Irrelevant. What was going on around of them has no influence on their abilities to be interesting, or to lose focus.
Really? when I was growing up in the 70s we had 3 TV stations: CBS, NBC and ABC, (ok, 4 with PBS if you were a nerd or Sesame Street fan). Each one got "about" 1/3 of the viewership. Now there are a bazillion stations.
It has nothing to do with holding interest, it has to do with an audience having other viable options available.
In terms of musical interest around 1970, you would look for your inspiration from Clapton, Beck, Hendrix, Page, Keef, Townshend, and a *handful* of others (please don't shoot me if I left 3 or 4 off the list) **
** EDIT: I was only referrring to 60s influences obviously there was the whole 1950s birth of rock and roll (Chuck, Buddy Holly, and so on)
By the late 70s hundreds and hundreds of bands came and went, some stayed on the scene. This was when Eddie had only arrived along with countless other 2nd / 3rd generation influences after the 60s wave