The Great ’70s

Musically, the 1970s was a decade of great variety. Hard rock got harder, soft rock got softer, and artists frustrated with standard musical forms tossed them aside and started their own. For fans of such new forms as funk, disco, punk, or new wave music, this innovation was wonderful.

In Europe, a variant known as Euro disco rose in popularity towards the end of the 1970s. Aside from disco, funk, soul, R&B, smooth jazz, and jazz fusion remained popular throughout the decade. Rock music played an important part in the Western musical scene, with punk rock thriving throughout the mid to late 1970s.