If punk looked to overthrow classic rock then Led Zeppelin weren’t bothered by it: “It didn’t matter”
When the 1960s rolled into the ’70s, politics got worse, icons were dropping like flies, and in perfect correlation, music got darker, as if the hedonism of the hippie era had come crashing down like the laws of physics demand.
Led Zeppelin joined the game relatively late, their debut not landing until 1969, but still, their breakout felt like a defining moment of the decade, and especially with Jimmy Page’s prior bands, the members were already amongst the core cast of the moment.
Despite only joining in on the last year when things were already racing to a stormy end, the British band capitalised heavily on the final throws of the era. In an instant, songs from their first two records like ‘Dazed and Confused’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Ramble On’ became anthems for the time. But then the 1970s came, with the turning marked by events like the Manson family murders, the Altamont Free Festival nightmare and a general worsening of economics and rising political tensions, and it seemed clear that the following decade would be different.
Newer bands reacted to that. The introduction of heavier genres like punk or metal came in direct response to the scarier world, tackling politics head-on or generally being imbued with a new sense of angst. However, for the old rock and rollers, the temptation to be bitter and dig their feet in was there.
“So bloody stupid. Fucking nauseating,” Mick Jagger was busy spewing about incoming punk bands like Sex Pistols and The Stranglers. So many of their peers turned their noses up at the new kids and their new sound, but Led Zeppelin embraced it, or at least, just didn’t care that much.
“Here’s where it goes with Led Zeppelin. It didn’t matter what was going on around us, because the character of Led Zeppelin’s music was so strong,” Jimmy Page said to The Guardian in 2015, reflecting on those days. As the band stayed locked into their own vision, it simply didn’t worry them how the music world was changing around them.
But that didn’t mean they were ignorant towards it. In fact, they were fans. “I really enjoyed punk music,” he said, adding, “I liked the Sex Pistols’ music, I thought it was superb. I liked it, but that didn’t mean to say I was going to give up on the way I was going. But you do, you appreciate other music along the way.”
Robert Plant was slightly less convinced as Page recalled, “I went to hear The Damned, and Robert came along, the two of us went to see The Damned here in London. He’d probably run a mile from something like that now, but I’d still embrace it.” But even still, there’s no bitterness, no anger or anguish from the Led Zeppelin crowd as there was from some of their peers when punk took the spotlight by the mid 1975.
It was a balanced approach. The enjoyment of one thing didn’t overrule his devotion to his own rock and roll, as he put it plainly, “It was just really good music”.
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