Customer Reviews

History of Rock & Roll 8: The 70's [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This video is the eighth in a 10-video set documenting Rock `n' Roll in America. It's very entertaining and informative, although more on the entertainment side. I think it says a lot about rock that the first SEVEN videos are used to document rock BEFORE the `70s.

This video is also very good, covering the many styles of music in the `70s. There are some great clips of Led Zeppelin and Steely Dan, as well as a great section on Pink Floyd. George Clinton and Funkadelic are also covered, as well as Fleetwood Mac, Kiss, David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust," Peter Frampton, Queen, and Bruce Springsteen.

Disco is only mentioned briefly, and is dismissed by the rock stars in the video as commercial noise. This video seriously ignores the social conflict which led both to disco's popularity and demise, but that's been the pattern of the video series so far.

There are great interview clips and descriptions. Among my favorites are Pete Townshend's surprising comment that he's never liked Zeppelin's music (never would have thought that), as well as members of Fleetwood Mac describing "Go Your Own Way" as a song between two members who were breaking up. I also enjoyed Alice Cooper's account of how the "biting the head off a chicken"-myth was created. Great stuff. And of course any interview with Ozzy Osbourne is pure unintentional comedy.

This video was pretty clean except for one gratuitous topless shot near the end. Clearly this video series, while informative, seems much more concerned with entertainment than rock substance. But what else is new?

this video is a great summary of the music of the seventies. They cover the excesses, the great bands, and disco. I would reccomend this video to anyone who wants to know what the music of the seventies is like.

Not what I expected (I'm not sure what I expected) but it was pretty good. It was a bit heavy on bashing and bad-mouthing one style or another that, in retrospect, were a lot of fun, but overall it's not bad.