Suggesting the tide started to ebb after that doesn't, however, imply a lack of interesting new music. Many of those who were signed to record contracts were still in the process of figuring out what worked, and there was still some room for exploration. While Dylan went off the boil after The Basement Tapes and John Wesley Harding, The Band pointed one way forward. The quest for the New Dylan gave us a wave of singer-songwriters including Randy Newman, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Warren Zevon. Players with serious musical chops veered off into Progressive avenues though there was a tendency towards excess as things became increasingly cerebral. At the other extreme, a return to the roots delivered some quality blues and R&B as those who'd been around for a while looked for a niche to occupy. In between the two, as new expressions of Teenage Noise emerged, many of them spangled and glittered, there was still room for Quality Pop. There always is, and 10cc delivered some of the best.
The search for a niche to survive in gave us the London pub rock scene, and the prototypes of what became New York Punk, and the basis for the next explosion around 1977. I could take or leave the Sex Pistols, and it took a while to catch The Clash, but Dr Feelgood had established a prototype and delivered the capital that kicked off Stiff Records. That, in turn, gave us a new wave of interesting material as people who'd been around for a couple of years suddenly had commercial potential. Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, Ian Dury and, most significantly, Elvis Costello aren't the only examples, but those names will do for now.
That, more or less, has been the way things have gone ever since. As the people in the industry find something new to sell, there's an initial explosion that delivers something that may be of interest. From there, as they figure out how to monetise the Next Big Thing things tend to become formulaic.
That doesn't mean there's nothing of interest. It's more a case of needing to dig to find the interesting stuff and backtracking to fill in the gaps. Record companies helpfully manage to repackage almost everything you've bought so you can buy it again, which is another reason for the reformatting of Hughesy's music pages. I need a way to keep track of things, sort out what to chase down next, and a reminder of gaps that ned to be filled.
And while the various other bits of writing, the Rants, Reminiscences, Recollections and such have all been relocated and reworked, the focus from here on is towards discography and (briefer) reviews.
And keeping track of things. We always need to keep track of things.