Music Quiz: #1 Song to Artist Matchup, 1972
Congratulations to Max Badfinger, who scored 27/30 on last week’s trivia quiz. This week you need to link the 1972 song to the artist. I scored 20 Can you beat me? There’s a lot of 1970s cheese on the…
Category 1970s
10 Best Television Songs
The band Television emerged from the same CBGB scene that produced Talking Heads, The Ramones, Blondie, and Patti Smith. The group was started by Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, and drummer Billy Ficca. Verlaine and Ficca were childhood friends, while Hell…
That Time Todd Rundgren Predicted a Failed Auckland Mayoral Campaign
It’s local election season here in New Zealand. In my home city of Lower Hutt, we have the now standard blend of people running for mayor. Some pleasant community-minded citizens, interspersed with a few conspiracy theorists – a bush-faced gentleman…
Music Quiz: 70s Song by AI-Generated Art
Congratulations to boppinsblog, who beat kingclover for bragging rights in last week’s quiz. We’re staying in the classic rock era for this week’s quiz. You need to guess the song based on AI-generated art. I scored 15/15 with 5:18…
Music Quiz: Complete the Lyrics (Classic Rock)
Congratulations to Rich Kamerman, who just pipped Eclectic Music Lover for the fastest time in last week’s Cat Stevens titles quiz. Here’s a live version of my favourite song from the quiz, ‘Sad Lisa’, if you don’t know it already:…
10 Best Joy Division Songs
Manchester post-punk band Joy Division appeared so ordinary – in their music videos they look like four young civil servants playing music in their work clothes. But the music that they created was unique and deeply unsettling. Steven Morris’ drumming…
Early 1970 by Ringo Starr: Great B-Sides
Ringo Starr had the most to lose from The Beatles‘ breakup. John Lennon had already launched a solo career with ‘Give Peace a Chance’ and ‘Cold Turkey’. George Harrison had a stockpile of songs that would form the basis of…
10 Best Judee Sill Songs
Judee Sill was a 1970s singer-songwriter from California. Her gentle songs were at odds with her tumultuous lifestyle. She spent time in prison for armed robbery and learnt music while serving as a Church organist at a reform school. She…
Music Quiz: Lesser Known 1970s Albums
Thanks to everyone who played last week’s first album/last album quiz. Congratulations to Sheik Yerbouti, who finished fastest, in less than a minute. This week you need to identify the artists behind some 1970s albums. The artists are pretty well-known,…
10 Best Sandy Denny Songs
Sandy Denny is best-known to rock fans for her guest vocal on Led Zeppelin’s ‘Battle of Evermore’, and her contribution to acclaimed Fairport Convention records like Liege & Lief. But she also carved out a solo career as a singer-songwriter…
Book Review: The Show That Never Ends – The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock by David Weigel
David Weigel is a journalist – he’s known for his coverage of the conservative movement in the US. He once riled Donald Trump enough that the then-president called for Weigel’s firing from The Washington Post. Weigel’s also the author of…
Music Quiz: 1970s Bands by Member
Congratulations to KingClover, who scored the only 10/10 in last week’s quiz. A lot of contestants, including myself, didn’t recognise Motown’s Mary Wells. This week there’s a list of members from 30 well-known 1970s bands that you need to identify.…
Sex Pistols: Albums Ranked from Worst to Best
The Sex Pistols weren’t the first punk band to release an album – The Ramones beat them by 18 months. But Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Sid Vicious became the face of punk in the UK. Manager Malcolm…
10 Best Eagles Songs
The four original Eagles played their first gig together at Disneyland, supporting Linda Ronstadt. Starting as a country-rock outfit, they became one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1970s – their 1976 compilation Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is…
Yes Albums Ranked from Worst to Best
Progressive rock behemoths Yes emerged from London in the late 1960s. Starting out as a psychedelic pop band, they became one of its leading exponents of the emerging genre of progressive rock. Despite a revolving crew of members – bassist Chris Squire…
Joni Mitchell: Albums Ranked from Worst to Best
Joni Mitchell emerged at a time when the women’s rights movement was still building steam and had to fight for recognition as a serious artist. Her image was often defined in terms of whom she was dating – a Rolling Stone…
10 Worst Billy Joel Lyrics
I wasn’t planning to make more bad lyricist lists, but lots of people enjoyed the New Order list. Two obvious candidates for a bad lyricist list share a first name or a last name with Bernard Sumner, but this time…
10 Best Queen Songs
In the 21st century, Queen have emerged as the most-loved band from the classic rock era. They enjoyed little critical respect and struggled to sell records in the US for much of their career, but they now outperform more acclaimed…
Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young): Albums Ranked from Worst to Best
David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash were all members of famous 1960s bands before linking up as a trio. Crosby was a member of The Byrds, fired when his countercultural songs like ‘Triad’ were rejected by the group. Nash…
10 Best Covers of Carole King Songs
Before she released her record-breaking solo album Tapestry in 1971, Carole King had already enjoyed a prolific musical career. She’d inspired Neil Sedaka’s ‘Oh! Carol’ and written a hit song for her daughters’ babysitter (Little Eva’s ‘Loco-motion’). The 1960s hits…
Music Quiz: Opening Lyrics of London Calling
Last week we looked at Best New Artist Grammy winners. There was a three-way tie for first place – Tony, Rich, and Geoff (with help from Geoff’s wife) all scored 34 Late Addendum: after I scheduled this post, EclecticMusicLover submitted…
10 Best Moody Blues Songs
Birmingham band The Moody Blues have one of the most misleading names in popular music. It fit to start with – their early repertoire was based on American blues, and their cover of Bessie Banks’ ‘Go Now’ topped the UK…
ABBA: Albums Ranked from Worst to Best
In November 2021, ABBA released their ninth studio album Voyage. It was the Swedish quartet’s first studio album in almost 40 years – an unprecedented gap in output for a superstar group. It’s not the longest gap between releases –…
Pink Floyd Albums: Ranked from Worst to Best
Formed by London architecture students in 1964, Pink Floyd are one of the most beloved classic rock bands. While most attention is given to stadium-rock blockbusters like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, they enjoyed a lengthy career on either side of…
