1970s Overview

Some words to describe the pictures are pollution and carefree. A lot of the pictures seemed to depict the pollution happening around New York. There was an oil spill, illegal dumping, and parts of a car in the ocean. There also seemed to be many carefree kids. A lot of pictures showed kids playing in the streets. They were all smiling and laughing and seemed to be having a good time.

1970s Music: Differences to the 60s and Why It Was Popular

The music of the 70s is pretty different from the 60s music. Disco was something that didn't become popular until the 70s. This music was happy, much like some of the music in the early 60s. Also, Disco got people to dance, a lot like the popular music from the 60s. But, Disco music focused on sex, which is something that was never done with the happy music of the 60s. America was becoming more free in terms of sex, and Disco embodied the new ideas. The Rock music of the 70s was able to evolve past what started in the 60s. Southern rock began with groups like the Allman Brothers, and heavy metal formed with bands like Black Sabbath. The Beatles were the biggest Rock band of the 1960s (and possibly ever), but their sound was much more mellow on occasions, and happy in their early days. The Rock of the 70s had a completely different sound. Comparing Led Zeppelin to the early Beatles is almost like comparing Bruno Mars to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They can go well together for a few songs at the Super Bowl, but have completely different audiences and sounds. Punk created rebels in teenage boys, and no sound in the 1960s came close to the sound that the Punk bands made. New Wave and soft rock are both completely new to the decade, but both become popular in their own right. The popular music does connect to the decade. Minorities and women loved the happy sound of Disco because they were getting equal rights. Punk was popular to the rebellious teenage boys because they felt left out and ignored and needed to sing about their anger. The music I liked best Disco and some of the Rock. I like the happy sound of Disco. I really like the New Wave stuff because of the use of the synthesizer. Punk was my least favorite because a lot of the songs were really angry. But, I listened to The Ramones with my dad when I was a kid, so I'll always have a soft spot for them.

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.

1960s Movies

The movies we watched in class all represent the 1960s well. The emergence of the buddy movie with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid became extremely popular, and this type of movie is still popular today. People of the 1960s wanted to see a friendship like Butch and Sundance played out on the screen. The humor in The Pink Panther also represents the 1960s. The comedy was mostly slapstick, which seemed to be popular during this decade, but is less popular today. The audiences also seemed to like characters that were a little bad. Butch Cassidy and Sundance rob trains and banks, and Inspector Clouseau is convicted of a crime at the end of The Pink Panther. The audience did not necessarily want to see a happy ending to a movie and also seemed to enjoy bad things happening to the main characters.

1960s TV

The television shows from the 1960s is very different from the television today. The shows accurately represented the decade, I think. The show Gomar Pyle took place on a Marine Corps base. It was expected that the audience would be familiar with the Marines, as many young men were in the military during the 1960s. Much of the humor in Laugh-In was based around political and social events that were happening at the time. This is a lot like what Saturday Night Live does today. I didn't really like the shows we watched. The best was the Twilight Zone, but even that is not as scary or creepy as many of the shows that are on today, such as American Horror Story or other shows that try to thrill the audience. Sitcoms have stayed pretty much the same since the 1960s except for some of the humor. Shows now get away with dirtier jokes and language than the sitcoms we watched from the 60s. Also,  many sitcoms now no longer use a laugh track.

Music of the 60s

I mostly enjoyed the music of the 60s. I liked the variety and the different sounds of Rock. The music sounds very different from the music of today. There was much less technology in the recordings and the recordings sound less put together and more raw. The main instrument seems to be the guitar, especially toward the end of the decade. There were also a lot of brass instruments like trumpets during the beginning of the 60s.

Are the Beatles a Boy Band?

The Beatles were the world's first boy band. They reached a stage of immense popularity that has not existed since. Much like the boy bands of today, their fans were rabid. Many would go to any length to meet or touch a Beatle. The Beatles paved the way for modern day boy bands. Without them, New Kids on the Block, the Backstreet Boys, and One Direction would not exist. The world did not know that there was a market for boy bands until the Beatles came along.