Formed by architecture students in 1964, Pink Floyd are one of the most beloved classic rock bands. Most of the attention is given to their 1970s stadium rock blockbusters like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, but they also had a lengthy…
Todd Rundgren emerged in the late 1960s as guitarist and songwriter for Philadelphia rock band The Nazz. He’s scored a few recognisable hits – the early 1970s soft-rock of ‘Hello, It’s Me’ and ‘I Saw the Light’, as well as…
Congratulations to kingclover and ElecticMusicLover, who both scored 36/38 in last week’s tough ‘The’ Bands quiz. It included some obscure answers like The Donnas and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. This week, it’s a return to the badly drawn franchise. Can…
Singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt came from a prominent Texan family. Prodigiously intelligent, his family groomed him as a lawyer or senator but seeing Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan show led him into music. Struggling with manic depression and addictions,…
Split Enz first reached New Zealand’s attention with an appearance on the New Faces talent show in 1973, where they finished second-to-last. Their early material was too weird for the mainstream, comparable to early Genesis or Roxy Music, and Phil…
Billed as “the only band that matters”, The Clash released their debut single ‘White Riot’ in the iconic punk year of 1977. But they weren’t constrained by punk – their debut explored the reggae they heard on London’s streets and…
I’ve listed the ten worst songs of the 1970s, so it’s only fair to look at the highlights of the decade. If rock music came of age in the 1960s, the 1970s saw a proliferation of genres. Funk, disco, progressive…
Paul Simon’s songs are part of the American landscape, a thoughtful man documenting his inner dialogue in popular song. From Simon and Garfunkel songs like ‘America’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ to solo songs like ‘American Tune’ and ‘Graceland’, his…
Michigan’s Stevland Hardaway Morris started his recording career young – taking the name Little Stevie Wonder, he recorded his first album at the age of 12. His second album, Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius, and his 1963 single…
Queen formed in 1970 in London, originally a hard rock band with shades of progressive rock and metal. They adapted as musical fashions changed; they flirted with disco on 1982’s Hot Space and produced stripped-down, synthesizer-fuelled pop hits on 1984’s…
Steely Dan were major album artists of the 1970s, releasing a string of quality records that blurred the lines between rock and jazz. They started the decade as a self-contained rock band and ended as the duo of Donald Fagen…
The 1970s were a great time for albums – acts like David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, and Led Zeppelin released a swathe of great records. Amongst all the great music, however, plenty of abominable songs also made it onto…
