Youth Culture in the 1970s

The 1970's saw the rapid commercialization of rock music, and by mid-decade there were a spate of bands derisively dubbed "corporate rock" due to the notion that they had been created by record labels to produce simplistic, radio-friendly songs based around cliches rather than meaningful lyrics.

Much of the 1970s fashion styles were influenced by the hippie movement.
Significant fashion trends of the 1970s include:

• Bell-bottomed pants remained popular throughout the decade. These combined with turtle necked shirts and flower-prints to form the characteristic 1970s look. In the later part of the decade, this gave way to three-piece suits, in large part because of the movie "Saturday Night Fever".
• Sideburns were popular for men, as were beards, which had been out of fashion since the 19th century.
• Platform shoes
• Leisure suits
• Mohawk hairstyle was associated with punk subculture

Music was also a huge part of 70s culture. The Rock and Roll genre that took the 60s by storm continued to burgeon and had a great influence on the youth of the decade. All sorts of Rock sub-genres emerged and much of it had adults shaking their heads and wondering what would become of their kids if they kept listening to this loud music with the undistinguishable lyrics.

And at the end of the decade, young adults found a new kind of music and a new way to have fun. Disco music prompted the opening of hundreds of dance clubs around the country, even in small towns but especially in large U.S. cities. Though disco music would disappear by the end of the decade, it would have a huge impact on many aspects of life in the 70s including movies and fashion.

Punk is generally regarded as a defining moment in British cultural history. In its rhetoric and style, punk appeared to encapsulate the socio-economic and political climate of the late 1970s. It seemed to form a distinct youth culture that in turn provoked a media-driven moral panic and prompted notable cultural change. Most significantly, punk appeared to politicise cultural practice at a significant juncture in British history. Its lyrics and iconography commented on society and politics; its approach challenged the prevailing orthodoxies of the music industry; it spawned a samizdat culture that served as an alternative media source of information and exchange; it questioned social and political hierarchies and notions of personal identity