1970s Music Styles

There were tons of different styles of music during the 1970s. Disco and Punk were really popular for several years, and other genres were also able to become popular. With Disco, the songs were all happy. The BeeGees became very popular, and their song "Stayin' Alive" is still played on the radio today. Songs like this made people want to dance. The main focus in the music were the instruments, and most of the songs did not have deep meanings. Brass instruments were the main instruments used in Disco. Minorities and women were the main audience of Disco. With Punk, brass instruments were not used, and the guitar was one of the main focuses. White male teenagers were the main audience of Punk, and a lot of the music talked about rebelling and anarchy. "Anarchy in the UK" by the Sex Pistols pretty much embodies the genre. The song talks about anarchy, and the lead singer's voice is not necessarily pleasing to the ear. The Punk bands never signed with record labels, unfortunately, and were never able to make money. The entire genre was spread through word of mouth. Another genre that became prevalent was New Wave. New Wave took the place of Punk. There was the same amount of rebellion in the bands' look, but the bands signed with record labels and were actually able to make money, which allowed this style to become popular and stay popular. Rock also expanded and began to include hard rock artists like Kiss in "Rock and Roll All Night". Lynyrd Skynyrd helped southern rock, and Led Zeppelin helped heavy metal. The sounds in songs like these are pretty much the same as today, though today's Rock does not appear to be as popular as the Rock of the 70s. The Singer/Songwriter genre also became popular, and artist like Carly Simon with "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" defined this genre.