Each generation is typically influenced by the impressionable years of their youth. You’ll find influence of the 1960s of carious releases in the 1980s, and so on. The same occurred during the creation of grunge, and the rise of the genre breaking into the mainstream in the early 1990s. Defining grunge artists developed their musical senses during the 1970s, two decades prior. Here are 3 forgotten 70s rock bands that directly inspired the grunge movement of the 90s.
Bay City Rollers
Many wouldn’t immediately assume the Scottish bubblegum pop rock band Bay City Rollers would have any kind of influence on the grunge movement. Oddly enough, it’s true. They rejected the trends of arena rock at the time, offering a different way to create catchy hit songs. Kurt Cobain took note of this, carrying this influence into his songwriting for Nirvana.
In a 1992 interview with Guitar World, Cobain famously stated, “All in all, I think we sound like Bay City Rollers after an assault by Black Sabbath.” Additionally, a sample of the Bay City Rollers’ song “Rock N Roll Love Letter” was found in Cobain’s private audio experiments. This recording later surfaced through the archival project and documentary, Montage Of Heck.
Cheap Trick
Though not entirely forgotten, many have forgotten or have never even heard Cheap Trick‘s darker edge. The band emerged in the late 70s with rock anthems such as “Surrender” and “Dream Police”, while also penning the pop-rock pioneering track “I Want You To Want Me”. Cheap Trick experimented with many different variations of sound in the mid to late 1970s. They showcased how eclectic the band, especially singer Robin Zander, could be.
Their influence on defining grunge bands can be heard on tracks such as “Auf Wiedersehen”, “Big Eyes”, and “Stiff Competition”. Particularly, the lyrics of “Auf Wiedersehen” were massively ahead of their time. The song is about the deaths of World War II kamikaze suicide bombers. Many defining grunge bands credited the band as a major influence. Those include Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, and many more.
Sir Lord Baltimore
The New York City trio were pioneers of heavy metal, but subsequently predicted the rise of grunge at the same time. Their stoner rock 1970 debut, Kingdom Come, is an early example of this. They slowed things down in 1971 with their sophomore self-titled album, contrasting with other heavy bands who were producing faster tracks. They famously opened for Black Sabbath at Fillmore East in 1971. Iconic grunge bands such as Soundgarden cited the band as a major influence, using their heavy proto-metal template and expanding on it in the late 80s and 90s.
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