15 Underrated Bands of the 1970s
Some bands can sell millions of copies of albums, sell out countless stadiums on tour, and achieve worldwide superstardom. Then some bands are only known by the rock’n’roll intelligentsia, a few clued-in fans, and the much more popular bands that come in their wake.
These bands fall into the latter category. During their prime in the 1970s, these 15 collectives didn’t quite get the recognition, or the fandom, that they deserved. There’s a myriad of reasons why that’s so — bad marketing, bad timing, or they were just too progressive for the times they were in — but whatever the reason, these bands are getting their long-overdue flowers now.
Turn on the record player and see if you can remember when these bands were making their way through pop culture history.
1. Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy lead singer Phil Lynott made history as the first Black Irishman that achieved commercial success in mainstream music. However, Thin Lizzy was never as big as they could have been during their prime. Though they had a hit in the United States with “The Boys Are Back In Town,” they never achieved the superstar levels that their contemporaries did.
Bands like Metallica and Alice in Chains cited Thin Lizzy as a prominent influence on their careers. Notably, Metallica covered “Whiskey in the Jar” for their Garage, Inc. album, and drummer Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone (via Nova.de) that Thin Lizzy served as the soundtrack to the 2020 COVID lockdown.
2. The Sweet
The Sweet originally formed in the late 1960s as The Sweetshop, and earned a pop hit with “Funny, Funny” in 1971. Shortly thereafter, though, they changed their name to The Sweet and adopted a much more glam-rock sound, eventually becoming the pioneers of the “hair metal” movement.
Lead singer Brian Connolly’s raucous wail over songs like “Ballroom Blitz,” “Turn It Down,” and “Little Willy” clearly influenced bands like Poison, Motley Crue, and Bon Jovi.
3. Wishbone Ash
Today’s rock fans love hearing dueling guitars on their favorite anthemic tracks. British rock band Wishbone Ash pioneered that sound. In the 1970s, Wishbone Ash had a string of successful albums. Sadly, though, the band is largely forgotten today.
Wishbone Ash is better known for their live performances, especially when they opened for the wildly successful Deep Purple. But bands like Judas Priest, Helloween, and King Crimson all use dueling guitars, especially in their live shows, thanks to their influence.
4. Nazareth
Contrary to popular belief, Nazareth did not get their name from the city in the Middle East where Jesus Christ was born. Rather, the Scottish band derived their name from the first line in “The Weight” by The Band, which refers to “pulling into Nazareth,” a small town in Pennsylvania.
Nazareth, known for their 1970s hits “Hair of the Dog” and “Love Hurts,” continue performing live as of 2024. Spin Magazine credited “Love Hurts” as rock’n’roll’s first-ever power ballad.
5. April Wine
Although Canadian rockers April Wine didn’t have quite enough juice to make it big across the American border, their brand of melodic rock kept their fans fed well in the 1970s. Led by Myles Goodwin, the band had a string of chart-toppers including “You Could Have Been a Lady” and a heart-stirring cover of Elton John’s “Bad Side of the Moon,” which cracked the Top 20 in 1972.
April Wine released 16 albums and earned a string of hits into the late 1980s. The band continued touring until Goodwin died in 2023. CBC critic Craig Northey cited April Wine as the epitome of “Canadiana,” or a sound reflecting the entire Canadian zeitgeist. (Think “Americana” set in the Great White North.)
6. The Dead Boys
In 1975, Stiv Bators, Cheetah Chrome, and a collection of misfits created the Dead Boys, who quickly gained a reputation as one of the rowdiest and most violent bands of the era. In so doing, The Dead Boys became the forefathers of the American punk movement. This movement had distinctly different roots and sounds compared to the British punk movement that was emerging at the same time.
The Dead Boys, fueled by a regular gig at CBGBs, the support of local heroes like Joey Ramone, and plenty of drugs and alcohol, earned a cult following and a permanent place in the punk pantheon. But in 1990, a car in Paris, France, struck Bators and killed him almost instantly. Bators’ ashes were spread over Jim Morrison’s grave, in true punk fashion.
That Devil-may-care attitude, though, didn’t die with Bators. Rather, The Dead Boys were emblematic of a very different New York City — one filled with “dog [waste], garbage, [and] smog,” as Cheetah Chrome infamously recalled — and their punk contemporaries, like Iggy Pop, tipped their collective hats in their honor.
7. Television
The late, great Tom Verlaine — who died in 2023 after a long battle with metastatic prostate cancer — provided the droning vocals over the proto-punk sounds of New York City stalwarts Television. The band, regulars at the notorious CBGB in the 1970s, cultivated a cult following in their adopted hometown by regularly performing at local dives like The Continental and Max’s Kansas City. Their 1977 debut album, Marquee Moon, climbed the Billboard charts, eventually peaking at No. 23 in Sweden.
Their cult fame was propelled by songs like “Venus,” “Guiding Light,” and “The Rocket.”
Verlaine’s passing triggered an outpouring of grief amongst his contemporaries, who waxed poetic about his music’s influence.
“He was my guitar hero at a time when I needed one most,” wrote Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn, on Facebook. “I spent the entire year of 1981 practicing daily to Marquee Moon. Tom Verlaine’s soloing showed me you could be a virtuoso and dangerous at the same time, more [John] Coltrane or Ornette [Coleman] than the arena rockers of the day. It was a revelation.”
8. The Ides of March
The Ides of March had a ground-breaking No. 1 hit in the United States with the song, “Vehicle,” but they never achieved that level of success again. The band is best known for their unique fusion of jazz and rock, and their electrifying live shows, which continue as of 2024.
One of the best-known former members of The Ides of March is Jim Peterik, who found fame as the founder of the 1980s hard rock band Survivor (“Eye of the Tiger”). If for no other reason than that, The Ides of March deserve their flowers as an influential band.
9. REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon released “Can’t Fight This Feeling” in the 1980s, and it quickly became a smash power ballad and the band’s signature track. For that reason, many fans incorrectly believe that REO Speedwagon is a 1980s hair metal band. In reality, REO Speedwagon’s first taste of fame came in the 1970s.
1971’s “157 Riverside Avenue” is a fan-favorite track from that era and sounds very different from the band’s later-known anthems.
10. Poco
After Buffalo Springfield split in 1968, guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina formed Poco, a country rock band with a string of hits and an ever-changing lineup. Poco’s best-known track was 1978’s “Crazy Love,” which hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts.
Poco is also considered the founder of the Southern California country rock sound. Jane’s Addiction (pre-“Been Caught Stealin'”), The Maddox Brothers & Rose, and the burgeoning scene at The Palomino in Hollywood, CA, all owe a debt of gratitude to Poco.
11. UFO
UFO is the only band on this list that transcended genres and decades. Originally forming in 1968, UFO — considered one of the forefathers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal — featured an all-star lineup that included Michael Schenker, who later formed the Michael Schenker Group (MSG) and The Scorpions.
UFO has released 22 studio albums, 14 live recordings, 16 compilation albums, and one album of cover songs throughout their 50-year career. Countless metal bands have cited UFO as an influence, including Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Megadeth. The latter band’s lead singer, Dave Mustaine, even cites Phenomenon as one of Megadeth’s favorite albums of all time.
“I was never really a huge, huge fan of the way Phil Mogg sang, but I loved him as the singer for UFO. To me there was nothing heavier at that time: screaming vocals, shredding guitar, and Pete Way was as dangerous a bass player as there was at that time. Also, UFO was my permission to be the guitar player I wanted to be,” he wrote.
12. The Runaways
If rock fans know the names Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, and Joan Jett today, it’s because of their start in the influential girl-punk group The Runaways. Rock svengali Kim Fowley formed the band in Los Angeles in 1975, but they never achieved mainstream success in the United States. However, they played to sold-out crowds all over Japan and Europe off the strength of such songs as “Hollywood,” “Queens of Noise,” and the cult favorite “Cherry Bomb.”
A biopic about The Runaways was released in 2010 and featured an all-star cast including Riley Keough (Elvis’s granddaughter), Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Scout Taylor-Compton, and Michael Shannon.
Per CBS, The Runaways influenced the subsequent riot grrrl movement, paving the way for bands like L7, Bikini Kill, and Babes in Toyland, to name a few.
13. Triumph
Few Canadian bands delivered on the power guitar anthems quite like Triumph, who had a string of hits in the Great White North like “Lay It on the Line”, “Magic Power”, “Fight the Good Fight” and “World of Fantasy.”
Triumph periodically reunites with its original lineup for one-off shows, with their most recent reunion performance being in 2019 for a three-song mini-performance in Toronto. They were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2008, and reached a whole new generation of international fans when “Lay It On The Line” was included in the video game, Guitar Hero 5.
14. Uriah Heep
If Uriah Heep is nothing else, it is prolific: the band has released 25 studio albums, 20 live albums, 41 compilation albums, and two greatest hits albums. They have sold more than 40 million albums, and released a string of hits in the 1970s like “Gypsy”, “Easy Livin'”, “The Wizard”, “Sweet Lorraine”, and “Stealin’.”
The British band is also one of the pioneers of hard rock, heavy metal, and progressive rock. BLABBERMOUTH claims the band’s most influential decade was between 1970 and 1980, and their live album cemented their legendary status.
15. Mountain
Long Island, NY natives Mountain only had a few hits in their 1970s prime, but their impact on music still resonates today. Perhaps their best-known track is the cowbell-heavy “Mississippi Queen,” which they released in 1970 and remains a staple on classic rock radio.
But “Long Red,” is influential in another way, and in another genre. Over 700 hip-hop songs have sampled and/or interpolated the drum beat in the song, with artists like A Tribe Called Quest, The Game, and EPMD all sampling the track. “99 Problems” by Jay-Z and “The Glory” by Kanye West also feature samples from “Long Red.”
