THE FORMATIVE YEARS PART I
The ’70s were an interesting time to be a young kid. Ahhhh, the sights, the sounds…the smells. I remember as if it were only yesterday…(record scratch). Wait! This might be true for my older siblings, but I was only seven when the decade closed. As such, most of what pass for memories probably more realistically fall into the category of brief, vivid impressions, really…
Whatever. The ’70s were awesome! Humor me for a bit.
summarizing The ’70s
Digging back through a minefield of repression, I recall the omnipresence of olive green-yellow-orange-brown earth tones. Everything seemed dirtier, somehow: sun-soaked in a haze of air pollution; perma-stained a grimy nicotine-maize. Fashions were appallingly tacky and everyone’s hair was at least a little bit longer.
The existential crises of the times played out in pop culture as revisionist romanticism of an idealized 1950s America (Happy Days; Grease; Sha Na Na) clashed with paranoid fears of technology and the future (Planet of the Apes; Westworld; Logan’s Run). Oh yeah… And there was that Disco thing, too…
At the end of the decade, portions of society increasingly (sometimes brutally) rejected selected ’70s touchstones for being criminally uncool. But what did I know or care? I was simultaneously processing a kaleidoscopic barrage of disparate sights and sounds with, as yet, unbiased eyes and ears. Overwhelmed by curiosity and the newness of everything, how could I be much of a cynic about anything.
how I experienced the ’70s
In short, I sum-up my personal account of the decade thusly: Dr. Seuss, Mego, monster movies, Lite Brite, Wheaties, cartoons, Krofft productions, M.A.S.H., and Star Wars; John-Boy, the Brady Bunch, schmaltzy variety shows, “the agony of defeat”, Farrah hair, Kiss, and ABBA.
Digging Deeper
My sheltered indoctrination into the world occurred in the pocket universe that was my parent’s home via media that, just as often as not, hailed from the preceding decades.
Early morning experiences were defined by the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen, industrial-size boxes of Cheerios, and J.P. McCarthy on “The Great Voice of the Great Lakes,” AM 760 WJR – once a lightly conservative mix of news, commentary, and vanilla, awkwardly cropped music – on the radio.
Before the cable/home video revolution, television as a popular medium had only functionally existed for around 25 years. Further, we only had three networks, PBS, and a small handful of indie channels to deliver content. The net effect of having fewer outlets was that all viewers consumed a dizzyingly compressed full-history of 20th century pop-media. One never knew what era might be represented next when switching channels… Would it be the ’50s (I Love Lucy)? The ’70s (Partridge Family)? The ’30…the ’40s (Little Rascals)? No one knew and no one cared. It was all good.
Daily Routines
My daily viewing routines covered a lot of ground. In the mornings, I watched Sesame Street, Popeye cartoons, and the Gong Show. Early afternoons typically involved a nap and/or watching Bill Kennedy at the Movies with Mom. Mid-late afternoons meant Bugs Bunny, Bullwinkle and ’60s reruns (The Munsters; Leave It to Beaver; Batman; Lost In Space). Capping things off in the evenings between dinner and bedtime, I caught an hour of family fare (Little House On the Prairie), variety shows (the Muppets), or adventure (Six Million Dollar Man).
Being a little kid, I always did other things while the TV was on, of course. Drawing superheroes (on any available surface) and sneaking snacks (shhhhhhh). I often bounced up randomly to (figuratively) pop open cans of spinach for extra strength. Threw on capes to act out fight scenes (“KAPOW!”) and fly (run) full speed through the house (whooshing” sounds). I climbed the stairs like Spidey and jumped unnaturally long distances (“buh buh buh buh na na na na“). On some occasions, I even beamed down to strange new worlds (“I’m a KID, not BRAIN surgeon!”).
Looking back, the best part of threatening the structural integrity of the house with the power of serious play may have been aping sound-effects and vocalizing theme music. “Proper” lessons, these were not, but these shows exposed me to a world of sound. I intuitively learned a lot about tone and dynamics by attempting to mimic what I heard and, in the process, developed control of a decent vocal range and ear for music. Sure, Pavarotti never lost work because of me, nor did I go on to be some great musician. But I remain grateful for those experiences all the same.
What’s Going on (Around the house)
I recall Mom singing Teresa Brewer and Doris Day songs around the house while doing ALL the many things that busy house Mom’s do. Dad crooned assorted “big band” era tunes while cleaning up for bowling nights. My older siblings spun borrowed Beatles and Beach Boys 45’s on the family hi-fi. Using yarn for strings, my eldest sister made me a corrugated cardboard guitar in the shape of the Monkees logo. My older brother recorded mix-tapes from our local rock oldies station AM 560 “Honey Radio“ and played “Surfin’ Bird” just to see me fall down laughing.
The house was incredibly drafty, so my weekly winter Saturday morning cartoons ritual was, at times, amended to include huddling under an afghan with my younger sister while we bogarted the living room heat register. Brrrr! No matter how disposable the cartoons generally were, almost all had themes that burrowed into the inner recesses my brain.
Once in a while, I devoted a day to lounging and listening to albums. I liked Peter Pan brand 45 rpm kiddie story records and LP’s like Rocking Horse Players’ Peter and the Wolf. Non-kid-specific favorites included Lawrence Welk’s Baby Elephant Walk, Herb Alpert’s Whipped Cream and Other Delights, and K-tel’s Pure Gold. I also listened to the Goldfinger, Saturday Night Fever, Fantasia and Star Wars movie soundtracks and examined every sleeve down to the last detail of each worn corner.
What’s Going on (On the Car Stereo)
I remember laying down in the back seat of the family wagon (or was it the black Chevy…), meditatively listening as sweetly melodic music played over the stereo. Don’t judge – this was back in the day before seat belts were mandatory. It’s hard to say now exactly what songs were playing in those moments but some of my favorite mellow jams from that period include “What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye), “Livin’ Thing” (ELO), “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” (Stevie Wonder), “Do You Know the Way to San Jose“ (Dionne Warwick,), and “Saturday In the Park” (Chicago). Good times.
TV c. 1978 BC (before cable)
Speaking again of the age before home video and “on demand,” holiday shows and movies played once annually. If missed, that was that until the next year. CBS ran Peanuts cartoons like clockwork three times a year. Classic Disney films (Mary Poppins; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) regularly rotated-in on NBC. Christmas time meant Rankin & Bass Animagic specials. ABC typically fit-in Bond films at least once a month. Networks ran epic Biblical films (Ten Commandments; Greatest Story Ever Told) on Easter and Christmas.
Big Hollywood musicals were regarded as special events. The Wizard of Oz aired once a year like clockwork. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was an annual tradition at my elementary school. Parent-friendly musicals like Singin’ In the Rain, the Sound of Music, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers stand out as well.
MUSIC ON TV IN THE ’70S
When I discovered that favored musical acts were scheduled to appear on TV, my instinct was to stop the world so as to not accidentally miss them. As I mentioned earlier, these were the “dark times” – long before streaming media… There were no second chances to see that sort of thing.
Excepting the occasions when Frank Sinatra and/or other old Hollywood heavyweights appeared on TV variety shows, musical guests were always held back until the last segment. So, when Paul McCartney & Wings appeared on the MDA Telethon, I monitored the clock and waited them out. When Blondie performed on the Mike Douglas Show, I watched the ENTIRE show so as to ensure no mistakes were made. The excitement was just to great to take any chances.
Yes, the setting was very conventional (square). But a varied enough array of impactful visual and aural information got through, stimulating my imagination and leaving me wanting more.
To be continued in…