Lecture: Rock in the 70's 
Well, it was inevitable . . . The hippies got older went back to school got jobs  
Hey, I didn't say the clothes got any better!! The WE philosophy became the ME philosophy Rock music splintered into many different sub-genres, like . . . PROGRESSIVE ROCK HARD ROCK
SOFT ROCK FUNK DISCO GLITTER ROCK PUNK ROCK
NEW WAVE
and commercial popular music made more  than ever! So, here is a very short intro on each: PROGRESSIVE ROCK The Beatles, by virtue of their incredible popularity, were able to experiment with sounds and form. Progressive Rock artists experimented with fusing rock music with classical music Classical music is also called Art Music or Serious Music. Therefore, this fusion is also called Art Rock. So, (are you ready for the math??) . . .  Art Music + Rock = Art Rock How did they do it? Sometimes they took a classical piece and Rocked it! For example, this song by Procol Harem is based on another piece by Bach Procol Harem "A Whiter Shade of Pale" listen "Air on a G String" (J.S. Bach) listen 
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer Here's another example: Listen to the Aaron Copland piece first and then listen to the ELP version "Fanfare for the Common Man" (Aaron Copland) listen "Fanfare for the Common Man" (ELP) listen Listen to these Progressive Rock bands for other experimental devices The Moody Blues "Nights in White Satin" listen King Crimson "The Court of the Crimson King" listen Pink Floyd Pink Floyd's The Wall album (1979) is tied for 3rd place in the top 10 best-selling albums in U.S. history It sold a whopping 23 million albums!$ Yes "Roundabout" listen 
and our own Frank Zappa because he's the only American in that list! Zappa liked to listen to weird stuff, like John Cage John Cage "Sonata V" watch and Igor Stravinsky from Rite of Spring watch You don't have to listen to the whole thing - skip around to hear different parts SO . . . Zappa took a popular song by Iron Butterfly (just the riff actually) "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" (Iron Butterfly) listen and juxtaposed some of this contemporary classical style for his own take on Progressive Rock (notice the title) "In-a-Gadda-Stravinsky" listen HARD ROCK Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven" listen Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV album (1971) is tied for 3rd place in the top 10 best-selling albums in U.S. history It also sold 23 million albums!$ Black Sabbath "Iron Man" listen
SOFT ROCK
Billy Joel "Piano Man" listen Carole King "I Feel the Earth Move" listen Carol King had been a songwriter in the 60's. She co-wrote "Locomotion" sung by Little Eva Jim Croce "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" listen Neil Sedaka "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" listen FUNK Kool and the Gang "Play that Funky Music, White Boy" listen DISCO The Trammps "Disco Inferno" listen GLITTER ROCK Sometimes also called "Gender Benders"  |  | Elton John "Crocodile Rock" listen | David Bowie "Life on Mars" listen |
PUNK ROCK "Psycho Killer" listen Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the U.K." listen "God Save the Queen" listen
NEW WAVE
Devo Police Elvis Costello and let's don't forget REGGAE Bob Marley
The Eagles' album, (Their Greatest Hits), released in 1976 is the 2nd best selling album in United States history, 
It was THE top selling album until Michael Jackson's death when Thriller took over the top spot.
The Popular Music market has become very fragmented by this time, but there remains a huge market out there. And this is before MTV, CDs, IPods . . . 
Created and maintained by Vicky V. Johnson | 
