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70s and 80s Bands


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It seems a lot of bands and artists that were cool in the 70s, lost their edge in the 80s. REO Speedwagon, ZZ Top, Aerosmith. Even guys like Elton John and Billy Joel. KISS in a way, but they sold out long before that, and were always known to be about the almighty dollar, and never tried to hide it. 

 

They went from making meaningful, hard music music, to a much more generic pop like sound. Just a random observation. 

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Gotta pay the beels.

 

It even happens in the metal scene.  Metallica re-did Turn the Page, for Christ's Sakes.  Bring Me the Horizon (I only know them because of my son) - their early stuff was HEAVY .. all screaming (but great music); their last album is full of auto-tune.  Even Slipknot got soft.

 

KISS went soft early, but still made good records (in the 70s).  Beth, Hard Luck Woman, Great Expectations .... all cheesy ballads on otherwise rocking albums.  Their problem is that their music went to absolute poop in 1979 and just got worse.

 

Hell ... look at Zep's last studio album, In Through the Out Door.  All that cheesy 80s keyboard crap and "All My Love."  Yuck.

 

Van Halen's 1984 gave us I'll Wait and Jump ... but still managed to make an awesome album with rockin' tracks like Drop Dead Legs (one of their all time best tunes).  With Hagar, their first 3 albums were a fantastic mix of cheese ($$$) and good ol' fashioned VH rock.

 

Artists and bands have always "evolved."  Elvis did whatever he had to to sell records, including gospel.

 

A lot of them just threw a few radio friendly, pop, tunes in there to make money - but still managed to make great records.

 

Best example I can think of is the Police's last album, Synchronicity.  Every Breath You Take has to be one of the worst songs ever recorded and BY FAR the worst Police song (I know them all).  But people ate that crap up and it had them playing Shea Stadium and retiring on top.  Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain ... pure crap.  But there were also some definite hardcore real deal Police tunes on that album, too.  They did it right, as many bands do.

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39 minutes ago, Gugny said:

Elvis did whatever he had to to sell records, including gospel.

From what I read, Elvis wanted to get back into rock music after the '68 Comeback Special. And make modern (for the time) rock albums. But Col. Tom Parker had such bad gambling debts that he basically offered Elvis to the casinos to pay off his debts, and stifled any of those plans. 

 

While some of it was money, I've always suspected that a lot of them discovered the synth. And while some artists found cool and innovative ways to use it (RUSH for example), a lot of artists took what could have been good songs, and over synthisized them for no good reason other than keeping up with the times. I just called to say I love you from Stevie Wonder could have been a much better song if he stuck with a piano and real band.

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14 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

Artists and bands have always "evolved."  Elvis did whatever he had to to sell records, including gospel.

 

 

            While I like a lot of what Elvis did, I would not call myself a fan.  I always thought of him as just some guy singing who became popular.  However, the more things I see about his career, I find he was quite innovative.    He crossed over music genre's more because he wanted to, than just to sell records.  Many times he was at odds with what the higher ups thought he should be doing.

            Maybe you meant more from your statement than I read into it.

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1 minute ago, Greybeard said:

            While I like a lot of what Elvis did, I would not call myself a fan.  I always thought of him as just some guy singing who became popular.  However, the more things I see about his career, I find he was quite innovative.    He crossed over music genre's more because he wanted to, than just to sell records.  Many times he was at odds with what the higher ups thought he should be doing.

            Maybe you meant more from your statement than I read into it.

 

I meant it more from the standpoint of crossing genres to expand his fanbase, really - not so much for money.  But expanding one's fanbase does = more money if done properly.

 

Sometimes people fail at it.  Steven Tyler made a country album that about 7 people worldwide cared to purchase.

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14 hours ago, The Poojer said:

MTV happened, it became style over substance on that fateful day that video killed the radio star

 

things were very downhill for meeting the demands of male teen aggression and rebellion WAY before videos started.

 

 

15 hours ago, Gugny said:

 Elvis did whatever he had to to sell records, including gospel.

 

 

 

Elvis was forced into the Army to curb his influence, then his top songwriting team ditched him for lack of pay with "Good Luck Charm" being their last handover to him, it nosedived without them.

 

then he made bad movies and got fat

 

when you aren't a creative element of song or lyric (or both sometimes!!!!) it limits y'all

 

 

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Most great bands - even those that have survived for 50 years or more - had about ten, maybe fifteen, years of solid creativity. They might release a new album now and then, but their tours tend to fall back on the old stuff. At some point, people just run out of fresh ideas.

 

 

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17 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

It seems a lot of bands and artists that were cool in the 70s, lost their edge in the 80s. REO Speedwagon, ZZ Top, Aerosmith. Even guys like Elton John and Billy Joel. KISS in a way, but they sold out long before that, and were always known to be about the almighty dollar, and never tried to hide it. 

 

They went from making meaningful, hard music music, to a much more generic pop like sound. Just a random observation. 

 

What changed was people's tastes.    The 80s were about dance/new wave.  A repudiation of the 70s rock, which meant the bands you listed were not selling like they had previously.    Some tried to change with the times, some didn't.

 

The return in popularity for 60s and 70s "classic rock" is as much a nostalgia / aging baby boomer thing as anything.   The same thing will happen (in fact, is happening) with 80s music now...

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1 hour ago, Greybeard said:

            While I like a lot of what Elvis did, I would not call myself a fan.  I always thought of him as just some guy singing who became popular.  However, the more things I see about his career, I find he was quite innovative.    He crossed over music genre's more because he wanted to, than just to sell records.  Many times he was at odds with what the higher ups thought he should be doing.

            Maybe you meant more from your statement than I read into it.

 

 

on occasion i give a listen to a few of his greatest hits from the early days, and am floored at how he had one of the greatest voices and deliveries in pop music history....

 

 

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On 11/19/2019 at 6:19 PM, Gugny said:

Best example I can think of is the Police's last album, Synchronicity.  Every Breath You Take has to be one of the worst songs ever recorded and BY FAR the worst Police song (I know them all).  But people ate that crap up and it had them playing Shea Stadium and retiring on top.  Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain ... pure crap.  But there were also some definite hardcore real deal Police tunes on that album, too.  They did it right, as many bands do.

 

This album is a good example of the fact that what was overplayed on the radio in the mid-80's was the least offensive option.

There had to be some coordination regarding what songs were released and pushed out for air time.  The question is WHY people ate up the crap.

 

Look at the top 100 songs from 1984. :sick:

 

 

 

 

 

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