1973 - #OneDay

To kick off this weeks post, the good wife did point out that I missed off one vital event from 1972, which was the year of her birth! Obviously my reasoning is that she just doesn't look old enough to have been born so long ago..

The major events of the year are the UK joining the EU and the start of the TV series Last of The Summer Wine, the show that seemed to replace characters weekly as the actors died, but never had a funeral as that would have ruined the feel good factor. In excellent sporting news Spurs won the League Cup this year beating Norwich in the final which I would like to say I remember but being brought up in a non-sporting house I can't.

If you lived in the USA the entire year seems to have been taken up with the Watergate hearings and growing scandal surrounding Nixon, who amazingly as late as November was still insisting he wasn't a crook, and wasn't to resign until late in 1974. A great piece of history that when you consider this was at the height of the Cold War, and no end of other actual conflicts and the ongoing world terrorism it seems odd that the entire government of a Super Power were potentially corrupt. The legacy has been the addition of the word "gate" to the end of any other word or name whenever there is a hint of scandal. This also showed the real side of investigative journalism, where Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein carried on digging to get to the facts, rather than much of todays media that would rather find out who D list celebs are sleeping with.

On to the music, and after last weeks let down, we get back to some better choices, I will just assume that in the summer of 72 everyone just forgot to buy some music.

Single: Skweeze Me Pleeze Me - Slade

This is what many people will see as the 70's. When looking through it was quiet hard to find the original of this, but it is on any number of compilation albums not just of the year, but also Heavy Metal, Glam Rock and Hard Rock ones. Glam Rock for me would be the only way to describe this. A typical slice of early 70's feel good rock. The fashions beyond description, did people in the street really dress like this as well, yes as far as I can see.

In one of those oddities that seem so strange the band couldn't perform on Top of the Pops at the time as the drummer Don Powell had been injured in a car accident, and as the whole band could not perform they had to just play the song and have dancers on the stage. Why odd? Well, at the time TotP was all mimed, so the producers of the show ruled that the band were not allowed to mime unless all the original members were present.. 

Slade are one of the few bands that are easily identified by everyone in the UK, as come December you know you are going to hear Noddy Holder bellowing at you about Christmas everywhere you go. From the days when bands made proper Christmas singles, another piece of musical history.

Album: Original Soundtrack - That'll Be The Day

As a soundtrack it is another compilation album, but does have some cracking tunes on it.

The film, starring David Essex (who has just joined Eastenders) and Ringo Star among many others was apparently loosely based on the early years of some of the early sixties bands. A simple enough story, it is a few years since I have seen the film and the follow up Stardust, it is probably worth watching just for the nostalgia of early 70s movies than anything else.

The soundtrack though seemed very hard to find a definitive listing as to what was on it, and I was unable to track one down - almost all the ones I could find are a mix of the soundtracks of the two films, but taking the two as one, you won't go far wrong getting that as a CD if you just want some feel good sunny Sunday morning tunes. It has Del Shannon, The Zombies, Beach Boys, Jan & Dean and more, and like so many of the classics from the golden age you will be able to sing along to every single track on here instantly. I didn't get the CD as I have every track on it already, but don't let that stop you!

That is all for 73, it will be the next decade before I can add in another reference to Spurs winning a trophy again, and next year the first real political impact on my life happens, so come back soon to 1974. 

Update on Sunday, June 5, 2011 at 1:36PM by Simon Jones

Thanks to a good mate Nick from Devon - here is the back of the Double Album that he had on his shelf at home! Also look at the phone number for the office in London, starts 01 - another way of seeing how old you are is what dialling code for London you remember.