I also today want to announce plans for a 1975 indulgence--beginning in 2012. I think i've figured out how I want to do this--in terms of setting up YouTube and eBay searches, Google alerts and my Christmas list--and I think 1975 is going to end up being a much more satisfying endeavor. For me. So I'm very excited.
Another big deal is that I am going to forgive myself in advance for falling behind. I'm constantly falling behind in my now world, so it's unreasonable for me to hold myself accountable to being on time in my then world. So, I forgive you, me.
In this spirit, here's what has happened in the 1974 World Series as of Oct. 16, 1974.
And here are what were the current football standings.
I'm pretending like, sometimes, my TV set goes on the fritz or things get busy down at the office.
I have managed to keep up with the third Bob Newhart Show season. Episode 5, which originally aired on Oct. 12, 1974, delivered at least a half-dozen out-loud laughs--none louder than the "Foster child" gag between Dr. Hartley and his sister.
I'm actually really looking forward to 1975 -- a much better year than 1974.
ReplyDeleteHere's some things I would like in terms of 1975 coverage:
reports on UK basketball
occasional Doonesbury updates
occasional updates on the 1976 presidential campaign
movie reviews
reviews of new TV series
I'm sorry.
DeleteWink Martingale just had a question about Doonesbury on this episode of Gambit, a game show which aired at 9:30 this morning in 1975.
DeleteMartindale, not "-gale," of course.
DeleteIt dawns on me how much your original comment here has shaped my consumption of 1975 popular culture over the last 10 years.
By the way, these things really happened to me when I was a little kid:
ReplyDelete1. In 1971, when I was five years old, the University of Alabama (my favorite college football team) played Nebraska for the National Championship. Alabama lost 38-6.
2. In 1973, when I was seven years old, Alabama played Notre Dame for the National Championship. Alabama lost 24-23.
3. In 1974, the Los Angeles Dodgers (my favorite baseball team), won over 100 games and the National League pennant. They lost the World Series four games to one.
4. In 1974, Alabama went 11-0-0 and were ranked number 2 in the nation, behind Oklahoma (who was on probation). Alabama went to the Orange Bowl, where they had a chance to get revenge on Notre Dame and convince the AP voters to jump them ahead of Oklahoma. Notre Dame won 13-11.
Now I was always sort of a gloomy child, but any optimism I may have started with was gone after those events.
At this point, I'm not in position to confirm or deny the Dodgers' 1974 series loss.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I want to better understand is what the heck happened to American-made cars.
ReplyDeleteNice job, Eric, not pushing yourself at all to understand this in the 11 years since.
DeleteOh, heck--I forgive you, me!
Back in Week 4, the Raiders beat the Browns, and I really like it when Pat Summerall refers to Oakland as the "pride-and-poise boys." Also, please note this is the second clip where we see Cliff Branch turning to spike the ball in the face of his nearest defender.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Melanie Safka, but this is a lovely song that includes a snippet of another that my wife frequently sings to our daughter.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely my favorite commercial when I was 6. Still might be my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThat's a heck of a block by the quarterback.
ReplyDeleteAmerican-made cars were victimized by a little thing we like to call "free trade."
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't free for Detroit, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteIntense Stripes.
ReplyDeleteCan Indonesia's Rudy Hartono take a seventh-straight All-England badminton men's singles championship?
ReplyDelete"Interesting how back then you had to keep quiet, and now all you hear is Malaysian fans screaming at the top of their lungs during rallies."
Mamme della montagna.
ReplyDeleteHartono: 是!
ReplyDeleteI love coffee.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Dinkytown, Minn. You did, indeed, stop Red Barn.
ReplyDeleteMel Street's "Strange, Empty World."
ReplyDeleteMore from Week 4 in the NFL: Philadelphia wins, 13-7, at San Diego as both the Eagles and Chargers don thoroughly modern unis.
ReplyDeleteOn today 1974, the president and Donald Rumsfeld are spending a lot of time together.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, it has been a very bad morning in Memphis.
ReplyDeleteA pretty excellent Friday night at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, N.J., however.
ReplyDeleteThe 1974-75 NBA season is off and rolling, and it appears Nate Thurmond is ready to make a big push with a new team for his first championship.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the Phoenix Suns have a new fan.
ReplyDeleteItems from the Oct. 19, 1974, Middlesboro (Ky.) Daily News:
ReplyDelete-- Covington's Kentucky Post and Times Star has endorsed Gov. Wendell Ford (D-Owensboro) in his race to unseat Sen. Marlow Cook (R-Louisville).
-- A 19- and 20-year-old have been charged with malicious burning of a building other than a dwelling in connection with an Aug. 1 fire that destroyed the offices of Whitesburg's Mountain Eagle ("It Screams"), and state police are still looking for two other suspects. (1975-preview continued: Here's how the case came out.)
-- The Middlesboro Public Library is showing Buster Keaton's The General at 2 p.m. Eastern today. No charge.
Oct. 13, 1974, and Week 5 in the NFL: Cardinals 31, Cowboys 28. Thank you, GoHeath!
ReplyDeleteWeek 4: Pittsburgh--powered by Joe Gilliam and Preston Pearson--win, 13-17, in Houston.
ReplyDeletethrough week 4 of the 1974 season, the steelers are 2-1-1 with Joe Gilliam as their starting quarterback. Terry Bradshaw has thrown two passes all season, and one of them was intercepted. here are the game-by-game statistics thus far for Gilliam, who, by the way, has already been on the cover of sports illustrated ...
ReplyDeletewin over Baltimore: 17 of 31, 257, 2 tds, 1 int
tie with Denver: 31 of 50, 348, 1 td, 2 int
loss to Oakland: 8 of 31, 106, 0 td, 2 int
win over Houston: 16 of 32, 202, 0 td, 2 int
furthermore, Franco Harris has been the most frequent ballcarrier in only the season's first two games. in the loss at oakland, Steve Davis got the lion's share of work. and then in this most recent game, against the oilers, Preston Pearson got 15 carries (and produced the team's first 100-yard-plus rushing performance, with 117) with seven or eight carries each going to Davis, John Fuqua and Rocky Bleier. Harris (who might be hurt; I need to find out) had no carries this week after only one last week.
finally, pittsburgh's top wide receivers at this point in the season are Ron Shanklin and Frank Lewis. neither Lynn Swann nor John Stallworth, rookies both, caught a pass against the oilers.
and, yet, by the time of the super bowl, Chuck Noll is going to be using Bradshaw as his quarterback and Harris as his primary ballcarrier. Shanklin and Lewis are going to start, but Stallworth is going to be the top passcatcher. all of that is to say, that is a heck of a lot flux among offensive skill-position stars for a team that didn't stink up the joint to start out the season.
yes, through Week 4, Franco Harris has an ankle injury and Chuck Noll is tinkering.
ReplyDelete"the night chicago died" by paper lace ... Jack Black was so great in high fidelity.
ReplyDelete"when will i see you again" by the three degrees ... i wonder if the "precious moments" figurines predate this song or vice versa.
ReplyDelete"living for the city" by Stevie Wonder ... such a great, heart-breaking lyric.
ReplyDelete"rockin roll baby" by the stylistics ... also great, in a different way.
love songs that mention specific places: mississippi in the first and bluefield, w.va., in the second.
Neil Diamond is the Thomas Kinkade of pop music, and, if you think I mean that in a bad way, then that's your prejudice, not mine.
ReplyDeleteone could make a pretty decent movie around the characters from "yellow-brick road" by Elton John, "living in the city" by Stevie Wonder, "keep on smiling" by Wet Willie and "rockin roll baby" by the stylistics.
ReplyDeletealso the woman in "leave me alone (ruby red dress)" by Helen Reddy.
ReplyDeletehuge news!
ReplyDeletewell, that was exciting. now back to work ...
ReplyDeleteman, Carole King ... what a talent. great songwriter, great singer, great, heavy-handed piano player.
ReplyDeletei love it in "what about bob?" when Bill Murray starts spending his lives learning to be a really, really great piano player. that would be excellent.
"my mistake" by Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye ... one of the all-time-great tambourine leads. this song has been one of the breakout hits of my 2011 because of this little 1974 foray.
ReplyDeletebrooklyn-born singers on the 1974 station so far today: Neil Diamond, Carole King, Harry Chapin and Barbra Streisand, at least. that's a heck of a high-school-talent-show lineup right there, buddy. best kaleidoscope ever!
ReplyDeletenow we've got "hello, it's me" by Todd Rundgren (of upper darby, pa.)
ReplyDeleteSteve Miller of Milwaukee ... Stevie Wonder of Saginaw, Mich. ... Bo Donaldson of Cincinnati ("Billy, Don't Be a Hero") ... Jim Stafford of Eloise, Fla. (hey, he married Bobbie Gentry!) ... Charlie Rich of Colt, Ark. ... Lamont Dozier of Detroit ... Donald Fagen of Passaic, N.J. (and Steely Dan) ...
ReplyDeleteAretha Franklin (originally) of Memphis ...
ReplyDeleteWilliam DeVaughn of Washington ... (Jim) Seals and (Dash) Crofts of Sidney and Cisco, Texas, respectively ... Chaka Khan of Chicago ...
ReplyDeleteJohn Denver of Roswell, N.M. ... Billy Preston of Houston ... Carly Simon of the Bronx ...
ReplyDeleteGeorge McCrae of West Palm Beach, Fla. ... "Rock Your Baby" is such a shimmering jewel. So glad to read George McRae's interesting tale. Hooray for Wikipedia:
ReplyDeleteMcCrae was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, formed his own singing group, the Jivin' Jets, before joining the United States Navy in 1963. Four years later, he reformed the group, with his wife Gwen joining the line-up, but soon afterwards they decided to work as a duo, recording for Henry Stone's Alston record label. Gwen then won a solo contract, with George acting as her manager as well as doing some singing on sessions and in clubs. He was about to return to college to study law enforcement, when Richard Finch and Harry Wayne Casey of KC and the Sunshine Band invited him to sing the lyrics for a song that they had recorded for the band, but could not reach the high notes that were required for the song. In fact the original intention was that Gwen, his wife, should record it, but she was late for the session and George recorded alone. It suited his high-pitched voice to the extent that the song, "Rock Your Baby", became one of the first hits of the disco era in 1974, selling an estimated eleven million copies worldwide, topping the charts in the U.S., UK, and eighty other countries. The song was so successful that Rolling Stone magazine voted it the #1 song of the year in 1974. ... He continued to record with, and manage his wife until their divorce in 1976. ... Since 1989 McCrae has been married to his Dutch wife Yvonne Bergsma. He lives one part of the year on Aruba and the other part of the year in the village of Munstergeleen in the Netherlands. ...
Eddie Kendricks of Union Springs, Ala. ... Terry Kath of Chicago (and Chicago) ... Karen Carpenter of New Haven, Conn. ...
ReplyDeleteMarvin Gaye of Washington ...
ReplyDeleteI have to go to Edison, N.J., every so often, and I always enjoy the trip. I wonder if Dick Stockton stayed at the same hotel that I do.
ReplyDeleteEddie Robinson is at the height of his powers in 1974. He's already won three "black college football national championships," and he's on his way to a Pelican Bowl championship on Dec. 7. His quarterback in the second half of the 1960s is starting for the Los Angeles Rams, and his quarterback now is headed on to big things. And he's pitching Oldsmobile Toronadoes!
ReplyDelete"Straight to the bottom of the charts." Fantastic first five minutes on this September 1974 performance of "Blinded by the Light."
ReplyDelete