1970’s Background
In the 1970’s one music genre was dominating the industry: Rock. To say that nothing happened in the 1970’s would be a blatant lie with the Watergate scandal, the environmental movement, anti-war movement, etc. The point is that the 1970’s was a moment of change and leading that change was the rebellious genre of Rock.
The King of the Castle
In 1970, a band named Deep Purple would go on to release a song by the name of “Speed King”. A fast-paced hard rock song that would come to be one of the band’s most popular songs. After the release of Speed King, it became almost essential that the band play the song at every stage they played at. While this song would go on to boost the band’s popularity, one can only go so long before getting tired of always being known as the “Speed King” band. The public would begin to think about the song before even thinking about the band that had made it. The band would begin to despise being known as “the band that made Speed King,” which was understandable considering the fact that the song that shot them into popularity had multiple references to other songs, making the song not feel original and true to the band. The identity of the band was being taken over by the popularity of one song and the band wanted to change that.
The New Star
The band wanted to take back its identity and remake the song that had taken it over. In 1972, the band would release the song, “Highway Star”. This song was completely new, with no borrowed lyrics, no references to any other songs, and completely written and sung entirely by the band. The song was an instant hit. The band was finally recognized for the talent they had and was no longer known as the Speed King band. The public was changing its view of the band and the band formed a new identity: an identity that would not be formed through the public’s eye, but by the band itself.
The Band of Kings and Stars
In short, the band experienced a double identity because of the release of the song Speed King and experienced what it was like for the public to label its identity. The band fixed its double identity by releasing a new original song that they could say was original and completely theirs.