why the explosion of album sales in the 70s
- Thread starter AntiSnob
- Start date
@MeanDean, you are much more of an music dude than I am - but I think I would consider "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys as the first concept album. McCartney has admitted that Sgt. Pepper was basically an attempt to copy the success (and intent) of Pet Sounds.
I specifically said 'Around Sgt Pepper' because there are lots of claims made. At the time - Sgt Pepper was so hailed so is easiest to throw into a general discussion of LP .vs. singles. In retrospect there are several legitimate claim; Brian Wilson said Pet Sounds was inspired by Rubber Soul... I chose my words carefully hoping specifically to avoid raising the issue, LOL.
That cover is inextricably linked for me with this EP cover from 1989.
Apparently, this was a good-natured parody when Soul Asylum made transition from Twin/Tone to A&M.
Admission: A close friend bought the EP soon after its release, and I was unaware of Herb Alpert's original cover art (my music-history horizon had yet to expand fully at the time).
You had 15 good bands to chose from and the radio determined who you listened to. Now you have ITunes, Spotify, and 50 thousand other ways to listen. So if you have 300 bands to chose from, you can download 1 song from a band and not have to buy the album.
Even in the mid 80's the trends started to turn to more music with the invention of MTV. So basically the 70's bands had very little competition. So the albums for one band sold like crazy.
Even in the mid 80's the trends started to turn to more music with the invention of MTV. So basically the 70's bands had very little competition. So the albums for one band sold like crazy.
I have to disagree with that statement. MTV turned the attention towards the look and not the sound. They also decided which videos got airplay and which didn't. When they used to have their "voting" for the top video of the day they eventually changed it so you had to vote from a list so they could control what was the top video.
When "Appetite for Destruction" was first released MTV refused to play the "Welcome to the Jungle" video. It wasn't until someone from the label begged and begged (most likely paid) to get them to play it that they did. One time at about 4am EST. The response was so overwhelming they had no choice but to keep playing it.
15 bands to chose from sounds like radio today, whether your taste is "classic rock" or country". I know this because if I'm in a public space, say, a gym, I hear the same stupid songs from the same bands I've been hearing for the last 30 to 40 years. If you had 300 bands to choose from, how would you know about them?
Somewhat related to the topic, may need @MeanDean expertise on this, too. It seems like in the 50s/early to mid 60s, singles were typically released by an artist, then an album came soon after containing recent hits (maybe along with some throwaways). By the '70s, it was more common to release an album of new material before any songs were released as singles (or sometimes close to the LP release date).
I'm guessing 45s were the format of choice in early rock 'n' roll period, and collecting some on an LP after the fact was a way to tap into the album-listener market. Eventually long-players became on-par w/ singles and eventually were preferred format.
A lot of gray areas in that summary, I'm sure, even if it's partly accurate.
Beatles are considered at the front of the wave for transition of albums to "fully-formed works" instead of collections of hits & songs. But oddly, I think it was late in the band's career when Capital/Apple released a single *after* it appeared on an album -- it may have been as late as Abbey Road, the Something/Come Together single. Off the top of my head.
I'm guessing 45s were the format of choice in early rock 'n' roll period, and collecting some on an LP after the fact was a way to tap into the album-listener market. Eventually long-players became on-par w/ singles and eventually were preferred format.
A lot of gray areas in that summary, I'm sure, even if it's partly accurate.
Beatles are considered at the front of the wave for transition of albums to "fully-formed works" instead of collections of hits & songs. But oddly, I think it was late in the band's career when Capital/Apple released a single *after* it appeared on an album -- it may have been as late as Abbey Road, the Something/Come Together single. Off the top of my head.
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Speaking of 15 bands to choose from. I have been on a free 4 months of Sirius XM and I'm surprised with all the music out there how repetitive some of the stations are.
I don't listen to Sirius/XM all the time but enough to say, yeah, the stations I listen to will repeat songs (and programs). I guess we assumed they wouldn't, but they do.
