Band or singer that best represents the music of the 70s

[TriggerWarning]

My recollection from the time (when I was only 9 so it could be skewed) was that Ashes to Ashes was huge.

I wish I could be lacklustre like that.

Have you heard the Tears for Fears cover it? It uses some of Bowies vocal in it but is mostly TfF and is better for it I think.

[Iron Maiden]

Echoing what others have already said it comes down to Led Zeppelin, ABBA, or the Bee Gees. While I get the argument for Queen I'd not put them in the top 3 because they peaked in the 80's and thats where their most iconic songs besides Bohemian Rhapsody came from.

I do agree with this because Queen does span the two decades but really became a monster band in the 1980s with their epic live appearances to crowds of 50,000 or more.

[numberthirty]

Echoing what others have already said it comes down to Led Zeppelin, ABBA, or the Bee Gees. While I get the argument for Queen I'd not put them in the top 3 because they peaked in the 80's and thats where their most iconic songs besides Bohemian Rhapsody came from.

While I agree that they were in solid form in the eighties, I'm going to have to politely disagree just a bit there.

- "Killer Queen"/"Stone Cold Crazy"? From an album released in 1974.
- "Tie Your Mother Down"/"Somebody To Love"? From an album released in 1976.
- "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions"? From an album released in 1977.
- "Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race"? From an album released in 1978.

Factoring all that in, it's hard to really agree with the idea their "Most Iconic" songs came out of the eighties.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I do agree with this because Queen does span the two decades but really became a monster band in the 1980s with their epic live appearances to crowds of 50,000 or more.

Including Live Aid in 1985.

[Billy Batson]

[WillieMorgan]

While I agree that they were in solid form in the eighties, I'm going to have to politely disagree just a bit there.

- "Killer Queen"/"Stone Cold Crazy"? From an album released in 1974.
- "Tie Your Mother Down"/"Somebody To Love"? From an album released in 1976.
- "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions"? From an album released in 1977.
- "Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race"? From an album released in 1978.

Factoring all that in, it's hard to really agree with the idea their "Most Iconic" songs came out of the eighties.

Agreed. They were a great band forever but Queen's finest work was undoubtedly in the 1970's. They released a trio of albums in the middle of the decade that nothing from their 80's period can even come close to - Queen II (featuring Seven Seas Of Rhye), Sheer Heart Attack (featuring Now I'm Here & Killer Queen) and their magnum opus A Night At The Opera (featuring Bohemian Rhapsody and You're My Best Friend). They are three of the finest records of the era. They didn't pass under the radar either. These were big selling records laden with hit singles. In fact, Queen's best selling studio album is 1977's News Of The World (featuring We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You. You don't get much more iconic than that), not an 80's album.

Their music was poppier later, although still very good, and the live venues got MUCH bigger in the 80's admittedly. Culminating in their triumphant Live Aid appearance and subsequent Live Magic tour. Queen's music did not peak in the 80's though.

[TriggerWarning]

While I agree that they were in solid form in the eighties, I'm going to have to politely disagree just a bit there.

- "Killer Queen"/"Stone Cold Crazy"? From an album released in 1974.
- "Tie Your Mother Down"/"Somebody To Love"? From an album released in 1976.
- "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions"? From an album released in 1977.
- "Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race"? From an album released in 1978.

Factoring all that in, it's hard to really agree with the idea their "Most Iconic" songs came out of the eighties.

For some reason I thought We Will Rock You / We are the Champions was 1981. So I was counting those two along with Another One Bites the Dust. Plus their Live Aid show.

[Scott Taylor]

First song that came to mind was Really Love to See You Tonight by England Dan and John Ford Coley. It perfectly sums up the "who cares, do what you feel" attitude that prevailed during the 1970s, born at the end of the 1960s with all the peace, love, dope stuff and culminating with disco. Recall this decade had a ****-ton of political and social turmoil but I think people basically turtled through it with self-indulgence. Fun decade to grow up in, but kind of a house of cards.

The 1980s brought the world right back to reality. First stop, AIDS.

[TriggerWarning]

First song that came to mind was Really Love to See You Tonight by England Dan and John Ford Coley. It perfectly sums up the "who cares, do what you feel" attitude that prevailed during the 1970s, born at the end of the 1960s with all the peace, love, dope stuff and culminating with disco. Recall this decade had a ****-ton of political and social turmoil but I think people basically turtled through it with self-indulgence. Fun decade to grow up in, but kind of a house of cards.

The 1980s brought the world right back to reality. First stop, AIDS.

Great Yacht Rock song. I don't know why the Yacht Rock genre gets so much flack, most of it is great music for just chilling out and relaxing.

However because of Samuel L Jackson I always hear "I'm Not Talking about the Linen" now.

[Iron Maiden]

Agreed. They were a great band forever but Queen's finest work was undoubtedly in the 1970's. They released a trio of albums in the middle of the decade that nothing from their 80's period can even come close to - Queen II (featuring Seven Seas Of Rhye), Sheer Heart Attack (featuring Now I'm Here & Killer Queen) and their magnum opus A Night At The Opera (featuring Bohemian Rhapsody and You're My Best Friend). They are three of the finest records of the era. They didn't pass under the radar either. These were big selling records laden with hit singles. In fact, Queen's best selling studio album is 1977's News Of The World (featuring We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You. You don't get much more iconic than that), not an 80's album.

Their music was poppier later, although still very good, and the live venues got MUCH bigger in the 80's admittedly. Culminating in their triumphant Live Aid appearance and subsequent Live Magic tour. Queen's music did not peak in the 80's though.

You know I did have a lapse and thought We are the Champions, We Will Rock You anthems came out in the early 80's. So there is a strong argument for being one of the sounds of the 1970s as numberthirty proposed

I think it was more that though they were popular they weren't considered critical darlings. After the passing of time and since the release of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie I think critics have come around to having a more favorable view of their body of work. This is a quote from Rolling Stone critic David Marsh in 1979, who calls Queen a "fascist" band! These days you find a lot more positive articles about the band in currrent articles on their web site.

“Whatever its claims, Queen isn’t here just to entertain. This group has come to make it clear exactly who is superior and who is inferior. Its anthem, “We Will Rock You,” is a marching order: you will not rock us, we will rock you. Indeed, Queen may be the first truly fascist band. The whole thing makes me wonder why anyone would indulge these creeps and their polluting ideas.”

They're even quite popular today with a new generation of fans. They had a successful North America tour this year with Adam Lambert and whoever is taking John Deacon's place these days. They were the big finale in NYC's Global Citizen concert. There's not that many 70's groups out there that are grinding it out on the road with this high a profile.

[WillieMorgan]

You know I did have a lapse and thought We are the Champions, We Will Rock You anthems came out in the early 80's. So there is a strong argument for being one of the sounds of the 1970s as numberthirty proposed

I think it was more that though they were popular they weren't considered critical darlings. After the passing of time and since the release of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie I think critics have come around to having a more favorable view of their body of work. This is a quote from Rolling Stone critic David Marsh in 1979, who calls Queen a "fascist" band! These days you find a lot more positive articles about the band in currrent articles on their web site.



They're even quite popular today with a new generation of fans. They had a successful North America tour this year with Adam Lambert and whoever is taking John Deacon's place these days. They were the big finale in NYC's Global Citizen concert. There's not that many 70's groups out there that are grinding it out on the road with this high a profile.

Ah, good old Dave Marsh. He's always been a good barometer of personal taste for me. If Dave Marsh hates something then it's probably well worth checking out. The word curmudgeon springs to mind.

I think part of my stance on this is being English. Here in the UK, Queen's profile isn't too far short of that of The Beatles. The band have always been immensely popular with the general public on these shores and are probably held in higher regard than Led Zeppelin. Sometimes the rest of the world has shared that opinion and at other times, particularly in the US which went a bit cold on the band in the 80's, sometimes that reverence has been somewhat tempered. I'm not kidding when I rank Queen's overall popularity here in the UK. They are well up there with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in terms of affection. They never went out of style here.

[Scott Taylor]

The only Queen song I remember being big in the 1970s was Killer Queen. The others may have come out in the 1970s but they were popular more in the 1980s.

[PaulBullion]

Carole King's Tapestry was number one on the Billboard 200 for 15 consecutive weeks. It still holds the record for most consecutive weeks at number one by a female solo artist. The album was listed on the Billboard 200 for 318 weeks between 1971 and 2011 (302 weeks consecutively from April 10, 1971 to January 15, 1977), the longest by a female solo artist until Adele's 21 surpassed it in 2017. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, with over 25 million copies sold worldwide.




Carole King had written and co-written big hits for other people, but she broke out as a solo artist in the 70s. Especially among female audiences, she was the sound of the 70s.

[numberthirty]

For some reason I thought We Will Rock You / We are the Champions was 1981. So I was counting those two along with Another One Bites the Dust. Plus their Live Aid show.

I honestly don't think it is that unusual for that to be what folks think happened.

Same thing with "Bon Scott"-era AC/DC. Powerage and Highway To Hell are each from the last two years of the seventies. If folks have those as "Eighties" tunes in their mind, it's totally understandable that they would do that.

[numberthirty]

One other artist that had solid work before and after the seventies that had a pretty incredible "Seventies" run?

Dolly Parton.

While I know that Dolly might be like Queen(where a lot of folks minds go right to "Eighties" when they think of her), she had an absolutely brilliant run of records during the seventies.

The Fairest Of Them All has the song "Down From Dover" on it, and that tune still feels like a pretty serious achievement as a "Story" song and one that made a record while it dealt with the subject matter that it did. Coat Of Many Colors and Jolene are albums from that run. Here You Come Again is as well(another title track that I think folks might believe is an "Eighties" number). Two Doors Down was a late seventies single.

That was a heck of a run.