Remembering the 70s

A Simpler Time

Monthly Archives: February 2012

Not Your Top 40: Judas Priest – Diamonds and Rust

I grew up on rock and roll. Mainly because my brother (who was five years older than me) listened to it. Kiss, Aerosmith, Foghat, Styx, Rush, Thin Lizzy and many others were almost a daily part of my life. As I got older and started to discover my own taste in music, Judas Priest has always been on the top of my list.

In the mid 80s, when I was into metal, new wave, punk and rock (I know weird mix)  Judas Priest was one of my favorite bands and during that time they had become very popular in the states with songs like “Turbo Lover” and “Breakin’ the Law”.  But I was always on the search for something different and when I heard their music from the 70s, it was vastly different.

I might post some of their heavier stuff at a latter time, but this is one of my favorites.  This is a Judas Priest cover of Joan Baez’s song “Diamonds and Rust” from 1977.

Pom-Pom Pets from 1978

I used to make something similar when I was younger to make extra money. We used pom-poms to make refrigerator magnet critters. We had all of the Sesame Street characters, mice, penguins, bunnies, and almost every other critter you could think of. We used to sell them for  $.50 to a $1.00. We sometimes had orders for up to $50 from some businesses. That was a lot of money for a kid in the 70s.

Pom-Pom Pets from 1978

Pom-Pom Pets from 1978

Planet of the Apes – TV Series – 1974

In 1974, CBS aired a series based on the Planet of the Apes movies. As it was in the movies, the series is based on two astronauts, Colonel Alan Virdon played by Ron Harper and Major Peter J. Burke  played by James Naughton, who crash land on earth March 21st, 3085. Roddy McDowall is back again as the chimpanzee named Galen. Galen befriends the astronauts and he soon becomes entangled in their misfortune. The trio travels around the land to try and find a way back home while a all other apes are aggressively searching for them.

I couldn’t find a video showing the intro in English for the life of me, so here is a scene! (lol)

 

Not Your Top 40: Only Ones – Another Girl Another Planet

What can I say? I love punk, so I am bringing you another punk band called Only Ones. Their song “Another Girl Another Planet” was released in 1978. It hit #44 in the New Zealand’s top 50 chart in 1981 and then again in hit #57 in the UK charts in 1992! (Over 10 years later!) It has since been covered many times and used in some commercials.

Only Ones – Another Girl Another Planet from 1978:

Dark Shadows

This is an extremely late post, it has been a busy day for me. Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that ran from 1966 thru 1971.  I can honestly say I have never watched a full episode, it was too slow for me, but it does have a huge cult following.

Dark Shadows broke the soap box mold when it started to introduce ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and zombies into it’s story lines. It had become  immensely popular with the younger viewers, but when the recession of the 70s started taking place,  ABC decided to cancel the series in 1971 in order to cut costs.

Where you a fan of Dark Shadows?

Fun fact: According to Wiki a total of 1,225 episodes were produced, but the fact that really amazed me is that all of the episodes are still intact today except for one!

Aurora AFX Race Tracks from 1975

I was more into model trains that I was race tracks, but my brother was really into racing. He and his friends were always modding their cars, trying to end up with the fastest one.

There where two basic kinds of tracks that I remember, slotted and not slotted. The ones that were not slotted you could change lanes with the speed controller. They even had pieces of track that had an HO Scale railroad intersections so that you could run your train across the racing track. The only downside was the cars were really big in comparison to the train. But the concept was still cool.

Aurora AFX Race Tracks from 1975 a

Aurora AFX Race Tracks from 1975 a

 (My car was the 57 Nomad but mine was blue.)

Aurora AFX Race Tracks from 1975 b

Aurora AFX Race Tracks from 1975 b

There were a lot of different trace tracks in the 70s so I will have to covering them over several posts.  These are some of the race tracks that I remember seeing commercials for. The Aurora “Golden Gate Road Race”, “Double Dare Devil Road Race”, and “Challenger  Road Race”.

Star Wars Toys from 1979 – Part 1

I have been putting this one off because there is just so much stuff out there. I decided that instead, I will just tackle a little bit at a time.

What can I say that everyone doesn’t already know about Star Wars. Even though I am a Battlestar Galactica guy, let’s face it, Star Wars was one of the greatest movies to ever come out in the 70s.

It released the imagination in almost every child that I knew.

Star Wars Toy Ad 1979

Star Wars Toy Ad 1979

So, for our first round we have the Millennium Falcon, Vader’s Tie Fighter, X-Wing Fighter, and an assortment of action figures. They also are selling the Boba Fett as a 13″ action figure.

I didn’t have any of the big action figures but I did have a whole slew of the smaller ones. The one I will never forget is Boba Fett. I can’t remember which cereal it was, but one of the brands was offering a free Boba Fett figure with whatever number of box tops that was needed. He actually came with a rocket that could be launched from his back!

I ate heartily, saved up my box tops, and then mom sent it in for my free figure. Weeks and weeks went by as I anxiously awaited the arrival of Boba Fett. I was beginning to think it was a lost parcel because it was taking so long! But then that one magical day arrived and there was a package in the mailbox for me. I torn into and then discovered why it took so long to get my Boba Fett. Child safety… they removed the launching rocket and put in a stationary one. :(

Bummer.

Women’s Perfume from 1973

Here is a selection of ladies perfumes from Eatons 1973  catalog.

Women's Perfume 1973

Women's Perfume 1973

There were several that I recognized like “Prince Matchabelli”, “Tigress from Faberge”, and “Coty’s Emeraude”.

It may be a bit of a cliche, but my first memory of a women’s perfume was when my first “serious” girlfriend used to mail me letters that she sprayed with the perfume she wore. I couldn’t even tell you what perfume it was, but I still remember that smell even today.