This is a general complaint about the 70s on 7 on XM radio. Not that anyone will care much, but I just want it out there in cyberspace (does anyone use that term anymore?)

For the past few months, I’ve been enjoying time with the decade channels on my XM. I was on 50s for several weeks before switching to 60s, got way too tired of Chicken Man and Motormouth making his listeners proclaim their love for his show and really they should just call it the Beatles channel for as much as they focus on the Beatles there. (Not that they aren’t worthy mind you, I lo-o-o-ove the Beatles.)

And now I’m on the 70s, after much resistance. I’ve mentioned my aversion to the 70s before. The clothes, the music… My perception of the decade I was born in is not good, and so I associate 70s stuff with unpleasant memories. Until we started doing Music Madness when I discovered that a great many songs that I love actually came out in the 70s. Go freaking figure. Songs like ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Lights’ and ‘Don’t Bring me Down’ by ELO. I loved those songs and similar ones as well. Listening to the 70s channel has lengthened the list of songs I need to grab on iTunes from that decade. The problem is, the 70s channel neglects whole chunks of the music scene in that decade in favour of the more popular and expected disco shite and Foghat-type stuff.

Oh sure they play the occasional Bowie or Marc Bolan. But just the popular tunes. Bowie has his whole glam era in there that they ignore. Most Glam is ignored on the whole. Also the late 70s brought the birth of punk. Completely ignored. I realise that the channel is playing to your average person’s perception of the 70s (mine included really. Will the 70s ever NOT be associated with disco?) but I believe that if you’re going to tout yourself as a decade channel, you need to play all genres from that decade. Not just the popular stuff.

It doesn’t need to be sprinkled in throughout the day. It would just be weird to go from The Carpenters to The Sex Pistols. But you could totally put together a show dedicated to specific genres. Look how hugely popular Matt the Cat’s Harlem show is. A show dedicated to rhythm and soul music of the 50s. You won’t hear Buddy Holly in there. Why not have a show dedicated to some big music movements from the 70s? Glam and Punk? It wasn’t all about doing lines at 54 back then you know.

/end rant