Exploring the sounds of ’73
Noah Bauer, left and Peter Felsman play keyboards,
Nick Johnson plays the guitar
Jeff Krebs sings the lead on”Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.”
In the top left photo of a recent Rockestra rehearsal at Northern Michigan University, local musicians Kerry Yost, left, and Rusty Bowers sing “Breathe” from Pink Floyd’s album “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
Noah Bauer, left and Peter Felsman play keyboards,
Nick Johnson plays the guitar
Jeff Krebs sings the lead on”Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.”
In the top left photo of a recent Rockestra rehearsal at Northern Michigan University, local musicians Kerry Yost, left, and Rusty Bowers sing “Breathe” from Pink Floyd’s album “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
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By DAVE
STENSAAS-ROCKWOOD
Special to the Journal
The year was 1973. We had 8-track tapes, paisley shirts, polyester leisure suits and Skylab. It wouldn't be unusual to see us wearing platform shoes and sporting big sideburns. But it might be surprising to know that it was also a milestone year for rock music history.
Some years were obviously pivitol. Take 1951, the year the first "rock-n-roll" song -- Rocket 88 -- was released as a single; or 1955 and 1956, when Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, respectively, hit the radio airwaves and cemented the rock-n-roll genre as a major musical and cultural force. In 1964, the Beatles performances on the Ed Sullivan Show ushered in the sweeping British Invasion. The 1969 Woodstock Festival hosted some of most iconic musical performances of the 20th century and foreshadowed changes in the musical landscape that would begin to flourish in 1973. Glam, Reggae, Punk, Disco, Hip Hop, Grunge, and Metal genres each took root in certain years and each has been influenced by those that came before and had impacts on the popular and rock music that came after.
In the world of music history, 1973 doesn't stand out in the same way that 1956 or 1964 might. Instead it was when -- according to author Michael Walker (What You Want is in the Limo, 2013) -- the band-oriented musical ethos and hippy culture of the 1960s came to an end. In fact, many of the most popular bands began flying around the world aboard their own planes on tours of large sports arenas. Successful bands became "rock stars", often flaunting their wealth and star status, and the exploitation of live music as a commodity by the industry's executives started in earnest.
What's more significant about 1973 is that it – more than any other year – overflowed with new artists/bands and superb new music that had a huge impact on the popular music scene and its future.
The flipside of the afforementioned exploitation, relentless promotion and touring by rock bands is that record companies brought a lot of talent to the public eye. The '70s were a hot musical melting gumbo and 1973 was possibly the peak year for gumbo deliciousness.
Artists that launched their debut albums in 1973 included Aerosmith, Average White Band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Barry Manilow, Barry White, Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, the Marshall Tucker Band, Montrose, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Marie Osmond, the Pointer Sisters, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the New York Dolls, Queen, Rick Wakeman, Robin Trower, Roger McGuinn, Son Seals Blues Band, Stanley Clarke, Smokey Robinson, Suzi Quatro, and Tom Waits.
That wave of new talent joined some of the greatest rock and rock-adjacent albums of all time that came out that year -- Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy," George Harrison's "Living in the Material World," Alice Cooper's "Billion Dollar Babies," Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," Bob Marley and The Wailer's "Catch a Fire," Joh Lennon's "Mind Games," David Bowie's "Alladin Sane," the Who's "Quadrophenia," Deep Purple's Made in Japan, Black Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," Derek & The Dominoes' "In Concert," Iggy & The Stooges' "Raw Power," Paul McCartney's "Red Rose Speedway," and of course – Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon."
"The Dark Side of the Moon" spent over 17 years of consecutive weeks in the Billboard Top 200. No other album in history has even marked the halfway point.
It's one of many reasons that the Marquette Rockestra is honored to perform this masterpiece album of songs --the greatest in a year of greats-- in honor of its 50th anniversary.
Tickets are now available for the Marquette Rockestra's concert featuring Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon," and another set of "Hits of 1973."
The show will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday at Kaufman Auditorium. Tickets are available at www.nmu.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=2899. All proceeds from the Marquette Rockestra Concert will go to the United Way.
Editor's note: David Stensaas-Rockwood is a local musician and event organizer.