12th January 1970 I had after my difficult teens minus acne I managed to reached my 20th year. It was post psychedelia, Woodstock had come and gone. A new breed of music was in the wings, there was the teeny booper music of The Jackson 5 and the Osmond Brothers, both these acts were seen as a cartoon series on TV, both (it appeared) to be trying to outdo the other.
The Osmonds, with their sparkly white teeth, all clean cut, every mother liked them, and hysterical schoolkids liked them. Suffice to say I didn't, my gorgeous wife Di was besotted by them, especially that Donny fella'.
The 70's was also the decade I got married (first time, just to see if I liked it), and had two children Dawn and Howard.
1970 was also the year that two great performers died within a month of each other, they were Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix
My best 'mate' Tony got married early in the 70's and for a dare he asked me to wear the biggest pink bow tie imaginable, and you've guessed it I did-it was huge.
You can see me at the back left, tall, debonair, sauve, terribly handsome and sporting a big pink bow tie, it goes from shoulder to shoulder. If anyone dares me to do something, within reason I will do it.
As I have mentioned earlier I was blessed with two children, Dawn and Howard both terrors in their own right, but Howard was more the terror than Dawn, he had one or two near misses, like setting fire to the living room of our apartment, and complaining when his mother got him out of the place but he had no clothes on, just his underwear.
Musically the 70's were rather stale, the early 70's prog rock was the norm with bands like Emerson Lake and Palmer
Keith Emerson Greg Lake and Carl Palmer exponents of classical rock, had one big single chart hit "Fanfare for the Common Man" it was used for one of the Olympic Games (Which one I have no idea)very much an album band and were very big in the States
and Yes bringing in the crowds. There were no new exciting sounds, although the Who and Led Zeppelin were still bashing out the rock music, there was also the very British phenomenia Glam Rock and probably the biggest exponent of that was Marc Bolan and his band T Rex. But by 1975 glam rock had just about played its self out.
Going back a couple of years though a truly remarkable TV series spawned from the States it was called M*A*S*H based on the movie that was released two years earlier, it was about a team of army medical surgeons working in Korea during the so called 'police action' that took place in the early 50's. This television series actually lasted a lot longer than the actual police action itself. A remarkable bit of TV.
Here are some more images of my favorite American series.
This series run from 1972-1983, with the final episode grossing one of the largest tv audiences. Remarkable TV, remarkable cast, where everything worked, and I still love the re-runs (to the dismay of my family).
We moved from our one bedroomed flat to a two bedroomed ground floor flat in Stamford Hill North London, where our first two children, Dawn and Howard were born, it wasn't a bad place, it was bit cramped, lovely neighbours though
Meanwhile my son Howard was turning into a regular imp, and was getting in all kinds of mischief. But Hey!!! isn't that what all boys supposed to do? A regular 'chip of the old block' in that respect.
Although I mentioned earlier that musically the early to the latter stages of the 70's the music was rather stale, there was still some good soul and r'n'b artists around, and my personal favorite was Millie Jackson and whenever I mention her name I get the reply "Oh didn't she sing 'My Boy Lollipop' EEEK!!! no that was Millicent Small known as 'Millie'. No Millie Jackson was and still is in my estimation the greatest exponent of good earthy songs, and she invented the word 'rap' and she was good at it.
At least the comedy of the 70's was funny and original, there was the late great Spike Milligan's vastly underated Q series and the sometimes very funnyMonty Pythons Flying Circus Spike was an original, there had never been anyone like him, and there will never be on like him, not in my lifetime at least, totaly manic in his humour, a lot of comedians today owe a debt of gratitude for he broke the boundries in comedy.The Python team owe a debt of gratitude to him, and artists like Robin Williams and Jim Carey mimic his manic comedy.
In 1975 the first series of what was to become one of the all time funniest comedy's ever written was aired. Bournemouth was the setting and the stories about the madcap hotel proprietor and his insensitive wife were so original and so fresh it rewrote the meaning of comedy. Now everyone must have heard of Fawlty Towers Only two series were written but both were equally as good. Written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth. The series is often repeated and I never tire of "Don't Mention the War"
The main characters of Fawlty Towers from left to right Prunella Scales, Connie Booth, behind Connie, John Cleese, and far right Andrew Sachs who played the hapless waiter Manuel.
In 1977 we moved to a council flat, and boy was it grand, 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and a living room, we couldn't believe how much space we had, we had lived for 5 years in rented accomodation, and this new place was living at it's best. 32 Webb Estate Hackney, it had a playground for the kids, there was a lovely park out back, and the same river that I had lived by when I was a boy living in Nazeing just down the road. We took the kids walking in the park, it was a great place. The kids loved it there, especially playing around the river and the park
A new style of music was hitting the airwaves, it was Punk Rock.A fresh earthy sound and we had the 'Mohican' look, boys and girls with their hair cut like Mohican Indians, there were punks with their clothes full of safety pins and razor blades, bondage and wild anarchic clothing, with fashion designers like Vivienne Westwood jumping on the bandwagon, making loads of money. The kids wanted to express themselves and they did.
I was getting older, I was dreading reaching the age of 30, I wasn't young anymore, I felt vulnerable, but I think that most people of that age feel like that, all I could do was hold up walls.
Although I was thinking of my own mortality, I was still reading profusely, I was reading quite a lot of horror stories, especially by James Herbert, I wasn't too keen on Stephen King, although he got a lot better as he got older. I was reading a lot of 'Science Fantasy' and my personal favourite was Michael Moorcock. His 'multiverse' theory caught my imagination and the first series of books I read was his 'Hawkmoon' series.
Another author that caught my imagination was Mervyn Peake who wrote the Gormenghast trilogy, I unfortunately got into his books 10 years after his death.
1977 saw the release of one of my personal favorite films Star Wars
A George Lucas classic in every sense, I and my family loved the movie, and I am a big fan, I have seen every episode so far and have 4 of the movies on tape.
Well the 70's were coming to an end and I would soon be 30 I was soon to be half way to 60, but the 80's made realise that I was not as solid as I thought I was I was vulnurable.
But more of this later.
