ROCK UK 70s
Hard rock and progressive rock had their heyday in the early 1970s under the leadership of the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the Who for hard-rock and David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Genesis for progressive rock. The tendency to let rock evolve into music that is thematically and melodically richer than the mid 60s beat rock and late 60s prog. rock is exemplified in the two rock/classical music fusions ‘Concerto for Group and Orchestra’ (1969, Deep Purple, 50') and 'Atom heart mother' (1970, Pink Floyd, 24'), both featuring a rock band along with a philharmonic orchestra. This trend towards melodic enrichment and longer pieces is confirmed in the songs Echoes (1971, Pink Floyd, 24') and Supper's ready (1972, Genesis, 23'), two essential references of psychedelic rock. At the same time, David Bowie's 1972 masterpieces Ziggy Stardust, Rock'n'roll suicide and Starman set high standards for British art-rock, both musically and spectacularly.
British progressive rock subsequently saw the emergence of many great artists like Mike Oldfield, Supertramp, Queen, Dire Straits or the Police. Punk rock emerged in UK in 1975-76, driven by now cult names such as the Sex Pistols, the Damned, the Clash, the Jam, the Stranglers, Generation X (ft. Billy Idol) and the Undertones (ft. Fergal Sharkey). On this backbone, new wave and gothic rock developed in the late 70s as post-punk genres fueled by innovative artists and bands like Elvis Costello, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, Joy Division, Simple Minds, the Boomtown Rats (ft. Bob Geldof) and Fisher-Z (ft. John Watts).
