Which great bands of the 70's could be successful today

None sh!ts do I give.

 

If we go beyond the "great bands" category to the "great musicians" from the 70s/60s, there're just so many that Ima have to click like like crazy, man.

Btw, I need to take a moment of silence before and after listening to Townes Van Zandt.

Spoiler: A Private Concert: Holiday Inn, Houston (1988)

 

Depends. Could they get their look together? Could they get on Radio?

Honestly there are probably some really obscure bands that would be iconic in this era
Unknowns that would be riding high . . . .. some times it was the right band at the wrong time

This is not . . WOULD YOU LIKE THEM
The true question is. . . WOULD TODAYS KIDS LIKE THEM . . . .to which I would be kind of skeptical

Simon and Garfunkle would get NOTHING today
Bowie would . . . his ambiguous style would run . . but he would not be rising to the level he was at
HE rose because he was a trendsetter. . .now he would be ONE OF . . . .probably Lady GaGa level
but not DAVID FRICKING BOWIE level

Rocket River

 

Blondie

 

Came here to say Steve Miller. Was the first thing that popped into my head. Saw it was already said.

So, I'll add Queen. If Freddie Mercury were still around and all members were 20, they would have an extremely successful career today.

 

Black Sabbath?

 

This is an interesting question with no clear cut answers. The problem, IMO, is the way the charts are constructed these days. For example, in the old days ('60s through the '80s), there were many rock bands that had pop #1 hits - Rolling Stones, Queen, Steve Miller Band, Neil Young, even Pink Floyd with Another Brick in the Wall. But you had a lot of others that didn't have a #1 like Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Band, Van Morrison, etc. So the definition of "successful" needs to be more clearly defined. I would guess that being successful would mean having an enduring legacy.

Pink Floyd to me would be one obvious choice (there would be no Radiohead without Floyd) and Led Zeppelin but another obvious choice that was left out (so far) is The Beatles. They were really the first band to combine pop with rock and they were constant innovators. I would also include The Beach Boys, The Kinks, and The Who as well.

 

Nicely done.
You a fan?

 

sabbath, Zepp

 

The Talking Heads would have a huge indy hipster following. Or more huge? Or not huge at all considering they'd be hypothetically modern

 

Honorable mention: Death was completely unknown, but they were so far ahead of their time -- this was recorded in 75 but wasn't released until 2009.

 

Bands today can be successful?

Many of the mentioned 60-70-80s bands signed a record deal and did not hit their full multiplantum stride until their 3-5 album.

Bands today got one shot to break big. If they do, they are kept on a very short leash afterwards.

 

It's not really up for debate, if the question is Great Bands of 70s being as successful today as ever. Not really up for debate wrt Greatful Dead, because they are demonstrating it today...same with Clinton/P-Funk. Dead & Co is just as popular/successful as ever, in terms of capacity per show and volume of touring groupies, and that's without Jerry. Of course, they were never Top of Charts or mainstream to begin with.

That's why I chose those two bands, because they still exist, and are as successful as ever. Other bands that might still tour occasionally, probably aren't as successful as they once were (with ever replenishing youth fans), but rather a nostalgia thing, relatively speaking to their most popular days.

make sense?

 

I have all the stuff with Ozzy and the Heaven and Hell CD with Dio. I wouldn't consider myself a diehard but I do like them but I am a fan of many bands and music genres.

 

CCR would be so hip in Austin

ELO would crush the Indy scene