70’s Hair Gone Wild

The up do, the down do, the Farrah do. When you think of 70’s hairstyles, the Farrah “flip” is probably the first style that comes to mind. And with good reason; the Farrah Flip was a cultural phenomenon that promoted itself weekly on our ‘boob-tubes’, thanks to a certain TV show. Even if you didn’t watch Charlie’s Angels, you knew about the Farrah Flip.
But with all the feathered hype, a very 70’s hairstyle was quickly forgotten – the “Dorothy Hamill”.

Yup, before Farrah there was Dorothy Hamill, complete with a supremely cute, subtle ‘feather’ cut. Short, sassy, easily maintained, the Dorothy Hamil was a precursor to the extreme feather Jill Munroe sported on Charlie’s Angels. Of course, now we call Dorothy’s cut a ‘wedge’ cut, but let’s be honest here – it WAS feathered. In fact, I do believe that most 8^th grade boys sported this look in the 70’s. Shaun Cassidy comes to mind, and even better, his brother. Nothing to be ashamed of boys – Dorothy Hamill DID win a gold medal at the Olympics, after all.

What was Once

What was once . . .

Our current age of instant digital information has proven easy access to not-so-important knowledge. We now have unending accesses to most media, access to more gossip avenues, and exposure to way too much useless information. All of this instant access makes history a bit more accountable – or maybe it’s lost in the shuffle? Which is why history through TV seems so precious; it’s a time capsule of what was once simple. Mork and Mindy, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat  – simple. Raise your hand if you miss SIMPLE.

This current information overload seriously has me waxing nostalgic for the days when we only had three main TV networks, “instant” Polaroid cameras, and Pong was the only game that interfaced with your TV. What was once simple has become overly complicated. I hate complicated.

I Loved Chuck

Ever wonder what young, bored in suburbia girls REALLY did in class? They might have looked like they were dutifully taking notes on the days topics, but what they were earnestly concentrating on was writing the name of their one and only true love, over & over & over & over . . .you get the idea.

And in this case of MY one and only true love, it was Chuck, as you can see by my binder ramblings. I actually have at least three pages of the same thing, “I Love Chuck” written so many times I HAD to have run out of ink at some point. Funny thing about Chuck – he was one of three, a triplet. Yup, there were three Chucks, so to speak. Why all the girls seemed to fall for only him, way back when we were all 13, I can’t explain. But damn, did he have it good! I think we all loved Chuck.

TV and it’s Impact – 70’s Style

‘Way back’ in the 1970’s we had Archie Bunker, the Fonz, Maude, Laverne and Shirley, Mary Tyler Moore (a hold over from the 60’s – yikes!) and absolutely NO whiff of ‘Political Correctness’. White girls working the line at a Milwalkee plant, white  men who used to work the line at Ford or GM, trying to find their voice in a new world. A new “1970’s” world.

Economic times were BAD here in the U S of A, and TV gave us a glimpse into the America that exposed bigorty, lying politicians, class wars and an unrealistic ideal of life that never really existed. Were we dupped?! My family was. “Buy American!”. So we did. “Support your local union!” And we did. But to what end? Well, by the end of the 1970’s we had unprecedented levels of unemployment, jobs lost due to cheaper goods produced outside the US of A. Are we better now? What would Archie say?

Bitchin’ Camero

What was “in” –  1977

• Cost of a gallon of Gas –  65 cents
• Average Cost of new house  – $49,300.00
• Average Income per year  –  $15,000.00
• Average Monthly Rent  – $240.00

• The Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline opens

• The New York City Blackout lasts for 25 hours and results in looting and disorder.

• World Trade Center in New York is completed

The British-based Clash starts to create an awareness in America of their politicized punk rock sound.

• Steve Hackett quits Genesis, leaving the group to carry on as a trio.

• The movie Saturday Night Fever has the entire country dancing to the disco beat.

• Paul Davis scores the one of the most popular hits of the rock era: “I Go Crazy” stays on the national charts for 40 weeks.

•CB radios in cars and trucks are so popular that they begin interfering with radio and TV signals.

•The 1977 Trans Am is one of the most popular cars, thanks to the success of the movie, “Smokey and the Bandit”.

• Roots, an ABC miniseries about the family tree of author Alex Haley, attracts 80 million viewers, surpassing Gone With The Wind as the highest-rated program ever broadcast.

• An oil well shoots out of control in the North Sea, creating a slick 45 miles long and 30 miles wide.

•The U.S. State Department urges emergency admission of 10,000 Vietnamese “boat people” as refugees.

• Edward Koch becomes the 105th mayor of New York City.

Most Popular Books

Fiction:

1. “The Silmarillion” by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. “The Thorn Birds” by Colleen McCullough

3. “Illusions” by Richard Bach

4. “The Honourable Schoolboy” by John Le Carre

5. “Oliver’s Story” by Erich Segal

Nonfiction

1. “Roots” by Alex Haley

2. “Looking Out for #1” by Robert Ringer

3. “All Things Wise and Wonderful” by James Herriot

4. “Your Erroneous Zones” by Dr. Wayne Dyer

5. “The Book of Lists” by David Wallechinsky

TV in 1977

Remember UHF? Our house LIVED by TV. My family was the first family on the block to have cable TV – AKA channel 13 – which showed ‘Logan’s Run’ over and over again. Re-runs of Hogan’s Heroes and Star Trek after school was a mainstay. Although there were so few channels to chose from in 1977, somehow we always fought over which shows we would watch. Color TV in the living room, B&W TV in the den, I always lost the fight and had to watch my favorite shows in black and white. I think the ONLY TV show we all watched together as a family was Happy Days – what family DIDN’T watch Happy Days in 1977?

TV Shows introduced in 1977:
The first Circus of the Stars is broadcast on CBS
Eight Is Enough and Three’s Company both premiere on ABC.
Soap premieres on ABC
CHiPs premieres on NBC
Lou Grant premieres on CBS
The Love Boat premieres on ABC
Pinwheel premieres on Nickelodeon making it the first Nickelodeon show.

Top TV Shows for 1977 – ABC dominates the top shows:
1. Laverne & Shirley ABC 31.6
2. Happy Days ABC 31.4
3. Three’s Company ABC 28.3
4. 60 Minutes CBS 24.4
5. Charlie’s Angels ABC 24.4

Last seasons for -The Bob Newhart Show, Six Million Dollar Man, The Carol Burnett Show, Maude, Police Woman, Barretta, Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Kojak, Chico and the Man, Mary Hartman and the Bionic Woman.