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Did The Seventies Really Happen?
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1973 – In Australia. Were these two madly in love!!
It ain’t me babe – Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
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“The seventies have had a lot of bad press. Were they really that bad or has it become a handy media myth? We’re they not, in reality, the most schizophrenic decade of them all- with a collapsing economy played out with a boom time, a decade of bad flares and great music, a decade of bad politics but brilliant idealism and, arguably, the greatest soundtrack ever.
It’s often said that the seventies were the decade that taste seemed to evaporate but this is just not true. Musically it was as good as the mythological sixties. Glam rock rules Top Of The Pops with Bowie and Bolan ruling the roost with endless great singles and all manner of fruity madness from other glam groups. Funk got seriously warped with the genius Parliament, there was some great Prog if you count Krautrock and Hawkwind as Prog and punk and post-punk rounded off the decade nicely. It’s hard to think of another decade with as much musical diversity.
Whilst in some ways the memory of the decade is politically grim with the Uk foundering politically and economically whilst the rest of Europe caught up with a country basking in post-empire and post-war glow and a confidence-boosting Beatle sixties and this is true. If the fab 4 had been a symbol of this new, hip Great Britain in the swinging decade even they looked washed up and were a bit rubbish in the seventies.”
In my state of Queensland, the seventies were very repressive politically and musically, and consequently, a healthy underground music scene evolved. At the forefront of this music was very early punk, similar to what was developing in the UK.
Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen
“God Save the Queen” is a song by the British punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released as the band’s second single and was later included on their only album, “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols”. The song was released during Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.
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I recall sneezing on multiple occasions in the seventies, and yet it never impeded my ability to find doors. I guess I was too young to understand.
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Well,
one things for sure, the collective knowledge and inquisitiveness of this forum is mind blowingly educational !!!!!!!
Cheers Howard, another tune Ive never heard of and one that brightened up my day, might even use it in a anti drugs campaign Im working on with the kids from our local community.
Cheers
P:)
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More from the weird seventies:
From “Society of Rock”:
“Although Dutch- based rock band Focus’s “Hocus Pocus” has to be one of the most unconventional songs out there, these guys rock harder than anyone we know. Yes, there is yodeling and screaming, but some of the killer electric solos have a serious effect on our blood pressure and we love it. Considered an “instrumental,” “Hocus Pocus” eventually hit #8 on Billboard Charts in 1973 and became the band’s only successful hit.”
Focus – Hocus Pocus Live ‘73
Okay, Mona on drums and flute and Lisa on guitar, but who’s up for the vocals??
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This is amazing, Howard! I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this song, considering how high it charted.
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Hocus Pocus was a moment of absolute brilliance!!!
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More on Focus:
Jan Akkerman (born 24 December 1946) is a Dutch guitarist. He first found international commercial success with the band Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding jazz fusion influences.
The son of a scrap iron trader, Akkerman was born in Amsterdam. At age five he took guitar lessons and his first single was released in 1960, when he was thirteen years old. Akkerman won a scholarship to study at the Amsterdam Music Lyceum for five years, developing his composition and arranging skills.
“A musician of nearly legendary prowess, Jan Akkerman for a time eclipsed Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck among reader polls in England as the top guitarist in the world. Akkerman was born in Amsterdam, Holland, and showed his musical inclinations early, taking up the guitar while still in grade school. His taste and interests were extraordinarily wide-ranging, from pop/rock to classical, with room for blues, Latin, and other influences. He joined his first band, Johnny & His Cellar Rockers, in 1958, at age 11, which included his boyhood friend Pierre van der Linden on drums.
Later on, the two were members of the Hunters, an instrumental group whose sound was heavily influenced by that of the Shadows. He acquired a special interest in the lute while on a visit to England during the mid-’60s, during which he saw a performance by legendary classical guitarist Julian Bream, whose repertoire of medieval works also fascinated Akkerman. This interest, which broadened to embrace a fixation on medieval England and its countryside, later manifested itself in such works as “Elspeth of Nottingham” from Focus III.”
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I was just a kid in the seventies, but one of my favorite “adult” songs at the time was actually a commercial jingle for an insurance company. Don’t laugh until you’ve heard it; I think it still holds up.
This video is a compilation of numerous commercials, but I’ve tried to cue it up to the right spot. In case that didn’t work, it starts at the 6:30 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fflXIek5NY0&t=390s
Just a few years ago I found out that this jingle was composed by the guy who went on to write Debby Boone’s hit “You Light Up My Life”, which I also loved.
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Weird TV ads from the 60’s and 70’s.
Which Twin recently let us know that when they’re stuck writing a song, they go to Papa Rudi for help, much like how they do when they have problems with their car? Now I’m not suggesting our favourite twins are spoilt, but one of the commercials in this video is very illuminating!
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Strange & Forgotten Cars of the 60s and 70s
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No doubt you’ve all heard of Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, and the Keith Emerson-led Nice (and later Emerson, Lake & Palmer), but what about Family. Reasonably well known in England and Europe, but probably unheard of by most Americans.
Family – Strange Band – 1970
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LOL I was a card carrying member of D.R.E.A.D. (Detroit Rockers Engaged in the Abolition of Disco)! The funny thing is… with some of the garbage coming out these days, like gangsta hip hop, screaming death metal, etc., looking back, Disco wasn’t really all that bad! Oh, and some of the punk bands were atrocious too! I saw The Specials once… worst band I EVER saw live!!!
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Yes, there were definitely some weird moments in the seventies!
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Monty Python at 50: Gumby World Record Attempt, 5 October 2019, London
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Funny you should post that Howard, I watched that clip earlier this morning! “MY BRAIN HURTS!”
I love those guys. Long may they live!
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I know that not everyone here is into punk, but I just can’t help admiring the enthusiasm of these young dudes!
Has anyone else got a cousin like Kevin?
The Undertones – “My Perfect Cousin.”
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What a blast from the past! Are any of you other fellow old timers here still in touch with your teenage youth?
The Undertones – “Teenage Kicks”
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