Redartz: Hello folks, and welcome to another retro road trip courtesy of your humble hosts at BitBA. Today's destination is January, 1975- prime Bronze age territory, to be certain. As we open our day, the papers are full of talk about the economic recession and increasing unemployment. President Gerald Ford and his new Vice President Nelson Rockefeller have to deal with all that, all we have to worry about is the pop cultural scene. And it's pretty solid, starting with the pop music charts. Topping the US Billboard charts: Elton John, "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"
What a great cover version. I love that treatment, and I'm apparently not alone: it's at number one for a second week. By the way, John Lennon helps out on this cut, with some backing vocals and guitar work (credited on the 45 as "Dr. Winston O'Boogie"). Speaking of 45's, I went out and bought this one immediately after hearing it for the first time on Casey Kasem's American Top 40.
Rounding out the top five:
2. Barry White, "You're the First, the Last, My Everything"
3. Paul McCartney and Wings, "Junior's Farm / Sally G"
4. Neil Sedaka, "Laughter in the Rain"
5. Barry Manilow, "Mandy"
There are loads of cool tunes out there right now! Among my personal favorites are Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good": so good I recorded it on my cassette deck last night. Then there's John Lennon,"#9 Dream": almost eerie, kind of dreamlike, but a great listen. I also love the new cut from Doobie Brothers, "Black Water": about as catchy a pop song as you can devise. Wouldn't doubt that song hits the top. And speaking of the top...
Tops in the UK: Mud, "Lonely This Christmas"
I could talk about today's pop music all day, but hey, there's other acres to plow. What about the tube tonight?
US Television Schedule:
ABC: That's My Mama, ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week, Get Christie Love!
Of those offerings, I've only seen Christie Love; and that only a couple times. Teresa Graves is sharp; I remember seeing her on "Laugh In".
CBS: Tony Orlando and Dawn, Cannon, The Manhunter
Now there's a show I'll usually tune in: Tony Orlando and Dawn. Usually a sucker for variety shows, and their music is pleasing to these ears. Orlando, along with Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson, deliver the tunes each week, along with some decent laughs. My Mom loves this show too...
Tony Orlando and Dawn
NBC: Little House on the Prairie, Lucas Tanner, Petrocelli
After "Dawn", I usually switch over to catch David Hartman in Lucas Tanner. Hartman plays the eponymous high school teacher, and exudes an appealing friendliness and personality. He could host a talk show some day...
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| David Hartman as Lucas Tanner |
BBC1: The Wednesday Film: The Big Job, Barlow, 'Till Death Do Us Part, Andre Previn's Music Night, Midweek
BBC2: Test Cricket from Australia, Newsday, Top Crown, Worldwide, Skating 75, Playhouse, In Vision
Lest we forget, it's Wednesday, new comics day in our town! It's off to the newsstand to see what's on the spinner racks:
It's now almost a year since I started collecting comics, and I'm hooked more than ever. Most of these books are on my list. But especially that Fantastic Four issue; Rich Buckler is doing some terrific things channeling Kirby with his artwork. And this issue features the second part of the Silver Surfer's return!
That Avengers issue is another must buy; this current storyline with Mantis and Kang is one for the ages. Aaand, I'm picking up those new Atlas comics here and there. Oh, and the Giant Size Marvels- those are highly anticipated each week. What a great time to be a comics fan! Most everyone else at Junior High have no idea what they're missing. As a matter of fact, it's a great time to be a middle schooler...
Well, that about covers the highlights of our day today. What about you? Which songs, shows and comics will you be talking about to your friends? Share your favorite fads and finds from '75, and keep a lookout for the next return of the Retro Metro!
12 comments:
Nice write up Red!
Perhaps the most emotive piece you show, for Charlie, is the Atlas Targitt cover! I was thrilled to death when the Atlas brand suddenly showed up on the spinners!
(Guess I had had my share of the Big Two by then at the ripe age of 14, lol.)
I also bought the Human Torch reprint facing off against Paste Pot Pete (or should it be PastePot Pete or Paste-Pot Pete?) as I was big into the reprints at that time. Does anyone else prefer PPP over The Trapster???
When it comes to TV, the show that leaps out at me is Playhouse on BBC Two. According to its listing, "Saunders comes to Saxmere simply to mend a computer. Soon he is involved in discovering the secrets of ESP and life-after-death." How could anyone not want to watch that?
When it comes to the UK charts, the Number One by Mud is notorious for the group's singer Les Gray appearing on Top of the Pops and singing the song to a ventriloquist's dummy that's perched on his knee. One of the strangest performances in even that show's idiosyncratic history.
Elsewhere on the UK chart, I like:
2 - "Streets of London," by Ralph McTell, despite it being somewhat critically derided over the years.
16 - "Stardust," by David Essex.
36 - "Magic," by Pilot.
47 - "Junior's Farm," by Wings.
I notice that, at number 14, there's a track called, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A Walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold Away The Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings)," by Rod Stewart, a track I have never heard of before in my entire life. I suspect the title has prevented it being played on the radio since it dropped off the chart.
As for the American chart, I must confess I do have a soft spot for, "Mandy." I don't know why.
When it comes to those comics, I had the Batman, Spectre and Targitt issues. The Spectre was, of course, my favourite. It had the Spectre and gorillas in it. How could it go wrong?
Paste Pot Pete was a ridiculous name!
"Lonely This Christmas" isn't one of my favorite Christmas songs - Mud's lead singer, Les Gray, deliberately sings the song like he was Elvis Presley for some reason. And there's an embarrassing talking bit in the middle, yuk! Curiously I never heard 'Lonely This Christmas' at all during the recent festive season which is strange because I usually hear it somewhere around.
The show on BBC 1 called 'Till Death Us Do Part' was re-made for American TV as 'All In The Family' which was never broadcast in the UK but I watched a couple of episodes on YouTube including the very first episode. In that first episode Archie Bunker's son-in-law calls him Jewish and Archie Bunker says "I am NOT Jewish!" - that very line also appeared in the original British show, it's one of the most famous lines from the show. By the way, after watching 'All In The Family' on YouTube I now understand the opening titles of 'Family Guy' where Peter and Lois are at a piano singing about "good old-fashioned values" - I'd been watching Family Guy for years without realizing the opening titles were a spoof!
As for comics - on January 8th 1975 I'd been reading Marvel comics for only two months. At this stage I was still only reading Marvel UK's Planet Of The Apes weekly. The adaptation of the first apes movie (by Doug Moench and George Tuska) had just finished and this week saw the start of "Terror On The Planet Of The Apes", a long-running arc featuring human Jason and his chimp pal Alexander. The Jason & Alex arc continued sporadically to the very end of Marvel's apes series, becoming more and more wacky and sci-fi as it went along. You had to be there :)
Steve, I considered mentioning Les Gray and that ventriloquist's dummy!
I don't remember much about most of the shows or the music save for Tony Orlando.
I do have a few of those comics. though. Namely :
Daredevil 120: What the heck is up with El Jaguar's right arm and leg? There's something so off about it that I don't rightly know if it's horrible or actually makes the composition work somehow. It's disconcerting.
Avengers 133: Spoiler alert, the Zodiac member Libra is Mantis' father. I always thought this early incarnation of the Zodiac was a bit disappointing. A bunch of crime bosses dressed in Zodiac-flavored outfits strikes the same cord in me that Sean Connery wearing a bear costume in the Avengers film did. When Scorpio returns in the Defenders, that was a Zodiac. Too bad the creativity apparently ran dry and we never really got Virgo, Capricorn or Pisces there, though.
Fantastic Four 156: For some reason, this run of Doom seems iconic in the sense that it isn't one of his big appearances or a throwaway. It's vintage, stock Doom-being-Doom, which is pretty cool.
Targitt: For the life of me I can't recall anything about this story, but I agree with Charlie that taken as a whole, the Atlas books had a lot of neat ideas and great creators. Ditko Destructor and Broderick Planet of Vampires are probably my faves. Seriously, how can you not love anything titled "Planet of Vampires?"
Thanks for a groovy ride!
Colin J - I'll take that as a "no." Lol. C'mon.,. Paste Pot Pete is a magisterial name for a villain!!!
Steve D.C.- That song "Magic" by Pilot is a great one. It made it to number 5 in the US. And that Rod Stewart song (I won't repeat the title, it's so long it could produce a bout of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome): never heard of it, but wow. You just gotta love the 70's. Oh, and you're not alone in harboring a fondness for "Mandy". Guilty as charged; had that 45 as well.
Colin J- glad you filled us in a bit on "Till Death Do Us Part". In the recesses of my collection, I have an old TV Guide from 1968 that has an article on that show. It gave the sense that such a show might not work in the US; ironically three years later it was 'borrowed' to create "All in the Family" (just as you so correctly noted).
Selenarch- those Atlas titles could be a bit quirky, and were indeed a nest of great talent. Sadly the company folded pretty quickly. Anyone know if those old tales are available in reprint form anywhere, or is the back issue hunt the only option?
Charlie- although "Trapster" is a rather unimaginative name, "Paste Pot Pete" sounds like a perfect name for a Mort Weisinger Superman villain... :)
Well, I was only three at this point, so I don't actually remember any of these. I have read some of the comics since then, but nothing really jumps out.
Tony Orlando and Dawn were a big hit in my household. We watched it every week (we never were into Sonny and Cher - our other variety fave was Captain and Tennille and the Jacksons). My sister still love Tony Orlando and used to go catch his show in Atlantic City whenever she could.
My sister's other favorite performer? Barry Manilow.
That Batman featured the first artwork of Ernie Chan (Chua). I liked his version, but not as much as Novick or Adams or Aparo's. The only others I has were the Superboy/LSH and the Giant-Size MOKF. I LOVED Marvel's Giant-Size series because it allowed me to get on board the ongoing series in a one-shot story sequence.
You know, I remember a lot of great music from that time period, but for some reason it never went far in the charts. I usually never had anything that was in the Top 10. Go figure.
TV-wise, I think I mainly watched M*A*S*H, Sanford & Son, maybe Gunsmoke if it was still on, and Barnaby Jones. We couldnt pick up a station with ABC for a few more years out in the Sticks. I did like that Manhunter series because it was set in the 30's. I loved the retro stuff. I think I might have seen Lucas Tanner once or twice. Funny, I remembered David Hartman in that, but not as GMA host until you half-mentioned it. :)
Hey Folks, Anyone ever read "Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction" shown in the comic book covers section? I see they go for roughly $10 each on ebay. Seems like there may have only been 4 of them published? Are they quality? Worth a read? Reprinted somewhere for cheapo Charlie to get a look?
Red - I agree that Paste Pot Pete sounds very D.C. I could easily seem him fighting the Flash and gluing his feet to the floor, lol.
Graham- as you say, those Giant Size books were terrific, a real Bronze Age highlight! It would be fun to put together a collection of all of them; probably could be done with some effort. And a big hunk of money for Giant Size X-Men 1...
Charlie- "Unknown Worlds" was pretty good. I picked up most of them off the racks, but they're long gone. Don't know if there are any reprints available. However, the magazines aren't prohibitively expensive.
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