Why '70s music is so popular in the '90s

Jet, June 17, 1996

The music of the 1970s, from disco and funk to blues and R&B, has made a huge comeback in the 1900s. The music of such legends as George Clinton, Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight and the Pips and The Isley Brothers is having an incredible resurgence, appealing to a whole new generation of fans. It's on radio all over the country, played in sports arenas and re-recorded by rap artists.

And disco music, long panned by critics, can be heard on tons of radio stations from coast-to-coast on weekends. Even high school proms feature line dancing to the beat of songs like Donna Summer's Bad Girl and Hot Stuff, Anita Ward's Ring My Bell and Parliament's Flashlight.

Eugene Record, former lead singer for the legendary Chi-Lites, told JET he felt "the world is thirsting for real music, real love songs. The influence of some recent music on youth has been devastating."

While he complimented the music of such artists as Babyface and Luther Vandross, Record, who wrote such hits as Oh Girl, Have You Seen Her, Soulful Strutt, Lonely Man and More Power to the People, said, "Kids listening to music today have missed out on what music really is and feels. In the '70s, we had a true sound, true musicians. We worked with harps, violins, real instruments. There's not as much creativity [today]. It's a matter now of pushing buttons. People want to hear real love songs. Seventies music is tons. People want to hear real love songs. Seventies music is popular because people, young people, are searching for something. They can tell the difference between real music and what technology created."

Music legend Curtis Mayfield agreed with Record on the role technology has made on bringing back '70s music. Mayfield, whose '70s songs included such gangster hits as Superfly and Future Shock, said that while much of the music from the 1990s is very good, technology has altered the structure of music and some youngsters are craving periods when people, not machines, made music.

"Today, technology has taken over," he recently told JET. "It used to be the human contribution; you don't have the input of the people. Nowadays, you don't call in people or a symphony. If you need strings, you pull it up on the module. We didn't have electronics back then. A lot of kids nowadays are trying to get back to that instead of the digital. There's a difference. If you go out and hear a big band or a symphony live, it's nothing like what you hear on some new songs. Young kids aren't hearing that quality. A lot of the kids are placing a lot of value on what we did. And this is not a knock at what's being done now since good music is good music."

Still, he said, "I think the music of the 1970s was the top of the pyramid. People seemed to be more conscientious of their surroundings, and the music spoke well of the time. People seem to reflect back on the '70s as a superior time."

Cuba Gooding Sr., lead singer for The Main Ingredient, said the resurgence of '70s music is a matter of economics as well as a love of great music. "It's not a big puzzle," he said. "We created the kinds of songs that'll last forever. Our songs, you can make love to in the year 2000." Gooding pointed out that as a matter of economics, many radio stations cannot play popular rap music because of the X-rated lyrics. And those stations that do play rap do not appeal to the huge adult radio-listening market, Gooding said. "It's gotten so you couldn't listen to radio in the daytime unless you listened to Country and Western. Advertisers see all of this. `Old school' stations began to dominate. At least two radio stations in every major market began to play '70s music. And these stations are among the highest rated. Adults are listening to the radio more. It's safer to hear Cuba Gooding singing Everybody Play the Fool than what's out there today." he said.

Gooding, who is farther of famed actor Cuba Gooding Jr., said advertisers know that they can sell more expensive products on stations that play '70s music. "Also, you want to be soothed after dealing with the stress of your workday and not just hear things like loud drums on the radio."

The Isley Brothers are celebrating their 40th anniversary with their hit album Mission To Please. Their '70s hits include Summer Breeze, Hello It's Me, Love The One You're With, The Love Of You and Harvest For The World.

"The music created in the '70s was vintage stuff, Ernie Isley recently told Jet. "We had folks like The Spinners, Earth, Wind & Fire, Ohio Players, Stevie Wonders and James Brown...A lot of the kids heard their parents playing this music, so that's what they are sampling now--the sound of their [parents'] youth."

Tacey New, publicity director for Rhino Records, a company that reissues some of the biggest hits of the 1960s and 1970s, says "Seventies' music is everywhere! Radio formats are changing to adapt to it. Some stations have changed to accommodate the demand for '70s songs. Lots of the rap and hip hop artist have sampled (re-recorded) a lot of the funk that emerged in the 1970s."