Three extremely underrated bands of the 1970s

The 1970s was an odd decade for music. There is some great stuff, sure, but there is also a lot of awfulness. Disco set music back for years, though it made music companies rich. When we came out of our drug-induced stupor, we probably realized were less toxic than the disco we were listening to was.

Still, the 1970s were when David Bowie and punk came of age. Both those idioms could be placed in any other decade and that decade would be proud to have them. The same goes for the three bands below.

Likely, you have heard of each of these bands, but maybe only what is played on the radio or your favorite streaming service. I mean, when is the last time you told Alexa to play a mix of songs from the bands below? Maybe you should do that today.

Three overlooked bands from the 1970s

The Sweet

Before they became simply a hard rock band, The Sweet (or just Sweet as many people know of them today) was much more glam. In fact, the group that produced such gems as “The Ballroom Blitz” probably helped inspire groups such as Guns ‘N Roses and Duran Duran. There was enough in The Sweet’s music for everyone.

Heck, maybe you are forming a band right now and looking for influences. You’d be right to have The Sweet in that mix. “Fox on the Run” and “Love is Like Oxygen” should be heavy on your rotation of covers when you start playing gigs.

The Runaways

If I start by saying this band featured Joan Jett and Lita Ford, among others, you might think everyone has listened to them. But that was not so in the 1970s. The Runaways did better in Japan than in the United States. Maybe because the band was all female and we still had not gotten used to the idea that women could rock out too.

That was our loss because, in the short time this band existed, they produced a bunch of excellent tunes. “Cherry Bomb” is a fine song by John Mellencamp, this different track from The Runaways came first and you should know it by heart. This punk-influenced rock band should be a lot more famous than they became.

Blue Oyster Cult

You cannot listen to early Ghost records (and I admit I am a huge fan of Ghost) without hearing Blue Oyster Cult as a primary influence. Heck, if anything, Tobias Forge might be the second coming of BOC. He probably would not mind that comparison.

Everyone knows “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” but “Burnin’ for You” and “Godzilla” are just as good if not as much Halloween-y. Blue Oyster Cult refused to become mainstream, but that just means most of their early albums are amazing from start to finish. Just ask Alexa to play some Blue Oyster Cult and zone out for the rest of the day.

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