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It was for a school project for a very smart high school student I know. He was interviewing one person for each decade...going back as far as he could, I suppose. It was very interesting to think back on (and remember with the help of Google) the momentus events of that 10 year period.
And it got me thinking about how much of the person I am today was shaped by my experiences in California in the 1970's. The distrust I have for government, especially the GOP, but really all elected officials, started then. It goes back to the disillusionment of the Nixon years. But I also lived through Ronald Reagan as governor of CA and the destructive swath he cut through the educational system of that state.
My wavering support for the military started then. It started with the horror of the Vietnam war, and the killing of student protestors at Kent State, and so many other things.
My liberal ideology stems a lot from the kinds of things that Jimmy Carter was saying.
My belief in diplomacy also started then, with things like Apollo/Soyuz, Nixon's visit to China, Carter's actions.
I suppose more than any other time, I am a product of the 1970's. In a lot of ways, it colors how I see the current war and administration.
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My dad is a product of the same era. My aunt says he's much more conservative now that he's a father, but that's not saying much; she says he used to be "somewhere to the left of Mao".
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I wish I had lived in the '70s. Alas, I fear I'll never know the joy of turning on the radio and actually liking what I hear on the new music station. Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Actually, I was referring to the likes of Firefall, Little River Band, Bread, Bob Seger, and the Dire Straits. Can't say I'm a disco fan, either.
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Much more fun to think about the music rather than the nasty odd/even gas rationing, "stagflation," losing in Vietnam, etc.
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The same could be said for the '60s. As I understand it, it actually kind of sucked to live through. To people who had just lived through the '50s, it must have looked like civilization itself was falling apart. But at least it had an awesome soundtrack. Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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But there was awesome rock music in the eighties too, but when people think of eighties music, they think of synthesizers and Duran Duran. As a kid in the seventies, I wasn't aware of that music. All that I was aware of were KC and the Sunshine Band, Dionne Warwick, Gloria Gaynor, and Diana Ross.
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There were problems, but Americans were waking up and throwing off old traditions that didn't make sense to them. It was liberating.
Sure, some good stuff got tossed too. But there was lots of stuff that just needed mending or tossing out. The shocking thing was how rapid the change was. And that might well have unsettled a few people.
It was also a very affluent decade. Prices were still low, but wages were rising.
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I'm going purely by observation of historical sources. Having been born in 1980, the only decade I remember with clarity is the '90s. And they sucked. And I didn't even have the consolation of decent music to get me through it. I had to turn to music made before my birth. Herman's Hermits were a very important part of my high school years.
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I grew up in the Brady Bunch 70's. I was taught that everyone was beautiful, in their own way, and did not realize until much later that stories like "Remember The Titans" happened in my time, or that Roberto Clemente was being ostracized by his team.
My father was a huge Dylan fan, so I grew up on Dylan. I avoided disco and the color orange, and we never had shag carpets. My dad did, however, have those hidous lamb chop sideburns once.
Verily, there was lots of good music in the 90's, but some of it was under the radar.
[ March 29, 2005, 07:48 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
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I wonder how much different of a viewpoint the interviewer would have received if he had interviewed someone who supported the GOP during the 70's and was not anti-administration, and was from the midwest instead of California.
Really -- I am curious as to how much different the entire recollection of that era would be...
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I realized the other day how earth-shattering it was for me to have been in Junior High (the most formative music appreciation years) during the Seattle grunge movement. To me, the pop music my peers were immersed in was far more profound than any pop music before or after.
An then I realized how out of it all I actually was, having been a die-hard Garth Brooks fan through it all. Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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I have to agree with Bob here. The 60's rocked, and the 70's had so much going on with popular culture that only the most popular of the culture seems to be played up today.
He also has that b**ch'n list of artists above. I think I'd like to hear some T-rex right now! Posts: 1843 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Farmgirl, that's an excellent question about what the '70's would look like from the perspective of someone who was a conservative at the time. I imagine they probably hated some of the things I loved most.
It was a very polarized time.
If possible, even moreso than today.
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Since I was in high school in the 70s (75-79) I'm afraid all my focus at that time was on boys and I don't recall being very interested in world or national events. Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Actually I loved all of Gabriel's albums up to the Sell Out album. And my favorite song on SO never got any airplay (Mercy Street). Haven't bought one since.
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