The ‘70s: Dazed, Confused and Re-Released : Nostalgia: Labels take advantage of the coming of age of a generation to issue the music of the decade.

The ‘70s: The Beatles broke up; Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Marc Bolan died. Punk came but hardly made a dent in mainstream pop music, which was owned by the Bee Gees, John Denver, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Peter Frampton. We had Partridge Family Values and the Brady Bunch, not the Brady bill. No wonder those of us who came of age in the ‘60s thought it was mostly, well, horrible.

After all, we believed our music, our politics, our world view, would and should dominate culture for the next few decades. We felt sorry, in a smug way, for leaving our younger brothers and sisters the seeds and stems of pop. It wasn’t their fault that we had James Brown in his prime; they had the Osmonds in their, uh, prime.

But the decade having the most impact on today’s styles is not the self-important ‘60s but the derivative ‘70s. “I thought the music of the ‘70s was very honest and vibrant and vital,” Paul Stanley of ‘70s icons Kiss said in a recent interview.

Record companies are taking advantage of the coming of age of the ‘70s generation to issue or reissue piles of music from that decade. Here are some recent evocations of the ‘70s, from A to Z.

AEROSMITH: Older boomers thought they were second-rate Rolling Stones; now children of boomers continue to make this veteran band a growth industry. New product: Columbia Records just released the dozen Aerosmith catalogue albums in special limited collector’s editions, digitally re-mastered from the original tapes. Must haves: “Toys in the Attic” (1975) and “Rocks” (1976). And can we not remember Alice Cooper, now revered as an elder statesman. Recent product: tribute album by obscure punk bands on the Triple X label. An Alice three-CD box is due in March. Even Abba is back, with all its ‘70s hits, on “Gold” (Polydor).

BOWIE: Mr. Ziggy Stardust, the Jean Genie, the Diamond Dog himself. Bowie’s “Ch-ch-changes” through the decade made him rock’s most visible style-setter. New product: “The Singles 1969-1993” (Rykodisc), which consists overwhelmingly of Bowie’s prolific and powerful ‘70s hits. Query: Where are Black Oak Arkansas, Blue Oyster Cult and Bachman-Turner Overdrive boxes?

CBGB: Bowery birthplace of punk rock: Patti Smith, the Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie and others who changed rock history started in this New York City club. And they influenced The Clash, which combined punk’s adrenaline rush and rage at Britain’s economic and spiritual decline. Essential product: “The Clash” and “London Calling.” New product: “Super Black Market Clash” (Epic), with B-sides, dance mixes and other rarities.

DISCO: Much reviled in its time for its shallowness by those who couldn’t dance, it was the music of liberation for blue-collar whites, gays, people of color and jaded celebrities. Much escapist clap-trap (“Boogie Oogie Oogie”?). But much music from “Saturday Night Fever” stands up: Have you listened to the Trammps’ great “Disco Inferno” lately? New product: Rhino’s multivolume “The Disco Years” series; Polygram’s Donna Summer compilation.

EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER: “Progressive” rock combined with classical ambitions results in the most pretentious band of all time. New: “The Return of the Manticore” (Victory). Four CDs! Five hours! Six new recordings, including a new version of their rendition of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”! Much better bet: Brian Eno’s three-CD set, “II Vocal,” which includes most of the diligently creative “rock” recordings that revealed the vision that made Eno an invaluable associate of figures from Bowie to U2.

FUNKADELIC: Crazed blacks with guitars on acid! That was the image courted by George Clinton, who made Funkadelic--the experimental wing of his Parliament/Funkadelic thang--the most exciting, innovative black rock band of the decade. New product: reissues (first time on CD) including “One Nation Under a Groove” and “The Electric Spanking of War Babies.”

GRATEFUL DEAD: It was the Dead’s most productive decade. “Dick’s Picks Volume 1,” a two-CD live official bootleg of a concert taped in Tampa on Dec. 19, 1973, is out now on the band’s own label.

HAYES, ISAAC: A great songwriter (co-author with David Porter of most of Sam and Dave’s hits) such as “Hold On, I’m Comin’ ” in the ‘60s, became one of the first black rock album artists in the ‘70s. His sexy verbal ramblings influenced rappers and quiet-storm disc jockeys; his music for “Shaft” put the “blaxploitation” movie sound track on the map.

ISLEY BROTHERS: The family group that had “Shout” in the ‘50s and “Twist and Shout” in the ‘60s hit its stride in the ‘70s with rock-soul hits “It’s Your Thing” and “That Lady.” They also excavated for, and found, the soul in Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze.” Ignore the new Elektra live album. Go with “The Isley Brothers Story, Volume 2: The T-Neck Years” (Rhino).

JOEL, BILLY? JOHN, ELTON? JACKSON, MICHAEL?: All made their big runs. Joel got into his “New York State of Mind”; Elton was a “Rocket Man”; Michael’s decade-long eminence contained hits with the Jackson Five, solo material (“Ben”), a reunion with his brothers as The Jacksons, and finally, “Off the Wall,” which began his march to “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous.” New product: Joel’s “River of Dreams” (Columbia) and “Shades of Grey” home video. John: “Duets” (MCA). Jackson: The “Dangerous” videos collection.

KISS: Who’da thunk they’d still be big? From early ‘70s heroes to arena rock comic book figures, they’ve kept an army loyal. New product: “Kiss Alive III” (Mercury). A Kiss tribute album with contributions from Anthrax, the Lemonheads and Garth Brooks (yes, Garth Brooks), among others, is due early next year.

LED ZEPPELIN: The dominant band of its era put the heavy in metal and hardened hard rock, all with fluidity, style and a myth-sized image. New product: “The Complete Studio Recordings” (Swan Song), all nine studio albums on 10 CDs, plus bonus tracks.

MARLEY, BOB: With the Wailers, reggae’s ambassador, and the ‘70s were his peak years. Essential product: “Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers” (Tuff Gong/Island).

NUGENT, TED: Proud Michigan son, guitar player, hunter, unabashed carnivore and homophobe. All flash, no fire. Current member of horrible and irrelevant Damn Yankees. New product: “Out of Control” (Epic/Legacy), two CDs of guitar played not with fingers, not with pick, but with ego.

OZZY OSBOURNE: Early in the decade, before starting a triumphant, controversial solo career, he led once-maligned Black Sabbath, now revered as founding fathers of what became grunge. New product: “Live & Loud,” (Epic), two CDs featuring both Sab and solo material.

PINK FLOYD: Britain’s cult psychedelic rockers in the ‘60s became the most popular progressive-art rock band of the ‘70s; “Dark Side of the Moon” (Harvest) went on the charts in 1973 and stayed forever. “The Wall” was their great theatrical extravaganza. Essential product: “Dark Side.” For completists, a Columbia box with all the albums, released last year.

QUEEN: The ‘70s revival may well have been launched by the “Bohemian Rhapsody” sequence in “Wayne’s World,” which made the song a hit and the band’s catalogue multi-platinum. Essential product: “Queen Classics” and “Greatest Hits” (Hollywood).

ROLLING STONES: The near collapse represented by “Goats Head Soup,” “Black and Blue” and the dismayingly self-parodic “Love You Live” suggested they’d stayed at the party too long. However, the decade began with two of their greatest--”Sticky Fingers” (1971) and the immortal “Exile on Main Street” (1972)--and ended with “Some Girls” (1978), an extraordinary return to form. Essential product: those three albums (Rolling Stones Records). Honorable mention: relentlessly adventurous Lou Reed. New product: Velvet Underground: “Live MCMXCIII” (Sire).

SEX PISTOLS: Merely changed the course of history in 1977 with one album. Essential product: “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” (Warner Bros.). Also, Steely Dan, whose blend of cynicism, irony, melody and quirky rhythms made them cult heroes. Their reunion tour was the hot ticket of the summer of ’93. Essential product: “Pretzel Logic,” “Aja,” “Countdown to Ecstasy” (MCA).

TALKING HEADS: Proved that preppy collegiate art students had soul, too. Rock’s most cerebral party animals. Recent product: “Sand in the Vaseline,” (Sire), anthology. Also: T-Rex, the late Marc Bolan’s influential vehicle.

URIAH HEEP: A sort of role model for “Spinal Tap,” although drummer Lee Kerslake survives yet. Recommended product: none.

VILLAGE PEOPLE: “Macho Man” and “Y.M.C.A.” helped gay culture infiltrate the mainstream. “Y.M.C.A.” is featured in “Wayne’s World 2.”

WONDER, STEVIE: He was the bridge between Motown’s singles-oriented ‘60s and the album-oriented modern world. Essential: “Innervisions” (Tamla).

XTC: This was among the brightest and most underrated of British proto-pop bands. Recent product: “Waxworks” (Geffen).

YOUNG, NEIL: Chronicler of the dark side of the hippie dream (“Tonight’s the Night”), country gentleman (“Harvest”), visionary rock and roller (“Rust Never Sleeps”) has stayed so relevant that Spin has just named him Artist of the Year. Recent product: last year’s “Harvest Moon,” follow up to the 1972 chart-topper “Harvest”), and “Unplugged” (Reprise). Coming in March: first CD issue of “Time Fades Away,” “On the Beach,” “American Stars & Bars,” ’70s classics all.

ZZ TOP: Flamboyant Texas boogie trio were regional stars in the ‘70s; MTV made these bearded blues-rockers stars. Essential product: “Six Pack,” the half-dozen ‘70s albums on CD.