I was reading the "1993" thread and seeing how a lot of people tried to determine what defined the early 90s, the mid 90s and the late 90s and a lot of people had different years and definitions.

so I figured I'd do the same for the 70s--
This is how I look at it:
1970s (in America anyway)

Early '70s (1970-1974)
-Hard Rock, Prog Rock, Folk Rock and Heavy Rock (which would evolve into Heavy Metal) dominate the music scene, along with Funk. Psychadelic Rock generally fades into the background or mixes with the aforementioned genres of rock. Pop continues on as always, in the form of groups such as the Carpenters.
The Beatles start off the 1970s with their break up in May 1970; Bands such as The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Who, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Yes dominate the rock scene in early '70s and enter their creative peaks and most decadent, drug influenced periods.
-Vietnam first escalating into Laos and Cambodia in '70 and '71, than ending in '73
-Protests becoming more and more tense and fierce; Kent State Shooting in '70
-Bombings or threats of Bombings
-The continuation of the African American Civil Rights movement as a main cultural force (however issues such as interracial and school busing divide many in suburban areas leading to tension and at times to violence) and the true birth of the Women's Rights movement (though it had been growing slowly since the 1920s), with a serious push for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.
-Tension and a large sense distrust and disatisfaction in government amongst the youth throughout the early 70s; Huge protests, such as the May Day March happen in the 1970 and 1971 resulting in thousands of arrests. Radical groups such as the Black Panthers and Weather Underground reach their apex in the early 1970s, with the WU bombing the US Capitol in March 1971 and the Pentagon in May 1972.
-Many gritty, drug or corruption influenced films such as "Serpico", ''The Godfather", ''L The French Connection" are released and achieve success between 1972 and 1973; Disaster films such as the ''Poseidon Adventure" are hugely popular in the early 70s. The idea of "Cult films" blossoms in the early 70s, with the release and massive success of "Deliverance" in 1972. ''Blaxploitation'' films achieve success in the early 70s as well. Films which push the envelop of commonly held ''decency'', such as "Deep Throat" and ''Last Tango in Paris" are released in 1972 and 1973 and are met with a great deal of success. Horror films also begin a streak of successes in the early 70s, with the release of the ''Excorsist'' in 1973.
-Nixon re-elected in a massive landslide against George McGovern in November 1972; His continued presidency brings about the term ''Imperial Presidency''
-Nixon and Henry Kissinger begin the policy of Detente with the Soviet Union in 1972, leading to a major ''thawing'' in the Cold War; tensions between the two nations are the lowest they've been in nearly 30 years.
-A wave of '50s nostalfia hits the nation around 1973 and persists for the rest of the decade (and even into the next); the massive success of "American Graffiti" and the debut of the show "Happy Days" in 1974, as well as the successful beginning of the Rocky Horror Picture Show as a theater show in 1974 (which harkens back to 1950s Horror Movies and 1950s Rock N' Roll) stand as an example of these feelings.
-The War on Drugs formally begins in 1971, with programs such as the Rockefeller Drug Laws taking a strict and harsh legal stance toward drug dealers and users. This war is supported both on the local level and especially on the federal level.
-The Economy starts the decade with a continuation of the 1960's boom and hits a decline starting in 1973, with inflation slowly beginning to grow throughout the decade.
-Watergate consumes the attention of the media and Richard Nixon beginning in the summer of 1972; the scandal grows ever tense and ends with Nixon's resignation in August 1974 and subsequent pardon by new President Gerald Ford, who is at first popular but due to the pardon is looked at as ''more of the same''. Distrust in government swell to massive levels and stories of a ''corrupt bargain'' between Nixon and Ford circulate.

Mid 70s (1974-1977):
-Disco bursts onto the scene in 1975 with the Bee Gee's hit, "Jive Talking" after gradually creeping into popularity over the past two years, with the releases of "Rock the Boat" in 1974; it's popularity slowly increases with releases by other artists such as Pattie LaBelle, the Hues Coporation, Walter Murphy and others and by 1977 Disco dominates the charts.
-Hard rock bands and artists such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who, David Bowie and Pink Floyd continue to have great popularity in 1974-1975 and and are joined by Aerosmith, who enters the mainstream in 1975 with "Toys in the Attic" and quickly becomes hugely popular, as well as other band such as KISS, Queen and Thin Lizzy, who burst onto the mainstream in 1975 and 1976 respectively. 'Soft Rock' artists such as Elton John also achieve mainstream interest in 1975 and 1976 and pioneer the concept of outlandish costumes and decadent stage shows; bands such as the Rolling Stones and KISS follow this standard on their tours in 1975 and 1976. By '76 the popularity and cultural signifance of the older Hard Rock Bands like the Stones and Led Zeppelin begins to wane (they are seen by some as dinosaurs by 1977) and the new genre of rock, Punk, takes up their role as the music of rebellion and middle to lower class aggression, with bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and others forming in 1975 and 1976, slowly reaching the mainstream in 1976 and 1977.
-The policy of Detente with the Soviet Union continues under Jerry Ford with the signing of the Helenski Accords in 1975; However, growing distrust of the Soviet Union and an ever growing wave of political (and social as a backlash to the freedom of the 1960s-early 70s) conservatism and hard-line politics delay negotiations on the "SALT II" treaty and the policy of Detente begins to lose influence on US-Soviet relations during the 1976 election as Ford is attacked by both conservatives in his own party (Ronald Reagan) and Democratic candidates (Carter) for being 'soft' on the Soviet Union.
-The economy continues to tank in 1975 and 1976, with inflation and unemployment experiencing a steady rise; President Ford promotes ending inflation with his "WIN" program and buttons, which is considered generally a failure and little more than a laughable symbol by many. He is lambasted and mocked, both in print and on television, throughout 1975 and 1976 as incompetent, bumbling and ineffective and is nearly assassinated by two different women twice in one month in September 1975. The US experiences it's last trade surplus in 1975.
-South Vietnam falls to the North after being invaded in 1975 and the war is considered a loss for America at home; It further weakens the morale of many Americans. The last US troops are evacuated out of Vietnam on April 30th, 1975; the imagery of the helicopters desperately leaving Saigon, with thousands of civilians struggling to get aboard, haunts and becomes ingrained in the public conscious as a symbol of the War.
-At the same time, perhaps borne out of a want of escapism, "Jaws" is released to movie theaters in the Summer of 1975 and is the first true ''blockbuster'' in the modern sense of the word; it becomes a public phenomenon and scares thousands across America out of the waters throughout the summer of '75. Other movies, such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the Rocky Horror picture show, are released in May and September 1975 and both become cult classics. The popularity of the Horror genre continues to grow, and horror classics such as Carrie are released in 1976 to great success. Many TV shows which come to define the 1970s culturally, such as Welcome Back Kotter, Saturday Night Live, the Jeffersons, Good Morning America, Starsky and Hutch all begin in 1975.
-The Patty Hearst debacle shocks America and lights up public interest throughout 1974, 1975 and 1976; the idea of "Stockholm Syndrome" takes root and is a new hot topic in psychology due to her case.
-James E. Carter and Walter Mondale are elected President and Vice President in the 1976 election, achieving a narrow victory over Gerald Ford. Ford had very narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan that summer to gain the GOP nomination and drops Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President for the campaign and nominates Bob Dole. The conservative wing of the Republican party, once lambasted in the early '60s as ''kooks'' and formally represented by Robert Taft and Barry Goldwater, gains massive political strength and public support. Conservatism in America continues to grow steadily and even influences aspects of Carter's campaign.

The Late 70s (1977-1979):
-Jimmy Carter is inaugurated in January 1977 and is at first a popular, well liked president, who promises to bring honesty and integrity back to the Presidency and politics in general. He is a moderate president and thus however fails to appeal to neither the Liberal nor Conservative ends of the political spectrum.
-Disco continues to have a great deal of success in 1977 and 1978, dominating the airwaves; an entirely new subculture of Polyester, drugs and Disco halls and balls goes along with it. Saturday Night Fever is released in 1977. It captures the Disco culture at it's height and is greeted with great success, turning John Travolta quickly into one of America's hottest new actors. Rock bands even capitalize on Disco's success by releasing disco tinged records of their own, to commercial success but fan disdain. However, in 1979, a large backlash against Disco which had been growing throughout the mid and late '70s becomes mainstream and by the end of the decade the genre is largely dead in America, replaced with Dance music and the birth of "New Wave."
-Punk Rock is loud, popular, antagonistic and vicious in 1977 and 1978; Many conservatives view Punk culture as violent, drug drenched and dangerous; it assumes the role Hard Rock had in the late 60s and the beginning of the decade; Many Punk Rockers, such as Sid Vicious, hold hate and disdain for older Rock stars and groups; in the Punk subculture there is as well great disdain for the Hippie subculture which proceeded them and the Punk aesthics short or shaved hair, leather and spikes, ripped jeans and t-shirts are in stark contrast to the Hippie aesthethics of long hair, Kurtas, and Satin garbs.
-Hair Metal, New Metal and New Wave begin to emerge at the end of the decade as new, exciting forms of music; In the ghettos, Rap begins as a form of musical expression for young, poor kids.
However, Punk largely burns itself out by 1979 as a large mainstream genre and goes underground or mixes with other genres; Many of it's founding bands and groups either experiment with other genres, disband or fade from the limelight
-The Cold War reignites in 1979 with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; Pres. Carter funds and has the CIA train Muhjadeen Islamic Fundamentalists to fight against the Soviets and their allies.
-The economic decline escalates from 1977 to 1979, with inflation rapidly rising to near crisis levels, and unemployment hitting near 8%. Carter gives his famous malaise speech in 1979, saying that a ''crisis of confidance'' on the part of the American people, caused by Watergate, Vietnam and the death of JFK have helped fuel the economic woes.
-In 1979, the Iran Hostage crisis and an unsuccessful rescue attempt, along with the 1979 Gas Shortage, cause Carter's popularity to plummet; America falls into the same distrust and lack of faith in leadership that causeed them to vote for Carter in the first place. Massive public disgust and dissatisfaction, both within the Democratic Party and America as a whole, for Carter take root in 1978 and continue through 1979.

Good synopsis.  Well done!  :)

For the early 70's, along with the music styles you mentioned, I'd add country rock, singer/songwriter (sometimes=folk rock but not always), classic soul, and soft rock, too.

And for readers in certain territories, don't forget 'Glam Rock'!  :D

http://www.mitzvahlicious.com/storage/petRock.jpg

Don't forget 'Pet Rock' too!

lol

Dan

...
Early '70s (1970-1974)
...
-The end of the African American Civil Rights movement as a main cultural force and the beginning of the Women's Rights movement
...


Both groups made major strides forward during the decade.  Although the 70's may have been more vocal in regards to Women's rights, racial equality took steps forward, too.  If a person went into a coma in 1970 and woke up in 1980, the world would look a whole lot different in regards to equality of women and also African Americans.  The 80's also showed much such progress.  (Not that the 90's was stagnant but less substantial progress-wise, though the widespread adoption of sexual harassment codes in the early 90's was substantial.)

Bump and merge with my other thread please.

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The enthusiastic optimism of hippie culture was redirected to serve corporations.  What's good for all of us was easily turned backassward into what's in it for me by EST, Scientology, encounter groups, etc.  Thus you had parents accusing each other of marital infidelity, yelling, screaming, crying, and cussing up a storm....right where the kids could hear them.  Hey, it's bad to suppress your feelings!  The central message of EST was: You are responsible for your own sh*t.  You connect the dots.  You pick up the pieces.  You make it the way you want because you're the most important person to you and you are the most important person.

Boy, what that crap got in the corporate boardrooms.  Companies such as Google are perpetually on parade no matter how cut-throat they get.  They're always ready to curl up in their pajamas with some Ramen and watch Star Trek (the classic cast).  That's how she likes to spend her breaks, dude!  But when YOU work for them as just a hack, I'll bet you get stuck right back in some Dilbert cubicle hell hole!

Only the folks who run the giant and guest geniuses get to participate in Casual Roman Toga Orgy Friday
:P

bump

Bump and merge with my other thread please.


bump


bump


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I thought it was a good thread, one of my best actuality, and I was hoping for more to analyze and add to it. I'd do the same sort of thread for the '80s but I'm not as familiar with 80s pop culture, political and social climates.