Disco or no disco, real rock thrived. In Jan. 1973 the hard rock band Aerosmith released their debut album Aerosmith, featuring the single Dream On. AKA The Bad Boys from Boston and America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band, members incl. singer ("the Demon of Screamin') Steven Tyler (Steven Victor Tallarico) (1948-), guitarist Anthony Joseph "Joe" Perry (1950-), guitarist Bradford Ernest "Brad" Whitford (1952-), bassist Thomas William "Tom" Hamilton (1951-), and drummer Joseph Michael "Joey" Kramer (1950-). On Mar. 1, 1974 they released album #2 Get Your Wings, featuring the tracks Same Old Song and Dance, and Train Kept A Rollin'. In Apr. 1975 they released album #3 Toys in the Attic, featuring Sweet Emotion and their signature song Walk This Way. On May 3, 1976 they released album #4 Rocks, featuring Back in the Saddle and Last Child. Too bad, drug use dragged the band down until album #10 Pump, released on Sept. 12, 1989, which featured What It Takes, Janie's Got a Gun and Love in an Elevator ("Oh, good morning, Mister Tyler, going dooooown?"). In Apr. 1993 they followed with album #11 Get a Grip, which sold 20M copies (7M in the U.S.), and featured Livin' on the Edge, Cryin', Amazing, and Crazy. Album #12 Nine Lives (Mar. 18, 1997) (#1 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.) featured Nine Lives, Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees), Pink, Hole in My Soul, Full Circle, and Taste of India. The single I Don't Want to Miss A Thing from the 1998 film "Armageddon" went #1 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K. Album #13 Just Push Play (Mar. 9, 2001) (#2 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.) featured Just Push Play, Jaded, and Fly Away from Here.

On Mar. 10, 1973 Pink Floyd's album #8 The Dark Side of the Moon (recorded at Abbey Road Studios) was released, and became a mega-hit, charting for 741 straight weeks until 1988 and selling 45M copies - I know, they benefited from people bored with you know what starts with Duck. Hit tracks incl. Money, and Us and Them. It generated the Dark Side of the Rainbow running rumor that it's really an alternative soundtrack to the 1939 MGM film "The Wizard of Oz". Album #11 (double album) The Wall (Nov. 30, 1979) sold 23M copies, and featured the hits Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?, Comfortably Numb, and Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 ("We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control"). It was adapted into the 1982 film Pink Floyd: The Wall, about Pink, who lost his father in WWII, was abused by his schoolteachers, and led a dysfunctional life.

In Mar. 1973 The Pointer Sisters, Ruth Pointer (1946-), Anita Pointer (1948-), Patricia Eva "Bonnie" Porter (1950-), and June Antoinette Pointer (1953-2006), from Oakland, Calif. released their debut album The Pointer Sisters (#13 in the U.S.), which featured the tracks Wang Dang Doodle, and Yes We Can Can. In Aug. 1974 they released the live album Live at the Opera House after they became the first modern pop group to perform at the Opera House in San Francisco. Album #5 Energy (1978) (#13 in the U.S.) was the first sans Bonnie, leaving Anith, Ruth, and June; it featured Fire (by Bruce Springsteen) (#2 in the U.S.), and Happiness (#40 in the U.S.). Album #7 Special Things (1980) (#34 in the U.S.) featured He's So Shy. Album #8 Black & White (1981) (#13 in the U.S.) featured Slow Hand (#2 in the U.S.), and Should I Do It (#13 in the U.S.). Album #9 So Excited! (July 1983) (#59 in the U.S.) featured So Excited! (#9 in the U.S.), American Music, and I Feel for You (by Prince). Album #10 Break Out (Nov. 6, 1983) (#8 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.) sold 3M copies, becoming their breakthrough, making them big MTV stars; it featured the hit tracks Jump (For My Love), Automatic, and Neutron Dance. Too bad, they started tanking. Album #11 Contact (July 1985) (#25 in the U.S., #34 in the U.K.) featured Dare Me (#15 in the U.S.), Freedom, and Twist My Arm. Album #13 Serious Slammin' (1988) (#152) was the last with longtime producer Richard Perry, and their last album to make the Billboard 200; it featured He Turned Me Out.

On May 25, 1973 English musician-composer Michael Gordon "Mike" Oldfield (1953-) released the album Tubular Bells, which helped launch Virgin Records, founded in 1972 by English entrepreneur Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (1950-) et al. It featured the cool hit instrumental track Tubular Bells, which was used as the theme of the scary 1973 film The Exorcist.

In May 1973 Leland, N.C.-born fiddler-singer Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels (1936-) and his band released the album Honey in the Rock, which featured the hit track Uneasy Rider (#9 in the U.S.). On Apr. 29, 1979 they released the album Million Mile Reflections (#5 in the U.S., #74 in the U.K.), dedicated to Ronnie Van Zant, which featured their big hit The Devil Went Down to Georgia (#3 in the U.S.).

In June 1973 Pascagoula, Miss.-born singer-songwriter James William "Jimmy" Buffett (1946-) released album #3 A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, which featured the tracks He Went to Paris, Grapefruit - Juicy Fruit, and Why Don't We Get Drunk (and Screw). Album #2 Living and Dying in 3/4 Time (Feb. 1974) featured Come Monday (first top-40 single). Album #5 A1A (Dec. 1974), named for Fla. State Road A1A on the Atlantic coast featured A Pirate Looks at Forty. Album #8 Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Altitudes (Jan. 20, 1977) was his biggest hit, and featured Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, and Margaritaville