A collection of highlights from the great rock and roll revival (c. 1968-1984). In the late 1960s, psyche rock fatigue and a cascade of challenging world events fueled rampant ’50s nostalgia; spurring, among other things, renewed public interest in rock’s earliest styles and innovators.
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Back In The U.S.S.R. (2018 Mix)
Lady Madonna
Elvis Presley – Opening Production Number ('68 Comeback Special)
Cheap Thrills
Abraham, Martin And John
Jerry Lee Lewis – Another Place, Another Time
Summertime Blues (40th Anniversary Version – Live At Leeds)
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Travelin' Band (Official Music Video)
Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds (Official Audio)
Chuck Berry Live 1972 ~ My Ding-a-Ling
I Hear You Knocking
Freedom Blues
Slade – Get Down and Get With It (Slade Alive!) [Official Audio]
THE FORMATIVE YEARS PART III: Horror, fantasy, and science fiction in the ’70s
The 1970s were a renaissance period of sorts for horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Magic, the macabre, and a pervasive fear of the future seeped out of virtually every pore of public consciousness. What a great time to be a kid! I may not have fully understood the awe-inspiring sounds and images emanating from the television at the time, or that they were often conveyances for more meaningful meditations on society, but they had an indelible impact.
THE CYCLICAL NATURE OF INFLUENCES
In the era before home video and cable became common conveniences, media consumption was a different game. As such, my knowledge of the greater world was largely confined to printed works, records, radio, and whatever programming our standard “rabbit ears” could draw into the family television set. But this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The dearth of outlets for contemporary productions meant that I basically absorbed 50 years of Hollywood output by age eight. Because of those experiences and the fact that I’ve existed long enough now to have, at least, twice observed revivals of the pop culture phenomena of my youth, I understand the cyclical nature of influence.
For example, in rock music, a line of influence can be traced from ’70s post punk rock through to the new wave revivals of the last few decades. It works the same way in visual arts, regardless of medium. To that point, creatives in the 1970s were clearly inspired by the horror/fantasy/sci-fi works of the generations that preceded them.
VAMPIRES & WEREWOLVES & BIG LIZARDS IN MY BACKYARD, OH MY!
The ’70s were an amazing time for any kid who had an (unhealthy) interest in movie monsters. Small, medium, and large; bitey, hairy, and fighty; stompy, flighty, and swimmy… There really was something for all tastes.
In the Detroit area, the black and white Universal movies aired on Sir Graves Ghastly‘s Saturday afternoon “creature feature.” Looking back, each series began well enough – faithfully honoring the spirit, if not the plotting, of their source material. Further, making use of light and shadow, rather than blood and guts, the filmmakers effectively provoked scares from castle settings and inventive creature designs. Unfortunately, in time, each series diluted to the point of self-parody after long successions of forced sequels. Really, though…who cares? Quality control? What’s that? I was a little boy. As far as I was concerned, the more monsters they could shoehorn into a single movie the better (House of Frankenstein, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein). If they’d just presented 90 glorious, lightning-filled minutes of monsters cage-fighting in medieval laboratories, that’d been perfect.
THE STUDIO THAT DRIPPED BLOOD
Eventually* I discovered Hammer Studios’ comparatively gruesome, cleavage-filled, color updates of Universal’s monster paradigms (Horror of Dracula; Curse of Frankenstein). Produced over a span of three decades (’50s – ’70s), the film series from “The Studio That Dripped Blood” roughly paralleled the creative paths of Universal’s properties – each starting respectably only to collapse under the weight of overnumerous, ill-conceived and exploitative low-budget sequels. In contrast to their predecessors, however, Hammer made frequent use of classically trained actors and period-appropriate gothic settings. More often than not, the movies starred Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing – known to other nerddoms, respectively, as Sarumon the White and Grand Mof Tarkin.
* Unbeknownst to Mom, who would not have approved.
MONSTERS ARE SUPERHEROES TOO?
In the world of comics, a relaxing of the Comics Code Authority* spurred an explosion of horror comic books. I was only vaguely aware of this development at the time, but all the publishers went all-in. Marvel dropped “superheroes from the crypt” (Morbius; Werewolf By Night; Dracula; Ghost Rider; Frankenstein’s Monster) directly into their established continuity. When Marvel introduced Man-Thing (Savage Tales #1), DC predictably answered with Swamp Thing (House of Secrets #92) a mere 2 months later (“WHAT?!!! They developed a SWAMP monster?!? PREPOSTEROUS! RIDICULOUS! OUTRAGEOUS! We MUST have one!!!”).
* An arch-conservative concern that had been neutering content and imaginations since 1954.
THEY MIGHT BE GIANT MONSTERS
Giant monsters were also very much in-style in the ’70s. Locally, the original black & white King Kong (1933) and Godzilla(1954) films were televised on Saturday afternoon horror blocks. Fun, kid friendly Japanese import giant super-monster slugfests from the ’60s & ’70s (colorGodzilla movies; Ultraman; Johnny Socko and His Flying Robot) ran on weekday afternoons.
In 1976, King Kong returned in a meh update starring Jeff Bridges that traded the original’s once state-of-the-art stop-motion photography for a green-screened dude in a laughably unconvincing gorilla costume. If only the creature effects were the worst of it’s problems… Long-story-short, the De Laurentis‘ paid top dollar for a b-movie that creeped-out audiences everywhere with its pervy, bestial fetishizing of leading lady Jessica Lange.
Anyway, taken altogether, these shows were a big influence. In my hands, all 4-color pens were an excuse to transform into Ultraman. At pools, rivers, and beaches, when not role-playing the classic Marvel superhero Sub-Mariner (“IMPERIOUS REX!”), I imagined myself as Godzilla; rising from the sea to smash buildings, stomp cars, and do mighty battle with other freaky gigantors.
Exploiting the insecurities of a disillusioned populace, American movie studios brought forth disaster films by the gross. Unlike conventional horror/suspense films – where the terrors are derived from the evil that man do and/or supernatural sources, the disaster genre plays on people’s deeply-rooted fears of the reasonably plausible. In place of the bitey undead, the antagonists were burning buildings (The Towering Inferno) and sinking ships (The Poseidon Adventure). Instead of Mummys and invisible men, audiences were plagued by aeronautical mishaps (Airport) and, well, plagues (The Andromeda Strain).
Supernatural threats still abound, though. Vampires and mad scientists never go out of vogue. It’s just that the standard monster tropes (vampires; werewolves; mad scientists) had given a lot of ground to gory demonic possessions (The Exorcist), damaged telekinetic prom queens (Carrie), mutant-huge sharks (Jaws), slasher flicks (Halloween), zombies (Dawn of the Dead), pod people (Invasion of the Body Snatchers)and acid-bleeding bugs from outer space (Alien).
SOMETIMES A FANTASY
Although my personal exposure to swords, sorcery, and the occult was limited, interesting developments were afoot all around.
My earliest impressions of the fantasy genre came by way ’60s reruns; from TV shows like the Munsters, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Addams Family,and H.R.Pufnstuf. Disney’s kid-friendly fantasy films (Pete’s Dragon; Escape to Witch Mountain) played occasionally on Sunday evenings. And, of course, I watched monster movies as often as I could. At some point, works based on author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth grounded series entered the house… I remember the “fotonovel” for Ralph Bakshi‘s 1978 Lord of the Ringsmovie. Right around that same time, my oldest sister received a book of Brothers Hildebrandt paintings. Principally collected from Tolkien calendars (’76-’78), the book also featured Greg Hildebrandt’s disturbing cover artwork from Black Sabbath’s Mob Rules, as well as his poster design for Star Wars. I was intrigued, to say the least.
As I alluded to earlier, J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings found wider audiences via animated mainstream adaptations of The Hobbit (Rankin/Bass) and The Lord of the Rings. Additionally, Tolkien lore wielded great influence in the realm of hard rock music; evident via explicit lyrical references in songs by Led Zeppelin (“Ramble On“; “Misty Mountain Hop“) and Rush (“Rivendell“; “The Necromancer“), among others.
And then we have the absurdist glam-funk heroes Parliament (“Dr. Funkenstein“) and Richard Elfman’s surrealist Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo*. Composed of massive orchestra-like lineups, each group approached fantasy themes though elaborate presentations that bore more resemblance to gothic musical theater than rock and roll. Sadly, I didn’t discover George Clinton/ Parliament-Funkadelic until Red Hot Chili Peppers provided the gateway in the late-’80s. There is a chance, however, that I might have seen the Mystic Knights when they appeared on The Gong Show.
*The pre-fame incarnation of brother Danny Elfman’s Oingo Boingo.
CONCEPTUAL (YOU’RE SO)*
Any cursory examination of 20th century science fiction reveals that all was not well with the world. “Life imitates art” just as art imitates life. Onscreen, while it’s certainly true that most sci-fi adaptations aberrated from their literary sources (Frankenstein; The Time Machine; TheIsland of Doctor Moreau;I Am Legend: The Sentinel), themes relating to the conflicted nature of humanity – it’s impressive native adaptability vs. it’s inherent self-destructive arrogance – remained central.
* Sorry (I’m not sorry) for the obscure references, folks. This is a play on the name of the Adam & The Ants song “Physical (You’re So).” A few years later they released a track called “Picasso Visita el Planeta de los Simios.” I couldn’t resist.
** Good to see some things never change, eh?
INTO THE ATOM AGE
After observing the conceptually light, fun early space explorer-adventurer serials of the ’30s and ’40s (Buck Rogers; Flash Gordon), it’s hard to miss the pattern of xenophobia that enveloped virtually all sci-fi productions post World War II. The ruination of Hiroshima and Nagasaki laid bare the potentially calamitous power of nuclear energy. The atomic age had dawned, wiping away virtually all sanguine curiosity regarding science, technology, and the unknown among the general populace. Everyone feared nuclear energy, but few outside of the scientific community truly understood the systems behind it. So, when ignorant creatives innocently used implausible science as plot devices, the gaping holes in logic usually went unnoticed by the general public.
ENTER THE MARVEL AGE
One benign example of this is the manner by which different forms of radiation were misrepresented in order to provide the foundation for Stan “The Man” Lee‘s Marvel Age of comics (est. 1962). Marvel superheroes were (are) my favorite, but the “science” that bred them is, of course, complete b.s. Lee needed plot conveniences to quickly explain away hero origins and allow stories to cut straight to the action. Therefore, “cosmic rays,” gamma bombs, and radioactive spiders were respectively applied as the source of the Fantastic Four‘s, Hulk‘s, and Spider-Man‘s powers. His readers didn’t know any better, so why not, right?
BAR BARB-ARELLA
In film, however, radiation and the “unknown” were almost universally panned as something to be feared, period. By the 1950s, sci-fi had mostly degenerated into a funereal dirge of joyless space-horror flicks (War of the Worlds; Forbidden Planet; The Thing; The Blob;This Island Earth), botched experiments (The Fly; Tarantula), and irradiated giant monsters (Godzilla; Them!). And then, on the other hand, was 1968’s Barbarella, starring “Hanoi Jane” Fonda. Campy, dumb, and exploitative to it’s core, at least this infamous B-grade space epic provided a much needed reprieve from the wasteland of unpleasant futures that dominated ’70s cinema (THX1130, Silent Running; Logan’s Run; Zardoz).
MOSES VS. THE PLANET OF THE APES
Known mainly to modern audiences through several 21st century attempts by 20th Century Fox* to again cash-in on once lucrative properties, no sci-fi downers that crossed my path in the ’70s had a greater cultural impact than the original Planet of the Apes series.
Depicting a future where lower-primates have evolved to supplant humanity as the alpha inhabitants of Earth, the first movies effectively play as contemplative morality tales. Put aside the base fears at the heart of Planet of the Apes‘ commercial appeal. Pay no mind to the convoluted continuity issues that resulted from stringing the series along a little too far. Sci-fi was merely a vehicle for posing challenging questions about race, inequality, human rights, animal rights, fear, hubris, fascism, war, etc.
I wasn’t even five when first exposed to the Apes series by way of ABC Detroit 7’s weekday afternoon movie, so the deeper subtexts were probably beyond me. No, at that age, the space capsules and talking apes were cool enough. It’s very much like the way ’70s kids voluntarily suffered any amount of lame human drama from Six Million Dollar ManBionic Bigfoot in order to catch even the briefest glimpses of Bionic Bigfoot.
* Since swallowed up by the Disney entertainment cabal.
THE LIGHTER SIDE OF SCI FI
Luckily, the state of sci-fi during that span of time wasn’t a complete bummer. To kids of a certain age, all the doom and gloom paled in comparison to the allure of cool-looking ships, groovy spacesuits, talking robots, nasty beasties, mighty battle, and high adventure.
Because of the newness of the TV medium, execs from the first few decades of American broadcast television were much more prone to roll the dice on truly imaginative content than those operating today. Risks tended toward light fantasy… Sitcoms (Mr. Ed; My Favorite Martian; I Dream of Jeannie), aquatic adventures (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea); and westerns (Wild Wild West). But execs also, on occasion, gave harder-hitting, conceptual science fiction anthologies a chance (The Twilight Zone; The Outer Limits). 1966’s Dark Shadows gave vampires a run at the afternoon soap.
When the original Star Trek ended in 1969, few seriously expected that it’d be a major cultural force after ten years, let alone 60? Cancelled after just three seasons, the show amassed a formidable following in the ’70s via syndication. Taking a loose survey of Star Trek’s legacy in the present day, I found that it has sired, to date, no fewer than nine further television series, thirteen feature films, a Saturday morning cartoon, and endlessparodies.
BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY!
Everyone in my family loved Star Trek except for Dad, of course (“I have imagination…when it makes sense!). The program appealed to youthful imaginations through its use of vibrant color palettes, cool ship designs, nifty and gadgets. Beautiful matte paintings depicting “strange new worlds” were a highlight of every episode. Compelling stories challenged viewers to grow beyond binary notions of right/wrong and good/evil. Stagey (over)acting entertained and exciting music and sound effects accompanied all actions. Above all other considerations, Star Trek taught me about the perks of being a space captain and the norms for responding to potential conflict (HA!).
Whatever I was doing, inside or out, I found a way to land in front of the TV console every weekend evening to watch the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Trekbattle music played in my head when playing outside. Whenever in sufficiently rugged-looking terrain,* I was looking to engage in mortal combat with a Gorn warrior (“Time…to hit…the sides of his…head…with dual…CUPPED HANDS!”). I coveted my brother’s AMT model Enterprise and younger cousin’s Mego dolls. Along with Batman and Bugs Bunny cartoons, it was surely my favorite show. And then…
* Literally, any setting.
MY FIRST STEP INTO A LARGER WORLD
The late ’70s were a dark time for cinemagoers. The evil leaders of corporate media had audiences caged in a relentless, dispiriting cycle of oppressive dystopian futures. Fear had proven profitable. …But all was not lost. Raised in the “Indie” wilds, young rebel director George Lucas emerged to blindside the American film industry with his world-changing, escapist homage to the pure space adventurer serials of yesterday – Star Wars. Not “Episode IV.” Not “A New Hope.” Just…Star Wars.
SURPRISE SUCCESSES
Star Wars debuted on Wednesday, May 25, 1977 to much acclaim. Simply hoping for modest returns on their $10 million investment, and completely oblivious to the fact that they’d produced, arguably, the most influential pop culture phenomena of the late twentieth century, a pessimistic 20th Century Fox opened Star Wars in limited release (32 screens) across the U.S. Much to their surprise, the movie caught fire immediately and, by August, has spread to over a thousand theaters domestically. By the end of ’78, global ticket sales exceeded an unprecedented $400 million (over 1.3 Billion in 2021 U.S. dollars).
Tangentially, later that year, Steven Spielberg’s warm, refreshingly non-fatalistic tale of first contact with alien species – Close Encounters of the Third Kind – was also welcomed by rave reviews and keen public reception.
WHY ALL THE SURPRISED FACES?
Did the studios have sound reason for grossly miscalculating the connection Star Wars and Close Encounters would make with audiences? In hindsight, as a casual observer/enthusiast, I believe their myopic view was more attributable to a general industry-wide distaste for the genre than anything else. Yes, Sci-fi projects were expensive to make but they were profitable. Stanley Kubrick’s much lauded 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) may have initially failed to recoup production costs for MGM, but redeemed itself famously through re-releases starting in ’71. Syndicated episodes of Paramount’sStar Trek TV show were extremely popular throughout the ’70s. FOX’s own Planet of the Apes property did well enough to justify continued exploitation well into the mid-’70s. Obviously, they should have known that there was an audience for epic space stories.
STARFIELD MEMORIES
Despite the profound influence Star Wars had on my kid brain, I’d only just turned 5 during the first few months of its original run and, as such, can’t recall the experience of seeing it in the theaters at that time. Did we see it as a family? Which theater? Nearly forty-five years down the road, none of us can remember. Details regarding my indoctrination to the ways of the force notwithstanding, the movie stuck with me.
Are my earliest memories real or illusory? Are they genuine or simply the result of constant reinforcement courtesy of the Lucasfilmmerchandising machine and innumerable repeat viewings? All that matters is that I was very excited and moved by the experience, which, at best guess, occurred some time before the summer of ’78 – around the time Star Wars stuff began infiltrating the home.
GIVE YOURSELF TO THE POWER OF THE STAR WARS
My full surrender to the ways of the Force wasn’t immediate. Superheroes had held a singular place in my young psyche practically since birth, so turning me was no small feat. Doing so required unrelenting waves of media saturation, family/peer influence, and Star Warsproduct.
On TV, movie and toy promos aired constantly and cast frequently appeared on talk shows. Networks aired tribute variety shows. In 1978, CBS broadcast the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. Highlighted by a cartoon segment that introduced the popular bounty hunter Boba Fett, the otherwise abominable program was immediately disowned by all at Lucasfilm and repressed in collective memory until YouTube came along.
ALONG COMES KENNER
Many major toy companies, failing to recognize Star Wars‘ commercial potential, passed on the toy license until Kenner lucked into it. Initial rollout was rough, though. Due to the lateness of the agreement, failure to anticipate demand, and Lucas’ reluctance to offer reference images ahead of the film’s release, no toys were available for Christmas ’77. Oops! Regardless, sales soared once products began to hit the market in ’78 – exceeding $100 million annually in ’78 and ’79.
Inarguably, Kenner’s greatest innovation was the popularization of 3.75″ action figures. Prior to Star Wars, the only small-scale figures I recall accompanied Fisher Price/Richard Scary playsets and my brother’s Space: 1999Spaceship. More portable and affordable than 8″ (Mego) and 12″ (G.I. Joe) dolls, the smaller figures also more easily accommodated sets and vehicles that matched their scale; making them more optimal for active play and ease of storage.
SEDUCED BY THE POWER OF THE FORCE
My personal mania for collecting Star Wars items started slowly; escalating precipitously as more items found their way into my possession. The very first Star Wars toy to come home may have been the large-size Darth Vader figure. Stray items followed here and there (Escape From Death Star board game; a Play-Doh action set), but Christmas ’78 was the clincher.
My parents didn’t habitually spoil their kids with “stuff” year-round, but always made up for it for birthdays and Christmas. That said, I awoke Christmas morning in 1978 to find a treasure trove of Kenner Star Wars merchandise under the tree… Santa left a Millennium Falcon filled with about 3/4 of all figures available at the time. A large Obi-Wan Kenobi was presented to provide a sparring partner for my large Darth Vader. Supplementary reading material was offered in the form the Star Wars Storybook. That was it. I was hooked.
From then on, all I (mostly) wanted for Christmas, birthdays, and everything in-between, was moreStar Wars swag. I joined the official fan club and read the Bantha Tracks newsletter. Luke Skywalker supplanted Batman, Spider-Man and Captain Kirk as my go-to live-action role-play option. I practiced drawing by sketching freehand studies from figures and trading cards. Between toys, cards, patches, posters, books, and comics, by the time Kenner phased out the original trilogy line in ’85, I’d amassed an impressive collection. I knew kids who had even more, but it was pretty ridiculous.
RUINS
Sadly (hanging head), today, only a few meager artifacts remain of my once proud collection. Some items were sold (many annoyed grunts); some handed-down to younger cousins (many more annoyed grunts). But hey! On the plus side, thanks to comic shows and the internet, I get to gaze longingly at the tragic ruins of other people’s broken Star Wars collections along with Hasbro’s overpriced reproductions.* Awesome.
* That I can’t afford to buy and wouldn’t have space to display even if I could.
THE LONG SHADOW OF THE FORCE
Star Wars‘ cultural presence was constant leading into the 1980 sequel The Empire Strikes Back. Between the original film’s first, lengthy theatrical run, yearly re-releases, advertising, and the regular release of fresh merch, the property never had a chance to fade.
Initially planned as a TV revival, Paramount’s beautiful-looking Star Trek: The Motion Pictureearned points for excellent production values and getting the gang back together. Unfortunately, however, it failed to recapture the excitement of the original show. Plodding along at sub-impulse on a recycled story from the original series, once the introductions were over, the actors had little more to do than pose for reaction shots. Thankfully, Paramount did better at ripping themselves off on the ’82 sequel Wrath of Khan.
ONE LAST STRAY THOUGHT
Sadly, the years after Star Wars appeared were not kind to the Mego brand (World’s Greatest Superheroes). I’ll go into more detail later about my childhood love for Mego, but, for now, suffice to say that they passed on Star Wars. So, scrambling vainly to capture back market share in the wake of Kenner’s newfound dominance, Mego desperately committed to numerous expensive licensing agreements to sell space movie toys kids didn’t want. By 1983, they were bankrupt and out of business. (Pointing derisively) I think the words you’re looking for are “Haa Haa!”
Ok, that wasn’t very nice, but please forgive me. It was a shame to see Mego fold due to the unbelievable string of bad business decisions at the top. I loved those toys and lot of workers lost their livelihoods, but that’s how it usually goes, right? It makes me sad.
Hello all! Once again, my compulsion to show off has taken me way off-track and now I’m collating from an unmanageable mess. As much as I’d like to relate everything I think I know about the 1970s music scene, to try and do so in a single article is simply insane. There’s just simply too darned much ground to cover; metal, prog, and punk will just have to wait*. So, join me now as I reminisce about childhood experiences with the sounds of the ’70s.
* They didn’t enter my life until much, much later anyway.
TV RERUNS in the ’70S
Looking back, one of the things I most appreciate about being a ’70s kid is the variety of programming on TV. And I watched a lot of TV. Yes, outlets were limited, but the bewildering array of sounds and images they broadcast roughly spanned the history of modern music and cinema (1930-1980).
THE CLASSICS
I recall watching a multitude of classic theatrical shorts and full-lengths that dated back to my parent’s youth. On the occasions when I thought to turn on the TV after Mom and Dad’s Friday bowling nights, I caught rough-cut glimpses of Laurel & Hardy and the Three Stooges. Little Rascals/Our Gang and Abbott & Costello movies ran on Sunday mornings before church. Every once in a while, when I was really lucky, I managed to find a Marx Brothers movie.
Vintage black and white Hollywood musicals starring Shirley Temple, the Andrews Sisters, and Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers helped me gain an appreciation for big band jazz orchestras. Old animated Disney cartoons like Snow White, Pinocchio, and Dumbo were always as much fun to hear as they were to watch. Mom and Dad both especially enjoyed color-era MGM musicals like Singin’ in the Rain. The Wizard of Oz was an annual family tradition on-par with Rankin & Bass holiday specials.
MY LIFE IN RERUNS
And then, course, we have the countless hours of old TV reruns I effortlessly absorbed on a daily basis. ’50s situation comedies like I Love Lucy and Leave It to Beaver were ritual afternoon viewing. Family adventure dramas like Davey Crockett and Lassie still aired frequently. The Adventures of Superman and the Lone Ranger reinforced my early interest in costumed heroes.
More than anything, I was exceptionally struck by reruns from the ’60s and early ’70s. Innovative and sometimes daffy sitcoms from that period gave viewers curious scenarios that ranged from talking horses (Mr. Ed) to bumbling super-spies (Get Smart) to WW II POWs (Hogan’s Heroes). Most commonly, however, programmers played with fish-out-of-water scenarios, from displaced city dwellers in humble rural settings (Green Acres) to desert island castaways (Gilligan’s Island). Societal norms/hypocrisies were satirized by high-fantasy comedies like the Munsters, Addams Family, and Bewitched. Some quietly progressive shows (Andy Griffith Show; Brady Bunch; Family Affair) centered around non-traditional families.
MONKEYING AROUND
Few ’60s sitcoms commanded my attention, though, like the Monkees. Equal parts music variety show and surrealistic meta situation comedy, it played like A Hard Days Night meets Monty Python.* The music was catchy and memorable. The lighting-round pace and self-referential bent of the jokes, both visual and narrative, were unbelievable. The quick-quippy chemistry of it’s principal performers – Mickey Dolenz, Davey Jones, Mike Nesmith, and Peter Took – was unlike anything TV would see again until Community arrived in the ’00s. That’s how far ahead of the game they were. How can a scripted show feel so spontaneous? I don’t know, but they nailed it.
* I can’t be the first one to draw that analogy.
CARTOONS AND ADVENTURE SHOWS
Being that I was kid born into the golden age of Saturday Morning Cartoons, animated fare was unsurprisingly consumed by the pound. Streaming didn’t exist yet, but, believe me, I didn’t go wanting… Compilations of classic Popeye, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, and Chilly Willy theatrical shorts aired 7-days a week. Weekday afternoons overflowed with repeats of Marvel Super Heroes, Flintstones, Yogi Bear, and Bullwinkle cartoons.
’60s reruns also included a ton of cool sci-fi/action programming to stimulate young imaginations. The Twilight Zone presented twisted morality tales. Lost In Space and Star Trek adventured into uncharted (and often unfriendly) outer space. The colorful live-action Batman program provided an exciting introduction to the caped crusading comics legend.
MODERN VIEWING
And, of course, I watched tons of contemporary programming. Some of my earliest memories of the ’70 involve morning kids shows like Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room, and Mr. Dressup. PBS fare figured prominently (Sesame Street; Electric Company; Mister Rogers; National Geographic). Saturday mornings meant copious quantities of Hanna Barbara cartoons, Krofft productions, the Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Show, and Fat Albert. Bi-annual Planet of the Apes and Godzilla weeks were an afternoon movie tradition of our local ABC affiliate. In the late ’70s, live-action superheroes (Six Million Dollar Man; Wonder Woman; IncredibleHulk) and space adventures (Battlestar Galactica; Buck Rogers) kept me engaged during prime-time hours.
After bedtime, I remember listening-in on my parent’s viewing choices – shows like M.A.S.H., Three’s Company, Rockford Files, All in the Family, and Taxi. When ABC aired James Bond flicks I usually managed to stick around the living room long enough to eat some popcorn and catch the pre-credits action sequence before being toted off to bed. Yeah, like I said, I watched a lot of TV (sigh).
NOSTALGIA FOR A TIME THAT NEVER EXISTED
The great American hangover that followed the civil rights movement & Vietnam War was often reflected in ‘the’70s media. Many films (All the President’s Men; Deer Hunter; Network) mirrored the citizenry’s growing disillusionment toward once hallowed institutions. Shows like the White Shadow, Good Times, Maude, One Day at a Time, and Diff’rent Strokes considered changing attitudes toward “traditional” societal norms. But all not all media of the day was bent of reminding us how screwed up we were. Some ’70s media merchants, hoping to restore our collective (false) sense of security, trended toward blind nostalgia and “pure” entertainment.
ROCK REDUX
One example of how the entertainment industry romanticized the past is the emergence of rock oldies radio. How do you make people feel good? Play music that reminds them of the time before things went all to hell. You know – the “good ol’ days.”
The nostalgia paradigm is also evident the way contemporary artists persistently referenced past music eras in their work. In keeping with the rock and roll revival, many artists (ELO; Elton John; Billy Joel; Bay City Rollers) mined early rock heroes and styles for inspiration. Don McClean’s “American Pie” – arguably the most nostalgic song of the rock era – famously lamented “the day the music died.”
Other modern artists, betraying much broader influences, called back to earlier popular 20th century forms to inform their work. Harry Nilsson frequently channelled classic Tin Pan Alley songwriters (“1941“). Bette Midler’s cover of the Andrews Sisters’ “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and Stevie Wonder’s tribute to “Sir Duke” exhibited the respective singers fondness for vintage big band jazz orchestras.
NOSTALGIA AT THE MOVIES
Period pieces are nothing unusual in Cinema. Here are some top examples of how nostalgia films played in the 1970s.
Redford’s Romanticizing
Two Robert Redford period pics made waves on the record charts in the early ’70s. First up, the depression-era caper film The Sting reunited Redford with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid co-star Paul Newman. The soundtrack peaked at #1 in four countries while re-popularizing Scott Joplin’s 1902 piano rag “The Entertainer.”
The second film, The Way We Were is a sociopolitical romantic drama set between 1937 and 1959. Topping all accolades garnered by the film, the title track earned composer Marvin Hamlisch an Oscar for best song and scored Barbara Streisand her first #1 pop single. Op! I almost forgot. Streisand also won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in the film.
REMEMBER WHEN ROCK WAS YOUNG
George Lucas’ American Graffiti boasted a killer 4-sided official soundtrack loaded with hits spanning rock’s first ten years.
In a similar vein, John Landis’ raucous 1960s college romp Animal House featured many well-known r&b and garage tracks from the late ’50s-early ’60s (“Shout”; “Louie Louie”).
LET’S DO THE TIME WARP
Subversive naughty-campy cult glam musical comedy Rocky Horror Picture Show is a wild ride. Stitched together from a shopping list of ’50s nostalgia tropes, the movie satirized traditionalist America’s vain pining for simpler days, old-time rock ‘n’ roll, b-grade science fiction movies, and much more.
Grease Is the Word
Grease, starring John Travolta, completed leading lady Olivia Newton-John’s transition from pop-country singer to full-blown mainstream pop superstar. Set in the late ’50s, the “flipped”* re-imagining of Taming of the Shrew features a title song performed by Frankie Valli, a cameo from former teen idol Frankie Avalon, a lengthy appearance by Sha Na Na, and enough ’50s inflected hooks fill a high school gym. …Or a drag strip… Oh, forget it…
* The “good girl” must turn “bad” to get her guy. Real nice.
jailhouse rock
My personal favorite is 1980s The Blues Brothers (another John Landis entry), starring John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. Absolutely packed with classic ’60s r&b/soul standards and covers, the comedy romp also features a who’s who of jazz/blues/soul royalty (Cab Calloway; James Brown; Aretha Franklin; Ray Charles; STAX/Booker T. & the MGs Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn). An absolute classic!
NOSTALGIA ON THE TUBE
A lot of shows on television in the 1970s, new and old, looked backward. Westerns – a staple of network television since the very beginning remained popular in reruns. Holdovers from the ’50s, like Bonanza and Gunsmoke, ran uninterrupted until the early ’70s and then lived on in syndication. What I remember best from that period are reruns of programs that worked modern culture’s more recent interest in science fiction (Wild Wild West) and martial arts (Kung-Fu) into the standard western premise.
Old-fashioned contemporary programs like Little House on the Prairie and Grizzly Adams romanticized frontier/pioneer America. The Waltons reflected on working-class family life during the Great Depression. Wonder Woman’s first season positioned the Amazonian princess in WW II as part of the allied forces efforts to stop Hitler.
Beloved long-lived Korean war dramedy M.A.S.H. mutated the darker, subversive traits of the film that inspired it into a more family-friendly platform for moralizing the physical and psychological hazards of life. Also, in stretching a four-year conflict to eleven, it engaged in a lot of revisionist history. For example – I don’t care if the actors didn’t want to look “square” – professional men, let alone those in the military, did not wear long hair, let alone scruffy mustaches, in the early 1950s.
AYYYYYYYY!
Happy Days was the most influential of all the nostalgic 1970s television shows. Premiering on the heels of American Graffiti and set during the heyday of sock hops, soda fountains, hot rods, and poodle skirts, the show fed the decade’s ’50s craze; complimenting the rise of rock oldies radio and, consequently, helping to extend the rock and roll revival.
Henry Winkler’s Fonzie – originally a background character – became a pop culture icon. Popular character catchphrases became part of the national vernacular (“Sit on it“; “Ayyyyy“). Hoping to repeat Happy Days‘ massive success, ABC used the show to spawn numerous spin-offs. Some of these projects worked (Laverne & Shirley; Mork & Mindy); some not so much (Blansky’s Beauties; Joanie Loves Chachi). Many episodes included musical numbers performed by regular cast members & guests (Frankie Avalon; Suzi Quatro).
Unfortunately, as is very common with programs that outlast their creative peak, Happy Days “jumped the shark” about 3/4 the way through its run. Although the show remained extremely popular as the seasons piled up, it struggled to maintain authenticity. Where it at least once attempted to present a reasonable, if stylized, facsimile of suburban middle-America in the mid-late ’50s, quality control issues led to increasing reliance on gimmicky storytelling devices, the shedding of original cast members, and lax continuity. The clash of contemporary fashions, hairstyles and social content against the show’s time period was just too much. Throw in some f-bombs and moments of random extreme violence and you have a Quentin Tarantino movie.
Nostalgia in Contempoarary Settings
Some shows set in the then-present day romanticized the past as a contrast against the always forward-moving realities of life. Archie Bunker – the eternally frustrated patriarch from All in the Family – vocally opposed the changing times (“Those Were the Days”). The good ol’ boys from Dukes of Hazzard sentimentalized the past by naming their car “General Lee” and painting a Confederate flag on top of the cab.
THAT’S PURE ENTERTAINMENT
Beyond the opaque nostalgia that saturated American media in the ’70s, further evidence confirming the entertainment industry’s move toward pure escapism can be found in a preponderance of TV variety programs that aired during my childhood. I still don’t know why the medium achieved peak popularity at the time. Was it due to honest demand or because it accounted for (seemingly) 2/3 of all available viewing options. No matter. The wide range of programming offered something of interest for all ages and proclivities.
TALK TALK
Before sensationalized shock-talk/reality formats staged a hostile takeover* of daytime TV in the ’80s and ’90s, homemakers (and their non-school aged kids) filled rare gaps in their afternoons with soaps and talk-variety programs.
As is still the case today, the Tonight Show aired late at night, so I have few solid recollections of Johnny Carson in the ’70s. Likewise, Dick Cavett changed networks and time slots often – mostly in the late evening hours. Therefore, my first meaningful experiences with variety/talk formats came via popular, mild-mannered daytime hosts (Mike Douglas; Dinah Shore; Merv Griffin). Like their late-night counterparts, daytime talk shows mixed interview segments and live performances with varying degrees of social commentary and humor. Viewers never knew who would turn up!
* Thank you Phil Donahue.
THANKS FOR THE ’70s MEMORIES
Still very much rooted in vaudevillian tradition, straight variety show formats balanced comedy bits with performance segments. Like a lot of programming in the ’70s, the overall quality of these shows fluctuated wildly. Suffice to say, the odds were good that anyone experiencing their “15 minutes” at any point in that decade had a time slot waiting.
Program frequency ranged between one-offs, annuals, bi-monthly, and series. Squeaky-clean MOR entertainment institutions like Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Andy Williams typically hosted annual Christmas specials. Actor-crooner holdovers from old Hollywood (Dean Martin Show) and former hippies-done-good (Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour) occasionally enjoyed a good run. Regular spots were afforded to comedians who played to broad demographics (Flip Wilson; Paul Lynde). Averaging just under 6 shows annually over a 47-year span, the undisputed king of the variety special – hallowed comedic actor Bob Hope – hosted 272 specials for NBC between 1950 – 1996.
Primarily, though, viewers were just trampled under by a parade of kitschy/schmaltzy, mostly short-lived vehicles for amiable flavors of the day (Tony Orlando & Dawn; Donny & Marie; Captain & Tenille; Sha Na Na).
AND OUR VERY SPECIAL GUESTS
In all the above scenarios, hosts and musical guests alike were generally sexy, if unthreatening, contemporary figures like Olivia Newton-John and Andy Gibb. Veterans of big band pop tradition (Frank Sinatra; Sammy Davis Jr.) turned up frequently. Execs also loved to lean on big names from the golden age of television (Groucho Marx; Milton Berle; George Burns).
In-line with the ’50s revival, early rock acts, such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry, were sometimes deployed to play their hits. However, as I said before, the overwhelming proportion of music figures conscripted were safe choices. As such, musical guests with 1950s roots were typically former teen idols (Paul Anka), pop country sweethearts (Teresa Brewer), and lightweight r&b singers (Chubby Checker) who appealed to (white) conservative, middle-aged, middle-Americans.
Ah one, and ah two, and ah…
Popular live-music-based variety programs of the ’70s seldom entered my sphere. Of course, exceptions occurred, but generally only when I happened to be playing in the living room when they happened to be on. To folks with an ear for saccharine melodies who were born before, or in close proximity-to, World War II (like Mom and Dad; grandparents), the Lawrence Welk Show was their jam. Anyone looking to hear the latest and greatest in rock tuned-in late Friday and Saturday nights to the Midnight Special and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.
By all appearances, early Saturday afternoons appear to have been the agreed upon time to broadcast music shows that intermingled “live”performances by contemporary stars with clips of dancing audience members. Dick Clark’s American Bandstand was laughably obvious at times regarding the practice of having bands mime to a backing track. I’m sure this happened on Soul Train as well, but I’ve been watching videos on YouTube; they at least let James Brown strut his stuff in front his fully functioning band the way the “good foot” intended.
sketch comedy
Variety sketch comedy programs have been a fixture in network television since the beginning; jump-starting countless careers along the way. For example, Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Carl Reiner (Oceans 11), Selma Diamond (Night Court), and Imogene Coca (National Lampoon’s Vacation) all worked on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows in the 1950s.
Keeping the tradition well, some ’70s sketch shows proved to be some of the most influential of all variety programs that aired during that time.
SOCK IT TO ME!
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (’67 – ’73) launched the careers of future movie stars Goldie Hawn and Lillie Tomlin. Further, the show raised the profile of emcee voice actor Gary Owens (Space Ghost), and boosted the careers of character actors Artie Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley, and Richard Dawson.
CBS’ Carol Burnett Show (’67 – ’78) made legitimate stars of TV veterans Burnett (Gary Moore Show), Tim Conway (McHale’s Navy), and Harvey Corman (Blazing Saddles).
Hee Haw (’69 – ’93) introduced Gen X-ers to bluegrass legends Roy Clark and Buck Owen and made “Minnie Pearl” a household name.
The number of careers ignited by Lorne Michael’s Saturday Night Live (1975 – present) and SCTV (’76 – ’84), on the whole, is too long to list here. So I’ll how about I just offer a list of the ones they launched in the 1970s…
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (SNL)
SECOND CITY TELEVISION (SCTV)
Dan Ackroyd John Belushi Chevy Chase Jane Curtain Al Franken Garrett Morris Bill Murray Gilda Radner Paul Shaffer
John Candy Joe Flaherty Andrea Martin Rick Moranis Catherine O’Hara Eugene Levy Harold Ramis Martin Short Dave Thomas
And now for something completely different
I very rarely ever saw the BBCs Monty Python’s Flying Circus (’69 – ’74) as a child. To begin with, the show was far too naughty and delightfully weird/random to suit my parents. What’s more, it was only ever on way past my bedtime after it reached the states. So, my fandom grew slowly in the ’80s. First, through glimpses of random reruns captured from PBS in the ’80s. Then, from gradual familiarity with the Pythons that grew from films like A Fish Called Wanda, Time Bandits, Yellowbeard, and Eric the Viking. And then, finally, clinched with my first viewing of Monty Python and Holy Grail. You always know when fellow Python fans are near when the talk of silly walks, dead parrots, and spam begins. Just brilliant!
muppetsational
The Muppet Show – a personal favorite from my childhood – was the absolute best! Yes, I was extremely young during it’s run, and my bias for Jim Henson’s work on Sesame Street surely figures in my high esteem for the show, but it really was that funny. Kids loved it for the colorful characters and sight-gags! Parents loved it for all the subtle adult in-jokes that sailed right over their kids’ heads! And, in contrast to most modern “family friendly” media, Henson did it all without being overtly crass or smugly speaking above or below his audience’s perceived intelligence level.
Muppet characters were all distinct, nuanced and (figuratively) 3-dimensional. Repeated gags always had enough new angles to prompt fresh laughs (and groans). Guest hosts (Rita Moreno; Big Bird; Alice Cooper; Steve Martin; Loretta Lynn; Edgar Bergan) hailed from diverse enough realms of acclaim to appeal to virtually all generations living at the time. …And their house band had the snazziest name ever (Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem). Great stuff!
COUNTRY GOES POP
Another case that exemplifies nostalgia’s grip on ’70s culture was the ever-presence of country-western music entertainers.
As evidenced by countless screen westerns starring singing cowboys, country music has been a significant player in popular culture since at least the ’30. The influence ebbs and flows in the mainstream, but it’s always there. In the 1960s, a number of singers with southern roots who’d enjoyed success in the ’50s pop/rock scene (Teresa Brewer; Brenda Lee; Jerry Lee Lewis) transitioned to careers as straight-up country artists. Interestingly, the move didn’t just bring rock closer to country; it brought country music full-on into the pop mainstream.
COUNTRY Rock Rising
Right around the same time, the work of ’60s American folk rock icons Bob Dylan, the Byrds, and Grateful Dead also began to explicitly express the country traits that’d always been evident in their music; influencing, in turn, the rising roots rockers that dominated AOR in the ’70s (Allman Brothers; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Eagles).
Disco – arguably the most influential touchstone of 1970s culture – had already sewn itself into the fabric of the world by the time I was out of diapers. Sure, other significant trends were happening, but almost everything in the mainstream had been seduced. Architecture and décor; fashion; TV & film scores (Kojak; Love Boat; Wonder Woman; Charlie’s Angels; Starsky & Hutch/Car Wash; Dirty Harry; Rocky; Xanadu); popular music… All aspects of life seemed to fall to its sway.
Obviously too young to have partaken in the disreputably decadent ’70s club scene, my impressions of disco culture are principally summed up from what I saw on TV. I remember blinking, Technicolor checkerboard dance floors. All women were pretty, bone-skinny, had long, well groomed hair, and wore blousy strapless dresses. All men were smarmy-looking hyper-macho “players” with helmet hair in wide-open, flared-collared leisure suits (man-perm, gold medallion, pinky ring, & porn ‘stache sold separately). …And mirror balls. My GOD the mirror balls.
WITH DISCO COMES WISDOM. EVENTUALLY
God knows I’m guilty of casting stones from time to time. …Especially when seeing and/or hearing things my brain perceives as utter excrement. But I never understood the vitriol of the Demolition that marked the de facto nadir of disco in mid-’79. Well, ok, I understand some of the hate… When thinking back to the embarrassingly tacky, sequin smothered superficiality of the clothes worn by revered, legacy acts (Elvis; Neil Diamond). But this was the world I was born into. This was “normal” for the ’70s. Anyway… Whatever all the insecure white dudes in too-tight blue jeans and Led Zeppelin t-shirts choose to believe, it wasn’t all bad.
My folks liked disco music and were very good dancers, but, with four kids to feed, a mortgage, car payments, and so on, they were too busy “adulting” to stay current with all the latest pop culture trends and worry about being “cool.” If anything, they actually appeared to be willfully devoted to being “uncool.” That said, now firmly (if restlessly) ensconced in middle-age myself, I can look back and relate on a number of levels. 1 – I now see that they were comfortable with who they were and knew what they liked. 2 – What they liked tended to be pretty good when viewed through the wide lens of history. And 3 – I too no longer give two (expletives) about being cool. That ship has sailed.
DISCO’FECTS
As I alluded to earlier, disco had been simmering for few years before it caught fire in the U.S c. 1975. Born of a multitude of forms, it pulsed with Latin polyrhythms and grooved like the black “Moses of soul” (Isaac Hayes). It’s lush sound borrowed from Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” and the symphonic rock of Electric Light Orchestra. Some soul artists who came to be identified with disco, like Earth, Wind, and Fire, complimented deep-in-the-pocket funk bass and drums with full brass sections and, as an added bonus, dressed like Glam rockers.
My Dad has always been a resolute fan of classic, Sinatra-style big band crooners. As such, his response to flamboyant performers is typically rough; falling into the category of “intolerance punctuated by unflattering expletives.” This being said, he sometimes makes exceptions for colorful showmen like Rod Stewart.
Back in the late ’70…I think we were watching Solid Gold… Out bounds Stewart to sing his sellout disco single “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.” For those who don’t know or remember what Stewart was like in those days, he was covered in full animal-prints with spiked-hair that went everywhere. He jumped and hollared like his pants were on fire. This was before hair metal. It was a scene, man. Dad usually can’t tolerate rock and rollers, but there he was – laughing and enjoying the show.
To this day, he still brightens up when we reminisce about “that time we saw that crazy Scottsman… On TV… You know…awwwww (shifting modes to scold himself) c’mon Al, what’s his name!?” Good old Dad (smile).
TAKE THOSE NEW RECORDS OFF THE SHELF
As I mentioned earlier, my parents were older and busy “adulting,” so buying new music wasn’t really a high priority. As such, most of the records filed in the family record cabinet dated to ’60s and earlier. Show tunes; big bands; Herb Alpert; classical recordings; kids stuff… That sort of thing. This being the case, most of the then-current pop music I encountered reached my ears through television and radio rather than the family hi-fi. Notable exceptions did occur, however…
Although not technically “pop,” this record broke the modern classical/popular music barrier as a consequence of Star Wars‘ overwhelming success. At home, it provided a perfect backdrop for activities. Regardless of whether I was playing, drawing, or simply chilling with the album sleeve, I stayed engaged as it played-through. FYI – “Johnny” Williams also composed the music for another childhood favorite sci-fi epic – Lost In Space. Further, after Star Wars, he went on to score virtually every future film by George Lucas and/or Steven Speilberg. In the end, although Williams’ work didn’t change my preference for rock music, it certainly influenced my receptiveness to prog and “true” orchestral forms.
This collection from ’70s compilation kings K-Tel harvested hits from 1976, including “Torn Between Two Lovers,“I’m Your Boogie Man,” and “Right Back Where We Started From.” Truth be told, this 2-disc didn’t impact my musical preferences in any immediate way. But I do recall being exceptionally interested in the album sleeve design. Titled in a large, chunky, rounded faux-neon font, the cover featured pics of contemporary popular artists encased in circular graphic borders against against a backdrop of pyramid-stacked gold bricks. It screams “tacky,” I know, but it was the ’70s. Regardless, the impression left by sleeve pics of Heart, ABBA, Hall & Oates, Linda Rondstadt, and Seals & Crofts has lasted four decades.
Barry Manilow Live, 1977.
Barry Manilow owned easy listening radio in the ’70s but, honestly, there isn’t much I can recall that distinguishes this album. I believe it belonged to my oldest sister and remember the cover. Manilow covered most of his hits. I liked it well enough when it played, but the only song that sticks out is its rendition of “Daybreak.”
Saturday Night Fever Original Movie Soundtrack, 1977
The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was a fixture on my parent’s turntable in the late ’70s. Thus, absorbed by way of countless repetition, it remains permanently etched into the inner-reaches of my consciousness to this day.
Perfectly distilling the virtues of disco*, Fevercollected the best-of-the-best artists working within that style at the time. The Bee Gees – going with their recent rebirth as new-slick-gods-of-the-dance-floor, contributed eight tracks, including “Staying Alive,” “You Should Be Dancing,” and “If I Can’t Have You” – the latter performed by singer-actress Yvonne Elliman. KC & the Sunshine Band, Kool & the Gang, chipped-in songs as well. Interestingly, right around the same time David Shire’s “Night On Disco Mountain” caught my ear, the classical composition it was adapted from – Mussorgsky’s original “A Night on Bald Mountain” – made its way into my consciousness via Disney’s Fantasia. Pretty cool.
Now, regarding the Saturday Night Fever film itself, I agree with my folk’s response of disappointment. But where they were turned off by an unfavorable ratio of bad language vs. dancing and music, I was bored by the shallow story and general absence of likeable, relatable characters. Maybe it plays better to city crowds? I don’t know. Either way, it would’ve likely tanked like so many other disco films if it not for all those glorious tunes.
* Yes, you heard me right – I said “virtues.”
THE MAGIC OF ABBA
ABBA-mania had largely run its course by the time The Magic of ABBA and Super Trooper LPs entered heavy rotation on my parent’s hi-fi in 1980. The anti-disco movement meant nothing within the cultural bubble of my childhood home. Thus, influenced by Mom and Dad’s appreciation for sweet melodies and flowing, danceable rhythms, we enjoyed these records as a family for many years.
However, starting at age 10 (c. ’82-83), my personal preferences began to diverge greatly. My personal journey took me through MTV darlings (Duran Duran), ’70s classic rock/prog (Rush), alternative (Red Hot Chili Peppers), post-punk rock classicists (XTC) and so on. Then, finally, about twenty years ago, I finally came back around again to the favored sounds of my childhood (Beatles). Now, having rediscovered ABBA after several decades of peer-influenced denial, I can admit that their long-term impact has been unquestionable. I get it now. In retrospect, of all the artists stigmatized for lacking substance when the rock “purists” came for everyone’s disco records in ’79, I feel that ABBA deserves a lot better.
ABBA: the Phenomenon
Swedish pop perfectionists ABBA achieved stardom after their Eurovision song winner “Waterloo” swept the globe in 1974. In ’76 they become international pop sensations thanks to the disco inflected hit “Dancing Queen.” Although they never reached the saturation levels in North America that they achieved abroad, I still remember the phenomenon well. Their faces stared at me from posters, magazine racks, t-shirts, toy shelves, binder folders, trading cards boxes. Ads for their concert film, ABBA: the Movie, chased Star Wars promos in newspapers in 1977. New record releases and TV appearances always received maximum hype (Olivia!, ’78; ABBA in Concert, ’80). Being among the first to fully exploit the music video medium, promotional clips for their songs periodically filled gaps in TV programming before the advent of MTV. They were unavoidable.
THIS AIN’T JUST NO DISCO
While generally associated with disco, I observe that ABBA was less a straight dance outfit than a classic girl group-inspired glam/power-pop confection filtered through a “Wall of Sound.” Were they an almost too-varnished-to-be-authentic embodiment of the disco aesthetic? At times they were, of course. Disco didn’t get much more “disco” than the big, driving beats and aural melodrama of “Voulez Vouz.” But then, looking beyond the spectacle, one witnesses a mannered stage presence more reminiscent of the Lawrence Welk singers than Alicia Bridges or Bony M.
So much more than mere disco poseurs, they specialized in good old-fashioned, hooky melodies, honey-dipped productions, professional playing, and tonally rich/pitch perfect vocal harmonies – all achieved without the benefit of Pro-Tools or Auto-Tune. Benny & Bjorn had to actually write the songs from scratch (no templates). Agnetha & Anni-Frid had to actually sing that well to stay in key. All the musical tracks for mixes had to be laid down by living, breathing, musicians! Imagine that.
listen closely
Further, the range of their music was out of this world! Yes, admittedly, “Take a Chance On Me” was a swinging disco number. But what about the fetching bubblegum pop track “Honey Honey” and the kitschy ’50s-inspired charmer “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do?” How about the sophisticated new wave inflected “Super Trooper? “Chiquitita“ somehow seamlessly melded tender Spanish balladry to Bavarian Biergarten folk songs. Each tune is memorable and distinctive. Nary a single melodic hook digs or lands the same way. Yet their signature sound remained intact from beginning to end.
That, my friends, is something lesser songwriters/performers simply cannot do. It was certainly beyond the chops of the average, ho-hum, conveyor belt disco act. Look – one doesn’t have to be a #1 superfan in order to find value and give credit where it’s due. By reflexively lumping ABBA in with the Village People, the anti-disco crowd proved that they weren’t listening closely enough to develop informed opinions, much less voice them.
* Ex: Nine #1s – one; favor Germany over U.S.
LET THERE BE ROCK
As I stated earlier, ’70s hard rock forms were pretty much outside of my childhood experience. Yes, heavy-hitters like Led Zeppelin were part of the cultural zeitgeist, but I don’t remember hearing them during that time. The only acts permitted to break-through from FM AOR to AM pop radio were those our beloved corporate media overlords deemed safe for mass consumption. Therefore, slickly melodic groups (Eagles; Fleetwood Mac) got in and hard rockers (Deep Purple; Black Sabbath) were left out. That said, can you imagine, then, what it must have been like to watch darkly ostentatious heavy-glam-rockers KISS ascend to the highest level of pop culture oversaturation.
KISS was everywhere and their image was everything. They performed on prime time TV variety specials and made movies. They targeted youth via Halloween costumes, lunch boxes, comic books, pin ball machines, trading cards, toys – you name it. It was a mass-media campaign worthy of the Beatles.
In terms of showmanship, only their fellow glam rockers (Bowie; Gary Glitter), Parliament and, maybe, Liberace could compare. But musically, they weren’t doing anything that ground-breaking. Underneath the caked-on black & white horror makeup, black & silver spandex, fake body armor, and (in bassist-vocalist Gene Simmons’ case) silver stilettoed demon-headed boots, KISS were (are), fundamentally, just a straight-forward, if not particularly accomplished, hard rock band. They had some good songs, but probably wouldn’t have blown-up if not for their commitment to marketing the image.
Catching a New Wave
By c. 1979, the musical tastes of my high-school-aged eldest siblings began to diverge. Where my sister leaned toward soft rock (Barry Manilow; Carpenters; Air Supply) and bubble-gum glam acts like Bay City Rollers, my brother shifted attention to the FM dial – meaning too-loud/weird-for-the-parents hard rock and prog. Because we were roommates, my brother’s listening habits became mine. Whatever he plugged into his trusty old portable Panasonic tape player-recorder, I was there to hear it. When he got into Boston, the Who, ELP, ELO, Asia, Yes, and Rush, I got into them as well. Anyway, at one point in the late ’70s/early ’80s, he discovered a new wave favorite – The Cars.
Good Times Roll
In short order, he acquired their first three cassettes (The Cars; Candy-O; Panorama) – which he played with dogmatic reliability virtually every night at bedtime for what must have been a solid year. Talk about reinforcement. I still remember being called-out by 2nd grade school-mates for incessant finger tapping as “Just What I Needed…” What can I say? The songs continued to play in my head long after the tapes ended (hiss-delay… “click”).
Don’t let the skinny ties fool you. The Cars were never just another fluffy new wave act in puffy shirts and gull-wing hairdos. My brother and I listened to a lot of rock oldies radio in the ’70s; we always knew that their appeal lay in their unique blending of old sounds with the thrill of the new.
Greg Hawks’ synths and Rik Ocasek’s disaffected vocals and may have bubbled and quirked like new wave, but the band’s heavy riffs and melodic hooks betrayed a power-pop-esque affinity for old time rock & roll. Elliot Easton’s tuneful guitar solos were on par with those of Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick. Many of their songs exhibited these traits, but never better than on the 1981 hit “Shake It Up.” In the mid-’80s, innovative music videos during MTV’s boom years spurred their commercial peak, but those first few albums will always be my favorite.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 theMike 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.
Greetings! My name is Forrest. Welcome to the WALL OF TUNES blog.
In college, friends jokingly likened me to John Cusak’s character from High Fidelity because, well, I’m angsty and I like to talk about music – a LOT.
THE WALL OF TUNES blog dives deep into my personal experiences with media – expanding upon the mix of informational content and highly subjective analyses I post on Facebook, but with more detail, better quality control, and less bad language (smile).
…Have different angles to consider or comparable stories to tell? Please… Start a conversation in the comments section!
FYI: “Easter Eggs” are nested everywhere in highlighted text.
