Rock (music)

:For other uses of "Rock", see Rock.

Corporate movements out of the counterculture (the 1970s)

Arena rock

Main article: Arena rock

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The Beatles and the Rolling Stones had set the table for massive live performances in stadia and arena. The growing popularity of metal and progressive rock led to more bands selling out large venues. The corporate world saw the chance for huge profits and began marketing a series of what came to be called arena rock bands. Bands whose roots were in other genres, like Queen, Pink Floyd and Genesis, paved the way by putting on extravagant live shows drawing a large number of fans. Following in their wake, Boston, Styx, Foreigner, Journey, and many other bands began playing similar music, often less progressive and metal-like. This movement became a precursor to the power pop of future decades, and set the mold for live performances by popular artists.

Related Topics:
Arena rock - Queen - Pink Floyd - Genesis - Boston - Styx - Foreigner - Journey - Power pop

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Soft rock/Pop

Main article: Pop music

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Even rock music would get soft, or at least in between soft and hard. Out of the short-lived "bubble gum pop" era came such groups as The Partridge Family, The Cowsills, The Osmonds, and The Archies (the last "group" was actually one person, Ron Dante, who would go on to help manage the career of Barry Manilow).

Related Topics:
The Partridge Family - The Cowsills - The Osmonds - The Archies - Barry Manilow

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With the demise of The Beatles as a group, other bands and artists would take this emerging soft rock format and add a touch of orchestration to partially form some of the first "power ballads". Solo artists such as Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, and Eric Carmen, and groups such as Bread, The Carpenters, and England Dan & John Ford Coley would make popular the format we know today as Soft rock.

Related Topics:
Manilow - Olivia Newton-John - Eric Carmen - Bread - The Carpenters - England Dan & John Ford Coley

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Other well-known artists, not specifically rock stars, from the 1960s such as Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand were continuing to chart.

Related Topics:
Neil Diamond - Barbra Streisand

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Classic rock emerging

Main article: Classic rock

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Meanwhile, groups such as Queen, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Aerosmith, REO Speedwagon, ZZ Top, Van Halen, and The Rolling Stones as well as such solo artists as Peter Frampton were being heard mainly on AM radio and sharing the charts with their soft rock counterparts.

Related Topics:
Queen - Led Zeppelin - AC/DC - Aerosmith - REO Speedwagon - ZZ Top - Van Halen - The Rolling Stones - Peter Frampton

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For example, Frampton's 1976 live album Frampton Comes Alive, rapidly becoming the best-selling live album of all time, had spawned a number of singles that hit the Top Ten charts, such as "Show Me The Way" and "Baby, I Love Your Way". Aerosmith's rock anthem "Walk This Way", among others, were becoming popular with junior high and high school students. It was an era where both soft and hard rock mixed together. Extremely popular recordings, such as Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," actually put the two together.

Related Topics:
Frampton Comes Alive - Stairway to Heaven - Bohemian Rhapsody

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Rock crosses the border

In the early 1970's Mexican singer Rigo Tovar took not only the musical elements of rock melody and blues and fused it with cumbia, and tropical music. He was the first to also used the rock and roll image; sporting long black shaggy hair, ray ban aviator glasses, glam outfits, and tattoos. He also started the use electric guitars, synthesizers and electronic effects previously unused in mexican music. In his live performances he would cover songs by Ray Charles and the Beatles. His fame and influence were not limited to Mexico and Latin America but eventually went world wide reaching Europe. Many of todays mexican "rockeros" cite Rigo as an influence.

Related Topics:
Rigo Tovar - Blues - Cumbia - Tattoos - Mexican music - Ray Charles - Mexico - Latin America - Europe

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