# Worst band of the Seventies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021 "2012-05-05T21:04:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/81 "2012-05-06T20:14:27Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So seriously, what did you like? Disco? Country? Captain & Tenille? That’s why the Stones on the list is puzzling. I’m not a prog rock fan as a rule, preferring more straightforward pop and rock, but that can’t be the reason here. “I hate that pretentious, overwrought progressive @#$%” doesn’t overlap, it would seem, with a band that in the 70s produced “Brown Sugar,” “Bitch,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Wild Horses,” “Angie,” “Heartbreaker,” “It’s Only Rock and Roll,” “When the Whip Comes Down,” “Shattered,” “Beast of Burden,” et. al. Consequently, I’m guessing, based on the tone of later posts, that this list is really “The Top 10 Bands he could think of that will make people twitch when the OP pisses all over them.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/82 "2012-05-06T20:25:23Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > This poll is defective. Those are all great bands, and several of them are among the very best not just of the '70s, but of the entire history of rock. Agreed. Whether you liked a particular band or not was really more a function of what you chose to pay attention to. It’s arguable that the Rolling Stones, by this time, were not really doing anything _new_. 10CC I don’t rate highly at all–I voted for them. All I know from them is their pop hit “Things We Do For Love”–were they even really a rock band? Billy Joel should be here too. IMO his sound is too “Broadway” to be rock and roll. I’m not sure how he got into the “canon” of classic rock, because back in the day we really didn’t consider him to be in the same genre as the progressive or hard rock bands. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/83 "2012-05-06T20:31:41Z")
RE: 10cc–[Live and Let Live](http://www.amazon.com/Live-Let-Reis-10cc/dp/B0013V2UHQ) is one of my all-time favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/84 "2012-05-06T20:41:43Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > 😃 I hadn’t even thought about that! Although, there are usually even some disco songs I remember fondly. So far, the only genre that I haven’t been able to grab \*something \*from seems to be rap. Then again, no reason you should have thought about disco. If you asked anyone at the time what their favorite rock band was, they wouldn’t say “Bee Gees” because they weren’t really considered to be rock and roll. A lot of people liked to go to discos. A lot of people had great times there, and some of them even remember those times. But everyone else cried _Disco Sucks!_. Particularly on college campuses, disco didn’t do very well among the more avid music fans, who generally liked a solid rock beat, at least, if not the more free-range explorations of prog-rock. Thirty-five years later, disco is still not my favorite style, but I do have a better appreciation of what it meant, in its context, to those who did like it. The era was a wild party and disco was its sound track–even if the partying occasionally did get excessive in various ways. Moreover, I have a better appreciation now of how hard it is to make good music in any genre, and I have to admire the Bee Gees for their vocal abilities and how well crafted many of their songs are. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/85 "2012-05-06T20:42:58Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > No, I was in Winnipeg at the time. > > A dear friend of mine was part of the Montreal Symphony/OSM chorus that was on tour with them in 77, and I’m still jealous. > > My memory is vague, but I don’t think they ever played Winnipeg before 1993. Lucky person! The Symphony and Chorus did not make it to Kitchener for that part of the '77 tour, which at first disappointed me, but then these three guys started playing symphonic music (Emerson’s and Palmer’s stuff) just using keyboard, drums and guitar. It was wonderful to listen to music that actually went somewhere. A truly amazing musical experience! ---
**Author:** ![santosvega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@santosvega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/santosvega)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/86 "2012-05-06T21:10:53Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Also, is it not rather sad that people are still reenacting the trope of punk rebellion against prog over 30 years after the event? A good part of the punk critique of prog was that prog was old and played out, it was still rooted in the psychedelia of 10 years before, but had lost the youthful energy, anger, experimentalism and iconoclasm that late '60s psychedelia had had. Punk was great because it brought back youthful energy, anger, and freshness, but **that was 35 years ago!** There is nothing new or youthful or fresh about punk now. We ought to be able to recognize now that most of it was crap at the time, even while acknowledging that even the crap was salutary. Being nostalgically attached to punk, and punkish attitudes, now is way worse (at least 3 times worse!), way more deadening and stuck-in-the-past, than the nostalgic attachment to 1967 that the punks so despised in the prog rockers. > > That said, for all their musicianship and cleverness, indeed, in large part because of it, _Yes_ totally sucked. This is so very true. Except for the part about Yes because they were awesome. This list seems to be expertly designed to piss off people like me. As has been said, punk was innovative for a couple of years or so but then got stuck in a rut which puts all other musical ruts to shame. Not for nothing did so many of the first wave of punk bands release a record or two of what would today be considered ‘punk’ and then move on to a more eclectic and varied sound. [QUOTE=Nunzio Tavulari] Rock & roll is the beat. If you want to embark on a deeper exploration of musical structures, become a jazz player. [/QUOTE] Again, this sort of reactionary musical attitude baffles me. Do you also think the Beatles were the worst band of the sixties? Rock & roll _was_ just a beat, back when it was a teenage fad that was doomed to stagnate and die out after a few years like so many fads before it. ‘Deeper exploration of musical structures’ was one of the factors that kept it alive and turned it into a lasting artform. And for that matter why does jazz get a pass for that sort of thing? It could be argued that jazz only started with the ‘deeper exploration’ around the same time as rock & roll. In an alternate universe someone’s posting “Jazz is 2-5-1 and a big band. If you want to embark on a deeper exploration of musical structures, become a rock & roll player” and it sounds equally silly there. And none of this comes anywhere near explaining why the Rolling Stones are there, as they arguably remained the standard-bearers for the straight-ahead traditional rock & roll beat long after most groups got bored with it. In short, I do not like your poll, sir. All that said, my vote is for the Moody Blues. Booo-ring. Prog without the rock. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/87 "2012-05-06T21:21:12Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > No, I meant to say “All of these bands sucked, but which was the worst?”. > > Several of the other bands mentioned knew they were just a pop band singing silly songs. Kiss was pretty bad IMO, but they have always just been in it for the money and the girls. The bands I mentioned generally considered themselves to be above rock & roll. Rock & roll is the beat. If you want to embark on a deeper exploration of musical structures, become a jazz player. That last bit is one of the most preposterous statements I’ve ever seen on this board (and I’ve seen a few). What, exactly, makes you the St. Peter of Rock Heaven, with your standards inscribed as Holy Writ upon the Stones above the entrance, denying entry to all who fail your little litmus tests? Rock has always been perfectly capable of “exploring deeper structures” in a variety of idioms, whether you like the idea or not. While I have a lot of bones to pick with prog myself (their 3rd generation descendants-mid 90’s to date, or thereabouts-almost universally leave me completely cold, with the notable exception of Porcupine Tree, who aren’t really prog to begin with), to insinuate that they aren’t performing “true” rock just because they dare to expand things a bit beyond 4 Chords and the Truth is a pretty far reach. And putting Rush on there, with the excuse that rock is “all about the beat” is silly too, given who their drummer is and how tight his/their rhythms were. It’s never been “all about the beat”, even going back to the mid 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/88 "2012-05-06T21:27:01Z")
Cannot vote. This is the stupidest poll I’ve ever seen on SDMB, and I’m including that one asking about size and colour of women’s nipples in that. If you had asked the worst band of that list, probably Jethro Tull, for my money. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/89 "2012-05-06T21:46:49Z")
Aww, The Moody Blues were swoon-worthy. They were a major part of the soundtrack of my life back in the day. All my female friends and I loved them. The guys who didn’t were belching down cheap beer in smelly dives, listening to REO Speedwagon, wondering why they couldn’t get dates. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/90 "2012-05-06T22:19:19Z")
I refuse to participate in such a stupid thread. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/91 "2012-05-07T12:02:58Z")
It’s interesting to me that some of the very greatest drummers in rock history played in the bands on this silly list. If you peruse a sampling of “Top 100 (or 50, or whatever) Rock Drummers” lists you’ll notice: - **Neal Peart** (Rush)\* is often listed as the best rock drummer ever. \ ***Carl Palmer** (ELP) \*and… _ **Bill Bruford** (Yes, King Crimson)_ are usually among the top 4-7. _ **Phil Collins** (Genesis)_ generally comes in the top 20-40 (I think he should be ranked much higher but isn’t only because of all the schlocky pop he recorded in the 80’s). \* **Nick Mason** (Pink Floyd)\* is in the top 50 or 60. _ **Clive Barker** (Jethro Tull)_ is in the 70 to 100 range. _ **Barriemore Barlow** _, another drummer for _Jethro Tull_, wasn’t on any of the lists I saw, but, he was called _“The greatest rock drummer England ever produced.”_ by John Bonham. Speaking of Bonham, a bunch of posters said that _Led Zeppelin_ should have been on the OP’s list. Maybe so, because\* **John Bonham** \* is usually considered among the top 3 rock drummers ever. And then there are the keyboardists…! \*\*\* Tony Banks\*\* (Genesis)\* _ **Keith Emerson** (ELP)_ _ **Rick Wakeman** (Yes)_ _ **Richard Wright** (Pink Floyd)_ Beyond any shadow of a doubt, all four are not just rock keyboard _legends_, but in fact, rock keyboard _Gods_. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/92 "2012-05-07T13:06:37Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > _ **Clive Barker** (Jethro Tull)_ is in the 70 to 100 range. Clive Bunker would be horror-stricken at this case of mistaken identity. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/93 "2012-05-07T13:14:33Z")
I saw 5 of the 10 play live back in the 70s and the worst _performance_ was by **10cc**. But that’s completely different from the question asked. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/94 "2012-05-07T14:25:18Z")
Bread. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/95 "2012-05-07T14:45:36Z")
The answer is obviously Bad Company. It’s right there in the name! ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/96 "2012-05-07T15:03:04Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > It’s interesting to me that some of the very greatest drummers in rock history played in the bands on this silly list. If you peruse a sampling of “Top 100 (or 50, or whatever) Rock Drummers” lists you’ll notice: [Giant list of rock drummers from the poll follows]… > > _ **Barriemore Barlow** _, another drummer for _Jethro Tull_, wasn’t on any of the lists I saw, but, he was called _“The greatest rock drummer England ever produced.”_ by John Bonham. > > Speaking of Bonham, a bunch of posters said that _Led Zeppelin_ should have been on the OP’s list. Maybe so, because\* **John Bonham** \* is usually considered among the top 3 rock drummers ever… Just out of curiosity, where, IYO, does Charlie Watts fit on that list? I am not a musician. Consequently, I have no idea what makes a ‘good’ drummer vs a ‘bad’ one, other than that bad ones don’t keep time well, but I’ve always like Watts’s drumming and I wonder where he fits on lists like this. It is funny that so many bad bands had so many very talented musicians… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/97 "2012-05-07T15:13:14Z")
10cc. I don’t like some of the other bands on the list – Yes, e.g. – but they accomplished more than 10cc in the '70’s. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/98 "2012-05-07T15:32:44Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Just out of curiosity, where, IYO, does Charlie Watts fit on that list? I am not a musician. Consequently, I have no idea what makes a ‘good’ drummer vs a ‘bad’ one, other than that bad ones don’t keep time well, but I’ve always like Watts’s drumming and I wonder where he fits on lists like this. It is funny that so many bad bands had so many very talented musicians… I personally would rank Charlie Watts quite highly. I’m not a big Rolling Stones listener, but the guy has a nice steady coolness to his playing. Not the flashiest guy in the world, but has quite a pulse, playing in the pocket. I’d take him over many of the drummers that end up on the top drummers list. One [this randomly chosen list](http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_drummers.html), he ranks 91. > [@](#): > > other than that bad ones don’t keep time well Hell, some so-called “good ones” don’t keep time so well, either. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/99 "2012-05-07T19:45:58Z")
Uriah Heep ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021/100 "2012-05-07T19:47:24Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > It’s interesting to me that some of the very greatest drummers in rock history played in the bands on this silly list. If you peruse a sampling of “Top 100 (or 50, or whatever) Rock Drummers” lists you’ll notice: > > - > > **Neal Peart** (Rush)\* is often listed as the best rock drummer ever. > > \ ***Carl Palmer** (ELP) \*and… > > _ **Bill Bruford** (Yes, King Crimson)_ are usually among the top 4-7. > > _ **Phil Collins** (Genesis)_ generally comes in the top 20-40 (I think he should be ranked much higher but isn’t only because of all the schlocky pop he recorded in the 80’s). > \* > **Nick Mason** (Pink Floyd)\* is in the top 50 or 60. > > _ **Clive Barker** (Jethro Tull)_ is in the 70 to 100 range. > > _ **Barriemore Barlow** _, another drummer for _Jethro Tull_, wasn’t on any of the lists I saw, but, he was called _“The greatest rock drummer England ever produced.”_ by John Bonham. > > Speaking of Bonham, a bunch of posters said that _Led Zeppelin_ should have been on the OP’s list. Maybe so, because\* **John Bonham** \* is usually considered among the top 3 rock drummers ever. > And then there are the keyboardists…! > \*\*\* Tony Banks\*\* (Genesis)\* > > _ **Keith Emerson** (ELP)_ > > _ **Rick Wakeman** (Yes)_ > > _ **Richard Wright** (Pink Floyd)_ > > Beyond any shadow of a doubt, all four are not just rock keyboard _legends_, but in fact, rock keyboard _Gods_. Can’t stand any of that music, _especially_ Rush/Peart. Yuck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-of-the-seventies/621021.md?page=6)