What I've noticed is that most of the cultural memory if you will of the 70s comes from the mid or late 70s--Shows like Welcome Back Kotter, Starsky and Hutch, Barney Miller like Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Star Wars, Jaws Disco, Close Encounters of the Third Kind Punk, etc--It's almost like in the public's perception, 1975/1976 is when the '70s really began.
Even when watching movies that era, like around 75 or 76, the whole dreary gritty athosphere of early 70s movies is absent. It's almost like the early 70s was a dreary, depressing, grim and gritty continuation of the late 60s--The depression part coming from the death of the Hippie movement and many of it's heroes, and perhaps the realization by many of the former activists that they couldn't beat ''the Man''--and that corruption was everywhere.
In terms of like sociology, it just seems like there's two 1970s: The Pre-Watergate 70s and the Post Watergate 70s; Post 1974 is when the "Me" Decade began--Like the mindset was that 'now that Nixon, enemy of the our generation, is gone, we can get down to partying.
Of course, activism in some circles did continue, notably gay rights and women's rights and environmentalism; but nothing of the "Attack the Gov't" activism of the '60s; It was more like since we can't beat The Man, let's work with him to get what we want.

Even down to the clothes and music--Whereas the early 70s was essentially the same as the late 60s music wise, Hard Rock, Folk Rock and Heavy Rock/Metal, all of which was pretty serious and heavy, the late 70s you had Disco and Punk. To quote from the movie 'Carlito's Way", in which Carlito is released from prison in 1975 (after being jailed in 1970), he says something to the effect of "When I went in, it was all rock n' roll, mini skirts and marijuana; Now it's Disco, (those ass showing shorts) and Cocaine/"


Just something I've noticed, that the 1970-1974 and 1975-1979 were two very different time periods, imo.

I missed being born in the 70's by 15 days, but one think I did notice a big difference in was the women and young girls' fashion. From watching The Brady Bunch from the early 70's. (i think from 1969 - 1974?) The young ladies wore a lot of a-line dresses and they dressed up just to even go to school. Long straight perfect hair was also a trait. Movies and yearbook photos I've seen in the late 70's show more casual clothes, and more "natural" looking hair, so to speak. I guess it was a time of rebellion when young women grew tired of always wearing dresses and looking formal?

1970-1974

Classic Rock, The Singer/Songwriter


1975-1979


Disco, Punk

From the perspective of a decade two person (age 10-19) during the 70's, the answer is yes, there were clearly changes happening throughout the 70's, but the changes for the most part were gradual (as in all decades).  However, certain events caused substantial shifts:

Watergate/Nixon resignation (and related events surrounding the '72 election until then)
All presidents have their detractors.  But even those who stuck with Nixon until the end were slam dunked by this.  No one of us had ever had a president quit - it shook us to the core.  Plus, our new president was a near unknown.  Hyper-cynicism reigned after this.  On the other hand, at least our new president wasn't Spiro Agnew  :o

Equal Rights Amendment pursuit
During the 70's, women became people too.  Really.  Even though this amendment didn't pass, it and the cultural shifts that surrounded it signaled a new day of opportunity for women.

Roe vs. Wade
If the sexual revolution didn't have enough fuel, this ruling really threw the gasoline on the fire.  Now people can fool around and not worry about a "problem" because they can get rid of it.

End of Vietnam
The war ended with a whimper, not a bang.  That choked all the protesters' fire out.  So we were left whimpering and cynical with nothing to protest about.  What a happy lot.

Oil crisiis
America lost control of a chunk of its financial world, and it hit all of us.  Our appetite for smaller cars was born of this crisis.

Roots mini-series
This ultra popular mini series raised the collective consciousness of the American masses about the racial injustices of the past like none of its near predecessors did.

Certain shifts were more gradual or else changed steadily, for example:

The "Disco effect"
In the late 70's, Disco effectively drove a wedge between listeners of current music in a way no other rock-era music trend had.  People began to either passionately love or passionately despise Disco with little in between.

The decency envelope
In music, for instance, the decency envelope continued to be pushed, such that songs that could never air in 1970 due to being too racy were mainstream by 1979.  I'd say this applies to movies and television, too.  As with music, the shift was gradual.

Foreign cars
Early on in the 70's, drivers of foreign cars would be laughed at.  By the end of the decade, everyone wanted a Toyota or Datsun.  This was only partly due to the oil crisis (gas mileage); quality began to take over as a factor once people realized how good these cars were.

Race relations
There was a steady improvement in race relations during the decade.  Increased television exposure helped, but so did general shifts in the culture, plus minor legislative and judicial occurences along the way.

Certain other cultural entities changed continually:

Fashion esp. womens
IMO the 70's was the most changeable decade ever, fashion-wise.  Of course, there were major trends like bell bottoms and platform shoes.  But overall trends came and went so fast, the wardrobe was constantly changing.  (After all, what else could a hip teenage girl do but pick up the latest fashion?)

Drug usage trends
Early in the decade, drug usage was rampant, as we knew from high-profile drug deaths of numerous music icons in the early 70's.  Drug use remained but it shifted gradually away from dangerous "street" drugs like heroin toward the "party" type drugs like cocaine.  Unfortunately, throughout the decade, drug use was rampant.

There's more to say but I'll quit here.  I hope that helps.

Classic Rock, The Singer/Songwriter

Disco, Punk


Did everyone else bar Britain miss out on the delights of 'Glam Rock'? 1971-74?

Did everyone else bar Britain miss out on the delights of 'Glam Rock'? 1971-74?


Australia definitely enjoyed the Glam Rock era

Did everyone else bar Britain miss out on the delights of 'Glam Rock'? 1971-74?


Quite honestly, I'd never even heard of 'Glam Rock' until I started collecting music reference books... ???

Quite honestly, I'd never even heard of 'Glam Rock' until I started collecting music reference books... ???


I only vaguely experienced the back end of it, but in retrospect, it was entertaining (if a little hard to swallow for the old folks!  :D)

Considering the quagmire the whole world was in at the time, we needed that bit of 'escapism'!

I only vaguely experienced the back end of it, but in retrospect, it was entertaining (if a little hard to swallow for the old folks!  :D)

When you said 'entertaining', I immediately got the picture in my head of David Bowie as 'Ziggy Stardust'...all the make-up and shiny outfits!  :o

Could KISS be considered an American 'Glam Rock' band?  ???

Considering the quagmire the whole world was in at the time, we needed that bit of 'escapism'!


True!

When you said 'entertaining', I immediately got the picture in my head of David Bowie as 'Ziggy Stardust'...all the make-up and shiny outfits!  :o

Could KISS be considered an American 'Glam Rock' band?  ???


In a way, they certainly could... :)

In a way, they certainly could... :)


Of course, they didn't really hit it big until after the 'Glam Rock' era had passed...

they couldn't beat ''the Man''.







I think you can beat "the Man", but only in a certain limit. Like the woman in the late 1800's-1920 who tried to get voting rights. It takes way too much energy and time, and also too many people aren't interested.

Yeah, I agree with you about the 70's being split in half.

Did everyone else bar Britain miss out on the delights of 'Glam Rock'? 1971-74?


Glam rock, though less popular in the US than other places, was still well represented here.  It was just part of the rich music kaliedoscope of the early 70's.  Then (70-74), we avid top 40 radio listeners were treated to a mix of classic rock, country rock, glam rock, classic soul, hard rock, folk rock, progressive, power pop, funk, bubblegum, singer/songwriter, soft rock, and various instrumentals, plus movie hits, all with relatively equal footing, all on the same radio station.  Despite the occasional 'train wreck', it generally made for good listening.  :)

Did everyone else bar Britain miss out on the delights of 'Glam Rock'? 1971-74?


Certain artists, but chartwise, Glam Rock artists didn't really catch on in North America until the mid-late 70s, and even then it was scarce

In Canada, the biggest Glam Rock song of the 70s was Roxy Roller by Sweeney Todd, which hit #1 in 1976 and featured vocals by Nick Gilder

I grew up in the 70's and loved it, I didn't care about the gas prices or politics. I went to school, hung with my friends, listened to great music  from ABBA to ZZ Top even enjoyed some disco songs. I got to drink when I was 18. Watched great TV and wanted to become a police officer.

Certain artists, but chartwise, Glam Rock artists didn't really catch on in North America until the mid-late 70s, and even then it was scarce


Pity...you missed some pretty epic tunes (and some pretty epic costumes and hairdos!)

That said, a decade later we did give you A Flock Of Seagulls and Culture Club, just to give you the general idea!  ;)

Pity...you missed some pretty epic tunes (and some pretty epic costumes and hairdos!)

That said, a decade later we did give you A Flock Of Seagulls and Culture Club, just to give you the general idea!  ;)


We also got Pete Shelley, though I don't know if 'Homosapien' would be classifed as 'Glam Rock'

I remember some Fads of the early 70's like Fuzzy Footprints and Peter Max art. Also beverages & food like Purple Passion soda and vegetable flavored French-Fries.