6.760 minSeason 1 • Episode 8
LatestAfter the breakup of the Beatles, popular music exploded into a variety of new formats and genres as artists including Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Donna Summer, The Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, The Talking Heads and hosts of others reshaped the art form. Hear from Mick Fleetwood, Questlove, Nelson George, and Giorgio Moroder.
A documentary series focusing on the ongoing Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, evolving music industry, the Iran Hostage Crisis, the sexual revolution, and the rise of foreign and domestic terrorism.
Direction
Hanks and Goetzman package trauma as prestige entertainment
Editing
Archival footage cuts hit harder than scripted drama
Production
Licensed music budget probably exceeded some episode budgets
Creators
Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hanks personally narrates and appears on camera, rare for his documentary work — he was obsessed with making the 70s 'feel lived in' rather than academic.
The series premiered on CNN in 2015, deliberately counter-programming against manufactured 70s nostalgia like 'Vinyl' and 'That 70s Show' — it's basically Hanks yelling 'YOU WEREN'T THERE.'
US
