Lorraine Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 In the Led Zeppelin book I am reading, twice the author alludes to the severe slump in album sales in the seventies - twice saved and resurrected by the release of LZ albums. But he doesn't tell why album sales and record stores were doing so poorly. From the way he writes, it's almost as if he might be blaming it on punk rock arriving on the scene. Does anyone here know the reason why there was such a slump in music sales back then? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 I have no idea but I find it hard to fathom back then. There were great albums rolling out left and right all throughout the 70's. Radio friendly stuff to now classic incredible rock the likes of which hasn't been seen or heard since. Somebody around here will know I suppose... :) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segue Myles Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 I can try researching, but from what I have read before, the music industry has always been crying out that it's in dire straits! Maybe it was a boom in tape recording? Or was that after the said sales slumps? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Not sure...I remember a lot of great stuff came out...maybe he's just trying to promote LZ's good sales in his book?!? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Twice he wrote that record stores were hurting bad. I don't understand it either. What else did we have but vinyls? It's not like you could carry an 8 track player around, or even a 4 track player. There were no Walkmans. There weren't even cassettes yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Twice he wrote that record stores were hurting bad. I don't understand it either. What else did we have but vinyls? It's not like you could carry an 8 track player around, or even a 4 track player. There were no Walkmans. There weren't even cassettes yet. :codger: :) ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segue Myles Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djflex Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Disco was to blame... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale?According to the internet (which of course is always right) the late 70's is when they really became in vogue and from my recollection that seems about right. I had an 8 track player (added under the dash) in my first car in the mid 70's when I started driving. There are only two 8 tracks I really ever remember having and playing in my car though. One was by Montrose (don't remember which album) and I had Paranoid by Black Sabbath... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segue Myles Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale?According to the internet (which of course is always right) the late 70's is when they really became in vogue and from my recollection that seems about right. I had an 8 track player (added under the dash) in my first car in the mid 70's when I started driving. There are only two 8 tracks I really ever remember having and playing in my car though. One was by Montrose (don't remember which album) and I had Paranoid by Black Sabbath... Aaah OK! Not sure why, but I thought it was the sixties. (I grew up with cassettes, and most of my dads were sixties era music, so I assumed they were from all the way back then haha!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Disco was to blame... I'm not sure if you are joking, but that's a possibility. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale?According to the internet (which of course is always right) the late 70's is when they really became in vogue and from my recollection that seems about right. I had an 8 track player (added under the dash) in my first car in the mid 70's when I started driving. There are only two 8 tracks I really ever remember having and playing in my car though. One was by Montrose (don't remember which album) and I had Paranoid by Black Sabbath... I had one too in my car! Were we cool or what? :codger: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale?According to the internet (which of course is always right) the late 70's is when they really became in vogue and from my recollection that seems about right. I had an 8 track player (added under the dash) in my first car in the mid 70's when I started driving. There are only two 8 tracks I really ever remember having and playing in my car though. One was by Montrose (don't remember which album) and I had Paranoid by Black Sabbath...BTW. Back then you always had to have a No. 2 pencil handy in case of an emergency with your cassette tapes... :sigh: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 (edited) Disco was to blame... I'm not sure if you are joking, but that's a possibility.A very distinct one actually. That sh*t wrecked the music business for a while but I kept buying albums and trudging forward against the wave of commonness... :madra: Edited October 9, 2015 by Narps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale?According to the internet (which of course is always right) the late 70's is when they really became in vogue and from my recollection that seems about right. I had an 8 track player (added under the dash) in my first car in the mid 70's when I started driving. There are only two 8 tracks I really ever remember having and playing in my car though. One was by Montrose (don't remember which album) and I had Paranoid by Black Sabbath... I had one too in my car! Were we cool or what? :codger:We were the bomb until the tape made that horrible noise and you tried to pull it out of the player... :sigh: :laughing guy: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale?According to the internet (which of course is always right) the late 70's is when they really became in vogue and from my recollection that seems about right. I had an 8 track player (added under the dash) in my first car in the mid 70's when I started driving. There are only two 8 tracks I really ever remember having and playing in my car though. One was by Montrose (don't remember which album) and I had Paranoid by Black Sabbath...BTW. Back then you always had to have a No. 2 pencil handy in case of an emergency with your cassette tapes... :sigh:Or take a test in school... :laughing guy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segue Myles Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 I always say how much I love seventies music, but my goodness whenever I look at the hit compilations, I am gobsmacked by all the dreck! It is like a really ugly veneer covered over the entire decade, but once you break it away you realise it was actually hiding a heck of a lot of gold! For every Bay City Rollers you get a Montrose or Van Halen. For every Boney M, you get a Yes or an ABBA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale?According to the internet (which of course is always right) the late 70's is when they really became in vogue and from my recollection that seems about right. I had an 8 track player (added under the dash) in my first car in the mid 70's when I started driving. There are only two 8 tracks I really ever remember having and playing in my car though. One was by Montrose (don't remember which album) and I had Paranoid by Black Sabbath... I had one too in my car! Were we cool or what? :codger:We were the bomb until the tape made that horrible noise and you tried to pull it out of the player... :sigh: :laughing guy: And the more you pulled, the worse it got until you just yanked it and broke the tape, at which point you had to go out and get yet another one. They were cumbersome and awful. It's no wonder they didn't last long. I had a portable player too that took six or eight D batteries. One time I let a friend of mine borrow it on his weekend rafting trip down the Delaware River. He dropped it in the river and no one ever saw it again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 My sister had a 1973 Mercury Marquis in which an 8-track player was standard, from the factory. Heady days, indeed... :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 I won the prize with my '77 black Camaro that had a blazing red interior. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 But, seriously, no one knows why there was such a slump in record sales in the seventies? He did say also that the music industry in general was in bad shape back then, but who knew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue J Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 But, seriously, no one knows why there was such a slump in record sales in the seventies? He did say also that the music industry in general was in bad shape back then, but who knew? Was it the latter part of the seventies that he was referring to? Because I think I remember reading something similar to that. But I can't imagine, with all the great new music there was then, how that could be. My record-buying days didn't begin until about five years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 But, seriously, no one knows why there was such a slump in record sales in the seventies? He did say also that the music industry in general was in bad shape back then, but who knew? Was it the latter part of the seventies that he was referring to? Because I think I remember reading something similar to that. But I can't imagine, with all the great new music there was then, how that could be. My record-buying days didn't begin until about five years later. Whatever LZ album was released around the mid-seventies, he said it was a real boon for the record stores and music industry and put them back in the red. And then again, later in the seventies (or it might have been very early eighties), on the release of what might have been the last LZ album, he says the same thing. The music industry is quite the business (in every sense of that word). It's not that unlike trying to break into the movies or modeling really. He also mentions how already toward the end of the seventies/early eighties no record company could be bothered grooming a band for success - you either made it big immediately or were shown the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nappy2112 Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Random question: when did cassettes first go on sale? I stared buying cassettes in 1976 and my brother had "Toys in the Attic" which was '75. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom55 Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 It wasn't because of me... I was out there buying like a madman. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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