The 70s was fertile ground for simple guitar hooks and catchy rock songs, battling the disco sound that was all too popular with the ‘nonrockers.’ Grand Funk Railroad, Blues Image, and Jay Ferguson were breaking through the dance music to make their mark.
Grand Funk Railroad was Mark Farner, Don Brewer, and Terry Knight (think of this three-man band as an early ZZ Top). They were discovered at the Atlanta Music Festival in 1969, signed, and began selling millions of records.
Jay Ferguson was once a member of Spirit and Jo Jo Gunn before breaking out on his own. His biggest single was a catchy tune called “Thunder Island” released in 1978. The most interesting thing about Jay is not what we know about his solo career, it’s that after that fizzled out he moved into creating and writing soundtracks for Hollywood movies; you know him from the films ‘Terminator’ and theme from TV’s ‘The Office!’
Finally, Blues Image gave rock and roll “Ride Captain Ride” in 1970, their only hit, a top five hit. The band was from Tampa, and what makes this band interesting is that after the breakup, you would eventually find members of the band in Three Dog Night, CSNY, Alice Cooper and Iron Butterfly.