lights of the ‘me decade’ can, for the most part, be divided up into neat _ little lurex sections. Coming off a (supposedly) massive- ly important decade like the 60’s, most musicologists are quick to dis- miss the 70’s as a complete musical vacuum which not only had nothing to offer of itself, but also swallowed up 60’s greats like a giant black-hole. Obviously these hack-historians have never delved into the near blissful pleasures of a Kiss solo LP or tasted the delights of the highly significant works of Janis lan. Who could forget the ecstacy one felt when ~ the Bay City Rollers first spelled out S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night, or the waves of mind numbing joy that one experi- enced when anything by Tavares flooded the ariwaves. Perhaps the starting point of this whole pop-wunderkind decade was the day Grand Funk released their Live LP. Clearly, without realizing it, the music industry was saying that the time to be groovy while loving your fellow man had ended and it was now time for the spaced out, jean- jacked-clad, stadium concert goer to kick the collective ass. This butt-stompin’ mode was soon taken up by legions of musicians and fans alike, forming the basis for what Steppenwolf had inadvertently called Heavy Metal. Bands like Black Sabbath,Deep Purple, Black Oak Arkansas (whose lead singer Jim Dandy taught David Lee Roth every- thing he knows). Tunes like ‘‘Fairies Wear Boots’’, ‘‘Smoke On the Water’’ and the entire Kiss repertoire fed the hungry appetites of scores of metal crunching maniacs. Meanwhile over The Coast, the ~ muscial community were taking life at a slightly more geriatric pace. Heavily influenced by the likes of Ken Kesey and early Tom Wolfe (or at least their favourite drugs), California laidback _not only formed the basis for some of the 70’s dyn-o-mite music, it was in itself a whole lifestyle. Although the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac were easily the most popular propenents of this genre, the man who was _ the California way of life was former Greenwich Village Stalwart Jackson Browne. With his Quaker instant oatmeal good-looks and audience as friends around the camp-fire perfor- mance style, Brown’s influence on the California scene is immeasurable. Certainly, here was a man who was not running on empty. The Other Press Of course while all these radical styles were progressing, pop music in the Tin Pan Alley mode continued along under the careful tutelage of a new generation of tunesmiths. Many memorable seventies happenings took the form of chart-topping hits like Tony Orlando and Dawn's brilliant social commentary ‘‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’’, or any of Karen and David Carpenter’s Kafkaesque outings. Other notable pop classics include the most McDonald’s pre-copa Cabana Barry Manilow, Crystal Gayle’s finest hour on ‘’Don’t it make my Brown Eyes Blue’’, the collected works of Pablo Cruise and Jimmy Buffet and the quintessential pop tune Debbie Boone’s ‘‘You Like Up My Life’. Also on the pop front was a brief but highly important period dominat- ed by TV show themes. Not only did those fab TV shows keep you glued to your television screen, their themes could now be heard blasting out at you over the AM dials. Thus numbers like ‘‘Nadia’s Theme’’, ‘’Welcome Back’’, ‘‘Happy Days’’, and most importantly the theme from SWAT, became an integral part of the 1970’s radio programming. Two other important moments in pop occurred when Helen Reddy acknowledged the feminist movement with her Grammy Winning ‘‘| Am Woman’’ juxtaposed a_ few brief months apart by Paul Anka’s smash career revitalizer, ‘‘You’re Having My Baby’’. Another swath from the seventies sample book had its roots across the pond in England. Bored with the supposed limitations of heavy metal (how a tune like ‘‘“You Broke My Heart So | Busted Your Jaw’’ can be even remotely considered limiting is beyond me), these musical pioneers ventured into new and_ uncharted territories of glitter glam rock and progressive rock. Ignoring obvious followers like David Bowie and the New York Dolls, let’s concentrate on true visionaries like Elton John and his million dollare eye accessory collection, or the truly transcendental experience of witness- ing Gary Glitter cram an unbelievably over-the-hill. form into a spandex outfit to belt out the classic ‘‘Rock ‘n’ Roll (Parts 1 and 2). ‘However, unlike their glitter count- erparts, the geniuses behind progres- sive rock wanted to be treated as serious musicians. As such bands like Yes, Procal Harum and the Roman Gods of progressive rock ELP, re- leased sprawling symphonic works that were quickly labelled pompous ego trips by most of the rock press. What these supposed journalists fail- ed to realize was that a Keith Emerson or a Rick Wakeman were stretching the bounds of the known musical world with their self-indul- gences. Besides, in what other form of entertainment could a bunch of geeks with no musical training com- pare their keyboard flatulence to Bach, Beethoven, or Neil Sedaka? No profile of this music lovers’ decade would of course be complete without a serious mention of Disco. Truly, the Disco movement (nay experience) was the focal point of an entire generation. Indeed, the spirit of the 1970’s could probably be encom- passed in the simple yet prophetic phrase, ‘’Lets Boogie’. Or is that ‘‘I’m a Disco Duck’’? Whatever the case, once America caught its first glimpses of the Hustle and the Bump, a love affair was started that would take several Bee Gees albums and uncountable white polyester three-- peice suits to end. It would also take several articles of considerably longer length to do justice to the religious experience that was Disco, let it simply be said that life as we know it could not have existed if not for the revolutionary — experience created by the now sadly deceased Barry White. Indeed, for most musicians there was no question that one had to shake some booties to survive. Rod Stewart ever the fad- follower, was one of the first of the rock ‘n’ rollers to realize that survival in the late seventies meant leaning toward Thelma Houston and not Howling Wolf (thus Rod begat ‘’Do You Think I’m Sexy’’). Rod’s lead was followed by a who’s who of music superstarts as everyone from the Rolling Stones to Dolly Parton climb- ed aboard the disco gravy train. If the stars of the past were jumping on the bandwagon, there was certainly no reason why older duck- ling tunes could not be transformed into new swan-like masterpieces for a hot night of Boogieoogieing. Witness the new life breathed into the stale staid classical world by Walter Murphy’s ‘‘A Rising Sun’’. Other classics in the disco roll of honours include KC and the Sunshine Band's “Get Down Tonight’’, the collected works of Donna Summer and Claudja Barry’s ‘‘Boogie Oogie Oogies Oogie Dancing Shoes. ’’ Obviously in this cursory roundup I’ve neglected to mention many keen and important artists. Sure | could have talked about the philosophical virtues of the Captain and Tenille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together’ versus the Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight’’. | could have also mentioned the highly influential career of Peter Frampton’s vocal- guitar effects box, or the fact that Kansas and Boston were actually the same band... one hopes that with the passage of time serious critics will take up the call and trumpet the virtues of this sadly overlooked decade. Get Down Tonight!