[Mr. Mojo]

Your dislike of Springsteen and Seger neither shocks me nor concerns the matter we're discussing. (I didn't mention Springsteen anyway). My point, which you didn't come close to refuting, is that there was a helluva lot of great rock and roll in the 1970s.

[weegee]

I listed some good rock and roll bands from the 1970s (Ramones, Saints, Dictators, even the Gizmos) unfortunately they did not chart, get played on tv shows, press in magazines, or in other ways seep down to me in the 1970s the way that the Beatles DID.

I still put the Beatles above those bands for songwriting skill even if some of it is not "rock".

I know my Sonics, Sparkles, Monks (the ANTIbeatles), Gene Vincent, Link Wray, Pretty Things, and other such bands.

I listened to Foreigner, Steve Miller Band, AC/DC, and such stuff in my mid-school years but I would be hard pressed to consider it noteworthy just because it was a part of my daily consumption. I still remember hearing the Police (Roxanne) and the Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" on the radio as new songs (and seeing some confusion between the names). MTV helped to codify "classic rock" as those stations did "smash or trash" with the "new wave" bands (actually 4 years AFTER new wave) to see whether they should include the new sound in the rotation. No. Now such stations are falling off the airwaves.

I listen to music of all eras (stretching back to the 1920s at times, although I have some things even older).

Best t-shirt I saw in 1979 said "The 50s were Grease, The 60s were Grass, the 70s were Gross". Really is a decade of the "best of times and worst of times". Good in spite of itself. SNL was good but National Lampoon Radio Hour was even better.