Break-ups of the 1970s

Many bands got their foot in the door in the 70s while many bands also broke up; the list of break-ups is lengthy, so I chose to cover The Beatles, The Monkees, and Simon & Garfunkel.

The Beatles
The Beatles caught the world by a storm. They began in Britain in the 50s and were popular by the 60s. The name actually came from a dream Lennon had where a man stood on a flaming pie and told him that they were "the Beatles with an 'A.'" They gained the acceptance of the British pop world with fervor and played hundreds of UK concerts then traveled across Europe, creating fans as they went. The Beatles moved on to US concerts, where they were also incredibly famous. Each concert was less than 30 minutes long and attracted a fan-base that no other band could compete with.

Known by all and respected because they remained easy-going and friendly once they were rich, they were the first band to play at a baseball stadium, an act which drew a record-setting number of fans. The fans at all their shows were crazy-- the crowd was usually so loud that most fans couldn't even HEAR The Beatles! Loved, respected, admired, the band went into the studio to record (what became) their last album.

As they entered the studio, the band realized that many of their songs were separate. They were their own individual works, which meant they could record at their leisure and didn't need the rest of the band there. They were moving in different directions. Sadly, the group disbanded, much to the disappointment of all their fans. McCartney and Lennon each got married, Harrison moved across the world, and Starr was writing his own songs and gaining respect as an actor and drummer. The official break-up was in 1970, though the band is still wildly popular today and plans to release their personalized Rock Band game on August 9th, 2009.


The Beatles had many hits. This song, "Hello Goodbye," is now featured in advertisements for Target.

For more information on The Beatles, click here.

The Monkees
This band actually began as a TV show on NBC in 1966. It was a comedy about a 4-person band of slightly out-there guys. They used their real names as the characters and all had musical experience before the show. To promote the show, they released an album, "The Monkees," which was hugely successful (especially the song "Last Train to Clarksville"). The band went on tour before the show even began and performed all music themselves.

Their second album, "More of the Monkees," was produced without their knowledge. It became the top album of 1967, but they demanded that they control their product, especially since some music fans criticized them for not helping with the 2nd album.

They released "Headquarters" where they changed the musical sound plus the nature of their tv show. The show lost steam and ended production at the end of the second season. Because their fame had basically been handed to them, they had few connections in the music industry and were hit pretty hard. They broke up and went their own ways in 1970.

In 1986, MTV ran a 24-hour Monkees marathon with episodes from their TV show, which stirred up a revival tour and record until 1989. The group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame then broke up again.

This song was recently re-done by Smash Mouth for the movie Shrek.


"Last Train to Clarksville" was one of The Monkees first big hits.

For more information on The Monkees, click here.

Simon & Garfunkel
Made up of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, the group was together from 1964 until 1970. They were folk rockers who showed the world that folk rock was a true genre. The duo met in middle school in Queens, New York and eventually began recording together. They became famous with the high school girl crowd and made demos which caught the eye of a recording producer. For these acts, they were named Tom & Jerry. They never found equal success to what their first song had received so they split-- Art went to college to study mathematics and Paul worked as a songwriter, musician, and producers.

Both tried solo acts, but never found success. In 1963 they recorded again, this time under the name Simon & Garfunkel. They created the album "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." in New York City, but it had low sales so they split once again. Art returned to college, while Paul traveled to Europe. There he learned the nature of English folk songs. Intriqued, he wrote deeply lyrical songs that followed the English folk song pattern and found enormous success in British clubs.

Under the impressions of a producer, Simon & Garfunkel used Bob Dylan's method of in-studio back-up band to create more upbeat music and reproduced an earlier song ("The Sound of Silence") which became very successful. Paul returned to the US where they went on tour. Although they used this back-up band sound in studios, on tour they used only Paul's acoustic guitar. Still, people loved and revered them. They found superstardom when they contributed the music for a movie, The Graduate.

Unfortunately, by 1969 they began having problems. Both men were tired from so much touring and Art was getting into acting, something he had always dreamed of. Cast in the film Catch 22, Art was rarely around since filming was in Mexico. Paul was busy working on the album "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and Art recorded his parts when he was on breaks from filming. In 1970, the album was released and won Grammys for the album, title song, and numerous others. There was a short, successful tour for the album and then both pursued solo careers. They did, however, record two more songs together.

Basically, Simon & Garfunkel are the couple that never really break-up... the ones who have their little differences and often break-up but never stay apart for very long. They got back together in the early 80s but perrsonal problems caused another split. Paul traveled to South Africa in 1985 and brought back jive music. In 1993, they toured again with old songs then split peacefully again in 1994. Since then, both have worked on albums and various other projects. They are still friends, but have different goals musically.



For more information on Simon & Garfunkel, click here.

The 1970s brought many new bands and styles of music, but also said goodbye to many bands that were popular in the 60s and early 70s. Three of these bands, The Beatles, The Monkees, and Simon & Garfunkel, influenced music for today and have broken up but their musical legend lives on.

The Beatles picture URL
The Monkees picture URL
Simon & Garfunkel picture URL