[old tech]

You may ask how it is possible a 52 years old dude knows so little about the music of the 70's, but I am not American.

What's knowing about 70s music got to do with being an American?

 

[The Jester]

What's knowing about 70s music got to do with being an American?

For us Aussies not a lot, just depends on the radio stations attitude to local vs overseas music …some in the BBC in the UK hated the pirate Radio Caroline station playing stuff they didn’t deem “suitable”..
Were you around to remember the record label war and music bans in Australia at the turn of the 60’s / 70’s ?
Cover versions everywhere …Lol

 

[old tech]

For us Aussies not a lot, just depends on the radio stations attitude to local vs overseas music …some in the BBC in the UK hated the pirate Radio Caroline station playing stuff they didn’t deem “suitable”..
Were you around to remember the record label war and music bans in Australia at the turn of the 60’s / 70’s ?
Cover versions everywhere …Lol

No, that would have been before my time. What I meant though, our diet of top 40 radio music in the 70s mainly consisted of Australian, British and US hits.

 

[The Jester]

No, that would have been before my time. What I meant though, our diet of top 40 radio music in the 70s mainly consisted of Australian, British and US hits.

True, but some of the European countries radio stations weren’t that “liberal” in the early 70’s with US music at least …especially with English being a second language in the vast majority of Europe …
We were lucky here with some great local artists and ready access to the UK and US markets as well, including tours from overseas artists, don’t know how effective the “Brit pop invasion” was in Europe compared to the local and US market …

 

[gregorio]

What's knowing about 70s music got to do with being an American?

Because by the 1970’s Americans were starting to catch up with and compete with the “Brit Invasion”!

G

 

[71 dB]

What's knowing about 70s music got to do with being an American?

I was talking about American 70s music. Sunshine pop is an American phenomenon originating from California in the 60s as far as I have understood.

Obviously Americans by and large don't know much about Polish or Norwegian music from the 70's, right?

 

[Ryokan]

Norway, Sweden and Finland have produced many popular bands, maybe it's linked to their weather and shorter days?
I'm listening to the American band Mountain and they formed in 1969.

 

[71 dB]

For us Aussies not a lot, just depends on the radio stations attitude to local vs overseas music …some in the BBC in the UK hated the pirate Radio Caroline station playing stuff they didn’t deem “suitable”..
Were you around to remember the record label war and music bans in Australia at the turn of the 60’s / 70’s ?
Cover versions everywhere …Lol

Talking about an "Aussie" band formed in the mid 70's, but enjoying their biggest success in the early 80's I discovered Air Supply a couple of years ago. I hate Yacht Rock as a music genre, but for some reason I love the music of Air Supply. Ironically my country Finland is geographically as far away as possible from the countries where Air Supply is the most popular: Japan, Australia/New Zealand, South Africa, South and especially North America (the US). I don't know if Air Supply has ever even performed in Europe.

Somehow I managed to collect most of their albums on CD. The early Australian albums + the (Japan only?) 2003 album "Across the Concrete Sky" have remained out of my reach. Just like The Carpenters, Air Supply has tons of "best of" CD releases easy to buy, but if you think (as I do) their music is of high quality overall, those compilation CD don't take you far.

 

[71 dB]

Norway, Sweden and Finland have produced many popular bands,

Sure. Sweden has ABBA and if we look at modern day successful pop music, Swedish producer Max Martin is responsible of half of it to exaggerate a little. Pop music is Sweden's 2nd biggest export sector I believe. Sweden has super-good music education system in schools and it shows how they rule pop music alongside The US and UK.

Finland (and Norway I believe, Island definitely) are more about metal music. Finland has got by far more metal bands per capita than any other country. Metal fans make pilgrimage trips to Finland, the Mecca of metal music. Ironically as a Finn I am not at all into metal music. For example Nightwish is a super good symphonic metal band, but the music just doesn't resonate with me much at all.

maybe it's linked to their weather and shorter days?

Every country has 24 hour days, but you are talking about daylight of course. Finland has little daylight in the winter time, but in the summertime it is the opposite: We have nightless night (yötön yö) as present in the new Alan Wake II game. Come to Finland in late June and tell me we don't have daylight! Damn, you will be struggling to sleep because it never gets dark and you are not used to sleep in such conditions like we Finns are!

However, you are probably into something and the harsher conditions of winter probably translate into certain type of music of darker tone and themes.