There are pop idols and there are musical heroes. Though the expression may be the same, in reality the two are worlds apart. Pop idols for that matter are made, while musical heroes are born. They do not achieve their status by virtue of their looks or image, though that is part of the package. They come in any shape or size, for the bottom line is and will always be their ability to make music, to move or transport one to have a close rapport with the listener.

The pop scene of the 60s and 70s was bursting with vocal groups, solo artists and instrumentalists. Each vied for a place on the charts. Then times were different, the radio (Radio Luxembourg) was the only mode where teenagers could listen to the latest chartbusters, and with the only alternative being the reliable gramophone. ‘Top of the Pops’ was next in line to showcase music artists on TV.

The youth of the 1960 and the 1970s certainly had plenty of heroes to choose from, you had the unforgettable Bob Dylan, The Osmonds; Texan Jim Reeves, Mick Jagger the innocent faces of the American Jackson 5 or the Brit fab four The Beatles. The decades also saw the rise and fall of Jimi Hendrix who choked on his own vomit, Woodstock, ending with The Sex Pistol’s Sid Vicious stabbing his lover to death. It also had its fair share of love affairs the most popular being that of Joan Baez – Dylan, Elvis – Priscilla.

While the list of artists would be endless and omitting a few might cause discomfort to fans, the big names who made real music compared to what is dished out today can never go unnoticed. Legendary '70s music groups Blondie, George Baker Selection. Carly Simon, Olivia Newton-John, Barry Manilow, Air Supply, Elton John, Chicago, Dr. Hook and many more made music that was timeless. No once can forget the balladeer Julio Iglesias who made Latino based tracks that were simply mind blowing. To All the Girls I’ve loved before, Forever and ever, Hey, Feelings, Yours and many more. He still makes music in his hometown while son Enrique not falling on the success of his dad, has a fan following of his own.

The Swedes of ABBA gave the world hits like The Winner takes it all, Super Trouper, Fernando and many more. More than a dozen albums later the world was shocked when differences erupted in the band and each went their separate ways. Many have tried to emulate them, some have even done numerous covers, and more recently a troupe calling themselves ABBA, even managed to make a quick dash to Indian shores and regale audiences on their music. But ABBA was ABBA and surely nothing would come close to the original.

In the same vein you would also have the King of rock and roll – Elvis who lies motionless in Graceland, Memphis Tennessee, while fans the world over swing to hits like Jailhouse Rock, All Shook up, Heartbreak Hotel, King Creole and many others. U2, Sting, Bruce Springsten, swear by Elvis for if not for him they wouldn’t be making music today. His CDs are the most sought after and there could be no music lover who has not listened to one of his songs the most recent being A Little less conversation – Elvis vs. JXL. You also have the ever loving Tom Jones who gave us Delilah, Green Green Grass of Home, Kiss. After a brief sabbatical he came with a vengeance in the nineties with the rocking pop hit Sex Bomb. Keeping with the times, we guess.

Equally famous is Chennai born Arnold George Dorsey better known to the whole world as Engelbert Humperdinck who DJs preferred labeling as ‘The Humper’ when his songs began to climb the charts. He’s the man whose first single Release Me stayed at No. 1 spot for a record 56 consecutive weeks curbing the rise of co – Brits the Beatles’ Penny Lane. His bushy side locks were copied by Elvis, and today Enge as he’s also fondly called who completes four decades in showbiz is till considered the King of Romance for songs like The Last Waltz, There goes my Everything. He still makes music and his visit to India in 2005 for the release of his new album Let there be Love had people shelling off Rs. 7500 for a concert seat. That’s a price you pay for watching a legend that has regaled for over four generations.

We also have the folksy tunes of the brother sister combo The Carpenters, who used to be the opening act for Enge and later hit the big time and found themselves on Top of the World for a few years before biting the dust and disappearing altogether.

Cat Stevens, Dean Martin, Jimmy Paige, ELO, Lou Reed, Frank Zappa to the late seventies Queen, The Who, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, were a legacy of the pop and rock era. There’s no one who can ever forget the folksy nasal sounding Bob Dylan who after over 44 albums is not sitting idle. Recently the man released his latest album Modern Times. At the launch organized by the record label, college going youth and media answered trivia without batting an eyelid and the more courageous even sand a line or two of the legend. The seventies also saw the advent of the mini skirt and the pill being answer to what the youth needed. While Bob Dylan tried his best to proclaim that the answer was Blowing in the Wind, many women found a better answer in the Pill.

But it was the late 70s that really rocked the boat and saw a new sound emerging that came to be known as ‘disco’ From Kool and the Gang, Georgio Moroder to Donna Summers, Gloria Gaynor, Barbara Streisand brought the advent of disco to the world. Van McCoy’s The Hustle brought in line dancing, gowns and other partly pre-choreographed dances; many line dances can be seen in films such as Saturday Night Fever, which also features the Hustle. The Tavares, The Bee Gees produced a string of disco pumping beats like More Than a woman, Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever, Jive Talkin’ for the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever

Many other European artists also recorded disco music; in Germany for instance you had Frank Farian who formed a disco band by the name Boney M around 1975. They had a string of number one hits in a few European countries, which continued into the early 1980s with songs such as Daddy Cool, Brown Girl in the Ring, Rasputin and Rivers of Babylon. Still today, the trademark sound of Boney M is seen as emblematic for late 70's German disco music. Noted music composer of Indian origin Biddu, now a citizen of the UK, also produced his own element of disco pop in the 70s when he discovered diva queen Tina Charles and Carl Douglas who gave the world I love to Love, Dance little lady dance, Dr. Love and Kung Fu Fighting’ and Dance the Kung Fu.

Disco fever reached a peak in South Asia and its vibrations were felt in the Bollywood film ‘Disco Dancer’ in 1982. Mithum Chakraborty played an Indian disco champion who is out to get revenge on P. N. Oberoi (Om Shivpuri), a rich industrialist who once slapped and insulted his mother. The infamous song I am a Disco Dancer had every ingredient of disco with a whole setup of disco stage lighting, flared pants and raised hand dancing.

When MTV, the music video channel, was launched in the US in the summer of 1981, it changed the view of music overnight. The priority now changed from what music looked like, to how it sounded.

The 80s megastars, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Boy George, Prince, Spandua Ballet, Duran Duran, George Michael, Ultravoz, and a host of others had the looks and the style that people were looking for. As for the music, the Eighties witnessed an astounding variety of different styles and genres, from new psychedelia to acid house, electronic disco to death metal, goth rock to hip hop, folk to techno pop. You also had the sound of Pink Floyd playing all around with Another Brick in the Wall, to Queen dishing out Another one bites the Dust or the anthemic I want to break free. The era also had a major collection of one hit wonders, with the result that anyone could become a star in the early 80s as long as they had long, flowing hair, wore layers of mascara and dressed in glamorous party frocks. Gender bending was in. Boy George is the perfect example. The women were not left behind either. They started dressing like men. Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics took cross-dressing so far that in one video she played a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman or the other way round. That aside Britain's top music stars joined together to form Band Aid; producing a single Do They Know It's Christmas? for the starving people of Ethiopia, after which came the Bob Geldof Live Aid concert in Wembley Stadium that became a movement for the song ‘We are the World’. Watched by 1.5 billion people on television, over £50 million was raised to help famine relief in Africa. A similar concert was also held in July 2005 that brought together over a 100 artists, a few who also participated in the show 20 years ago.

Play a select 70s record today and you will find a few music aficionados doing the hustle to popping eyelids around. But then that was the style, which is still loved even today. Its no wonder that many discos and pubs in India still have special vintage theme nights that play bestsellers like Hotel California (Eagles), Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison), Shelter from the Storm (Bob Dylan) to songs by Janis Joplin, Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, Queen and others. The music world has had its share of one hit wonders, super hit makers and those who have come to stay and still make music while there are those who made music and left for their heavenly abode. But it cannot be denied that every minute somewhere in the world, there is a 60s, 70s or 80s song playing at a wedding, a disco, a party, on the radio or as a ring tone on a mobile phone.

-- By Verus Ferreira