Why were the 70s such a tacky decade?

[jamespowers]

Not to mention the wonder that was Disco.

uke: Ageed!

 

[jamespowers]

I'd much rather listen to Disco than the rubbish music we have today which really isn't saying much.

They both suck just as much as each other as far as I am concerned.

 

[Shangas]

I mean in literally every area, the '70s were hideous. Clothes, hairstyles, morals, the mainstream pop was horrid....A case in point, I was watching the 1974 Great Gatsby...So dated, so horrid, so cheesy. So many movies from the '70s--outside of the classics---haven't at all aged well, even compared to movies from earlier decades; and there is a very cheap, low rent, sort of half-baked feel to a lot of the movies of the period (especially in the early-mid 70s) that wasn't there even in the late 1960s. The pacing in a lot of the films of the era is unconventional, the sets look cheap and the actors (outside of the obvious greats from the period) seem themselves very cheap, like Bruce Dern. Or Redford. Men with good looks but little else. The women were much better actors in this period. But the whole decade just seems to have been very much crap. The 1960s was very different from the Golden Era, but the music, the films, the TV still had that classic quality and the period pieces felt grand and the sets and art design seemed a lot more glitzy, glamorous, classy; the pacing of the films from the 60s isn't all that different from today's films; and a lot of the shows of the '60s have held up better than say, The Brady Lunch or Three's Company. The video quality even of TV shows for example seems much worse in the '70s. I love All in The Family, but the sets look very drab compared with its 1950s counterpart in The Honeymooners. There also just seems to be a cynicism that permeates the '70s films, even before Watergate--a darkness--films like that movie Joe, or a lot of the early horror films. This is the decade where pornography became mainstream, where slasher flicks were introduced. This is the decade in which Disney produced Robin Hood. Where Southern style good ol' boy country music is all over a picture set in medieval England. This is the Roger Moore era of James Bond. The time of Blaxploitation, the Jon Pertwee Doctor. Cheese was much in vogue. The era of 'glam rock', Disco and Punk. When The Stones stopped trying to be more than a garage band and outside of prog, all attempts at making rock actually be art were abandoned in favor of riffs and solos.

Fashion wise, there's not a single decade which in retrospect looks worse (perhaps the late 80s-early 90s). I mean one can look at a picture of their grandparents or parents from say, 1964 and it looks very classy. Take those same people and find a shot of them from 1973 and you're likely to see them sporting sideburns and all sorts of tacky horrid clothes. We went from people looking like JFK (clothes wise--slacks and a dress shirt or a polo and slacks) to wearing leisure suits, jeans and graphics t-shirts in less than a decade

What was up with that decade?

And people wonder WHY I hate the 1970s.

I'm so glad I wasn't born then. The clothing, the music, the movies, the COLOUR SCHEMES (GOD HELP US!!). They give me nightmares!

They both suck just as much as each other as far as I am concerned.

That's also true.

 

[jamespowers]

Was that when he shopped the Beatles for being potheads? (If only they been locked up in 1970.... not one of them recorded a note worth a damn after they split!).

I say they NEVER recorded a note worth a damn.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

[video=youtube;DG-bUNQ9gzU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG-bUNQ9gzU[/video]

 

[jamespowers]

[video=youtube;DG-bUNQ9gzU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG-bUNQ9gzU[/video]

uke:

 

[HoosierDaddy]

The Pinnacle....

[video=youtube;LUID0jSh2Ic]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUID0jSh2Ic[/video]

 

[jamespowers]

And people wonder WHY I hate the 1970s.

I'm so glad I wasn't born then. The clothing, the music, the movies, the COLOUR SCHEMES (GOD HELP US!!). They give me nightmares!



That's also true.

You didn'tmiss anything that is for sue. Even worse if your parents were into all that nasty polyester clothing and bought you a bunch of it to wear. :faint: Then thy took pictures of you wearing it so you can never foget how UGLY the 70s was. :doh: Ugly green and other nasty colors for cars, clothing and even kitchen appliances! :doh: It was horrible! Sight pollution everywhere and hippies giving you sight AND smell pollution. :eeek: HORRIBLE!

 

[31 Model A]

I much rather have had two 60s and went straight into the 80s..................

 

[jamespowers]

The Pinnacle....

[video=youtube;LUID0jSh2Ic]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUID0jSh2Ic[/video]

That was disgusting five seconds after it was made. uke:

 

[jamespowers]

I much rather have had two 60s and went straight into the 80s..................

I'd rather have had three 50s and go right into the 80s.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

Seventy's Music was pretty good, as was some of the Eighty's. Things I disliked about the 70's:

1. Bell Bottoms, I rode a bike back then, I didn't have anything to wind the bell in.
2. Wide Collars and a scarf instead of a tie. You looked like a goof ball with some sort of pirate fetish.
3. Paisley. Paisley anything except a tie is just over kill.
4. Gold Plaid. I had a pair of gold plaid pants, I'm sure that they're still in the dump somewhere, and they'll never rot.
5. The first "compact cars" sucked, wow, 15 miles per gallon.
6. The gas shortage, and then Illinois raised their gas tax such that our gas prices went from $0.50 a gallon to about $0.80 a gallon. Loved that.
7. Avocado Green appliances that I put in, it was worse than the Poppyseed color and harvest Gold. I like white appliances now, I buy it to wash my clothes or me dishes, I didn't buy it to look at. :eeek:

I did recognize some of American Graffiti from small town Illinois, I recognized most of Dazed and Confused from the same place. We had Gino's pool hall, I never met Gino, he died before I got out much. Louisa was his widow and she ran the place for years.

Later

 

[dh66]

*raises hand* Yes, I'm one of those strange specimens that have fond thoughts about (some of) the 80s. Precisely because it was my young adult time, first-taste-of-freedom and I didn't have to worry about a "real job" yet and was wholly ignorant of current events or politics (not really proud of that, just the facts). And I was immersed in one of those sub-cultures: New Wave or alt music. It strikes most as ridiculous now, I'm aware, but those asymmetrical peakcocks were a breath of fresh air after enduring the brown and orange shag of the 70s. Plus it was just fun. And it was, or could be, a very creative expression and largely home made until the $$ interest caught on and started selling it back to us in the malls (like most youth movements of course).

Even MTV, which has had such a murderous influence on pop culture, initially was so poor it only showed basically art students turned musicians doing their own videos, because it was free material. Those were actually very interesting and quirky and fresh. The feeling of discovery of some new sound was great too.

And it was a feeling of having a "tribe", that if you saw someone with a particular music button or purple hair, you knew you at least had something in common on sight. And, we were very much into vintage clothing as a group, and that was my first direct taste of buying and using/wearing it on a daily basis. And what that has wrought!

So unapologetic fondness for the 80s, right here. I might not want to time travel and stay for good. But a tidy re-visit to 1982 or 3 for a bit? I wouldn't be opposed to it. I wouldn't go back to watch "Dallas" on broadcast.

I agree!!
Even the 'Dallas' part. That show was lame, and so were tons of others. As a punk rock/new wave loving kid in the south I know exactly what you mean about that feeling when you recognized a fellow traveler, and also my interest in vintage clothing, which ties directly with the kind of stuff that I was buying in the thrift stores back then. I won't even begin to lament how expensive stuff has become now that I was buying and wearing for a buck or two back then. And Mtv was pretty darn awesome, back before all the established acts realized how cool it was and justade tools of themselves trying to cash in on the new thing. A LOT of great 70s bands went on to become TERRIBLE 80s bands thanks to Mtv. But a lot of really cool underground stuff that would never have had a chance became huge and had a nice impact on popular music for a little while.

 

[Edward]

Certainly true that some of the giants of popular culture might never have had the mass attention they deserved without MTV exposure. Nirvana being one (and Nevermind was probably the most important album of the Nineties). I'm not a fan of the music video fomat, really - I prefer music as a listening art - but if you wanted to make a living out of it, sometimes you have to play the game. I don't have MTV (or any other subscription channel), but I hear there's precious little music on it nowadays, more reality television than anything....

I say they NEVER recorded a note worth a damn.

You're nothing if not predictable.

I much rather have had two 60s and went straight into the 80s..................

Stuff that, I'd take half a dozen Seventies if it meant no Eighties.

Another plus point for the Seventies: it was an absolute golden age for quality HiFi. A 1970s Marants 2270 will sound and be better than anything comparable south of £4,000 today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Good things about the '70s:

The 1975 World Series
Marathon candy bars
Mug-O-Lunch
The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre
"Radio Yesteryear" catalogs in the mail
Ned Martin and Jim Woods
Being able to eat an entire tray of Nissen's Cream Horns without gaining an ounce.


Good things about the '80s --

$99 bus tickets to California
$99 bus tickets *away from* California
Jokes about yuppie stockbrokers in 1987. "What do you call a 28 year old broker in suspenders?" "Waiter!"

 

[jamespowers]

Certainly true that some of the giants of popular culture might never have had the mass attention they deserved without MTV exposure. Nirvana being one (and Nevermind was probably the most important album of the Nineties). I'm not a fan of the music video fomat, really - I prefer music as a listening art - but if you wanted to make a living out of it, sometimes you have to play the game. I don't have MTV (or any other subscription channel), but I hear there's precious little music on it nowadays, more reality television than anything....



You're nothing if not predictable.

MTV is indeed junk today. They need to change the name to RTV if they want to do all that reality crap. I have no idea what channel it is on now and I have cable.

The word is not predictable. The word is consistent.

 

[jamespowers]

I agree!!
Even the 'Dallas' part. That show was lame, and so were tons of others. As a punk rock/new wave loving kid in the south I know exactly what you mean about that feeling when you recognized a fellow traveler, and also my interest in vintage clothing, which ties directly with the kind of stuff that I was buying in the thrift stores back then. I won't even begin to lament how expensive stuff has become now that I was buying and wearing for a buck or two back then. And Mtv was pretty darn awesome, back before all the established acts realized how cool it was and justade tools of themselves trying to cash in on the new thing. A LOT of great 70s bands went on to become TERRIBLE 80s bands thanks to Mtv. But a lot of really cool underground stuff that would never have had a chance became huge and had a nice impact on popular music for a little while.

There is no such thing as a great 70s band. :doh:

 

[1mach1]

I'd rather have had three 50s and go right into the 80s.

Yep. :nod:

 

[1mach1]

There is no such thing as a great 70s band. :doh:

What, no Steely Dan?

 

[31 Model A]

Neil Diamond was the highest paid performer during the 70s and I still listen to his music today that he recorded then, not now. I found one good thing about the 70s so I shall quit now before I blow my memory trying to remember anything else great that came out of the 70s.