"Sounds of the Seventies" was first issued in the summer of 1989, with the first album covering 1970. As was the case with Time-Life's other series, "Sounds of the Seventies" was advertised in television and magazine
advertisements. The series was available by subscription (by calling a
1-800 number); those who purchased the series in that fashion received a new volume roughly every other month (on the format of their choice), and had the option of keeping the volumes they wanted. Each volume was also offered for individual sale. When the series was fully issued, a customer could purchase the entire series at once (or a group of albums, as packaged by Time-Life as part of a promotion), often at a discounted price. New volumes in the original series continued to be issued through 1994, the final one being a volume titled
Sounds of the Seventies: Celebration, which included several tracks from the early 1980s; that final volume was soon retitled and disconnected from the series. The series resumed in 1996 with at least 11 more volumes—including several dance- and disco-intensive albums—issued through 1999. In addition, a volume featuring television theme songs from the 1970s was also released. Time-Life continued to offer the complete "Sounds of the Seventies" through the early-2000s (decade), after which it was replaced by various other series. One of those series is titled "Sounds of the 70s," issued in 2010 as a single 10-CD, 198-song package and which remains available for purchase. The track lineup of the current series is identical to the original 1970–1979 volumes of "Sounds of the Seventies." In 1999, Time-Life issued a "budget" box set,
Sounds of the Seventies: Greatest Hits, containing three CDs or cassettes of 12 songs each, for retail sale. ==The series==