For the Record: The 70s

Mar 22 2025 57 ep. 42 mins 681

For the Record: The 70s Podcast artwork

An audio documentary of 70s music. This podcast examines the intersection of a wide variety of musical genres -- pop, rock, country, country-pop, disco, punk, soul -- with the historic events and decisions that helped shape our modern world.

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Ep. 53 - More than Charley Pride: African Americans in 70s Country

Mar 22 2025 42 mins

The roots of country music are black and white. So, why do most people think of country as a white person's genre? This episode considers answers to that question and examines the contributions that African American artists made to country music in the 1970s.

Ep. 52 - 70s Christmas Music

Nov 26 2024 37 mins

It isn't easy to write an original Christmas song that stands the test of the time, but artists of the 70s gave us several, such as "Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano and "Step into Christmas" by Elton John. These songs, combined with some iconic covers, added a wide variety of Christmas music created in the 70s to the holiday song canon.

Ep. 51 - The Softer Side of 70s Rock

Oct 13 2024 45 mins

Rock critics may have hated it but millions of music fans loved so-called "soft rock." This episode examines possible theories for this genre's popularity and makes the case that this "safer" version of rock music may have actually been an expansion of it that is still part of popular music. *Fans of this podcast should also check out "For the Record: The 80s!*

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Ep. 3 - Nostalgia, Race, and Rebels in 70s Southern Rock (Encore)

Jul 16 2024 38 mins

Southern rock from bands such as the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd was not just loved by Americans from the South. Southern rock has broad appeal. For many white southerners, though, this form of rock tapped into a desire for nostalgia, rebellion, and a reclaiming of the South as a distinct region. This episode discusses the question of how we should think about that music now

Ep. 2: Countryish Music of the 1970s (Encore)

Jun 16 2024 32 mins

How and why did artists such as John Denver and Olivia Newton-John upset the country music establishment in the 1970s? Country radio has created the country music sound it has wanted since Elvis and rock and roll began to lure away its customers. This was not pleasing to country music purists in the 1970s. This episode discusses why more people began to listen to "countryish" music

Ep. 1: Disco Doesn't Suck (Encore)

May 28 2024 46 mins

Disco and the 70s had a love-hate relationship. This episode examines who hated disco and why, as well as why it thrived in the underground until radio and the movie, "Saturday Night Fever," helped bring disco into the mainstream.

Ep. 50 - The Travolta Trilogy

May 12 2024 48 mins

In just over a two-year span as the 1970s marched on toward the 1980s, John Travolta starred in three cultural touchstone movies: "Saturday Night Fever" (released on December 12, 1977), "Grease" (released on June 16, 1978), and "Urban Cowboy" (released on June 6, 1980). This episode examines the cultural significance of those films, the music in them, and how much Travolta himse

Ep. 49 - Austin City Limits and the 70s Country Music Revolution

Mar 30 2024 43 mins

In 1974, a local Austin PBS station aired the first episode of "Austin City Limits" and, with that, took the first step to showing the entire country how Austin, Texas celebrated and encouraged experimentation with country music. One of the founders of the show carried a business card that described the show's music as "free form country folk rock science fiction gospel gum existen

Ep. 48 - The "Worst" of the 70s? The Music of 1974

Feb 29 2024 43 mins

The year 1974 shoulder much of the blame for the so-called worst music of not only the 1970s, but the worst of all time. Is this true? While we know that 1974 had much good to offer, is it true that it also had the worst of the worst? If so, does it matter. This episode takes a closer look at some songs considered the all-time worst, including "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks, "