Seven forgotten 1970s bands that are still worth listening to

T. Rex

Psychedelic folk and glam rock? Yes, this band could do anything. Led by the brilliant Marc Bolan, T. Rex churned out classics such as "Bang a Gong) Get It On," "20th Century Boy," and "Children of the Revolution." But they tend to get a bit lost in the 2020s because of the people they helped influence such as David Bowie. Getting out of Bowie's shadow, even if T. Rex never meant to be there, is likely an impossible task.

But Bolan and his friends deserve better. The band produced 14 studio albums, perhaps none better than Electric Warrior. Bolan's lyrics changed on this album to a degree, becoming less spacey and more poetic. Unfortunately, the band stopped recording in 1977 after Bolan passed away in a car crash. Without Bolan, there was no true T. Rex anyway.

Mott the Hoople

Mott the Hoople was another glam band that began as more rock-folk. But they had an early fan in David Bowie who wrote the group's most famous song for them. After a few records that no large amount of fans seemed to adore, the band was about to break up. Bowie reached out to the group and talked them into staying together and first offered "Suffragette City" for the band to use. Mott the Hoople declined and Bowie later used the iconic song as part of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

The band did accept Bowie's song, "All the Young Dudes," however. This track and Bowie's production of the album of the same name led to a few years of success for the group. The issue is that the band released a number of solid songs such as "All the Way from Memphis" and "Roll Away the Stone," but most of the catalog will be dwarfed by the song Bowie gave them.