Rutlefan Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 (edited) 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? MostLikely due to disco. Bands were getting booted out of bars and replaced with lighted dance floors and glass balls. I was in a band at the time and I remember how it was starting to be difficult to get work. The bar owners just wanted to hire DJs which were a lot cheaper than a band at the time. I disliked disco intensely. The author seemed to want to blame punk rock. He mentions that Rats Scabie fellow too in the book. To me, blaming punk rock is putting the car before the horse. Around the mid-'70s classic rock was beginning a decline from its all-powerful early-'70s status, Punk was a reaction to the growing disinterest in big-production rock, not the cause of it. I remember the attitude in the late '70s towards classic rock. Being a big fan (Zeppelin, Rush, Aerosmith, Floyd, etc. were to me music as it ought to be, all other forms being lesser), I saw the public's disinterest in classic rock, while it embraced disco, punk, and eventually New Wave, as disheartening. So while I was never aware of declining album sales, I was aware that as a classic rock fan I often felt like I was increasingly unfashionable, on the outside looking in. That all said, you still had monster releases that blew the sales door in: The Wall, Boston's debut, Frampton Comes Alive, Queen's News of the World, etc. And most young people, especially males, even if not in the tank for classic rock, at least were still into radio friendly rock as opposed to disco or punk: Molly Hatchet, Foreigner, The Eagles, etc. So, maybe the industry was depressed in the late '70s because the disco crowd was more into listening to the radio then buying records (though Saturday Night Fever sold pretty well to say the least), but I can't see how it was "saved" by Led Zeppelin. In the second half of the '70s they were not the all-dominating force that they were in the first half. They were still a legend -- a contemporary legend, like Floyd and The Who -- but with Presence (an album more appreciated in hindsight then at the time) and the personal troubles around that time that precluded them from touring, they were not the band they were in 1973. ITOD was big because it was Zeppelin but it was not seen as an example of where music was heading. That was Blondie, The Cars, The B-52s, etc. Edit: Maybe he meant that residual Zeppelin sales kept the industry afloat through the late '70s; those albums just kept selling year after year, like Dark Side of the Moon. If not for digital music, people would still be periodically re-buying those albums. My household went through many copies of different LPs because we kept wearing them out: LZ IV, Dark Side of the Moon (of course), Every Picture Tells a Story, being three I remember. So maybe those second and third copies of each of those early LZ albums helped keep the industry afloat. Still seems kind of stretch though. Edited October 12, 2015 by Rutlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Rutle, don't shoot the messenger. Only telling you what the author of the book wrote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 The 1979 oil crisis. What are vinyl records made of? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ru_ready Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Maybe the oil crisis had something to do with it. Thats it... blame the Iranians!!! .....LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Maybe the oil crisis had something to do with it. Thats it... blame the Iranians!!! .....LOLI do recall sitting in gas lines for hours so maybe I had no time to visit Sam Goody for a while... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 I remember sitting in gas lines too. Those were the days! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ru_ready Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 The Columbia Music Club was expensive. If you went to the record shop, the albums were half the price that club charged. But you got ten albums for a penny when you signed up! LOL who didn't sign up... get the 10 for a penny and then dissapear from the mailing list by useing a false name to start with? what were theyt gong to do?? spend $100's on a lawyer for 30 bucks of vinyl?? how they ever stayed in business boggles my mind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Vinyl LPs are made from petroleum. Basic economics. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 The Columbia Music Club was expensive. If you went to the record shop, the albums were half the price that club charged. But you got ten albums for a penny when you signed up! LOL who didn't sign up... get the 10 for a penny and then dissapear from the mailing list by useing a false name to start with? what were theyt gong to do?? spend $100's on a lawyer for 30 bucks of vinyl?? how they ever stayed in business boggles my mind. LOL is right. I'm embarrassed and ashamed to say that I did the same thing. Not because I didn't want to buy albums, but because I found their album selection to be the pits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ru_ready Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 (edited) The Columbia Music Club was expensive. If you went to the record shop, the albums were half the price that club charged. But you got ten albums for a penny when you signed up! LOL who didn't sign up... get the 10 for a penny and then dissapear from the mailing list by useing a false name to start with? what were theyt gong to do?? spend $100's on a lawyer for 30 bucks of vinyl?? how they ever stayed in business boggles my mind. LOL is right. I'm embarrassed and ashamed to say that I did the same thing. Not because I didn't want to buy albums, but because I found their album selection to be the pits. my friends had this thing going... signed up all family (with out them knowing) yes grandma you ordered that bat out of hell album.... and we pooled all the stuff we could get our hands on back then..... thinking back on those dyas really boggles the mind on what we could get away with... what ever happened to the columbia house thing anyway? and we always felt thet were sending us defective albums... when you looked at them they all seemed warped anyway.... Edited October 12, 2015 by ru_ready Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 I know that they went on to offer movies for the VCR in the eighties. After that, I have no idea what happened to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rutlefan Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Rutle, don't shoot the messenger. Only telling you what the author of the book wrote. Oh, wasn't aiming at you at all; it was clear you were just offering what an author said, not endorsing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Whatever the reason for the slump, I know I didn't cause it. I was always buying albums. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New_World_Man Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 In the book, "the progressive rock files" author Jerry Lucky mentions the price of vinyl increasing towards the late seventies and how this impacted the music industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Whatever the reason for the slump, I know I didn't cause it. I was always buying albums.Me too. I slowed down alot though in the early 80's. Life and real responsibilities will tend to do that to a person. I can't prove it but I would be willing to bet that Grace Under Pressure was the last album I ever bought even to this day... :codger: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ru_ready Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Whatever the reason for the slump, I know I didn't cause it. I was always buying albums.Me too. I slowed down alot though in the early 80's. Life and real responsibilities will tend to do that to a person. I can't prove it but I would be willing to bet that Grace Under Pressure was the last album I ever bought even to this day... :codger: then you found NAPSTER ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 In the book, "the progressive rock files" author Jerry Lucky mentions the price of vinyl increasing towards the late seventies and how this impacted the music industry.My posts in this thread explain the reason this happened! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Whatever the reason for the slump, I know I didn't cause it. I was always buying albums.Me too. I slowed down alot though in the early 80's. Life and real responsibilities will tend to do that to a person. I can't prove it but I would be willing to bet that Grace Under Pressure was the last album I ever bought even to this day... :codger: then you found NAPSTER ???No it means I didn't purchase or listen to music in any organized or formal way for about 25 years... :codger: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New_World_Man Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Well, you knew about Big Generator. That came out after GUP. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 The economy tanked. As a kid, we pretty much had no money for records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) For every Bay City Rollers you get a Montrose or Van Halen. ... and then Bon Jovi came along and changed all that Edited October 14, 2015 by Lucas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) I picked 1976 at random just to see . . http://www.rockmusictimeline.com/1976.html There were no slumping sales in 1976 ... Ask Boston ... or KISS ... even Thin Lizzy hit it big... And Segue, I thought you'd enjoy the first release here This timeline mentions Led Zeppelin having two big albums - Presence and The Song Remains The Same .. But by no means did these albums "save" anything as bands were booming and sales were fantastic .. If anything, Led Zeppelin was cashing in on the double live album that KISS put in the forefront of sales a year earlier, and what Frampton did in early 1976 .. The Song Remains The Same was recordings from 1973, so why did they wait until Oct 1976 to release it ?? ... Because the double live album was en vogue due to other bands ... Led Zeppelin was a great band, but they didn't save anything in the 70s The writer of the book is obviously just trying to puff up their legacy Edited October 14, 2015 by Lucas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) Eagles - Hotel California Stevie Wonder -Songs In The Key Of Life Bob Dylan - Desire Abba - Arrival Peter Frampton - Comes Alive Rod Stewart - A Night On The Town Boston - Boston Eagles - Greatest Hits 1971-1975 Electric Light Orchestra -A New World Record The Rolling Stones - Black & Blue Wings - At The Speed Of Sound Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees Queen - A Day At The Races David Bowie - Station To Station Chicago - Chicago X Kansas - LeftovertureHeart - Dreamboat Annie Santana - Amigos Donna Summer -Love To Love You Baby Genesis - A Trick of the Tail Donna Summer - A Love Trilogy Bad Company - Run With The Pack The Ramones - The Ramones Manfred Mann's Earth Band - The Roaring Silence Steve Miller Band -Fly Like An Eagle Jackson Browne - The Pretender George Benson - Breezin' Diana Ross - Diana Ross Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band -Night Moves David Bowie - ChangesOneBowie AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap/High Voltage Rush - 2112 Aerosmith - Rocks Kiss - Destroyer and Rock And Roll Over Thanks for saving 1976 Led Zep !! . . Edited October 14, 2015 by Lucas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 The economy tanked. As a kid, we pretty much had no money for records. I don't know where you were brought up, but none of my friends or my family suffered from the economy in the seventies in my area. That is probably because jobs were always plentiful back there. If you were raised where I now live, I can understand that you would have been hit hard back then, because it still isn't great now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 The economy tanked. As a kid, we pretty much had no money for records. I don't know where you were brought up, but none of my friends or my family suffered from the economy in the seventies in my area. That is probably because jobs were always plentiful back there. If you were raised where I now live, I can understand that you would have been hit hard back then, because it still isn't great now.My folks had 4 kids and we never hurt for anything. In all fairness though both my parents were government employees their entire careers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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