Who are the Beatles of the 70s?

[Whet Bull]

Pulc, we need to do another youtube sesh soon.  That last one had some gold nuggets.

Word, T-Force.  I got some goodz lined up that'll make your spleen hurt.  I'll bring the Boone's Farm if you guys hook up da WiFiz.

[TJ Webelo]

In terms of success, defining a decade and the majority of what kids were listening to...I'd hate to say it, but probably KISS. I mean, when most people think of the 70's, it usually revolves around Kiss.

In terms of influence and long term significance.....The Ramones.

[frankie teardrop]

I should delete all the ABBA mentions. Not cause they suck, I like ABBA, A LOT, but they didn't influence shit. And it's not like they were the first to do anything. And, no presence in the 80s and 90s. The only reason anybody remembers ABBA anymore is for that stupid musical that uses ABBA songs. I bet you more people could name Ramones songs than ABBA songs.

[nickg]

I should delete all the ABBA mentions. Not cause they suck, I like ABBA, A LOT, but they didn't influence shit. And it's not like they were the first to do anything. And, no presence in the 80s and 90s. The only reason anybody remembers ABBA anymore is for that stupid musical that uses ABBA songs. I bet you more people could name Ramones songs than ABBA songs.

like, the general public? i think everyone knows some ABBA songs. i imagine asking randoms on the street to name a ramones song and getting a lot of "hey, ho, let's go!"'s.

[frankie teardrop]

Well, even if they can't name Ramones songs they are more familiar with the aesthetic of the Ramones. Nobody would probably even remember (or know) of the vast glam influence on ABBA. They would probably just stick to the disco sound.

[Whet Bull]

The Ramones are marginal compared to The Beatles.  Not even in the same league.  There is no Beatles of the '70s, but if there were, it would have to be a band of Zeppelin's stature and ubiquity.

Nobody thinks of KISS when they think of the '70s. 

[TJ Webelo]

The Ramones are marginal compared to The Beatles.  Not even in the same league.  There is no Beatles of the '70s, but if there were, it would have to be a band of Zeppelin's stature and ubiquity.

Nobody thinks of KISS when they think of the '70s.  

you couldn't be more wrong on all accounts.

Nobody thinks of Kiss when they think of the 70's? What dimension do you live in?

In terms of their influence on pop culture, NOBODY compares to the beatles...no shit. Number 2 is still the Ramones, regardless of how marginal the comparison is.

[Whet Bull]

Nu doodz!

[frankie teardrop]

I still don't see how the Ramones are totally unfit for the title. They influenced scores and scores of people and still do to this day. Plus, it is easy to identify that influence. But Led Zep....You'd be hard pressed to easily identify that influence unless you have some ultra hippy screamer on the vocals. Plus, the Ramones always remained innocent. Unlike Zep, who watched chicks have sex with fish. GROSS.

[j. blundell]

The problem with saying that the Ramones were the most influential band of the 70s is that still, 30 years on the Ramones still have nowhere near the exposure of the Beatles, or Led Zeppelin, or The Eagles, or Fleetwood Mac, or AC/DC, or any of the countless others that ruled the decade. Shit, the Beatles were coming off Abbey Road in 1969, and its influence and sales surely stretched farther into that decade than all the Ramones records have in all the decades since. Even the Sex Pistols were probably more widely known and (thusly) influential than the Ramones based on the sensationalist press/exposure they were given at the time and since.

Its sucks, and its obvious that a room full of punk/counterculture music fans would disagree, but any of those bands above, or the other ones like them (Simon and Garfunkel, Beegees, Pink Floyd (Darkside era), Led Zep (hugely influential on the entire heavy rock/metal scene that still is far more popular than punk/indie anything, not just preening hippy frontmen), or Michael Jackson by the tail end of the decade (and who completely ruled the 80s, without any debate) were the Beatles of the 70s. If not the Beatles themselves.

[bradx]

i remember 10 or 15 years ago all the stoner kids were way into zep and floyd and nowadays it seems like younger kids are way more likely to think floyd suck or whatever.  i think the internet and instant access to music and video have dispelled many of the myths that certain once hailed bands were something special.  a band like the doors never would have been so mythical in an era of cellphone cameras, people would have seen right through to the truth of the matter, they were an amateurish band with a piss drunk lead singer who fancied himself a poet.  he wasnt a shaman, he was a drunk and a druggie.  i think kids nowadays trust their own eyes and ears more than any old mythical nonsense that propped up the legend of so many mediocre bands for so long.  its easy to love floyd if all you own are the wall and dark side, but even the hippest of hippies would have to admit most of their early post syd shit sucks.  i dont think that was the case years ago because without access to information the myth prevailed. 

[enthusiast]

there are still a ton of kids that are into classic rock.

i kinda wish music still was as 'mythical' as it was back in the 60s and 70s.

[bradx]

yeah, i know it but now they download the full catalog of whoever onto their ipod instead of listening to the same two albums over and over again.  its alot harder to claim a band like floyd is the best ever after being exposed to their full catalog. 

[Ass Invader]

The more I think about this, the more I think whoever said the Sex Pistols had the best answer.  Like the Beatles, they were British, were directly influenced by American music (only it was stuff like the Dolls and Ramones rather than Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley), and created a sensation in England AND in the U.S.  Like the Beatles and Stones before them, they influenced lots of American kids to try to replicate what they did (only it was KBD-type bands rather than '66 garage bands).  They only thing they're missing is that they weren't able to sustain Pistols-mania, but they still come closer to being the '70s Beatles than anybody else.

[bradx]

they also had a killer two man songwriting team in matlock/lydon.