The 1970s: The Golden Age of Popular Music? 
Describing the 1970s to journalists in early 1980 as "a drag," ex-Beatle John Lennon
was noting that the world had become a more dangerous place, with news of war and
unrest hitting the headlines on a regular basis. In popular culture, too, the hippy ideals
of the 1960s had been swept away by punk and new wave, bringing forth an edgier,
more selfish outlook.

In terms of the range and variety of music, however, the decade to which Lennon
referred was anything but a drag. The 1970s were a boom period on both sides of the
Atlantic, both for the creative output of artists and musicians and for the fortunes of
the music industry itself. Record sales, both albums and singles, were growing beyond
executives' wildest forecasts. More music was being made available than ever before;
newer styles and fresher, more innovative sounds were coming to the fore. Punk, new
wave, progressive rock, soul, reggae, disco. They all either burst onto the scene for
the first time in the 1970s or, if already established, were developed, enhanced and
improved.

Having seen the ideals of the 'peace and love' era amount to little, people approached
the 1970s hoping for positive developments. Many looked to the music to provide the
answers -- or at least a distraction from the real world. People wanted music to reflect
the times in which they lived, but they also wanted to use it as a soundtrack to having
a good time.

In the 1970s, heavy rock came into its own, thanks largely to British bands such as
Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the Ozzy Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath. Led Zeppelin
accounted for 64 million album sales in the 1970s -- with each of the seven albums the
band released in the period topping the charts in the UK and getting a Top Two placing
in the US. But there was more to the UK's rock invasion of the US than a bunch of
galvanizing riffs and heavy bass lines. Pink Floyd captured fans everywhere with their
deeply constructed compositions, heaping electronic sounds onto guitars and
keyboards.

Other bands whose high production values were matched by their ability to turn out
albums full of searingly good songs included the Anglo-American Fleetwood Mac. Their
album Rumours 
became a Number One album in the US and the UK, and
went on to become the third biggest-selling long player of the decade. Smooth rock was
also a forte of the Eagles. At the outset, the band had a distinctly country vibe, but as
the albums came and went they developed a sharper sound, nowhere more evident than
on their career highlight, Hotel California. 
It can be argued that the 1970s witnessed a greater breadth and variety of music than
any period before or since. Certainly the evolution of music during this time -- the speed
with which it changed throughout those ten years -- resulted in a great swathe of
different sounds. There was a readiness on the part of the average music fan to listen
to different styles. This was, after all, a time before radio formatting rock took hold of
the airwaves and established creative ghettos. It was a time when an album could work
its way up the charts and build upon a groundswell of support. In all, the 1970s were,
indeed, a golden age for popular music in all its many forms.

- Excerpted from Best-Selling Albums (1950-2015) 
, Amber Books, 2015.

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