, mildly re-stated, is this: The 70s couldn’t have been that bad; two of the best 70s albums were from the 70s. May not have been what you meant, but that’s how it reads. mmm ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/115 "2014-06-21T05:30:46Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Umm, no, you weren’t. Billy Joel was not previously mentioned in the thread. So? Thats why I mentioned him. He became popular in the 1970s. > [@](#): > > Your premise, mildly re-stated, is this: > > The 70s couldn’t have been that bad; two of the best 70s albums were from the 70s. > > May not have been what you meant, but that’s how it reads. > mmm It would have been ludicrous for me to mention two albums from the 80s as being among the best of the 70s. No matter what you read, I don’t see my post as redundant. I didn’t think it required restating. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/116 "2014-06-21T06:54:13Z")
Mother-Fucking _Boston._ ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/117 "2014-06-21T12:04:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > So? Thats why I mentioned him. He became popular in the 1970s. > > It would have been ludicrous for me to mention two albums from the 80s as being among the best of the 70s. No matter what you read, I don’t see my post as redundant. I didn’t think it required restating. OK. No hard feelings. mmm ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/118 "2014-06-21T12:59:44Z")
Hardly anything after 1960 worth the effort of listening to it. WWII and shortly thereafter was the best time for music. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/119 "2014-06-21T13:04:27Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > **picunurse** , are you talking about the '60s or '70s? Almost everything on the list of what you like is from the '60s, and some of the stuff you don’t like as well. Also, I believe **dropzone** ’s reference to radio in the early and mid 70s being “not as splintered” refers to the move starting in the late 70s towards programming formats that meant in most stations the playlist would represent strictly only one genre [hard rock, classic rock, charts pop, “Adult Contemporary”, “urban”, etc.]. Which did away with **picunurse** ’s radio world that included a little bit of everything (and yes, the examples are from different time periods). ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944/120 "2014-06-21T13:34:58Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > In my opinion, it was actually the most diverse decade. Ding, baby, ding. The songs that broke through and got radio play - and therefore became hits - in the 1970s were the most diverse bunch there’d even been. It was also the final real heyday of novelty songs being played on mainstream radio and that’s a big win, IMHO. Even the songs that drop derides early in the thread - Afternoon Delight, Mohammed Ali, and so forth - are tremendously fun to listen to and sing along with. Goofiness has its place and shouldn’t be brought down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-agree-that-the-worst-decade-for-popular-music-was-the-1970s/690944.md?page=7)