Never A Dull Moment - !971 The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth
I always think that 1977 was the greatest year in music because it was that moment when punk music, which had exploded onto a very narrow London scene in 1976, began to influence a whole range of new bands. The Sex Pistols were the most important band in the country despite the music establishment trying their best to silence them; and then in their wake The Jam, The Stranglers, The Clash and many other vibrant bands burst onto the scene with exciting singles that were an antidote to the turgid fifteen minute drum solos only bearable to people on drugs. Yet what made 1977 so good was that the giants of pop, such as Queen and Abba were still in their pomp, Bowie was in an interesting electronic phase and ‘Pretty Vacant’ was preceded at number one in the charts by Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’. The music scene was exuberantly eclectic, with at least two clear, contrasting versions of what was considered real music. And best of all I was eighteen years old, had all my own hair and was off to Sheffield University to swap my flared trousers and tank tops for the straight-legged jeans and ripped tee-shirts favoured by the new wave. Yes, 1977 was the best year in music for me. Yet much as the visceral thrill of that period can quickly be rekindled by a blast of ‘Watching the Detectives’, if I am honest, it was a good year for music but the best … well I’m not so sure. That, however, is what Hepworth claims about 1971.
You may be familiar with Hepworth. He’s a wise elder statesman of rock journalism, a regular on The Old Grey Whistle Test, who was given the honour of anchoring the BBC’s Live Aid coverage - so, rock journalism royalty. Nevertheless. I approached this book with a degree of scepticism. Although I first started to listen to pop music as a twelve year old in 1971, having been too young to really appreciate The Beatles, I didn’t quite remember music from that period and that year in particular as being the zenith of rock music. In fact, Hepworth is rather more ambitious in his claims for 1971 than just exalting the music produced that year. The second part of the book’s title about it being the year that rock exploded is his central focus. He makes a strong claim that many of the elements that characterise rock and pop music today and over the fifty plus years since 1971, first came into being during that year. He makes a convincing and intriguing case but he just can’t help himself when he asserts that not only was 1971 the longest-resounding year for music but it was also the most creative, with more classic albums produced in those twelve months than any years since.
Hepworth’s approach is to move through the year chronologically with one artist and album as his main focus for each month. For example, in February, Led Zeppelin is used as a starting point to explore the mega rock bands who played loud stadium concerts, conformed to the rock lifestyle on their seemingly endless world tours and made their mark via albums not singles. The album in question is Led Zeppelin IV which Hepworth asserts is a great album and better than the output from most of the other bands who followed their rock gods template because of the four members’ musical virtuosity and curiosity as well as the breadth of musical influences that infuse this long player. From there he branches out into a discussion of the way that the album, with its artwork and presentation, and the serious intentions of the artists, as well as the quasi-religious interpretations of the fans became the most influential form in music. The transient pleasure of pop was replaced by albums that resided in the album charts for months and years, something that was unheard of until this point.
As I say, Hepworth makes a good case for 1971 being a crucial year that set out the tropes and characteristics of the contemporary music scene for the next fifty years just after The Beatles period came to an end in the law courts. Just to give an idea of the influence he identifies - there is the unexpected ubiquity of ‘Tapestry’ which tapped into a female buying album market for sensitive singer songwriters; Harrison’s well-intentioned but chaotic benefit concert for Bangladesh was the first fundraiser with a rock superstar cast; Sly and the Family Stone, Marvin Gaye and Gil Scott Heron all released albums that year that mixed rap, political outrage and the use of found sounds and sampling pointing the way to the explosion of hip hop, grunge and rap artists who have dominated the airwaves over the last twenty plus years.
Perhaps most intriguingly was the way that bands, for the first time, understood that they had a musical legacy. Until then, contemporary music was about moving forward and concerts would only have, say, one oldie because the current album and songs were expected. During this period, though, bands like The Rolling Stones, who had been going for nearly a decade, understood the power of their back catalogue; of course, they’ve made that their raison d’etre for the last three decades. Hepworth suggests that from 1971 onwards the process of fans groaning when a band announced “this next one is from our new album” began to take root.
This is a well-researched and entertaining look at the music scene in 1971 with an intriguing argument about the year’s resonance for the music industry. You’ll be reminded of albums and artists from your youth and, with the helpful list of representative tracks at the end of each monthly chapter, I am sure that, like me, you’ll be compiling a playlist of the book. And, yes, 1971 did have some classic albums, many of which I still regularly listen to, but the greatest year for music … I’m not so certain.