Seventies: The Sights, Sounds and Ideas of a Brilliant Decade

When people think of culture in the 1970s they usually conjure up a confetti of kitsch, a jumble of disposable trash in which pet rocks vie for space with the Partridge Family to the tune of the Bay City Rollers. It was, so the received wisdom goes, the decade that taste forgot, a cultural wasteland compared to the decade that preceded it or those that have followed it. Not so, as Howard Sounes argues brilliantly and convincingly in this breathtaking tour of a decade's cultural endeavour. The 1970s may have had flares and big hair, but it also had Martin Scorsese, Lou Reed, David Hockney, Iris Murdoch, Jack Nicholson, David Bowie, John Updike, Diane Arbus, Monty Python, Richard Rogers -- and, of course, Snoopy. Weaving the stories of these and many other key figures together in a mesmerising and compelling mosaic, Howard Sounes shows why their contributions had such resonance at the time and why they still retain their cachet now. In doing so he completely re-invents the reputation of a decade, revealing the 1970s to be far richer and more significant in the shaping of the twenty-first-century world than we could have imagined.

‘[This] enjoyable new book ... sets out to cast the 1970s in a new light, ‘an important and worthwhile decade in the arts’, crammed with ‘exciting new books’, ‘outstanding films’, and ‘some of the best rock music and television ever made’ ... Sounes’s 28 carefully researched chapters cover subjects as diverse as David Hockney, Germaine Greer, Lou Reed, the Pompidou Centre and the films of Woody Allen ... a thoroughly enjoyable read’
Sunday Times 23/06

‘My knowledge of the decade has been enriched’
Evening Standard 25/7
‘Of all the tasks revisionists could set themselves, rehabilitating the Seventies is the toughest. The Middle East war, the oil crisis, the rise of the far right and far left, Arab terrorism, inflation, the strikes and the power cuts make it a hard product to sell. Howard Sounes, author of Seventies: The Sights, Sounds and Ideas of a Brilliant Decade, has done what more spineless authors would have shied from and produced an exuberant celebration of a decade which gave us 'modern classics' in film, television, architecture, painting and sculpture...The Seventies is a well-written account of the making of high and popular art. He is surely right to praise a time when Hollywood allowed Bob Rafelson, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese to make films for grown-ups. It seems obvious to me that David Hockney, whose work he celebrates, is in a different league to the puffed-up and banal 'Young British Artists' of today. And, as he says, Monty Python was shockingly original, punk was the last explosion of rock and Jorn Utzon's Sydney Opera House was that rarity: a modern building the public loved’
Observer 6/8

‘Sounes seeks to rehabilitate, or rather celebrate, the decade, with a whirlwind tour of memorable Seventies cinema, art, pop music, architecture, TV and literature. His thesis is clear: disregard Showaddywaddy, if you can, and remember the stuff that counted’
Critic's Choice, Daily Mail 4/8

‘In supporting his belief that the Seventies were uniquely rich, Sounes has assembled some fascinating material, much from his own original research’
The Times 6/8

'Vivacious and enjoyable new book about the culture of the Seventies'
Rupert Christiansen, The Spectator 5/8
‘Sounes is diligent and informed, whether discussing Apocalypse Now, Peanuts or Richard Rogers's design philosophy for the Pompidou Centre, and the book works as a valuable counter-balance to Stuart Maconie on Channel 4 giggling about space hoppers for the 417th time’
Guardian 22/7

‘Alighting on islands of excellence, ranging from architecture, literature and photography to rock, film and cartoon, he aims to demonstrate that “the decade that taste forgot” was not crap but fab. It’s difficult to quibble with his selections. His library shelves groan with Iris Murdoch, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Norman Mailer; his art gallery displays work by Gilbert & George, Andy Warhol, David Hockney; his rock stage showcases David Bowie, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, The Sex Pistols; on his big and small screens we find Apocalypse Now, Jaws, The Godfather, Monty Python’
Independent 11/8

‘While much is familiar, Sounes does occasionally slalom off-piste and it’s here, in breaking new, or at least, less well-worn, territory, that Sounes comes into his own’
Sunday Telegraph 13/8

‘This book...provides a series of vignettes...about the making of various 1970s artworks... A deeply eccentric book’
Telegraph 12/8
'Sounes is most excited by films...he offers juicy background stories about each production...irresistible...provocative and interesting' - MAIL ON SUNDAY (Book of the Week) 20/8
'Seventies is refreshingly free from excessive theorising, focusing instead on significant personalities and works in short chapters...Sounes' final chapters cannot help having an elegiac feel about them. This is a perfect book for an 18-year-old nephew or niece who loves Johnny Depp and Franz Ferdinand and wonders what the fuss about the old days is about' - FINANCIAL TIMES MAGAZINE 19/8
‘The Wonder Years – If you remember the sixties, you weren’t there. If you remember the seventies, you wish you hadn’t been... Nonsense, argues Howard Sounes’
London in the Seventies feature
London Magazine, November issue

'Sounes rides to the rescue of the 'decade taste forgot' to remind us that it wasn't just flares and The Bay City Rollers but also Lou Reed, David Hockney, David Bowie and the Pythons. Buy it for your parents and give them back some self-esteem'
Daily Mail Christmas Books 8/12

'An enthusiastic celebration of the art, films and music of the beige age'
Daily Telegraph Christmas Books 9/12
'The decade that taster forgot is explored in this celebration of its arts, films and music. More than a time of Showaddywaddy, pet rocks, big hair and outrageous trousers, Sounes reveals the role the Seventies played in shaping the 21st century'
Express 22/6
‘A great school textbook on the brown and orange era, though; Sounes's enthusiasm is never faked’ Guardian 21/7
‘Sounes’s ambitious survey of 1970’s culture is not a nostalgic trawl through our collective memory of Chopper bikes and Space Hoppers, nor is it a social history. Instead, it celebrates the decade’s achievements in music, books, films and even architecture’
Sunday Times Magazine 12/08
'Well-researched and full of fascinating details, this is one of those books which leaves you feeling smarter than you thought you were'
Record Collector Oct '07