Rock: A brief history Pt.4

With the seventies came the deaths of The Doors' Jim Morrison, Janice Joplin and Jimi Hendrix and the cooling down of rock music. After the hectic 60's, a new form of rock nirvana was proposed by Dylan with the re-emergence of country rock, bringing successful groups such as the Eagles. Raggae was becoming more mainstream thanks to the work of Bob Marley and funk was becoming even more experimental with acts such as George Clinton's band. Soon hard rock and heavy metal began a genre of its own, spitting out acts such as AC/DC, Aerosmith, KISS, Ruch, Journey, Blue Oyster Cult and Van Halen.

As the 70's began, a new generation of singer songwriters led a musical phenomenon that was a direct descendant of the previous generations intellectual ambitions. Artists such Tim Buckley, Lou Reed, Neil Young, and perhaps most famous, Bruce Springsteen established a genre of music that united the classical composer of the old days with the folksinger.

The 70's was a time of slowing for the rock movement, however there was two major phenomena that occurred during this time that would reshape rocks future: disco music and punk rock. Disco music was the first genre of music to use electronic instruments for commercial, mass scale music. But it was punk rock that had an even greater impact because with it came the thousands of independent record label companies jumping at the chance to promote underground artists. Soon the rock industry was split in two: mainstream rock descending from the Beatles and Elvis, and alternative rock, descending from The Grateful Dead and Zappa. Punk rock music however, was load, fast rock and roll, and soon became the moniker for all angry music.

Acts in New York such as the New York Dolls and the Ramones, playing at CBGB, made punk rock more than just a sound, they made it a way of life. In Britain, the Sex Pistols were leading the way for punk rock that had a more politically and socially justified kind of rebel music. But punk rock was not all about anarchy and rebellion, as bands the likes of the Clash and the Fall were making intellectual punk rock music, punk with a brain.

Meanwhile, across the country were bands which were rediscovering the rock and roll of the 50's and 60's. Artists such as Tom Petty, The Cars, and The Fleshtones were untouched by the experimental movement were performing for thousands of fans. Other artists such as Blondie, Talking Head, James Chance, and later, Madonna, took the idea of punk rock to the discos in New York. In Britain came the advent of dark punk rock, with bands such as the Cure, Joy Division, and Sisters of Mercy.

Just as quickly as rock had slowed at the turn of the decade, it had reawakened with the arrival of the mid-70's with a multitude of extremely talented musicians rewriting the book of rock.