The Musical Saga of Judee Sill
A songwriting savant who disappeared into obscurity
Looking back, the music industry in 70s would have us believe it was a sunny time to be alive. Genres like soft rock and disco soared in the late 70s, with feel-good anthems and and optimistic lyrics defining the feeling of a whole era.
The optimism may come in part from the soaring sales and multimedia merchandising that was beginning to transform the music industry into a moneymaking machine. Perhaps at its highest moment of excess, label executives and managers threw hordes of money at lavish tours and up-and-coming artists.
Led Zeppelin and Elton John toured the world on jumbo jets and lived lives of luxury most of us could only imagine. Americans piled into discotheques in droves to boogie down to “Dancing Queen” by Abba or “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” by Andy Gibb.
The more serious side, at least for a time, was relegated to the background.
It’s possible to attribute the good feelings to a lift in spirits after the U.S. exited the Vietnam war in January 1973. The country needed some jubilance after the conflict and strife of the war, and that is exactly what the music industry delivered. Poppy jingles dominated the charts, and there was something stubbornly innocent about the way music touched the listener’s heart.
