Music in the 1970s

So I was trying to figure out what to blog about and I remembered the little scene where Edgar is in the car with Barry and he overdoses Barry which made me think of drugs which in turn made me think of music. So here is a little taste of what Barry may and most likely was listening too.

The early 1970s saw the rise of popular soft rock/pop rock music, with recording artists such as Fleetwood Mac, The Carpenters, Ray Stevens,Elton John, James Taylor, John Denver, The Eagles, America, Chicago,The Doobie Brothers, Paul McCartney and Wings, Bread and Steely Dan as well as the further rise of such popular, influential rhythm and blues (R&B) artists as multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder and the popular quintet The Jackson 5. A major event in music in the early 70s, were the deaths of popular rock stars Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all at the age of 27. Funk, an offshoot of blues, was also very popular. The mid-1970s also saw the rise of disco music, which dominated during the last half of the decade with bands like the Bee Gees, ABBA, Boney M, Donna Summer, KC and the Sunshine Band, etc. In response to this, rock music became increasingly hard-edged with artists such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelinand Black Sabbath. Minimalism also emerged, lead by composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Michael Nyman. This was a break from the intellectual serial music of the tradition of Schoenberg which lasted from the early 1900s to 1960s.

As we have learned previously in class discussions - music has a great affect on culture. Just like with Arnold Friend, the music in the 70s helped propel drug usage.