# When you think of the 70's, what are the top three bands that come to mind? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 23, 2022, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415 "2022-07-23T07:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/101 "2022-07-26T03:13:41Z")
So we’re looking for the BEST three bands? Grateful Dead Frank Zappa and whoever was in his backup band at the time Parliament/Funkadelic Or could go in a whole other direction with Clash/Ramones/Buzzcocks. Someone above mentioned the Dead Kennedys, and they did release their first single in 1979, but they’re really an 80s band. Oddly, though, despite all the great music that came out of that decade, when I actually think of the term “70s music”, what comes to mind is crap like Fleetwood Mac, Sonny and Cher, or Peter Frampton. I guess I have internalized 70sphobia. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/102 "2022-07-26T03:44:59Z")
Not the BEST three, just the three that represent the 70’s most to you. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/103 "2022-07-28T08:17:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > VERY hard to imagine how mine can be the first vote for Rush. And remember, guys, the 70s were when they were GOOD! 😉 Not quite the 1st, but I too am surprised how little love they received in this thread. Perhaps everyone else has them just a little lower down in their top 10. lol ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/104 "2022-07-28T09:25:16Z")
Absolutely. Seriously— Rush would have been about my fifth choice. A Farewell to Kings is probably my favorite album of theirs, and it’s from 1977. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/105 "2022-07-28T09:40:25Z")
wow as an 80s kid whose parents didn’t listen to much rock made after 1982 on rock but I didn’t hear a lot of those unless I lived with my parents … Now if ya wanna talk about country music well I’m well versed in that … ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/106 "2022-07-29T01:18:35Z")
> [@Fugazi](#): > > Not quite the 1st, but I too am surprised how little love they received in this thread. I didn’t think this thread was about love, as much as cultural dominance. I didn’t take “Top” to mean “Best”. As wonderful as bands like Rush (and the Clash and Dead Kennedys, and X, etc) are, they didn’t put their stamp on the decade’s mass culture the way Zep or the BeeGees, or the Eagles did. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/107 "2022-07-29T01:29:39Z")
Sex Pistols Clash Led Zepplin ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/108 "2022-07-29T18:37:05Z")
Wings Steely Dan I’ve gotta say ‘The Eagles’ esp. if I can include Joe Walsh solo stuffs ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/109 "2022-07-29T23:59:12Z")
Led Zepplin Lynyrd Skynyrd KC and the Sunshine Band ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/110 "2022-07-30T12:59:53Z")
Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd Queen I dislike Led Zep (a general dislike of whiny or shrill singer voices…not a fan of Fleetwood Mac either for this reason) but had to admit that was the first and most Seventies group I could think of. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/111 "2022-09-25T16:45:40Z")
To me, it’s interesting that The Clash did not receive more votes, considering that almost every rock and roll band relevant today credit The Clash as being a major musical influence. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/112 "2022-09-25T16:49:29Z")
I think a “Top three influential bands of the 70’s” thread would turn out significantly different. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/113 "2022-09-25T17:24:35Z")
Although the Clash got their start in the 70s, I don’t think their significance was recognized until the 80s. _London Calling_ wasn’t released until the last two weeks of the former decade. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415/114 "2022-09-25T17:37:13Z")
The Top 3 bands from the 70s I still listen to the most Today are KISS, Aerosmith, and Black Sabbath. Though with the first two it is mostly their work from the 80s. When I think of distinctively 70s bands I think of disco and specifically The Village People and The Bee Gees. And 70s rock makes me think of Three Dog Night, Stealers Wheel, Sweet, Blue Swede, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. And also The Osmonds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s-what-are-the-top-three-bands-that-come-to-mind/968415.md?page=5)