"The Biggest Band in the World": 1971–75

The day should not end without a step back in music time, especially when that step takes you back to the 70s. This was an era of Soul Music, Groovy Times, and the "Pompatus of Love." The 70s were the era of disco during which time the last novelty song reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 begging the question, "What happened to our sense of being 'Just Duckie'?" By the way, were you a "gearhead"?

It would have been difficult to live through the 70s without being familiar with  

"The Biggest Band in the World": 1971–75

Today in Music History: December 4

Welcome into the spotlight...

Get the Led Out, October 2, 2014

Led Zeppelin: not just a thunderous volume, sledgehammer beat, and edge-of-mayhem arrangements made this band the most influential and successful heavy-metal pioneer...It was the band's finesse.

Led Zeppelin were as influential in the decade of the 70s as the Beatles were in the decade prior refining rock not just in that decade alone but for all time. Led Zeppelin combined the visceral power and intensity of hard rock with the finesse and delicacy of British folk music. The influence the band had on the music industry impacted both the classics and alternative rockers. 

Like its ancestors the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin used a guitar style that drew heavily on the blues; its early repertoire included remakes of songs by Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, and Willie Dixon (who later won a sizable settlement from the band in a suit in which he alleged copyright infringement). But Jimmy Page blessed the group with a unique understanding of the guitar and the recording studio as electronic instruments, and of rock as sculptured sound; like Jimi Hendrix, Page had a reason for every bit of distortion, feedback, reverberation, and out-and-out noise that he incorporated. Few of the many acts that try to imitate Led Zeppelin can make the same claim. [Source: RollingStone]

1971 Led Zeppelin started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with the Four Symbols album, otherwise known as Led Zeppelin IV Featuring the 8-minute track Stairway To Heaven, the album stayed on the US chart for one week short of five years, selling over 23 million copies in the US alone.

More on this day, December 3rd...

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  1965  The Byrds started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Turn! Turn! Turn!' the group's second No.1. A No.26 hit in the UK. Unlike their first chart topper, ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’, the entire band was allowed to play on the recording, instead of studio musicians. 

• 1971 Sly and the Family Stone started a five-week run at No.1 on the US single chart with 'Family Affair', their third US No.1.

• 1971 T Rex scored their first No.1 album with their 6th release 'Electric Warrior'. The album which became the biggest seller of the year in the UK contained two of T. Rex's most popular songs, 'Get It On' and 'Jeepster.'

• 1971 Don McLean's ‘American Pie’ entered the US Hot 100. The eight and a half minute song would eventually sell over 3 million copies.

• 1982 The Jam were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Beat Surrender', the group's fourth UK No.1 and final single. They split in 1983, and leader Paul Weller formed the Style Council.

• 2005 Pussycat Dolls were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Stickwitu' The Californian girls second No.1.

1956 The so-called 'Million Dollar Quartet' impromptu jam session took place at Sun Studios in Memphis with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.

 The million Dollar Quartet. L to R:  

Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...