Nostalgia Lane

[cdadbr]

2 hours ago, Ricattatore said:

In the 70s everything was crap: the music, the fashion, the interior design and the toilet mats and covers were a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. 🙁

Well, that's the way it was for upscale bath rooms back then.  Heck, we even put "kitchen carpet" in our bathroom.  HAD to make sure no dribbles hit the floor!  Being around "germs" helps build one's immunity to them, it seems.  Just because YOU might not like them does NOT mean they were "crap".  After all, MANY of us live through all of that with no issues.

[vallam2222]

3 hours ago, Ricattatore said:

In the 70s everything was crap: the music, the fashion, the interior design and the toilet mats and covers were a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. 🙁

I felt the same way about the 80s. Now I miss the f*%ck out of them.

[Steve]

[JackFTwist]

16 hours ago, Ricattatore said:

In the 70s everything was crap: the music, the fashion, the interior design

I beg the pardon of the numerous contributors to one of my favorite AM forum topics as I mount my soapbox, but I try to avoid blanket judgments, especially negative ones, about peoples' tastes and preferences.  Such judgments are one of my pet peeves.  As the ancient maxim says, there's no arguing about tastes.  ("De gustibus non est disputandum," as some anonymous Roman expressed it for posterity.)  It's equivalent to arguing about a person's favorite color:  Who am I to tell anyone that their favorite color is somehow inferior (or superior) to someone else's?

Elton John was one of the few musical bright spots for me during the early 1970s.  A few days ago, he and his song-writing partner Bernie Taupin were awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Music by the US Library of Congress.  What a difference a few decades can make in our view of the past.

The mid- and late-1970s were a very happy time in my life, and many of my happiest memories are inextricably linked to Disco, especially Abba's "Dancing Queen," "Fernando," "SOS," and numerous others, plus "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, Our Lady of Disco.  On Friday nights, as I drove from my suburban Boston apartment to the bars downtown, hearing the band Boston's "More Than a Feeling" on the radio made the drive more enjoyable.  I also enjoyed some of the Queen and BeeGee's music from that era, and it's now considered classic.

So were my tastes crap in your opinion?  "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn!"  You're entitled to your opinion, as I am to mine.  You'll have to pry my fondness for some Abba and Boston numbers from my cold, dead memory!

In fashion and interior design, many of us were at an age when we didn't know any better.  The very nature of fads is that they capture popular opinion and become widespread.  Hence, we got polyester bell-bottom and flared pants.  Looking back, we may be appalled and wonder what we were thinking.   The answer may be that we weren't thinking.  We were just following the fad du jour.

Twenty years ago, much of what we now favorably regard as "retro design" would've been considered crap.  And 20 years from now, when we look back at the ubiquity of stainless steel appliances, not to mention gray/silver cars, many people will wonder, "What were they thinking?  Everything was crap back then!"

 

Edited March 23 by JackFTwist

[teddy0012]

32 minutes ago, JackFTwist said:

I beg the pardon of the numerous contributors to one of my favorite AM forum topics as I mount my soapbox, but I try to avoid blanket judgments, especially negative ones, about peoples' tastes and preferences.  Such judgments are one of my pet peeves.  As the ancient maxim says, there's no arguing about tastes.  ("De gustibus non est disputandum," as some anonymous Roman expressed it for posterity.)  It's equivalent to arguing about a person's favorite color:  Who am I to tell anyone that their favorite color is somehow inferior (or superior) to someone else's?

Elton John was one of the few musical bright spots for me during the early 1970s.  A few days ago, he and his song-writing partner Bernie Taupin were awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Music by the US Library of Congress.  What a difference a few decades make in our view of the past.

The mid- and late-1970s were a very happy time in my life, and many of my happiest memories are inextricably linked to Disco, especially Abba's "Dancing Queen," "Fernando," "SOS," and numerous others, plus "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, Our Lady of Disco.  On Friday nights, as I drove from my Boston suburb apartment to the bars downtown, hearing the band Boston's "More Than a Feeling" on the radio made the drive more enjoyable.  I also enjoyed some of the Queen and BeeGee's music from that era, and it's now considered classic.

So were my tastes crap in your opinion?  "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn!"  You're entitled to your opinion, as I am to mine.  You'll have to pry my fondness for some Abba and Boston numbers from my cold, dead memoryl

In fashion and interior design, many of us were at an age when we didn't know any better.  The very nature of fads is that they capture popular opinion and become widespread.  Hence, we got polyester bell-bottom and flared pants.  Looking back, we may be appalled and wonder what we were thinking.   The answer may be that we weren't thinking.  We were just following the fad du jour.

Twenty years ago, much of what we now favorably regard as "retro design" would've been considered crap.  And 20 years from now, when we look back at the ubiquity of stainless steel appliances, not to mention gray/silver cars, many people will wonder, "What were they thinking?  Everything was crap back then!"

 

Jack.  Share your sentiments that fashion and taste are so much "of the moment".  I don't think the 70's and 80's were crap, though I look back at some of the pics of me as a young teenager and shudder at the bell bottom jeans, overly big hair and, for those of us north of the 49th, Roots "negative heel" shoes!  Hey, we thought we were cool at the time.  Gotta admit that I never liked anything "avocado" coloured - mom's kitchen at that time had an avocado stove and matching fridge.  And I stand by my sentiment that multi-coloured bathrooms, especially with fuzzy toilet rugs and lid covers made me want to barf then as much as now LOL.

[ElfredNox]

my great grandmother had a couch like this, if not this exact one; i remember the pattern being similar but different but it's been nearly 20 years since i last saw it so...

and of course a print of this painting hanging on the wall as a center piece

i would stare at this painting for so long sometimes my eyes would start to play tricks on me and i would start to see movement in it. after my great grandmother passed and my gram, unfortunately had to sell the house, we "inherited" this print. it hung in our living room for years before i moved to the kitchen; simply because i felt the large empty wall in there needed something to break it up. i think my dad possibly got rid of it in our latest move but it could just be shoved in the shed somewhere, not like there's wall space here for it.

i also remember my great grandmother's house having a diner booth style table. big curved bench seat in red around a round table. even as a kid i thought it was cool and unique and to this day, honestly, i still want a table like that - even though it's a pain to get in and out of. 

i remember how you could look out of the kitchen window above the sink and see out across the river and sometimes catch sight of a train. i remember going around outside and going to the damp places so i could catch these tiny toads that would be there. it was so long ago and i was so young but i have very distinct memories of the place.

the worst memory i have is of being taken to my great grandmother's wake and not being told it was her wake or that she was even dead until several weeks later when we were going to visit my gram who was still living in the house at the time. ya know, just sorta springing that on me when i had less than 30 minutes to process it before we arrived, great parenting. i think my dad did it because my mom had died just a couple months prior and he didn't want to upset or traumatize me more but then proceeded to do it in probably one of the most upsetting and traumatizing ways. i kinda wish i didn't have such a vivid memory of that, of realizing my great grandmother wasn't there with everyone else and me just assuming she was sleeping to explain her absence.

well that's enough trauma dumping. maybe i'll get into my childhood homes next time.

[vallam2222]

When your dad (granddad, great-granddad, etc) tells you how much better music was in his day, how much more relevant and meaningful, how artful and eloquent lyrics were, play this song for him...

 

[cdadbr]

For those who don't like the "carpeted" toilet seat covers and matching "rug", you might not like the then-popular (1970s time frame) deep shag carpeting for homes.  In the popular colors of green, burnt orange, and medium brown.  As the "shag" was long, had to use a special rake to "sweep" it so it'd look nice.

Bell-bottom pants evolved into the more conservative "flare leg" pants.  They could look really sexy on some of the leaner guys about 6' tall in the right color and fabric.  For the chunkier-build guys, not so much.  THEN combine them with "low-rise" and things could get even hotter.  Of course, the bell-bottoms could also be hiding some "thick sole" dress shoes, too.

Remember "Neru Jackets"?  The later 1960s was a great time of experimentation of trends to see which ones might "stick".  Much diversity.  Not dull at all, whether it was due to interesting colors, style/cuts of clothes, shoes, etc.  It was a fun time like no other since. 

Of course, the leanear-cut fashions rewarded those who were more fit.  In many cases, motivating those who weren't to try to get that way.  It ALL had to look good, unlike the clothes trends that seemed to be more "Cosby Kids" than "Dynasty" or "Dallas" in nature.

It was not uncommon to see in-shape guys wearing 2" inseam denim cut-offs in the summer.  Showing plenty of thigh.  Just as the females had mini-skirts that would do the same!  "Sex" was dirty and the "air was cleaner", back then.  Yet guys pants were tighter-cut and guys showed bulges as a normal situation.  Then it was not long before shorts were "below the knee", longer than "walking shorts" and guys were wearing the hair off of the back of their calves from fabric contact.  YUK!  But as long as they felt that was "good", more power to them, but I KNEW they could look better. 

Can't forget about the "hippies" and "love children"!  Tie-died psychadelic prints and such.  Watch some re-runs of "Laugh-In"!  That show, plus "Hollywood Squares", "Batman", and "Star Trek" were major tv shows when they first came out.  We watched them religiously and then talked about them at school the next day.

There were a LOT of good and enjoyable things about those earlier times.  Many of which younger people might not understand, at any level.  NOR do they seek to try, it seems, as they are in their own world now, just as we were back then.  I believe WE had more fun back then than they are having now.  It's a different world now . . .

[Ludwick]

My turn on the soapbox: What's fabulous and what's fugly are in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes a consensus can be reached in retrospect. On the other hand, there will always be those of us to whom the wild and crazy holds appeal, no matter how much everyone else hates it.

My parents are old enough to be my grandparents. The parents of many kids my age grew up listening to Elvis Presley, Chubby Checker, etc. Mine come from the Big Band era. You can imagine how my mother felt whenever we cranked up Boston's Foreplay/Long Time. She considered ELO to be a retread of the Beatles (the latter having hit the scene when my sisters' were in their early teens.)

When something from my generation or an earlier one becomes fashionable again, my reaction is sometimes one of, "Really? They must have searched for the worst examples they could find from that time." Other times, people find cool ways of making the old new again.

Certainly you're allowed not to like various trends. I definitely give some of them side-eye, but remind myself, "To each, their own. People are allowed to like what they like."

Edited March 23 by Ludwick

[larry]

Amen fellow survivors of the 70's.  

[vallam2222]

Anyone else have one of these? My older sister cut it out and played it for us.

It would not lay flat, of course, and we barely got any music out of it after the first or second run.

As if a kid needed further incentive to eat sugar, but I loved it. The record and the cereal. I only had the one and begged my family to find more. It was addictive.

[vallam2222]

9 hours ago, ElfredNox said:

my great grandmother had a couch like this, if not this exact one; i remember the pattern being similar but different but it's been nearly 20 years since i last saw it so...

and of course a print of this painting hanging on the wall as a center piece

i would stare at this painting for so long sometimes my eyes would start to play tricks on me and i would start to see movement in it. after my great grandmother passed and my gram, unfortunately had to sell the house, we "inherited" this print. it hung in our living room for years before i moved to the kitchen; simply because i felt the large empty wall in there needed something to break it up. i think my dad possibly got rid of it in our latest move but it could just be shoved in the shed somewhere, not like there's wall space here for it.

i also remember my great grandmother's house having a diner booth style table. big curved bench seat in red around a round table. even as a kid i thought it was cool and unique and to this day, honestly, i still want a table like that - even though it's a pain to get in and out of. 

i remember how you could look out of the kitchen window above the sink and see out across the river and sometimes catch sight of a train. i remember going around outside and going to the damp places so i could catch these tiny toads that would be there. it was so long ago and i was so young but i have very distinct memories of the place.

the worst memory i have is of being taken to my great grandmother's wake and not being told it was her wake or that she was even dead until several weeks later when we were going to visit my gram who was still living in the house at the time. ya know, just sorta springing that on me when i had less than 30 minutes to process it before we arrived, great parenting. i think my dad did it because my mom had died just a couple months prior and he didn't want to upset or traumatize me more but then proceeded to do it in probably one of the most upsetting and traumatizing ways. i kinda wish i didn't have such a vivid memory of that, of realizing my great grandmother wasn't there with everyone else and me just assuming she was sleeping to explain her absence.

well that's enough trauma dumping. maybe i'll get into my childhood homes next time.

When I was 18 my neighbor's son died suddenly and unexpectedly of a grand mal seizure.

They held a wake and family and friends from all over came. My family made an appearance around 5pm but I stayed. The only thing about wakes I knew of was I thought they were Irish. This wasn't, but it was memorable, and eventful for/to me.

I was sad because the guy who passed away was really sweet. For me it also became a study in human behavior. My folks rarely imbibed and I'd never seen the effects of alcohol (and other stuff) up so close and personal, in adults. Mild drama, but in front of strangers. If my folks had stayed, there'd have been a lot of pearl-clutching.

Anyway, well past midnight and most everyone had gathered outside on this customarily warm night. Some college guys across the way that were renting a house and heard us, climbed over the fence and asked if they could join the party. My neighbors, sweet souls that they were told them sure, and gave them beers and they stayed awhile. No one had the heart to tell them.

Months later I was hanging out at the college guys placed and I let it slip that they had crashed a wake.

Memories.

 

[JackFTwist]

10 hours ago, teddy0012 said:

I stand by my sentiment that multi-coloured bathrooms, especially with fuzzy toilet rugs and lid covers made me want to barf then as much as now LOL.

LOL, I confess that I do like most toilet rugs and lid covers if they're color-coordinated with the rest of the bathroom.  The rugs disguise the stray splatters of urine on the floor that would otherwise be quite noticeable and require frequent mopping to keep the bathroom looking presentable.  The lid covers break up the stark white of the toilet and provide a bit of cushioning if you sit down on the lid for any reason.  The covers are also warmer on your bare buns than an uncovered toilet lid is.  The rugs and lid covers almost certainly were back then, and still are now, "a breeding ground for germs and bacteria."  But the entire rest of the bathroom is a breeding ground, too.  At least the rug and lid cover can just be thrown in the washing machine and dryer.  And other than the flu or a common cold, what illnesses did anyone ever catch from these or any other bathroom accessories?  The light switch or faucet handle was just as likely to have been the source of infection, not to mention your toothbrush if it's kept in a holder on the counter or wall.

But I understand and respect your aversion to the rugs and covers.  Once again, to each his own, eh?

8 hours ago, cdadbr said:

Remember "Neru Jackets"?

Good grief, yes.  What were we thinking?

8 hours ago, cdadbr said:

It was not uncommon to see in-shape guys wearing 2" inseam denim cut-offs in the summer ... [and] guys pants were tighter-cut and guys showed bulges as a normal situation.

And wasn't it glorious to see all that bare leg and those bulges?  Alas, some not-so-much in-shape guys wore cut-offs, too.

8 hours ago, cdadbr said:

Then it was not long before shorts were "below the knee", longer than "walking shorts"

And thus began the decline and fall of Western civilization as we knew & loved it! 

9 hours ago, ElfredNox said:

i also remember my great grandmother's house having a diner booth style table. big curved bench seat in red around a round table.

I love those booths!

Edited March 23 by JackFTwist

[jakester]

12 hours ago, vallam2222 said:

When your dad (granddad, great-granddad, etc) tells you how much better music was in his day, how much more relevant and meaningful, how artful and eloquent lyrics were, play this song for him...

 

That's a novelty song from '48. She was one of the most distinctive singers of the time who recorded many of the eras best songs. Her recording with Andre Previn at the piano is masterful. Girl could sing. This is one of her finest, in this incarnation from the movie Till The Clouds Roll By, 1946. The lyric is by Oscar Hammerstein, who wrote it on learning that Paris had fallen to the Nazis. The lovely (and very difficult) music is by Jerome Kern. I didn't get it to embed properly, start at 1:44.

 

Edited March 23 by jakester

[vallam2222]

2 minutes ago, jakester said:

That's a novelty song from '48. She was one of the most distinctive singers of the time who recorded many of the eras best songs. Her recording with Andre Previn at the piano is masterful. Girl could sing. This is one of her finest, in this incarnation from the movie Till The Clouds Roll By, 1946. The lyric is by Oscar Hammerstein, who wrote it on learning that Paris had fallen to the Nazis. The lovely music is by Jerome Kern. 

 

Jakester, with all that musical knowledge you should post on my new music game here on Adonis, we'd love to have you!

Oh I love Dinah, when I was as kid I only knew her from her talk show, The Dinah Shore Show.

It's funny thinking of Andre Previn playing piano for Dinah Shore and years later he married Mia Farrow

I love how Dinah cracks up while singing this!

 

[jakester]

She was quite an entertainer. I didn't grow up in the States and missed all of that. The Previn/Shore album is from 2006. It's on iTunes, etc. Some wonderful songs.

[Kawika]

I loved Dinah Shore... I knew people in Palm Springs she was friendly with... but alas we never met... I actually have some of her work on a playlist or two... who remembers this... I'm too young for the first go round but I've seen most of these thanks to YouTube...

See The USA In Your Chevrolet... Dinah Shore

Edited March 23 by Kawika
Hate Auto Correct

[vallam2222]

6 minutes ago, Kawika said:

I loved Dinah Shore... I knew people in Palm Springs she was friendly with... but alas we never met... I actually have some of her work on a playlist or two... who remembers this... I'm too you for the first go round but I've seen most of these thanks to YouTube...

See The USA In Your Chevrolet... Dinah Shore

My mom would sing that sing! Thanks u toob for bringing back great memories!

Edited March 23 by vallam2222
song

[vallam2222]

Who does it better?

 

 

 

[vallam2222]

9 minutes ago, Kawika said:

I loved Dinah Shore... I knew people in Palm Springs she was friendly with... but alas we never met... I actually have some of her work on a playlist or two... who remembers this... I'm too you for the first go round but I've seen most of these thanks to YouTube...

See The USA In Your Chevrolet... Dinah Shore

My mom had a huge crush on Burt Reynolds when he and Dinah were dating. Then of course, Burt moved onto Sally Field. Then Loni Anderson...

[cdadbr]

41 minutes ago, Kawika said:

I loved Dinah Shore... I knew people in Palm Springs she was friendly with... but alas we never met... I actually have some of her work on a playlist or two... who remembers this... I'm too you for the first go round but I've seen most of these thanks to YouTube...

See The USA In Your Chevrolet... Dinah Shore

Thanks for mentioning this!!!  One of the greatest songs to motivate people to buy a car.  Next best one would be the Milton Berle "How I like to drive my Buick", also on YouTube.

[vallam2222]

2 minutes ago, cdadbr said:

Thanks for mentioning this!!!  One of the greatest songs to motivate people to buy a car.  Next best one would be the Milton Berle "How I like to drive my Buick", also on YouTube.

Didn't Dinah have a signature kiss at the end of the commercial? I remember her always ending her talk show by throwing a kiss. I thought it was iconic (in my own head?).

Anyway, my mom always ended the song with blowing us kids a kiss.

Mom kinda reminded me of Margaret Sullivan, her interaction with her children.

[vallam2222]

15 minutes ago, cdadbr said:

Thanks for mentioning this!!!  One of the greatest songs to motivate people to buy a car.  Next best one would be the Milton Berle "How I like to drive my Buick", also on YouTube.

My dad told me he had a Buick in the 1950s with Dynaflow transmission. He said it was smooth.

[jakester]

1 hour ago, vallam2222 said:

My mom had a huge crush on Burt Reynolds when he and Dinah were dating. Then of course, Burt moved onto Sally Field. Then Loni Anderson...

And a male friend of mine somewhere along the way.

[tourist]

1 hour ago, vallam2222 said:

Didn't Dinah have a signature kiss at the end of the commercial? I remember her always ending her talk show by throwing a kiss. I thought it was iconic (in my own head?).

Anyway, my mom always ended the song with blowing us kids a kiss.

Mom kinda reminded me of Margaret Sullivan, her interaction with her children.

Most definitely, with a distinctive "Mwah!"  In fact, many sites referencing career include the word "Mwah!" in tribute.  The below is just one:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0403334/mediaviewer/rm1191473920