Elton John who scored seven consecutive number one LPs in the US in the early seventies. Only The Beatles ever surpassed this feat. ibid.
This was Progressive Rock: 1972 Yes … double albums became triple albums. ibid.
The album sleeve became a symbol of their identity. ibid.
Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon … fourteen years in the Billboard top 200. ibid.
Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells … the album was released in May 1973 … the album upon which Richard Branson built his empire. ibid.
1975 Queen began recording their fourth album – A Night at the Opera. ibid.
‘Best Of’ albums by the Carpenters, the Stylistics and Abba were the the UK’s highest sellers in ’74, ’75 and ’76. ibid.
1975: Frampton Comes Alive! The album became the biggest selling record of 1976 in America, and the biggest selling live rock album of all time. ibid.
Live albums, best of collections and bankable megastars kept the industry growing. ibid.
Polished melodic rock was becoming a feature of the American charts. In 1977 The Eagle’s Hotel California was knocked off the number one spot by the biggest selling album of the year: Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. ibid.
In 1977 The Sex Pistols released their debut album Never Mind the Bollocks. ibid.
1977 also saw debut albums from The Stranglers, The Clash and The Damned. ibid.
In 1979 … record company profits crashed by almost a quarter. ibid.
MTV was launched in 1981 … a new approach to selling music … The era of the video had arrived. ibid.
In 1949 American company RCA Victor introduced the seven-inch vinyl RMP record. The Joy of the Single, BBC 2012
The sound quality of the seven-inch vinyl single was made for radio. ibid.
Slade’s love of the seven-inch would help make them the singles band of the seventies. ibid.
Part of the joy of the single has always been the primitive ritual of putting it on. ibid.
By 1984 the possibilities for the single seemed limitless. ibid.
By 1987 the record industry had been invaded by small shiny things. ibid.
By the ’90s it was the twelve-inch vinyl single that was the darling of the dance floor and the DJ. ibid.
A memory stick isn’t able to hold real memories. ibid.
The northern soul phenomenon was the most exciting underground British club movement of the 1970s. In its heyday white working class youths from the north of England travelled hundreds of miles across the region to dance to obscure black American soul records to the break of dawn. Northern Soul: Living for the Weekend, BBC 2014
Rare vinyl fever was reaching epic proportions. ibid.
Northern soul is attracting a whole new generation. ibid.