Wait Till Your Father Gets Home

Another show I remember from the cheesy 70s was this. It always confused me as to why daughter Alice came home from her date disheveled during the show's intro. Was she wasted? Date raped? WTF? The 70s were messed up. The show ran from 1972-1974.

Sunday morning dose of the 70s

Zebra 3, Zebra 3. Whooooooooooooooooooaaaaaahhhhhh!

The Electric Company

As a grade-school kid in the 70s, I was the target audience for this program. I looooved this show and it helped me tremendously with reading and writing. The music and vernacular were very much of the time – groovy and funky. For me, Morgan Freeman the movie star will always be "the guy from The Electric Company." Right on.

I Feel Love

During my early teens in the late 70s, Donna Summer blasted from a lot of radios. Last night I saw talented diva Rainere Martin at the Cabot. It quickly became a sing-a-long groovefest since she performs mostly Donna Summer songs with a sprinkling of other well-known disco hits. It's hilarious how we remember all those background vocals and instrument/synthesizer beeps and boops to sing along with.

Dance people from that era will surely dig her show. Smiles galore.

Paul Simon on Sesame Street

Check out the cutie innocently upstaging Paul Simon in the 70s.


Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, 1972


El Condor Pasa (If I Could), 1970

school dances

As a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s, my school threw lots of dances and I attended most of them. After the 7th grade, we stopped having dances in the gym to preserve the floor. They were then held in the cafeteria and the resident deejay was Mr. Taylor, one of the teachers. Every time I hear Cars by Gary Numan, I remember how impressed I was that he played this cool, weird, new-wavish song at a dance in the fall of 1979. Satisfaction was always played even though it was 15-years-old. Stairway to Heaven was usually the last song.

never be a dirty bird

I'll never understand the mindset of people who litter. For decades starting in the 70s, Woodsy Owl reminded us how not to be little piggies. This 1970 ad ran for years when I was a kid and had a huge impact on me. Give a hoot and pick up your trash and ciggy butts.

riding the school bus in 1977

I love hearing people's stories about their musical memories whatever the circumstances. Here's one from me about beginning the 7th grade in the fall of 1977. The high school I attended was comprised of grades 7-12. I went from riding on a noisy, boisterous, grade-school bus to a silent bus with high school kids. The bus driver always had a radio playing and it was tuned to WRKO, an AM station in Boston. We heard the same songs every morning and these tunes are forever burned in my brain. The songs ran the gamut of musical styles from disco to rock to easy listening to movie theme songs. The song that gave me the biggest chuckle was Donna Summer's hit I Feel Love. It would be 7:30 in the morning on a crowded, silent school bus and a sexy disco song would be blaring. I'll never forget that strange scene. Below, are some of the tunes that I remember from that 70s bus ride. Hey, I didn't say they were all good.

• I Feel Love, Donna Summer
• On and On, Stephen Bishop
• Cold As Ice, Foreigner
• Short People, Randy Newman
• Nobody Does It Better, Carly Simon
• You Light Up My Life, Debbie Boone
• Slip Slidin' Away, Paul Simon

Room 222

As a grade schooler in the mid-70s, school vacations meant I got to watch daytime reruns of Room 222. Hearing the older high school kids talk slang and watching Mr. Dixon have rap sessions with his students engrossed me. It premiered in 1969 and dealt with the many hot topics of a changing world – and there were many. Sound familiar?

Friday morning dose of the 70s

George McCrae performs Rock Your Baby circa 1974.

Saturday morning dose of the 70s

Time to put on my "Get on Down!" t-shirt. Yeah, baby.

Saturday afternoon dose of the 70s

Yowza! Dare to wear the multi-color mood ring, or shirt.

Saturday morning dose of the 70s

Get out your lace-up hotpants and shake it some more, more, more.

Solid Gold tv show

As a teenager in the early 1980s, Solid Gold was my Shindig! unfortunately. On Saturday nights from 7 'til 8, I grooved with, sang with, boogied a little, and laughed at the hooker outfits on the Solid Gold Dancers. The hosts over the years were Dionne Warwick, Andy Gibb, Marilyn McCoo, Rex Smith and Rick Dees. The show aired from 1980-88.
How did I come out of this cheesiness unscathed?
Or did I? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! Help!

• Blondie     • Toni Basil     • Josie Cotton     • Bill Cosby
• Rick James     • The Go-Gos     • Olivia Newton-John
• Peaches and Herb     • Joe Jackson     • 70s countdown

Sunday afternoon dose of the 70s

Bring back the disco floor! Check out the same song on Soul Train.

shake, shake, shake

Last weekend a friend and I put on our boogie shoes and headed to Bally's in Rhode Island to see one of my favorite bands. What a humble and grateful person KC is. I loved how much he let his incredible band shine. His career started with writing Rock Your Baby in 1974 inspiring John Lennon to create Whatever Gets You Thru the Night. In the 70s and early 80s, one of the best ways to see bands and singers was on the Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas Shows. They both aired everyday from 4-5. Here's KC and the Sunshine Band in 1977.
 

amusement parks

As a kid, my favorite thing about summer was visiting an amusement park. My folks would call me "Carnival Charlie" during the summer.
Here's a 1960s/70s commercial for Hunt's Pier in New Jersey.
Here's the Palisades Park commercial from the 60s. Weeeeee!

Muscle Shoals

If you dig 1960s and 70s soul and rock, you'll find this documentary very engrossing. Singers and bands flocked to these Alabama studios for their iconic musical style and influence. Thank God they did.

Dolly want a cracker?

What do you mean the 70s were tacky at times? I'm not seeing it.

you can't have the 70s...

...without superimposed heads. I'm mesmerized, and creeped out.