A question for those who were there. I listen to a lot of popular music from the '50s-'70s, and if popular music is a reflection of popular culture -- of course it is -- it's very obvious that the American culture of the '50s strongly spilled into the '60s. Then with the late-'60s hippie movement and the degree of influence it had on mainstream culture, the late-'60s was a mishmash of culture. Example: "Can't Take My Eyes off You" by Frankie Valli was a gold single in 1967 (and sounds like it could have been released in 1963), but so was "Light My Fire" by The Doors -- talk about contrast! 1969 had a lot of songs that could pass as '70s songs including "You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Blood, Sweat & Tears and "Grazing in the Grass" by The Friends of Distinction but it also had the very doo-wop-inflected love song "This Magic Moment" by Jay & the Americans -- all gold singles! So it seems to me that this mishmash of cultures spilled into the early-'70s, with starkly contrasting songs very popular, like "(Hey There) Lonely Girl" by Eddie Holman, "The Wonder of You" by Elvis Presley, yet "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin all hugely popular in 1970. 1973 still sounds to have had strong traces of the '50s-'60s culture with songs like "Rockin' Pneumonia--Boogie Woogie Flu" by Johnny Rivers and "Natural High" by Bloodstone (doo-wop-inflected soul ballad) -- both gold in 1973. So it seems to me that the early-'70s still had aspects of that '50s-'60s culture -- like big cars, crusin', drive-in movie theaters and car hop service restaurants, strong family values & idealism, yet there was another side of things that included bell bottom pants, hard rock (think Alice Cooper's "School's Out" (1972)), hippie-inflected shirts, facial hair, long sideburns, long hair, afros, alongside more stylized, elegant hairdos on females and slicked-back or to-the-side hairdos and males, plaid shirts, and pleaded skirts. Is my view for the most part accurate? Thoughts, observations, memories?...

Translation:

http://www.indiestreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/trollface-290x290.jpg

That's the ugliest smile I've ever seen.

This song was released in the early '70s, but has a strong '50s influence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK6jgzV32bg

Here are youtube links to the early-'70s songs I mentioned in the first post (just SOME of the MANY examples, btw).

"(Hey There) Lonely Girl)" - Eddie Holman (US Billboard peak in 1970: #2):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTho3ehdVJI   

"The Wonder of You" - Elvis Presley (US Billboard peak in 1970: #9 & million-seller):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VJKMN3_QfY

"Rockin' Pneumonia--Boogie Woogie Flu" - Johnny Rivers (US Billboard peak in 1973: #6 & million-seller):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly_KP3WfQ4Y

"Natural High" - Bloodstone (US Billboard peak in 1973: #10 & million-seller):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0KzLo0-6Ro

To answer your other question, I hear that there was a lot of '50s nostalgia in the '70s (the movie Grease, released in 1978, is one example). However, I have to disagree with your assertion that the '50s and the early '70s were similar. The early '70s was probably the most liberal period in the 20th century, whereas the '50s has a reputation for being very conservative.

I don't see it. The 50s and 70s might as well have been 50 years apart. Basically the total opposites of each other.

As for the 50s and 60s, the first half of the 60s was still very 50s, but I think by 1967 the hippie counterculture rendered the 50s ancient history.

Then again, I wasn't alive. That's just the impression I get from studying the pop culture of those decades.

The culture shift in the 60s was probably the most abrupt, out-of-nowhere, radical one in recent history. Even the ones in the 1920s and 1990s weren't anywhere near as big. I don't think we'll ever see anything like it again.

I don't see it. The 50s and 70s might as well have been 50 years apart. Basically the total opposites of each other.

As for the 50s and 60s, the first half of the 60s was still very 50s, but I think by 1967 the hippie counterculture rendered the 50s ancient history.

Then again, I wasn't alive. That's just the impression I get from studying the pop culture of those decades.

The culture shift in the 60s was probably the most abrupt, out-of-nowhere, radical one in recent history. Even the ones in the 1920s and 1990s weren't anywhere near as big. I don't think we'll ever see anything like it again.



I was 10 in 1970; that's my slant.  I agree with Shiv here - there wasn't much in the way of 50's nostalgia in the early 70's - not until the mid-70's.  Before that, it was just artists making music geared toward different audiences; sometimes it meant a song borrowed from an older style.  Of course covers of old songs remained popular, as they have throughout the RnR era.

I was too young in the late 60's to remember specifics of the culture shift, but I just remember feeling things felt dark and were getting darker - a kinda scary time.  I remember my parents lamenting many of the goings on, when we kids would listen, although a lot of what they talked about was over my head.  :-\\

anyone that says the 50's or 60's weren't influential to music of the 70's wasn't there or wasn't paying attention.

i graduated in '79 so the bulk of my influential years were in the 70's and i can assure you that the music of the 70's was

as vastly eclectic and diverse as it can get.  however, i'm not sure one could find a musician that wasn't influenced by

an artist that came before them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Ta0qCG8No

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKxIfOdwSJE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um6eNkswv3g

"They" say '50s nostalgia in the '70s started sometime after the musical Grease started its run in NYC, Feb.1972.

And not only music but in film, too, like,

Grease (1978),
Next Stop, Greenwich Village,
Badlands,
The Lords of Flatbush,
American Graffiti.

"They" say '50s nostalgia in the '70s started sometime after the musical Grease started its run in NYC, Feb.1972.

And not only music but in film, too, like,

Grease (1978),
Next Stop, Greenwich Village,
Badlands,
The Lords of Flatbush,
American Graffiti.




Not to mention t.v.:

Happy Days
Laverne & Shirley



Cat

To answer your other question, I hear that there was a lot of '50s nostalgia in the '70s (the movie Grease, released in 1978, is one example). However, I have to disagree with your assertion that the '50s and the early '70s were similar. The early '70s was probably the most liberal period in the 20th century, whereas the '50s has a reputation for being very conservative.
the 50s were socially pretty conservative, but fiscally i'd say very liberal, at least if you consider how much the goalposts have moved since then. check out the high-income tax rates under eisenhower, your jaw will drop. also, the 50s i don't think were anywhere near as individualistic as today. people saw themselves a lot more as part of a team. (that's a wild generalization, but whatev, i think there's a kernel of truth to it.) i'm not sure the lines just weren't drawn differently. the right in the 50s were a lot more interested in resisting the soviet threat, the left a lot more interested in domestic social movements like civil rights and bolstering the social safety net. but because both sides have since in some ways been vindicated -- i think we're mostly on the same page that the USSR was pretty bad so score one for the right, but civil rights and integration are seen almost universally as desired outcomes of the 50s and 60s, so score one for the left. so it's hard to say if the country was really "conservative" in the 50s, it's just hard to apply those terms to the decade the way they are now.

but i kinda envy the 50s in some ways. i actually think women's roles were a bit stronger in the 50s due to a lingering rosie-the-riveter effect, in the 60s and 70s there was kinda a male backlash against that. compared to today, i'd say ok, the main reason why the 50s were seen as socially conservative is the mcarthy movement, but hey, at least mccarthy had his "have you no shame" moment and wound up in disgrace. the tea party is still cooking strong and they're outdoing mccarthy in red-baiting extremism, if you ask me, and no one's really come up to oppose them the way mccarthy was opposed.

ANYWAY. so i think the OP is noticing two distinct movements. one of which is a lingering of 50s-style culture into the early 60s, and another is a retro interest fad in the 50s that started in the very late 60s and throughout the 70s, which i think were generally fairly depressing times and so people were nostalgic for the 50s because they perceived it as simpler. so you had some artists from the 50s who continued to create stuff in the 60s and even into the 70s, like paul anka and elvis, and then you had artists and popular culture that was created or started in the late 60s or 70s, but with a 50s feel. not just in music like sha-na-na and led zeppelin (which did quite a bit of 50s style retreads, like "rock and roll") but in TV shows like happy days and mash. it's funny because i keep seeing that the rule of thumb is that a decade tends to be nostalgic for the 2nd decade preceding it (remember the 70s resurgence in the 90s and early 00s with great movies like "jesus' son" and "almost famous"?) but nostalgia for a decade so close to your own isn't necessarily properly nostalgia at all, it's sort of a combination of that with a generational blend of artistry. consider that elvis was not only still playing for most of the 70s but he was also trying to imitate the clothing style of younger artists like led zeppelin and so on, ditching the swirly hair and working-man button-down shirt and jeans for the the flashy sequins and so on, and at the same time the 70s artists were imitating the musical styles of the 50s ones.

sorry. this may be decadeology. if so, feel free to fudge me, and fudge me long and hard.