Music

PROTEST MUSIC Music is influenced by the history of its country/state/city. Some songs are considered “Protest songs” because their lyrics have a message of protest about something, wars, for example. The 70’s Decade was a period in which many songs considered anti-war (talking about the Vietnam War) were composed and released. You can see above a list of some of these songs.
 * "American Woman" – The Guess Who (1970)
 * "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" – The Temptations (1970)
 * "Ballad of Penny Evans" - Steve Goodman (1971)
 * "Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley" by Terry Nelson (1971)
 * "Baba O'Riley" by The Who (1971)
 * "Billy Don't Be a Hero" – Paper Lace (also recorded by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods) (1974)
 * "Bring The Boys Home" – Freda Payne (1971)
 * "Commando" - The Ramones (1977)
 * "The Grave" – Don McLean (1971)
 * "The Great Compromise" - John Prine (1972)
 * "Guns, Guns, Guns" – The Guess Who (1972)
 * "Hallelujah Day" by Jackson 5 (1973)
 * "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" – John Lennon & Yoko Ono/The Plastic Ono Band (1971)
 * "Harvest for the World" – The Isley Brothers (1976)
 * "It Better End Soon" - Chicago (1970)
 * "Jackknife Johnny" - Alice Cooper (1978)
 * "Your Flag Decal


 * In 1971 John Lennon released “Imagine”, composed by him, this song is considered the biggest anthem of peace of the world. **

PROGRESSIVE ROCK Progressive rock (also abbreviated as prog rock or prog) is a subgenre of rock that emerged in the late 1960s in England. Managed to become very popular in the 1970s, and still having many supporters. The style was influenced by classical music, opera and jazz fusion, in contrast with the American rock historically influenced by rhythm and blues and country music. Inspired with psychedelic sound of late 60s, its technique of composition and sound was an elevation of rock music, becoming it artistically. Its use of classical instruments, mixed with electronical effects (Moog synthesizer, mellotron, electronic keyboard) was the pioneering aspect of technology applicated with melody. So, it worked like a bridge between the past and the future, inspiring new genres, as pop music, new wave, hard rock, etc. Progressive rock has earned its moment when rock fans were disappointed with the hippie movement, moving smiling folk music of the 1960s to more complex topics and obscure, encouraging reflection. It was also seen like the boring part of rock once it wasn't so dynamic, but erudite and full of knowledge. Progressive Rock albums used to be very conceptual, this means that they followed a theme thought the whole album. Feelings like loneliness and much more abstract subjects where very explored by the artists. It was common songs with more than 10 minutes. Its form of expression was impacting, not only in albuns, but in shows,clips, costumes and music’s divulgation. Including flying pigs (Pink Floyd’s album – Animals) and lighting systems with lasers (Queen).Groups like Pink Floyd, Yes and Genesis achieved a huge success thanks to their unique capacity of being conceptual without being exclusive to one specific class. In other words, it could be listened and understood for everyone.

Popular songs of this genre in that time: "Roundabout" from Yes, "Karn Evil 9", "YYZ" by Rush, "The Knife" by Genesis, "Proclamation", "The Gentle Giant" and "Echoes" by Pink Floyd, "Aqualung" Jethro Tull and the "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson.

Punk Rock/New Wave

Punk rock is a music genre that was developed during the 70’s. The music was fast, simple and played by people who didn’t even know how to play and recorded by themselves. It began in New York, with The Ramones. This music genre kept a few things from rock from in the 60’s and talked about social problems, like drugs, war and violence. The visual is very unusual, aggressive, torn, avoids the patterns of socialization and style, they had a rule that says: Do it yourself! That means you can do whatever you want. Later, punk rock began to be developed in Europe too, with the Sex Pistols and The Clash. Together with the punk rock, another music genre called new wave was developed. For a while, punk rock and new wave were considered the same thing, but the difference is that the new wave was a “light” version of punk rock, with influences from the pop music. The main music group that represented this genre was Blondie. In the U.S, Sire Records needed a new name to get success with her new bands, so how the radios said that punk was a “fad”, Sire decided to use the name "New Wave”. First American writers used the name New Wave to describe the new punk waves from England. Curiosities: Famous singles released in the 70’s:
 * "My Sharona", a single from The Knack, was Billboard magazine's number one single of 1979, after that “New Wave” got a lot of space on the radios.
 * The most famous band from “New Wave” was Blondie.
 * Heart of Glass(1978), a single from Blondie, is ranked the song number 259, on a list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, from Rolling Stone.
 * Ramones: Blitzkrieg Bop (1976); I Wanna Be Sedated (1978).
 * Blondie: One Way Or Another (1978); Heart Of Glass (1978).

Disco in the 70’s

Disco is a musical genre originated in the 1970s and birthed a number of subsequent genres such as techno and hip-hop. This name comes from the word "discotheque;" a term used to describe the nightclubs people went to during the 1960s and 70s. Disco music is meant to be danced to or to entice listeners to get up and dance. The early disco sound was largely an urban American phenomenon. The genre of music was popular from the mid to late 1970s. Its initial audiences were club-goers from the African American, Latino, gay and psychedelic communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At first, disco music was enjoyed inside nightclubs, with Disc Jockeys (or deejay/DJ) playing and mixing songs like "Get Down Tonight" by KC and the Sunshine Band, "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Gloria Gaynor and other artists. Later on, the tempo of these songs became faster, the playing time longer and songs from other genres such as funk were mixed in. By the mid 1970s, disco music dominated the television airwaves with songs like "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman and later, "More Than A Woman," "Night Fever," "Stayin' Alive" and "You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees being played. It could also be heard on movies, with films like Saturday Night Live further fuelling its popularity. The film was marketed specifically to broaden disco’s popularity beyond its primarily black and Latin audiences. It was a huge success and its soundtrack became one of the best selling albums of all time. One of its most important influences is that Disco fashions were very trendy in the late 1970s. Discothèque-goers often wore expensive and extravagant fashions for nights out at their local disco, such as sheer, flowing Halston dresses for women and shiny polyester Qiana shirts for men with pointy collars, preferably open at the chest, often worn with double-knit polyester shirt jackets with matching trousers known as the leisure suit.Necklaces and medallions were a common fashion accessory.

Unfortunately, it did not take long for the public to see disco's silliness and commercialization - something that they had just rebelled against a few years earlier. Its lack of attention to musical significance helped add to its downfall after only a short time of popularity. When disco fell from grace, it fell fast, and many radio stations held public events dedicated to ridding the world of disco music with symbolic album burnings. Factors that have been cited as leading to the decline of disco in the United States include economic and political changes at the end of the 1970s as well as burnout from the hedonistic lifestyles led by participants. In the years since Disco Demolition Night, some social critics have described the backlash as implicitly macho and bigoted, and an attack on non-white and non-heterosexual cultures. Although its popularity was relatively short-lived, the genre hosted a great deal of songs and artists that people are still dancing to today and had a large influence on the fashions of the decade, too. Van McCoy's "The Hustle" has often been referred to as the definitive disco track and many people say it was the first disco song created. Gloria Gaynor also enjoyed disco popularity with her anthem "I Will Survive." The Bee Gees also helped to define the disco genre with their hit "Jive Talkin'" and their blockbuster "Stayin' Alive" is often synonymous with the disco musical era. The Village People’s "YMCA" and "Macho Man" also helped to add to the popularity of this style of music. This style of music became so popular that well respected artists like Rod Stewart and Diana Ross jumped on the bandwagon by adding Disco elements to their new music or creating their own disco albums. Some of the most important artists of this kind of music are The Bee Gees, Gloria Gaynor, ABBA, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Yvonne Elliman, Thelma Houston, The Village People, Donna Summer, Chic, The Jacksons and Diana Ross.

Funk Funk is a music genre that originated in the United States in the second half of the 1960s, when musicians african-Americans, blending soul, jazz and rhythm and blues, created a new form of music and rhythmic dance. Funk takes the emphasis of melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums in the background. Funk songs are often based on only one chord, distinguishing the songs of rhythm and blues, which are centered on chord progressions. Funk can be best recognized by its syncopated rhythm of repetitive beats, the vocals of some of its singers and groups (as Cameo or The Bar-Kays). In the 1970s, funk was to influence jazz musicians (as examples, the music of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Eddie Harris, among others). Earlier funk originated with a smoother pace. Funk was a typical English adjective to describe these qualities. In jam sessions, musicians used to encourage others to "spice up" more songs, saying: Now, put some stank (stink / funk) on it! (Something like "put more funk it"). when funk funky and were increasingly used in the context of soul music, the words were still considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite conversation. In the 1970s, George Clinton, with his bands Parliament and, later, Funkadelic, developed a type of funk heavier, influenced by jazz and psychedelic rock by. The emergence of Parliament-Funkadelic gave rise to the so-called P-Funk ", which referred to both the band and the subgenre that developed. Other groups emerged in the 1970s funk: Mandrill, BT Express, Average White Band, The Main Ingredient, The Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, War, Lakeside, Brass Construction, KC and the Sunshine Band, Kool & The Gang, Chic, Cameo, Fatback, The Gap Band, Instant Funk, The Johnson Brothers, Ohio Players, Wild Cherry, Skyy, and musicians / singers like Jimmy "Bo" Horne, Rick James, Chaka Khan, Tom Browne, Kurtis Blow (a forerunner of rap) and pop stars Michael Jackson and Prince. At that time, there were also some derivations like funk electro that made great use of samplers, synthesizers and rhythm boxes. Such rhythms have become fuel for break and hip hop movements. The 1980s also saw called forth the funk-metal (also known as funk rock), a fusion of distorted guitars of heavy metal or rap rock and funk groups like Red Hot Chili Peppers (rock) and Primus (metal).