for those who never gave up their turntables
70s ROCK & BEYOND includes articles about music and records from 1970 into the 21st century. This might include the blaxploitation movie soundtrack phenomenon, prog, glam, the singer-songwriter, reggae, disco, soft rock, arena rock, and punk, among other happenings.
Albums “shipped gold” and then went right to the cut-out bin, imports were readily available, quadraphonic sound came and went, and by the end of the decade, cassette tapes were outselling records. Discographies and price guides are included in some articles.
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ROLLING STONE REJECTED MY COMMENT! Two years ago, the Rolling Stone Daily newsletter ran an article titled “Hear the Beach Boys Reunite on Charity Re-Recording of ‘Add Some Music to Your Day.’ ” I read the piece, watched and listened to the video, and left a comment. It was immediately rejected for—get this—inappropriate language! [Continue reading]
IT WAS JUST ANOTHER DAY on Medium when I found the article, “Embarrassing Songs By Major Artists.” Written by Alex Markham for The Riff, its tagline was “Even the biggest music superstars had moments when taste deserted them.” He could have written “every music superstar” and substituted “intelligence” for “taste” and I would have agreed! [Continue reading]
THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF RECORDS from the ’70s that are so common among British collectors that they receive little attention from them. But they are all rather rare records outside of the UK—so rare, that most non-UK collectors have only seen them as images on the internet! [Continue reading]
WAY BACK IN 1984, way back when people actually believed in “trickle-down economics,” I was living in Scottsdale, Arizona, but I wasn’t getting out much. I had succumbed to the ubiquitous peer pressure question of “Why do you live in the past when it comes to music?” and purchased a couple of albums by the Psychedelic Furs. [Continue reading]
I WAS NOT A FAN OF PUNK ROCK in the 1970s and ’80s. I admired the political aspect of the punk movement in the UK and the anybody-can-be-in-a-band spirit, but I didn’t connect with most of the music. (I still don’t care for most of it but have loosened up a bit with age.) [Continue reading]
“THE DOOBIES IN THE HALL OF FAME?” That’s a question that’s been asked a bit in the wake of their recent induction into said Hall. There was a version of that question (“Are the Doobie Brothers Hall of Fame Worthy”) on Quora this morning. I answered it there and wanted to share my answer here. [Continue reading]
WHAT IS THE BEACH BOYS’ BEST ALBUM? For most people, that’s an easy answer: Pet Sounds. But for aficionados of the group, it’s a tricky question that requires clarification. Fans would want to know does the question refer to the best album attributed to the Beach Boys or to the best album actually created by the Beach Boys as a group. [Continue reading]
IN MAY 1978, a record by a group with a rather silly name was released in the San Francisco Bay Area. After making a splash in that market, radio stations around the country picked it up for their playlists. Had things been left to themselves, the record might have been a really big hit record. [Continue reading]
I DON’T REMEMBER DREAMS. Even a few minutes after I have been awakened by one of them, they immediately start slipping away. If I want to remember a special dream, I have to lug my scrawny behind out of bed—and I sleep on a futon on the floor and getting up from the floor when you’re 67 ain’t always a given—and write it down. [Continue reading]