The 1970s were an interesting time for music fans. By late in the decade, disco was ruling the charts, for better or worse. But there were lots of genres that were created or evolved during the decade. Glam, punk, and early New Wave thankfully were around for those fans who had a distaste for poppier fare.
Many of the best early 1970s glam bands have failed to hold the public's attention as much as they should. But the list that follows is not only for fans of harder rock. There is a disco band as well. The point is that while disco might not be the best humankind can do, there are elements of it that help to create greatness.
Some of the songs that almost all of these bands released, you will know. Some might even have put out your favorite songs or albums, but the depths of their catalogs are worth mining as well. If nothing else, these groups don't deserve to be forgotten.
Seven forgotten 1970s bands that still should be getting our attention
The Sweet
Beginning as The Sweetshop (kind of an odd name for a band, mind you) in the late 1960s, The Sweet started by sounding a bit like the Archies. Not that there is anything truly wrong with that sound, but it's a bit shallow. Still, if a group can make money turning out those tunes and making them into hits, then so be it. However, that might mean the band does not have a long love affair with its fans.
Thankfully, The Sweet made their sound into a harder rock version and glam. We should forever thank them because they created songs such as "Fox on the Run," "Turn It Down," and the iconic "The Ballroom Blitz." There probably is no more fun track in human history than the latter.
Plus, the band was able to make money with their revamped sound. The Sweet have sold over 35 million albums and "The Ballroom Blitz" is still played at better speakeasies (I assume that to be true, but do not have any real factual evidence). Sadly, most of the members of the most well-known lineup of the group have passed away.
Slade
The surprise is that this band has been mostly forgotten. During a run in the 1970s, they had 17 consecutive top 20 hits in the U.K. And some of those tracks were excellent and have stood up over time. Maybe they faded a bit when glam began to go away (which is a shame because glam can be so fun and artistic).
But the band could do more than just glam. They have influenced many metal bands as well and produced some great metal songs such as "We'll Bring Down the House." But overall, Slade released 16 studio albums, two of which hit number one in the U.K. Quiet Riot turned two of their songs into metal hits, "Cum on Feel the Noize," and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now." But "Run Runaway" might be Slade's best tune.
New York Dolls
One of the first punk bands and straight out of New York City which allowed the group to feed off the NYC vibe and be all-out weird sometimes. They were more influential than commercially successful, but the band did not care. Not until years later when David Johansen became Buster Poindexter did anyone in the group sniff big record sales. No offense to Poindexter, but it's a shame that "Hot Hot Hot" is much more well-known than "Jet Boy."
The band also tried to shock a bit as they dressed like ladies of the night during live gigs, but sadly, they might now be known for how they looked rather than how they sounded. This was the opposite point they were trying to make as while they did not seemingly dislike glam, they were supposed to be punk which was about aggression and attitude, not just look. The band was so divisive that in a Creem magazine poll, the New York Dolls were found to be the best and the worst new group of 1973 (I guess at least they made an impression).
Blue Oyster Cult
BOC never really sold out and that is why they never reached the kind of commercial success they should have achieved. Everyone knows "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" as it is blasted at us every Halloween. But the song is worthy of listening any day of the year and limiting the track to one scary special day does a disservice to the tune and to the band. Blue Oyster Cult were hard rock and pro rock masters.
They had other great songs, of course. "Burnin' for You" still gets some airplay. So does "Godzilla." But the depth of their albums is undervalued by the general public but not by other bands that matter. Alice in Chains and Metallica were both influenced by BOC. Ghost sometimes sounds like a Blue Oyster Cult cover band and that is not meant as a slight.
Chic
On the opposite side of the spectrum from BOC is Chic. While disco can be a divisive genre of, well...something, this group actually produced some songs that would hold up past disco's sell-by date. "Le Freak" is somehow catchy after 50 years, though you still might not want to tell your friends and family you are a fan. Disco is a bit taboo, but Chic should not be.
Other musicians who are fans include Elton John. As recently as 2018, John and Chic collaborated on the group's album, It's About Time. Oh, and Lady Gaga collaborated as well. Plus, Niles Rodgers is part of the band and he has been an important producer, such as on David Bowie's Let's Dance album, and musician since the 1970s.
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.