Wednesday, January 30, 2008

What's It All About, Alfie?

Yes, I know Alfie was actually a 60s film - but that wouldn't bother a lot of "70s" researchers...

Hi, folks! My name is Maria Mitchell. I'm 50 years old, and live in Cambridgeshire, England.

What's this 'ere blog about, then?

Basically, over the last ten years or so, I've been hearing youngsters (including my own children) spouting rather a lot of hot air about a certain decade sandwiched between the 1960s and 1980s - yes, you know the one!

Fuelled by pop culture shows like I Love The 1970s, these youngsters live in a world of fantasy - a 70s of no tears, no trouble - with all the fads and fun of the 1967-1985 era crammed in.

I find this slightly worrying. In my day, kids were interested in politics, the current day - out there spouting opinions on anything and everything. Nowadays, youngsters live in a retro wonderland of nonsense, created by the likes of the BBC.

This blog is intended to be fun. I find 70s adoration amusing as well as worrying and the decade certainly had its funny side, but it's mainly designed to prick the 70s bubble and, hopefully, get youngsters and the youngsters of the 70s to think a little about what that decade was REALLY like and perhaps take a look at how things are now.

Friday, January 18, 2008

CORRIEBLOG - More 70's Nonsense

Corrieblog is fine, but like so many sites guilty of 70s hyping trash. For instance, it states that the 1970s were the "heyday" of slow burning character development. Didn't that happen in the '80s, too (Audrey, Alma?) didn't it happen in the 90s (Raquel?).

The development of Ivy and Vera as characters was not planned!

Corrieblog stop it. The Street was in serious trouble for over half the 70s, with the ratings dropping disasterously and the Street limping along on a diet of romantic Barbara Cartland style twaddle or thoroughly miserable, unwatchable storylines. It wasn't until the arrival of Bill Podmore in 1976 that things began to pick up and the Street began to regain some of its magic, so tragically lost after the 60s.

I'll wager the majority of Corrieblog writers don't even remember the 70s - or were just little kids at the time!