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Can I pretend this is the “Stuff I Can't Stand” thread for just a moment? Thanks, I won’t be this way for long.
I HATED disco. There were plenty of people in the ‘70s who felt that way, and I was one of them. “Disco sucks!” was our rallying cry and I’ll thank you not to remind me of those hideous days ever again.
Okay, that’s it. Rant over.
To be fair, the '70s were all over the map, culturally as well as politically. In '72 we reelected Nixon and a few years later we chased him out of office. Then we (briefly) had Gerald Fudd (I'm sorry, FORD) as our President...then came the rise of Jimmy Carter, the Sunday School Teacher who became President, only to run afoul of the first wave of Muslim Theocracy with the Iran Hostage Crisis at the beginning of the '80s. Culturally, the '70s were the decade in which Fonzie jumped the shark. Of course, the '70s were the decade in which Fonzie was also the epitome of cool. James Bond himself got a little too close to that self same shark in the '70s, so what are you going to do? Musically we went from singer/songwriters early in the decade, to the vapid sweep of disco by the middle of the decade, for which the only possible antidote as the decade closed was the scourge of punk rock. Let that be a lesson to you: get too deeply into Donna Summer and you'll end up with Sid Vicious when the pendulum swings back in the other direction.
As a fan of pop culture, my memories of the decade contain too few good points (mostly around the early and latter years) and too many bad ones (smack dab in the middle.) In terms of comic books, the high points (the work of a few writers like Englehart and Gerber) were brief exceptions in a sea of mediocrity. No, I’m not naming names. I won’t Shooter my mouth off that way…
A few interesting comics related movies came out in the seventies. Christopher Reeves’ immortal rendition of Superman was certainly a high point in that regard. I need to arrange a repeat viewing of Robin Williams’ role as Popeye in the film directed by Robert Altman…and (if only for the songs by Queen and the appearance of Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin) I really, really ought to see Flash Gordon again, if only to see if my opinion has changed much in the intervening decades. (I didn’t like it at the time, but I WAS impressed by Dalton. “This guy might make a good Bond someday” is my memory of my assessment, but hindsight IS 20/20.) Robin W’s Popeye wasn’t very successful at the time…but I kind of liked it. It was a very quirky movie, with a script by Jules Feiffer and a few songs by Harry Nilsson…and Robin’s performance was really fairly understated for him. Maybe that was the problem: if he’d let go a bit more and the film had contained a sense of the anarchy at the heart of E.C. Segar’s original comic strip, the movie might have found more success with the movie going public.
But my favorite cultural creation of the Seventies was probably M*A*S*H the television series. In the first few years, it was decent enough, a TV adaptation of a successful movie adapting a reasonably popular novel…but as the series progressed, it got better and better, achieving a remarkable blend of humor and drama that really has to be seen to be appreciated. Early on, it was fairly predictable, even a bit flawed: Viet Nam era antiestablishment humor set incongruously during the Korean War. But as time went on, the hospital setting and the seriousness of the storylines brought a richer mix of themes than either the film or the novel had ever attempted. Even more surprising for an episodic television show: every time they had to replace a departing actor (usually the kiss of death for weekly TV) the show got stronger! Originally, lead characters Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre were essentially the same voice: both were cynical, antiestablishment humorists; both brilliant, dedicated surgeons; both skirt chasing alcoholics. When the actor cast as Trapper John left the show, his replacement, Mike Farrel playing BJ Hunnicut, could match his skills as a surgeon, humorist, and alcoholic…but he brought a new note to the piece: BJ was also a dedicated family man. The show was actually stronger for the presence of a new actor, as our lead characters were now sympathetic but not entirely similar. The same thing happened two more times, as first the actor playing Colonel Blake, the camp’s commanding officer, and then the actor playing Major Burns (our heroes’ main foil and a true military martinet) departed and were replaced by actors playing stronger, more realistic and yes, more nuanced characters. M*A*S*H was one of the most popular television series of the day, and it’s still in syndication. If you haven’t seen it before, I highly recommend viewing a few episodes!
In the 70's I went to only a couple of discos and basically it was not the kind of music I was really into. I did love dancing and had fun a bit. I did enjoy a few of Donna Summer's hits. I was never into ABBA (I grew to appreciate them more later). Most of my friends were of the "disco sucks" brigade, and I pretty much was, too. I liked rock and some pop, some ballads, but a good deal of disco just well, irritated me. I was not into heavy punk either. So I was trying to tread my rocknroll self through the mire of the 70's, which as a mishmash of things, yes. Ended the decade with the splendid "London Calling" which is still as great as ever.
Oh, a couple more memories from the 70's for me:
- voting age 18
- drinking age 18 (woo hoo!)
- learned quickly that tequila was not my friend, but gin and rum were
- bell bottom, low waist jeans
- long, long hair
- Nixon booted out
- I started my first real job, while attending night college
- additional music: Curtis Mayfield (Superfly)
- additional film and catchphrase: from Network: "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" (very cathartic)
I'd love to hear about growing up in the 70's in the UK or other countries, if anybody else could join us with some of those recollections, that would be splendid. Cheers!
Re: MUSIC of the 70's:
Any dancing queens out there? Any early punks? Anybody want to share some personal recollections? I know we have several more members who grew up in the 70's compared to growing up in the 60's. Don't be shy.
So today I want to mention Bowie, Alice, Grand Funk, and Aerosmith. I enjoyed Bowie and he always had a great voice, besides being theatrical and innovative. I was not completely versed with all of Alice's work, but man did I love School's Out. And I rocked quite a bit with Grand Funk Railroad and Aerosmith. :D
As the 70s started, I became more aware of the music I was listening to. And began to like different stuff to my parents, although one of the earliest 70s albums I had was Bridge Over Troubled Water (which my mum and dad bought for me for christmas), and I really liked, but then on Top of The Pops appeared a corkscrewed-haired elf with glitter on his cheeks and platform shoes on his feet singing about Hot Love. Bam! This was my music, different from my parents taste (and even my older bro), it was called Glam Rock, and as we were just getting use to Bolan along came some alien in a jumpsuit singing about a Starman, and as he looked down the camera lens twirling his finger and singing 'I had to phone someone so I picked on you-oo-oo', a whole generation were hooked! Bowie after years of trying hit the big time, and wow did he hit it. Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars was one of the greatest rock albums ever. Great songs, great cover and on the back, at the bottom left the legend 'play at maximum volume'. Brilliant.
After Glam things went a bit off, novelty records, the Prog crowd getting too up themselves, (I actually like some Prog), and the hideousness of Disco - but just as things were looking bad and I hit mid-teens PUNK exploded onto the scene. Thank F for that! This was the boost that the music industry needed and it caused quite a stir - it wasn't just that your parents didn't get it, the establishment were fearful of the movement and it all came to a head on the Queen's Silver Jubilee! After punk we had post-punk, new romantic and goth, but as the 80s approached things just went downhill again (imo). Never again would I get as excited about music as I had done during the Glam Rock days and the Punk Revolution.
I fell in love with him from the first time I heard his music and when I first saw Marc on TV, I wanted to jump into the TV and grab him. I have hardly ever felt this strong an attraction to a musician or his music (The Beatles comes to mind as just about the other other ones to move me like that). Lucky me, I got to see T. Rex about 1972 (could have been 1973) in concert (yes in little old Florida) - and I was so psyched I practically wanted to tear off my clothes. I watched the concert from on the floor not far from the stage, rocking out to my heart's content. Marc was mesmerizing; the band was spot on, grooving, just explosive. And I remember I nearly lost my hearing; had a loud buzzing in my ears for 3 days. So worth it! :D
I'm happy to hear your experience with music in the 70's. Bowie was amazing, you are right on about that. I think punk was a natural, although at first surprising, evolution. And it seems necessary in retrospect. Disco was like a counterweight, but not really my thing. This was all pre MTV, pre internet days, too.
I'll post more later today, but for now I'll leave you all with a video that is, well, a little bit of an example of glam rock in 1972. Not as great as a live show, but this performance (on Top of the Pops) has tons of early 70's fashion (in the audience, too - the hair! the clothes!), listless (or were they drugged?) girl background dancers (I cannot imagine dancing so listlessly, just going thru the motions, to T. Rex!), and a quite young Elton John on piano. Marc looks fab, though. So I'm choosing this vid to share with everybody today. Here we go ...
I also enjoyed some other artists, too, of course. I will post a little about other groups later today. Anybody else want to chime in with their fav 70's singers/groups, please do! :) Or indeed anything you'd like to write about your experiences from the 70's (not only music).
Meanwhile, I'll post my final vid of Marc Bolan and his band T Rex. Here is a nice rendition of the song @Lancaster007 mentioned, "Hot Love".
By the way, I am halfway through my day (teaching English at a kindergarten) and the entire guitar riff of "Bang A Gong, Get It On" is still going round and round in my head, actually the whole frickin' song. It's like my life's mantra now. ;)
Even a round of "I'm a Little Teapot" and "5 Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" hasn't stopped it from popping right back into my brain. And actually, I'm not complaining. Amazing song, and it clearly means more to my subconscious than I realized. :)>-
Maybe I'm Amazed
Instant Karma
Black Dog
The Needle and the Damage Done
You're So Vain
Walk on the Wild Side
Maggie May
American Pie
Life On Mars
Heroes
Who Are You?
Sweet Home Alabama
Free Bird
Walk This Way
Sweet Emotion
No Woman, No Cry
Diamonds and Rust
Cum On Feel the Noize
Blitzkrieg Bop
Heart of Gold
Bohemian Rhapsody
Radar Love
It's a Long Way to the Top (if you wanna rocknroll)
Born to Run
Superstition
Comfortably Numb
Anarchy in the UK
Rock Lobster
Psycho Killer
Dancing Queen
Heart of Glass
London Calling (yeah, I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I love it and it rounds out the decade for me)
Any discussion of 70's - politics, culture, fashion, or films and music ... all are welcome for a few more days. Cheers!
Though I heard it could be about Warren Beatty, too.
That's one of the few verses I've never been able to get my head around. How could it not be about 'him'as she sings 'you're so vain'. Must be 70ies logic.