Five songs from the 1970s that were years ahead of their time
The 1970s was a chaotic time for music, and how beautifully that chaos chimed every single chance that it got. When we look at the ‘60s, we are greeted by bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, two outfits who were a huge influence when it came to showing bands how to market themselves and highlighting what could work in a developing music industry. However, the ‘70s was a lot different than that.
While the ‘60s might have been a very innovative time, there wasn’t a great deal of experimentation. A lot of the biggest acts in the world were all rockstars, and that was the genre of music which was championed the most. Rock was still excitingly evolving in the ‘70s, but alongside that, you had genres such as funk, soul and disco all rising to the top, and with that came a great deal of new music.
A lot of this music went on to define its very own musical movement. There are now a number of genres and styles of music that can be directly attributed to innovative artists from the ‘70s, such as Boston, Queen and Sly Stone. It’s always exciting listening back to this music in a bid to pinpoint how it impacted the way people made music from that point on.
These are some of the songs from the ‘70s, which were years ahead of their time and inspired brand-new musical movements.
1970s songs that were years ahead of their time
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – Queen
Queen was always an experimental band, both when it came to song structure and the way that they recorded tracks. As such, a lot of their songs sound ahead of their time, but ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is in its own league when it comes to innovation. If the band released the track now, it would still sound ahead of its time because of the convoluted styles of music involved in the song.
The 1975 song features distinct sections, each of which dabbles in a brand-new area of music. The lyricism is also very disjointed, leading to many people still questioning the meaning of the song. The exciting approach Queen took towards embracing the various styles of this song was unlike anything else out there at the time.
‘More Than a Feeling’ – Boston
Boston‘s hit ‘More Than a Feeling’ was ahead of its time for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was one of the driving forces behind American stadium rock ‘n’ roll. Any song that helps to define a movement is inherently ahead of its time. However, one of the main reasons this song was so innovative was how it was recorded.
Tom Scholz essentially fooled the music industry when he made this song, as he created a large stadium sound in complete isolation, highlighting how good effects pedals can be in making new music. “I would literally imagine I was in front of thousands of people,” he said, “Playing this rock ‘n’ roll music, and it worked.”
‘Big Yellow Taxi’ – Joni Mitchell
You could argue that all of Joni Mitchell’s music is ahead of its time because of how timeless her lyrics are. The fact that she is still frequently quoted by poets, writers, and artists today shows how good a lyricist she is; however, it was her guitar work on ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ that proved to be ahead of its time.
She highlighted the power of minimalism by using her innovative style and viewing the guitar as its own band. “She was so new and fresh with how she approached it,” said David Crosby when discussing her guitar playing, “It’s these odd tunings that have tripped up thousands of artists trying to figure out how to get ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ to sound like her ‘Big Yellow Taxi’.”
‘God Save The Queen’ – Sex Pistols
While there were already hints of punk creeping their way through the public, it was Sex Pistols who cemented it as a musical movement. Without them and John Lydon’s political lyrics, what we now recognise as punk may never have come to fruition.
“It was expressing my point of view on the Monarchy in general and on anybody that begs your obligation with no thought,” said John Lydon when discussing the song, “That’s unacceptable to me. You have to earn the right to call on my friendship and my loyalty.”
‘Family Affair’ – Sly and the Family Stone
Sly Stone was ahead of his time in almost every sense of the word. He had a band of people of different genders and different races, which wasn’t heard of at the time. Equally, he blurred the lines between rock and funk, creating a new style of superstar. His album There’s A Riot Going On, a supposed answer to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, was one of his most outlandish records ever, and one of the big hits from the record was ‘Family Affair’.
Unlike much of Sly Stone’s other music, the song was a lot darker and pessimistic rather than a celebration of family. It spoke about how things could go wrong, which felt very out of character. It also used an electronic drum machine, which wasn’t used much during this period as it couldn’t produce emotion like other drum kits could.
