Readers know I consider myself a child of the ’80s, since I graduated from high school and college and started working in that decade. (Which makes me an old member of Generation X.)
But while the ’80s is probably superior to other decades in entertainment, particularly in music, that is not the case with motor vehicles. (I also got my driver’s license in the ’80s.)
Chances are that if you were in middle school or high school during the ’70s you had posters of either exotic cars, babes like Farrah Fawcett, or your favorite rock bands on the walls of your bedroom, if your mother permitted them. About the former, Motor Trend writes:
After the Lamborghini Miura made a splash in the 1960s and later became regarded as the first production “supercar” to capture the modern imagination, the following decade exploded with exotic machinery the world over intent on capturing some of the Miura’s magic. These ’70s supercars rose above the expectations of a standard sports car by way of their sultry looks, incredible performance for the era, and in some cases their sheer audacity—carving out an unforgettable chapter in the history of the automobile.
In no particular order, here’s a look at 10 of the most memorable supercars from the 1970s, exotics hailing from the likes of Germany, Japan, the U.K., and of course, Italy.
Today in 1956, Elvis Presley had his first number one song:
Today in 1965, Ford Motor Co. began offering eight-track tape players in their cars. Since eight-track tape players for home audio weren’t available yet, car owners had to buy eight-track tapes at auto parts stores.
Today in 1970, Vice President Spiro Agnew said in a speech that the youth of America were being “brainwashed into a drug culture” by rock music, movies, books and underground newspapers.
Today in Great Britain in the first half of the 1960s was a day for oddities.
Today in 1960, a campaign began to ban the Ray Peterson song “Tell Laura I Love Her” (previously mentioned here) on the grounds that it was likely to inspire a “glorious death cult” among teens. (The song was about a love-smitten boy who decides to enter a car race to earn money to buy a wedding ring for her girlfriend. To sum up, that was his first and last race.)
The anti-“Tell Laura” campaign apparently was not based on improving traffic safety. We conclude this from the fact that three years later, Graham Nash of the Hollies leaned against a van door at 40 mph after a performance in Scotland to determine if the door was locked. Nash determined it wasn’t locked on the way to the pavement.
Today in 1956, London police were called to break up a crowd of teenagers after the showing of the film “Rock around the Clock” at the Trocadero Cinema.
That prompted a letter to the editor in the Sept. 12, 1956 London Times:
The hypnotic rhythm and the wild gestures have a maddening effect on a rhythm loving age group and the result of its impact is the relaxing of all self control.
The British demonstrated their lack of First Amendment by banning the film in several cities.
Today in 1962, the BBC banned playing the newly released “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett on the grounds that it was offensive. To use vernacular of the day, that was uncool.
Eleven years later, the BBC banned the Rolling Stones’ “Star Star,” but if you play the clip you can hear why (really):
Today in 1926, Radio Corporation of America — then owned by General Electric Co., Westinghouse, AT&T and United Fruit Co. (now known as Chiquita Brands International) — created the National Broadcasting Co. …
… which later returned to RCA’s parent, General Electric Co. (from whose name came the famous NBC chimes), and now is part of what used to be Universal Studios …
… and is part of Comcast cable TV …
In a possibly strange way, that makes every Universal-owned show on NBC “pure NBCUniversal,” or something.
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 