god's little gift to sunshine

1971 was the year when you knew we were in the next decade.
One could certainly agree that the 70's are seeded in 1969.
This is the ERA of
STICKING IT TO THE MAN!!


By 1971

•The big three are dead (Morrison, Joplin, Hendrix).
• The Beatles are done but embroiled in legal Hell.
• The War is still going on
• A Clockwork Orange, Dirty Harry, Fiddler on the Roof,
Diamonds are Forever &.........




BILLY JACK

Well, what can one not say about Billy Jack. Just like parents buying their children weapons for presents (see. Daisy BB gun) there was a time when Vigilante heroes where sticking it to THE MAN and THE MAN was overwhelmingly a Right, Conservative, Republican promoting the values of decency at the end of a rifle or the flat of a fist. How much time has changed; now the Left in America is in a contest to see who can be most sensitive and solve problems with the path of least resistence.

[fade in: trippy flashback theme music]

Billy Jack's origin was in The Born Losers (1967), a Biker film set against the canvass of a University. I guess Billy went left for the second, self titled , and more importantly penultimate film in this Quadrology;
The Born Losers 67, Billy Jack 71, The Trial of Billy Jack 74, and sadly Billy Jack goes to Washington 77

This great modern Native American folk hero was essentially the work of Tom Laughlin, who starred as the aforementioned hero, and directed all 4 films and Dolores Taylor, who starred as Jean in the last three films.

Billy Jack is a Native American Green Beret Nam War Vet. As adept with guns as he is with his hands and feet. (Note to self: Watch out for BJ's Feet). You cannot watch this film without realizing it is a real call to the plight of Native Americans. With so much of the action occuring around the Reservation vs. the Town.

One of the things that makes BJ so great and interesting is the archetypal Us against Them metaphor. In this case, US is a hippie arts & crafts communal School that takes in Criminals, Native Americans, different races, and lost souls. These beautiful children are a contrast to the uptight town elders. It's like the pre-footloose film with a Joan Baez undertone and a Bruce Lee sense of moral outrage.

Okay lets cut to the chase. A situation is stirred up when the hippie child of one of the town's established elders (see Sheriff) gets pregnant and takes refuge at the school. Another thread is the spoiled son of the mayor who uses any chance he can to ruin, annoy, tease, and bully the freaks from the school. The thing about Billy Jack is that people die, women are abused, and beautiful people get flour on their faces to make them white...all the while Billy is kicking a$ and taking names.

The theme One Tin Soldier was performed by Coven and it's a great one. In that 4 minutes of folk-pop righteousness is the entire divide of the country layed out in complete 70's pacifist verse. I thought Billy Jack was the coolest cat ever. Strong but not a hypocrite. Decisive but Merciful. He also had this crazy "Indian Sixth Sense" that could tell him when to show up and when certain loved ones were in trouble. You could even get the feeling he knew when people were trying to sniperlock him.

If you've seen it, you know and if you haven't I won't spoil it, but the scene in the Ice Cream Parlour with the Flour is pure genius. It was even sent up on Saturday Night Live with Paul Simon playing Billy Paul...

Billy Jack was the first film to use the "BlockBuster Release". Opening wide on a lot of screens in a market.

There is a sentiment to this film that while may for some seem now, corny, I love it dearly. It's a great independent film of the time, shot in that low-fi location vibe. It's message is timeless and the kicks are flawless. It also made a hero out of a Vet and addressed the horrible treatment and racism of Native Americans and African Americans. This was in a time where soldiers were wrongfully blamed for the "sins of the father" (see administration).

For Lasting Significance and overall Brilliance I give it

5 outta 5 Nerf Footballs

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Rainy Days and Mondays...

Just to remind you how differently things are now in the music industry I have to remind myself things were not always as they are now.
If you had to run a mental list of the significant songwriters of the era, who would it be?
Elton John, Dylan, Lennon, Harry Nillson, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Barry Gibb (but that's another story), Bruce Springsteen, Bacharach, Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Marvin Gaye, The endless amount of great pop songs from the Philly Soul..and in that revisionist view you might add Elvis Costello or Joe Jackson or even Christopher Cross, perhaps?


How long would it take you to get to this man? Paul Williams, along with Benny and Bjorn from Abba (That will be a different entry coming later) comes in very high on my charts as well as on the more traditional means of success...sales.

If I told you a 5 foot and change guy with a somewhat teddy bear freakiness would be one of the most successful songwriter/personalities of the era, you might with our present day obsessiveness over beauty, and vacile, empty talent laugh at me. This guy was one of the good stories of music. He singlehandly wrote some of the catchiest songs of the decade. His career took flight from the work he wrote that was performed by others.
Hmmm.
Where do we start. How about 'We've only just Begun', 'Rainy Days and Mondays', 'Waking Up Alone', 'Just an Old Fashioned Love Song' (Funny with that one. Through that weird passage of subliminal significance, I thought I wrote that song for years when I was 9 until 11. I just changed the words.
Oh..and He also wrote The Rainbow Connection for Kermit the frog as well as the cringe-inducing Love Boat Theme.

If I was just talking about his career as a tunesmith for 70's Lite FM that would be enough...but it isn't. Where Paul Williams really broke ground as a composer was his work for films.
There are some who would argue that Phantom of the Paradise (1974) is very derivative of ROCKY HORROR (Film 1975) and you most certainly are a little correct that the success the Theatrical version must have had Studio Executives salivating to get a like-minded idea on screen first. I just loved the idea of both and many other works like this being a part of a decade that really worshipped the song. I personally love POTP, but maybe it's more connected to memories of my youth, although there are some fantastic songs in the film. Such as The Hell of It, Old Souls, And Faust's Theme...I was not myself last night, couldn't set things right with apologies or flowers...It also features my favorite disappearing act of seventies acting...Jessica Harper (Stardust Memories & Suspiria) What ever happened to her.

I think Paul Williams masterwork is the soundtrack to Bugsy Malone (1976). For those of you who haven't seen BM you are really depriving yourself. It is a timeless film based around a typical Gangster Film made with an entire cast of children who use cream cakes instead of bullets. I am surprised it is not reprised more as a modern day musical. Made by Alan Parker it holds up very well. It has a very young Jodie Foster as a sassy Chanteuse and Scott Baio (Happy Days) as its protagonist.

Paul starred in our ultimate 70s connection film... Smokey and the Bandit as one of the two men betting on this cross-country fiasco on wheels. You know when you worked with Burt in the 70s that you were doing well.

People, take some time to discover his work. He really brings joy and sadness together well. I know he is not edgy or provocative, but he is a great songwriter. We tend to underestimate the power of catchiness.

He currently works in Nashville and has committed a lot of work towards addiction recovery.

Good Guy.


For Great Songs and his good spirit I will give Paul Williams
4 out of 5 Nerf Footballs...

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Breaker one nine and C.W. McCall

It's funny because these days with our cell phones, and Blackberrys, and Email, we seem to forget that at one point in time getting in touch with someone outside of their home and away from their 'landline" was not an easy thing.
I am not sure how "Citizen Band" radio became such a fad, but there was this point in time when even non-truckers had a CB.
Every great fad or trend needs a pop culture counterpart to assist in its rise to popularity and in C.W. McCall's Convoy they found a advertising tool that spread the wonders of the glorified Walkie Talkie from "sea to shining sea". Convoy by McCall was like a CB education in 3 minutes. Like cliff notes for the neophyte.

The CB rise to popularity came initially from Truckers as a means to communicate with each other on long cargo hauls. There was a lingo developed with coded references that helped produce a short hand for drivers (examples below). Initially the CB required a license and the use of a call sign, but it became so popular that people developed "handles". This helped Truckers and drivers avoid police speed traps, and I suppose engage in other things both legit and nefarious...From weather to the perfect diner.

A few CB Lingo Codes (some of this was culled from military communication such as the numeric codes)
Bear/Smokey = Police
10-4 = I understand
Big Wheeler = HGV or other large vehicle
Bleed-over = Interference from a nearby CB’er on another channel
Breaker = Fellow CB’er
Bucketmouth = Person swearing
Earwigging = Listening
Eyeball = Meeting another CB user
Evil Knievel = Police motorcycle

I would imagine that most truckers use cell/mobile phones these days. I remember my cousin having a CB and we would listen in and occasionally try to broadcast. Normally we would get chewed out by irate truckers for being knuckleheads just playing around.

The glory of the CB reached it's zenith with the Smokey and the Bandit series. If there is any one actor or personality that symbolizes the 1970's, it is indeed Mr. Burt Reynolds. The Seventies was Reynolds decade. When Burt gets involved you know it is big. At some point in the future I will do a Burt entry.

That period from 75-78 was surely the"CB era" with many consumers purchasing them and installing them in either trucks or cars. I remember my cousins having CB's and Deer Spotting Lights. ( A giant powerful hand-held light that plugged into the cigarette lighter in the car)
But this was in Pennsylvania and you are talking about a state in which the first day of Deer Season is an excused absence.

In case someone does come upon this entry and knows what the heck the Squelch button does or did...please let me know...

Oh well...Try to find "Convoy" some time and have a listen.
Like Monster Mash or the Streak these nostalgia songs are a constant reminder of my youth. These days it seems only Weird Al does them anymore.


So for overall 70's signifigance I am giving THE CB
3 out of 5 Nerf Footballs...when tied in with Burt this always ups the score

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SEA-MONKEYS OR HOW I LEARNED THAT SANTA CLAUS DOESN'T EXIST

It didn't take very long, did it?
I am not sure what the heck was going on in my head besides living in a complete fantasy world, but I actually believed they were going to look like that. This falls into finding out that it wasn't Santa eating those cookies and Rudolph certainly wasn't eating that apple either.

I always wondered how they came up with the design of the sea-monkeys in the ad. If any of you remember you know and if you don't...Sea Monkeys were Brine Shrimp. For those of you curious just do a google on that and you will find our tiny little prawn photos. There was this brief time while I was waiting for them to arrive in the mail that I found myself imagining life with a colony of little humanoid sea creatures and how cool that would be and what kind of relationship we would have. That turned into one of those bummer X-Ray Spexs are fake moments.

But like with a lot of life and especially in childhood. There is a magic to wanting to believe something. That can get dangerous at later periods but in childhood it is just a wonderful thing.
God if we could figure a way out to not lose that fantasy and yet live in world, we would solve an awful lot of problems.

For lasting cultural significance I can't give Sea Monkeys many nerf footballs.
They were like a one-trick pony. You bought them and you found out and then god help us we all poured them in the toilet. Nasty, I know. I have repented for my cruelty to Sea Monkeys though.

Nerf rating system with magical childhood imagination taken into account
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The 8 Track

Well , there are many arguments about the declining sales in Music. Free Downloading, or as my friend Dave says "kids just have more things to do today" i.e. video games, myspace, you tube, etc.

EDIT:
In the Seventies it was impossible for Parents to get their kids in the house and now they just keep inventing stuff to prevent them from leaving...Although I have to add that it was during this period that Television did find its true calling; The Perfect Babysitter...cringe...

I never feel really bad or cry too many tears for the Music Industry because they introduced so many formats over the years and everytime a new format was introduced we all had to go and buy the same record over and over to get it in the latest format. I think I have bought Ziggy Stardust, Rubber Soul, and many others in 4 formats
and 5 times because of 2 different cd versions.

(Vinyl, 8 Track, Cassette, CD, remastered CD w/ Bonus Tracks) and now we have the Digital Download...what's next?

You might assume because of my rant against the Music Industry I am going to damn the 8 Track straight to hell...
You're wrong.

The 8 track cartridge was a plastic shell that held a continious loop. Records were divided into 4 programs that held about 3-5 songs per program. You could click and switch programs and go to different sections of an album or let the album play over and over until you stopped the machine.

The 8 Track tape was actually a really cool development and while it didn't last there was something really aesthetically beautiful about this. I even owned the machine you see in this Panasonic ad. The 8 track was developed in the 60's, but became really affordable and vogue in the 70's. Samplers and pop collections were really served well by this.

One of the strange things about the 8 Track was although you couldn't fast forward or rewind in a traditional sense, you could if you learned a record well, switch to a program with a certain portion of the record to get to another. This became like a game if you learned to do it well. I'd be interested to know if this was some stupid game only I played or if others did this as well.

I miss the 8 track. While it's lasting cultural significance is sadly null...

I do have to give it 4 out of 5 nerf footballs for the pleasure it gave me in my youth. Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle" still rings in my ears when I think of it.



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The Beginning of the End....Bad Cars

Well, what Seventies reflections would be incomplete without noting the dirth of "new design" in the Automobile industry. The Gremlin was not in itself a horrible car by any means, in fact by today's standards it hardly looks bad and next to the later AMC creation THE PACER it's beautiful.
That was the 70's though. Things like Le Car, The Pacer, The Gremlin, Those weird Bubble window car/station wagons. In fact the Bubble window always caught my attention. I wanted my parents to get bubble windows in our house.

The only real memory I have of the AMC Pacer was from one of those friends you have for a year or two and during that year or two they are your best friend. His name was scott and he came from a divorced family and that in itself was a new thing for me...He had a pretty cool mother and sister and we used to have sleepovers at his house. I remember seeing Phantom of the Paradise at his place one Saturday night. I think I was the only one who made it up until the end.

For overall importance to our lives in the 70's and beyond
I am going to give it 2 out of 5 nerf footballs

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Now that's a crock of....

Oh dear, what home wasn't complete without a crock pot. It became such a cultural institution in the States during the 70's that the word Crock became a catch all phrase for things. The Crock Pot gave us yet another way to take the flavor out food, despite the promise in the ad. The CP along with Tupperware became the "must haves" of suburban life in the Me decade. Our family never had one, like most things we waited for the innovation and we purchased the "crock pan", which was like the crock pot, but square and flat..allowing stews, sauces, and for the really unhealthy...grilled cheese and things...

For lasting cultural significance I give it
One out of Five Nerf Footballs

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Welcome to the Child of the 70's Blog

This is the poster that launched a million nightmares and ruined the ocean for me for at least a few summers. The flipside is that I ended up a diver and finally separated the myth from reality. Unless you were of "legal" filmgoing age during this period...
(I wasn't but got in anyway, with my neighbor who was)...you can't really understand what this film did when it came out. It really started the whole event blockbuster craze that has now become a part of our everyday lives every Summer and Christmas. Jaws was a metaphor for the fear that we all have of the unknown and the terrestrial and extraterrestial places in our psyches over which Mankind has no dominion.

on a child of the 70's scale...

I give it 4 out of 5 Nerf Footballs.

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