MUSIC 101: The 1970s

With
M U S I C
P L A Y E R !

The MUSIC PRIMER Series!

A fun INTRO into the great musics
of each decade
in one Music Player!

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M U S I C
1 0 1 :
1 9 7 0 s !

MUSIC 101: The 1970s
by Tym Stevens
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101 SONGS
FROM 101 GREAT ALBUMS!
In chronological order,
one album per act,
one song per album.
Rock! Soul! Folk!
Funk! Prog! Fusion!
Glam! Disco! Soundtracks!
Reggae! Punk! Electronic!



From 1970 through 1979!
A crash course in crucial!


Music Primer series:
300 Albums: 1956-2015
The 1950s
The 1960s

The 1980s
The 1990s
The 2000s

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The Music Player contains one song each
from these 101 classic albums!

1 9 7 0
01) John Lennon, "Plastic Ono Band"
Confessional ballads and grunge.

02) Doris Troy, "Doris Troy"
Rock'n'Soul.

03) Ananda Shankar, "Ananda Shankar"
Sitar Rock.

04) Vashti Bunyan, "Just Another Diamond Day"
Ethereal Folk.

05) The Stooges, "Funhouse"
Hard Rock Jazz Punk.

06) Kris Kristofferson, "Kristofferson"
Outlaw Country.

07) The Doors, "Morrison Hotel"
Blues Rock.

08) The Delfonics, "The Delfonics"
Philly Soul.

09) Rodriguez, "Cold Fact"
Protest Folk Rock.

10) Ike And Tina Turner, "Workin' Together"
Rock'n'Soul.

11) Os Mutantes, "A Divina Comedia Ou Ando Meio Desligado"
Tropicália Psychedelia.

12) Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Cosmo's Factory"
Swamp Rock.


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1 9 7 1
13) The Staple Singers, "The Staple Singers"
Gospel Soul.

14) Tonto's Expanding Head Band, "Zero Time"
Electronic experimental.

15) Cradle, "The History" (rec. early-'70s)
All-female Hard Rock.

16) The Last Poets, "This Is Madness"
Protest Rap.

17) Serge Gainesbourg, "Histoire de Melody Nelson"
Cinematic Rock.

18) Isaac Hayes, "SHAFT"
Stax Soul film score.

19) Paul and Linda McCartney, "Ram""
Pop Rock.

20) Ann Peebles, "Straight From The Heart"
Memphis Soul.

21) Hound Dog Taylor, "Hound Dog Taylor And The HouseRockers"
Chicago Blues.

22) Black Sabbath, "Master Of Reality"
Metal Rock.

23) Fela, "With Ginger Baker -Live!"
AfroBeat.

24) Booker T And The MGs, "Melting Pot"
Stax Soul instrumentals.

25) Dennis Coffey, "Evolution"
Funk Rock.

26) Redbone, "Message From A Drum"
Native American Rock'n'Soul.

27) Piero Umiliani, "Synthi Time"
Electronic.


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1 9 7 2
28) War, "The World Is A Ghetto"
Funk.>

29) Fanny, "Fanny Hill"
All-female Rock band.

30) The O'Jays, "Back Stabbers"
Philly Soul.

31) T.Rex, "The Slider"
Glam Rock.

32) Aretha Franklin, "Young, Gifted, And Black"
Atlantic label Soul.

33) Miles Davis, "On The Corner"
Funky Fusion.

34) Deep Purple, "Machine Head"
Hard Rock.

35) Yoko Ono, "Approximately Infinite Universe"
Avant-Garde singer/songwriter.>

36) Bill Withers, "Still Bill"
Soul.

37) Brainticket, "Psychonaut"
Prog Rock.

38) Al Green, "I'm Still In Love With You"
Memphis Soul.


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1 9 7 3
39) George Harrison, "Living In The Material World"
Pop Rock.

40) Led Zeppelin, "Houses Of The Holy"
Eclectic Hard Rock.

41) Sly And The Family Stone, "Fresh"
Funk.>

42) Dr. John, "In The Right Place"
New Oreans Funk.

43) Bob Marley And The Wailers, "Catch A Fire"
Reggae.

44) The Who, "Quadrophenia"
Rock concept album.

45) Herbie Hancock, "Head Hunters"
Funk Jazz.

46) New York Dolls, "New York Dolls"
Trash Glam.

47) The Isley Brothers, "3 + 3"
Rock'n'Soul.

48) Kim Jung Mi, "Now"
Korean singer/songwriter.

49) Curtis Mayfield, "Back To The World"
Social Funk.

50) Hawkwind, "Space Ritual"
Space Prog.

51) Black Nasty, "Talkin' To The People"
Rock Blues.

52) Ellen McIlwaine, "We The People"
Guitar virtuoso.

53) Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, "JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR"
Gospel Rock soundtrack.

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1 9 7 4
54) The Ohio Players, "Fire"
Ohio Funk.

55) 10cc, "Sheet Music"
Zappa-esque Pop.

56) Funkadelic, "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On"
Funk Rock.>

57) Badfinger, "Wish You Were Here"
Beatlesque Pop.>

58) Gene Clark, "No Other"
Soulful singer/songwriter.

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1 9 7 5
59) The Pointer Sisters, "Steppin'"
Funk.

60) Los Dug Dug's, "Cambia, Cambia"
Mexican Beatlesque.

61) Bernard Fevre, "Suspense"
Electronic Dance.

62) Babe Ruth, "Babe Ruth"
Funky Rock.

63) Betty Davis, "Nasty Gal"
F-U-N-K.


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1 9 7 6
64) Marvin Gaye, "I Want You"
Erotic Soul.

65) Frank Zappa, "Zoot Allures"
Rock Jazz.

66) Jorge Ben, "Africa Brasil"
Tropicália Funk.

67) Bob Dylan, "Desire"
Poetic singer/songwriter.

68) The Upsetters, "Super Ape"
Reggae Dub.

69) The Modern Lovers, "The Modern Lovers"
Indie Rock.

70) Parliament, "The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein"
Space Funk.

71) The Runaways, "The Runaways"
All-female Hard Rock.>

72) Stevie Wonder, "Songs In The Keys Of Life"
Funky singer/songwriter.


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1 9 7 7
73) The Clash, "The Clash"
Punk Rock.

74) Kraftwerk, "Trans Europe Express"
Electro.

75) The Jam, "In The City"
Mod Punk.

76) Suicide, "Suicide"
Synth Punk.

77) Fleetwood Mac, "Rumours"
Classic Rock.

78) Iggy Pop, "The Idiot"
Proto-Industrial.

79) Ultravox, "Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Punk Pop.

80) Brian Eno, "Before And After Science"
Indie and Ambient.


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Queen of noise.

1 9 7 8
81) John Williams, "SUPERMAN"
Symphonic soundtrack.

82) Brides Of Funkenstein, "Funk Or Walk"
Funkadelic.

83) Eddie Hinton, "Very Extremely Dangerous"
Muscle Shoals Soul.

84) Patti Smith Group, "Easter"
New York Punk.

85) The Rolling Stones, "Some Girls"
Punky Rock and Disco.

86) Nick Lowe, "Jesus Of Cool"
Power Pop.

87) Buzzcocks, "Another Music In A Different Kitchen"
Punk Pop.


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1 9 7 9
88) Elvis Costello And The Attractions, "Armed Forces"
Punk Pop.

89) Wire, "154"
PostPunk.

90) Joni Mitchell, "Mingus"
Jazzy singer/songwriter.

91) Roxy Music, "Manifesto"
New Wave Disco.

92) Casino Music, "Amour Savage"
French New Wave Disco.

93) David Bowie, "Lodger"
Art Rock.

94) Essential Logic, "Beat Rhythm News"
PostPunk.

95) Pink Floyd, "The Wall"
Cinematic concept album.

96) Talking Heads, "Fear Of Music"
New York Indie.

97) Lijadu Sisters, "Horizon Unlimited"
AfroBeat Pop.

98) The Knack, "Get The Knack"
Power Pop.

99) The Cars, "Candy O"
Art Rock/New Wave.

100) The Pop Broup, "Y"
PostPunk Dub.

101) Nikki And The Corvettes, "Nikki And The Corvettes"
Power Pop.

Rastaman vibrations.

© Tym Stevens

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The Music Primer Series:*
1) 350 GREAT ALBUMS That Will Change Your Life!: 1956-2020

2) MUSIC 101: The 1950s

3) MUSIC 101: The 1960s

5) MUSIC 101: The 1980s

6) MUSIC 101: The 1990s

7) MUSIC 101: The 2000s


* The albums heard on the Decades series are different than the 350 Albums overview.


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Further Study, dept.:

• Revolution 1950s: The Big Damn Bang of Rock'n'Roll!

• 1950s Rock, B: The '70s Disciples, with Music Player!

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• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!

• SLICE TONES: Sly Stone And His Infinite Influence!, with 5 Music Players!

• BEYOND COOL: Pedro Bell, Funkadelic's visionary!
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• BEATLES 'Reunion Anthology': 1970-Now, with Music Player!

• LENNON-esque: All-Star Homage Playlists To His BEATLES And SOLO Styles!, with 2 Music Players!

• McCARTNEY-esque: All-Star Homage Playlists To His BEATLES And SOLO Styles!, with 2 Music Players!

• BEYOND COOL: Badfinger, the Beatles of the 1970s!, with Music Player!
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• THE RUNAWAYS, And Why Women Of Rock Are Essential!

• "Exile On GRRL Street", Or How THE STONES Can Tribute Riot Grrrls Tributing Them!
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• "Ground Control to Major Tom" - THE LONELY ASTRONAUT Movies, with Music Player!

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!

• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

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• 2000 Great Albums on Pinterest!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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THE BIG PAYBACK: Thank you, Greg

"I'm the Antenna
Catching vibration
You're the transmitter
Give information!"
- KRAFTWERK

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Someone always wanders into your life and changes everything. When it's for the better, we should thank them.

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G R E G

My friend Greg expanded my whole musical outlook. We were teenagers in a remote, conservative area circa 1980. Greg was a mischievous lunatic who would do anything without any qualms.

While I was recoiling from the slick corporate music scene into The Beatles and counterculture politics, Greg was the first to embrace Punk and New Wave. This seemed at odds, but Greg exposed to me to a range of new stuff that was advancing off of what I already loved.

Stephen, David, me, and Greg (in mock-Bowie-mannequin pose).

These were the real Indie years.

You could only see Rock acts on late night shows, sometimes. Magazines were few and cost too much. I taught myself the history reading back issues of Rolling Stone for free at the library. Verrry few Punk and New Wave acts were carried by major labels, and were promoted haphazardly at best. No college radio shows yet, no clubs, no tour circuit, no video channels, and almost no press, just obscure ads in fanzines and word of mouth. Bands were putting out indie records, but you had to mail-order them on pure faith, an impossible expense for most teenagers. Where I was, in the rural outskirts, everyone was still trying to process or erase the '60s, and this new '80s futurism stuff just seemed like evil alien shadows on the far horizon.

That's why Greg loved it. He went to all the little record stores and somehow ordered all of these. The few majors and many of the minor labels. He was ahead of the curve on everything. Whatever tore open the envelope, that's what he had to do.

The Clash. The Cars. The B-52's. Elvis Costello. Split Enz. Plastics. Gary Numan. Gang Of Four. The Jam. Talking Heads. Punk and New Wave and PostPunk and Psychobilly and Coldwave and Power Pop. Usually before they had been labeled.

We watched the new acts on maverick TV like "Saturday Night Live", the stellar "SCTV" from Canada, or most often on "Fridays", the L.A.-based competition. When Split Enz performed "I Got You" on "Fridays", it was the exact moment where my ambivalence faded and I was converted entirely to the new breed.

Sadly, my friend has passed on. To honor him on what would have been his birthday, this is a music playlist of all the wonderful music that Greg expanded my life with. When I hear these songs, Greg is eternal and as fearless as ever.

Thank you, my friend, for enriching our lives.

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"I wanna bite the hand that feeds me
I wanna bite that hand so badly
And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools
Tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel"

- ELVIS COSTELLO


"She opened strange doors
that we'd never close again"

- DAVID BOWIE


"Electric angel rock and roller
I hear what you're playing"

- THE CARS


"By day we run, by night we dance, we do
I'm in love with the coming race
I've got the best, I'll take all I can get
I'm living for the Eighties"

- KILLING JOKE


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Thank You, Greg!, with Music Player!

• MUSIC 101: The 1980s, with Music Player!


• "Girl U Want" - Devo > Soundgarden > Polysics > Boyskout

• LADIES FIRST: "Demolition Man" - Grace Jones > The Police > Sting

• "Nightclubbing" - Iggy Pop > Human League > Grace Jones > Nine Inch Nails > Oasis

• "Love Is The Drug" - Roxy Music > Chic > Grace Jones > Duran Duran


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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