Setting the Stage: The Cultural and Political Landscape in the Late 1970s

This is part of my Pop Music in the ‘80s series.

Introduction: The World in Transition

As the 1970s drew to a close, the world was at a crossroads. Economic instability, political upheaval, and cultural shifts were redefining societies across the globe. As a reflection of society, pop music was showcasing these changes in dramatic fashion. Disco was declared dead. The punk movement was losing steam. New underground sounds were emerging. The stage was being set for the eclectic and transformative music of the 1980s.

While the decade ahead would be defined by excess, reinvention, and technology, the late ‘70s were a time of reckoning—a bridge between the post-war idealism of the ‘50s and ‘60s and the globally interconnected consumer-driven spectacle of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Economic and Political Upheaval: A Decade of Uncertainty

By the late 1970s, econom…