Welcome to a look back at some of our favourite music from 1971. In some ways, it seems the perfect continuation of 1970, with the hard rock pioneers releasing some of the best albums of the careers.
Looking elsewhere, though, things are perhaps more interesting…
In March 2017, we created a playlist of some of our favourite 70s tunes. In an effort to shake up our spare time listening, the playlist included none of the usual stapes. There were no tracks by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy or Led Zeppelin and yet we still managed to create a golden listening experience spanning several hours.
The experience got us thinking. What if we were to create extensive playlists of music we liked – or maybe brought back fond memories – for each year of the decade? Would one year stand out above all others? With this remit and using only two or three tracks per chosen album (maybe stretching to one extra in the instance of a double platter), we set to work.
At Real Gone, we pride ourselves on covering a wide range of musical styles, but rock music is pivotal to our everyday listening. In the years building up to the site’s creation, Marillion were one of our all time favourite bands. They have arguably one of the most obsessive fan bases of any band ever. Hours have been spent discussing the merits of various works – with their ‘Radiation’ album being particularly divisive – and, while the fans often agree, they’re as likely to disagree on various things.
Over the years, there have been some great live performances by Prince captured on tape and video. Over the years, the mighty purple one’s lawyers have dutifully gone about their business removing things from the internet, keeping them from fans’ eyes and ears.
There have been some great shows issued officially, of course. The VHS of the near three hour show from the ‘Purple Rain’ tour is legendary (and overdue a DVD reissue) and – even with overdubs – the ‘Sign ‘O’ The Times’ concert movie is beloved by fans.
In their short lifespan of just under eight years, like The Beatles of post-punk, The Police took on the world. The bulk of their studio output retains a near timeless appeal, but it was in the live setting that the power of this trio of talented musicians became really obvious.
It’s a shame that the only widely available live show from the band’s original existence is from the Synchronicity tour. Although a great show, the shine and bombast doesn’t quite capture the spirit of the earlier years. The BBC’s ‘Rock Goes To College’ show sits gathering dust in an archive and other bits and pieces – although pro-shot and circulating among fans – are unlikely to get a DVD release any time soon.