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Chapter
10
Mainstream Rock, Punk, and New Wave (1975-1980)
Outline
  1. Corporate Interests in Rock
    1. FM radio changes from free form to AOR
      1. Program directors
      2. Commercials
      3. Shorter songs wanted
      4. More "radio friendly" songs
      5. Large-selling albums draw corporate interest
        1. Peter Frampton, Frampton Comes Alive!, 1976
        2. Eagles, Hotel California, 1977
        3. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, 1977
  2. Mainstream Rock
    1. Earlier styles of rock were extended, and disparate styles from the first half of the decade began to blend together
    2. Bands that continued from the first part of the decade
      1. Rolling Stones
        1. "Miss You," 1973
      2. Wings
        1. Band on the Run, 1974
      3. Pink Floyd
        1. Concept albums
        2. The Wall, 1979
      4. Jefferson Starship
      5. Steve Miller Band
        1. "The Joker," 1973
      6. Aerosmith
      7. Bad Company
      8. Kiss
      9. Doobie Brothers
    3. Bands that continued older approaches to rock
      1. Boston
        1. "More Than a Feeling," 1978
      2. Foreigner
        1. "Feels Like the First Time," 1978
      3. Journey
    4. Band that displayed distinctive blends of new and old features
      1. Cheap Trick
        1. Combined power-chord guitar with pop hooks
        2. "I Want You to Want Me," 1979
      2. Blue Öyster Cult
        1. "(Don't Fear) the Reaper," 1976
        2. Prominent cowbell
      3. Van Halen
        1. Blended hard-driving rock with blues vocals
    5. Legacy of progressive rock
      1. Many older groups disbanded or changed members
      2. Two American bands were prominent
        1. Kansas
          1. "Dust in the Wind," 1978
        2. Styx
          1. "Come Sail Away," 1977
      3. Rush
        1. Can adian
        2. 2112, 1976
      4. British bands
        1. Alan Parsons Project
          1. Recording engineer for the Beatles and Pink Floyd
          2. Series of concept albums
        2. ELO
          1. Stylistic indebtedness to Beatles
        3. Queen
          1. "Bohemian Rhapsody," 1976
    6. Singer-songwriters were fronting bands
      1. Bob Dylan
        1. Blood on the Tracks, 1975
      2. Elton John
        1. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, 1975
      3. Paul Simon
        1. "Slip Slidin' Away," 1977
      4. Billy Joel
        1. "Just the Way You Are," 1977
      5. Jackson Browne
        1. "Runnin' On Empty," 1978
      6. Bob Seger
        1. "Night Moves," 1977
      7. Bruce Springsteen
        1. Born to Run, 1975
  3. U.S. Punk
    1. Punk worldwide had its roots in America, associated with confrontation
      1. The Velvet Underground
        1. Associated with artist Andy Warhol in the mid-1960s
      2. The Stooges
        1. Led by outrageous performer Iggy Pop
      3. The MC5
        1. Raw, aggressive sound, profanity
    2. New York
      1. New York Dolls
      2. CBGB groups
        1. Patti Smith Group
        2. Television
        3. Ramones
        4. Blondie
  4. UK Punk
    1. Malcom McLaren
      1. Early shop owner and manager
      2. Launched the Sex Pistols
    2. Sex Pistols
      1. Scandalous and notorious for punk behavior
      2. "Anarchy in the UK," 1976
    3. Greater stylstic range among later UK punk groups
      1. Clash
        1. Political protesters
      2. Buzzcocks
        1. More pop-oriented
      3. Jam
        1. Drew musical and stylistic influences from mod culture
      4. Siouxsie and the Banshees
        1. Rare female-fronted punk group
    4. Return to simplicity
  5. New Wave
    1. Reflected on urban alienation, tamed the more aggressive elements of punk
    2. American new wave groups
      1. CBGB groups
        1. Blondie
          1. "Heart of Glass," 1978
        2. Talking Heads
          1. Students of Rhode Island School of Design
          2. "Psycho Killer," 1977
      2. Cars
      3. Tom Petty
      4. Devo
      5. B-52s
      6. Knack
    3. British new wave groups
      1. Elvis Costello
      2. Police
      3. Joe Jackson
    4. New wave was fascinated with earlier musical styles and visual images
    5. New wave musicians made ironic references to the past to critique the present
      1. Comparisons
        1. Gary Wright (mainstream) and Gary Numan (new wave)
        2. Heart (mainstream) and Blondie (new wave)
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