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Re: the 70's (and The Residents forthcoming gigs!)

On Dec 22, 2010, at 3:36 PM, George Demarest wrote:

I may be lynched for saying it, but the 70s did offer up Frippertronics, Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf, Gong, 
Mahavishnu, Return to Forever, tons of great Zappa, King Crimson, Henry Cow, Yes, Genesis, etc.

I guess it depends on your lens.

gfd

I concur. And, don't forget THE RESIDENTS. They began in the 70's as well. And also JM Jarre, Cluster, Roxy Music (and ENO) and Richard Pinhas / Heldon and many others...

Alpha-Bits,
Rev. Fever

PS- Speaking of THE RESIDENTS, they are doing a show with PRIMUS in Oakland at the Fox Theater SOON on  Dec.30th  for any of you that are in that area! (Rick W? And...?)

The Rezzies are also performing HERE in Portland on March 17th at the Wonder Ballroom.  I AM THERE!   Hurray!


From: Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>
To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Cc: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Sent: Tue, December 21, 2010 4:34:57 PM
Subject: Re: RE: the 60's



Michael Peters wrote:
> from a 56 yr old geezer: were the 70's really that bad? not to me

From a 57 year old geezer (lol,  I've never actually thought of myself as either old
or a geezer but it's fun for this conversation)  the 70's (especially the middle 70's)
were particularly depressing because, as a musician,  I witnessed all the freedom and creativity
and openness of the Hippy movement supplanted by wide spread cultural depression and
cynicism (I can only speak of Northern California where I lived).    I saw this beautiful
blossoming of culture and creativity usurped by the music industry who had figured out
how much money could be made off of youth culture.  I watched the fantastic free FM radio
stations of the Bay Area with all of their amazingly eclectic radio shows put out of business and replaced by corporate run FM stations with play lists.    I watched the Major Musical Labels muscle in on regional
American music and try as hard as they could to establish monopolies.
It was a very depressing time to me, but I was also a very angry young man struggling with my own
internal demons so that had to have clouded the experience.

I wouldn't see another blossoming of that kind of creativity until the early New Wave/Punk movements
in the late 70's and early 80's........even so,  there has always been a kind of cynicism that has accompanied
a lot of the musical movements (well, perhaps not the New Age movement, but I just couldn't relate....lol)
since those times in modern popular movements............well, either cynicism or the kind of mindless
drug escapism that accompanied the Rave scene.      The Psy Trance scene seems to have some kinship with
those earlier days but I'm, personally, just not all that enamored, emotionally, with that type of music.

Okay,  I ramble...................but after all those psychedlics and psycho-tropic drugs (and others)
I suppose it's a good thing that I can still muster complete sentences..........lol

rick walker