For me, pop music largely knocked off on a sabatical from '68 to '77. It seemed like a really bad hangover that lasted for years. There's always great music around but there was an awful lot of filler between those dates. It was largely my childhood and punk rescued a pretty bad situation with far too many novelty records and acts that weren't producing the goods any more but were beloved of the nice, safe BBC. They'd have happily let Noel Edmoonds, Tony Blackburn, Ed Stewpot Stewart and Diddy David Hamilton play a pile of crap until they died. Capital Radio was little better. There was good stuff but not of the level of 63-68 and 77-83. Comparatively it was a lot more poor and unimaginative stuff played by ageing outdated DJ's to housewives and 10 year olds. More importantly, punk put regular, accessible live music back on the agenda for young people at an affordable price. I'm mostly about seeing acts live as a result. I still have my records and cd's and listen to stuff every day but I live to see the stuff live, as often as possible - The Damned next Friday for about the 120th time or thereabouts. I think that it's safe to call it an addiction!
Glam rock had an identifiable image that all those bands - even Slade - subscribed to. There was also a definite and recognisable sound. "Bubblegum rock" might have been a better term as the sound combined catchy pop tunes with rock guitars. In part, this was due the same songwriters writing songs for different artists. I agree that some artists had more depth to them (which is true of any genre) and some were quite distinctive (T.Rex, for example), but all the bands you mention were definitely part of glam rock. "Cum On Feel The Noize" or "Blockbuster" are the epitome of the glam rock sound. Many punk bands weren't a huge step from away from glam rock in either sound or image.
Woah. Bowie. Pink Floyd, Queen, Wings, Peter Gabriel, Led Zep, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Doobie Bros, 10cc, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, James Taylor, Bread.... And these are just the ones i like. Add BeeGees Elton John Rod Stewart. Not exactly a waste land
A lot of those bands are American or were trans-Atlantic at best in the 70's. Bowie ****ed off to Berlin and then the US. Fleetwood Mac were full on West Coast American by '75. Led Zep were by then an American stadium rock act and a long, long way from their British roots. 10cc and Queen were British but the rest tend to prove that punk was inevitable because music in Britain was on the critical list.
Not very youthful though. From rock n roll in the '50s to the beat bands of the '60s, pop music had been youthful and exciting. Short, fast songs with an upbeat tempo played by young bands. '70s rock was too grown up. Older, experienced artists with long songs and albums, complex instrumentation, grandiose stage sets, dedication to technical skills rather writing melodies..... Punk gave music back to the kids
Who's watching 'Arry in the jungle? He'll probably leave halfway through when he gets a better offer. Will he be taking Krancjar, Defoe & Crouch with him? Triffic.
The bear in the scarf, the one in last picture, seems to be looking for a wood to **** in........."Clean up in the entrance hall........better bring a lot of detergent."
You could be right.... Mind you, it looks remarkably like me wending my way home after a skinful on Xmas Eve.....
Oh God, pre-kids and current marriage I had some Christmas Eves! I think it was '87, I got wasted and was supposed to be at my mum's place for Christmas Day. I was still roaring drunk the next day, so there was no chance of riding there, I'd have lost my licence forever. Undaunted and brain ruined by booze, I decided to walk the 7 miles there. All was okay until I was within sight of her house. I waited at the zebra crossing, a bloke stopped and I started to cross. I suddenly became aware of a car coming up behind the stationary one. He hadn't clocked that the one in front had stopped and he wasn't even braking. He steamed into the car in front, shunting him over the crossing and throwing me about 8 feet in the air. I went totally over the previously stationary car and landed on the bonnet of the one behind. So pissed was I that I refused medical treatment, went to my mum's, had dinner and only when I sobered up did I realise that I'd broken my leg. That's drunk!
Best - or worst - Xmas eve pissed story - and it wasn’t me, honest! - happened to my then son-in law who came home paralytic and in the middle of the night got up to relieve himself of a gallon or so. He had a choice of 2 doors - the cloakroom or the hall closet, in which all the Xmas presents were stored - all wrapped and ready for the morning. You can guess the rest..........
You say we can guess the rest. I think we can all guess the next action, but what was the aftermath - what happened in the morning? I think that could break up some families. Please tell me he didn't get away with it and everyone just laughed?
I've had 2 incidents of that nature. Both were within weeks of each other. My second marriage was in bits and I was having a 'thing' with a woman from work. That involved a lot of after work drinking and the pair of us shacking up at a mate's place. That combination of unfamiliar surroundings and being wasted is deadly. The first time, I found myself naked taking a piss in the entrance hall to the block of flats. I woke up when my feet were soaking wet. Unfortunately, I had no idea which was the right flat door and gave his female neighbour a terrible shock when she opened the door. The second time, I didn't travel so far. Apparently, I blundered around the room looking for the door and ended up relieving myself on the bed. I met Mrs B within a year and my unquenchable thirst receded somewhat...
He - and they - survived..... His missus unbelievably saw the funny side. Although I have a feeling he felt pain for a significant time and in different forms.....
This popped up in my Youtube suggestions and I thought that it was an interesting contrast of stability and chaos: Almost three years ago and we could still pick the same starting XI now, plus three of the subs and a fourth is out on loan. Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Eriksen, Alli, Lamela; Kane. Vorm, Davies, Son, Onomah. Sunderland stayed up that year, but have been relegated twice since and virtually everything has changed. Their manager's currently without a club and only one of their starting XI is still there, plus one sub. A bunch of them are retired, in jail or out of the game, while the keeper's now England's first choice! Have we changed enough, though? Maybe not.
