OHS ’76 POPULAR CULTURE

SOME OF THE SINGLES/45s WE LISTENED
TO ON THE RADIO & ON JUKEBOXES
September 1975 – June 1976

 
Rock and Roll All Nite – Kiss
Feel Like Makin’ Love – Bad Company
Welcome to My Nightmare – Alice Cooper
Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Killer Queen – Queen
Man on the Silver Mountain – Rainbow
Amie – Pure Prairie League
Lady – Styx
Young Americans – David Bowie
Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
Best of My Love – The Eagles
Light Of Love – T.Rex
Tush – ZZ Top
Low Rider – War
Welcome to the Machine – Pink Floyd
Bad Time – Grand Funk Railroad
Wayside – Artful Dodger
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) – James Taylor
Why Can’t We Be Friends – War
Shining Star – Earth, Wind & Fire
You’re No Good – Linda Ronstadt
Cherry Baby – Starz
Lady Marmalade – LaBelle
You Are So Beautiful – Joe Cocker
Detroit Rock City – KISS
Philadelphia Freedom – Elton John
Silly Love Songs – Paul McCartney and Wings
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John and Kiki Dee
Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
Love Machine, Pt. 1 – The Miracle
Love Is Alive – Gary Wright
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Love Hurts – Nazareth
Take It to the Limit – Eagles
Sweet Love, Commodores
All By Myself – Eric Carmen
If You Leave Me Now – Chicago
Fooled Around and Fell In Love – Elvin Bishop
Let’s Do It Again – Staple Singers
Action – Sweet
You’re My Best Friend – Queen
Slow Ride – Foghat

SOME OF THE ALBUMS & 8-TRACKS WE LISTENED TO
September 1975 – June 1976

Night Moves – Bob SEGER & The SILVER BULLET BAND
One More From the Road – LYNYRD SKYNYRD
Blow Your Face Out – J. GEILS BAND
Fly Like An Eagle – STEVE MILLER BAND
Black And Blue – ROLLING STONES
Captured Live ! – JOHNNY WINTER
Rocks – AEROSMITH
Rising – RAINBOW
Presence – LED ZEPPELIN
Destroyer – KISS
Tejas – ZZ TOP
Violation – STARZ
Wired – JEFF BECK
Hejira – JONI MITCHELL

You Can’t Argue With A Stick Mind – JOE WALSH
All American Alien Boy – IAN HUNTER
Blondie – BLONDIE
Honor Among Thieves – ARTFUL DODGER
Silk Degrees – BOZ SCAGGS
Run With The Pack – BAD COMPANY
Zoot Allures – FRANK ZAPPA
Station To Station – DAVID BOWIE

Angel – ANGEL
Legalize It – PETER TOSH
Cry Tough – NILS LOFGREN
Virgin Killer – SCORPIONS
Made In Europe – DEEP PURPLE
Jailbreak – THIN LIZZY
2112 – RUSH
Romantic Warrior – RETURN TO FOREVER
Mothership Connection – PARLIAMENT
Love Is All Around – ERIC BURDON & WAR
The Royal Scam – STEELY DAN
Rastaman Vibration – BOB MARLEY

Comes Alive! – PETER FRAMPTON
Boston – BOSTON
The Pretender – JACKSON BROWNE
Agents Of Fortune – BLUE ÖYSTER CULT
Let’s Stick Together – BRYAN FERRY
Free For All – TED NUGENT
All The World’s A Stage – RUSH
Tonight’s The Night – NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE
Physical Graffiti – LED ZEPPELIN
Wish You Were Here – PINK FLOYD
Toys In The Attic – AEROSMITH
Horses – PATTI SMITH
Zuma – Neil YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE
Rock ‘n Roll Over – KISS
John Fogerty – JOHN FOGERTY
The Hissing Of Summer Lawns – JONI MITCHELL
Blow By Blow – JEFF BECK
Chicago IX – Chicago’s Greatest Hits – CHICAGO
The Dream Weaver – GARY WRIGHT
Gratitude – EARTH, WIND & FIRE

Greatest Hits 1971-1975 – EAGLES
The Who By Numbers – THE WHO
Hair Of The Dog – NAZARETH
Siren – ROXY MUSIC
For Earth Below – ROBIN TROWER
Young Americans – DAVID BOWIE
Procol 9th – PROCOL HARUM
Rocking The World – EARTH QUAKE
Sabotage – BLACK SABBATH
Caught In The Act – GRAND FUNK RAILROAD
Marriott – Steve MARRIOTT
Blues For Allah – GRATEFUL DEAD
A Night At The Opera – QUEEN
A Night On The Town – ROD STEWART
Songs In The Key Of Life – STEVIE WONDER
Wings At The Speed Of Sound – WINGS

TOP BILLBOARD R & B SINGLES 1976

Walk Away from Love – David Ruffin
Sing a Song – Earth, Wind & Fire
Wake Up Everybody (Part 1) – Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Turning Point – Tyrone Davis
Inseparable – Natalie Cole
Sweet Thing – Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
Disco Lady – Johnnie Taylor
Livin’ for the Weekend/Stairway to Heaven – The O’Jays
Movin’ – Brass Construction
Love Hangover – Diana Ross
Kiss and Say Goodbye – The Manhattans
I Want You – Marvin Gaye

MOVIES WE WATCHED AT ORR THEATRE
September 1975 – June 1976

Jaws
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Shampoo
Dog Day Afternoon
Nashville
The Hindenburg
The Day of the Locust
Tommy
The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Farewell, My Lovely
French Connection II
The Man Who Would Be King
Rooster Cogburn
Stardust
Rocky
A Star Is Born
King Kong
Silver Streak
All The President’s Men
Marathon Man
Network
The Omen
Taxi Driver
The Song Remains The Same
Bugsy Malone
Bound For Glory
Harlan County, U.S.A.
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane
The Outlaw Josey Wales

The Sentinel
Seven Beauties
The Shootist
Silent Movie
Car Wash

TV SHOWS WE WATCHED
September 1975 – June 1976
1975-76 Ratings
Rank – Show – Network – Estimated viewers
1. All in the Family CBS 20,949,600
2. Rich Man, Poor Man ABC 19,488,000
3. Laverne & Shirley ABC 19,140,000
4. Maude CBS 17,400,000
5. The Bionic Woman ABC 17,330,400
6. Phyllis CBS 17,052,000
7. Sanford and Son NBC 16,982,400
8. Rhoda CBS 16,982,400
9. The Six Million Dollar Man ABC 16,912,800
10. ABC Monday Night Movie ABC 16,843,200
11. Happy Days ABC 16,634,400
12. One Day at a Time CBS 16,077,600
13. ABC Sunday Night Movie ABC 16,008,000
14. The Waltons CBS 15,938,400
15. M*A*S*H CBS 15,938,400

16. Starsky and Hutch ABC 15,660,000
17. Good Heavens ABC 15,660,000
18. Welcome Back, Kotter ABC 15,381,600
19. The Mary Tyler Moore Show CBS 15,242,400
20. Kojak CBS 15,172,800
21. The Jeffersons CBS 14,964,000
22. Baretta ABC 14,824,800
23. The Sonny & Cher Show CBS 14,755,200
24. Good Times CBS 14,616,000
25. Chico and The Man NBC 14,476,800
26. The Bob Newhart Show CBS 14,407,200
27. Donny and Marie ABC 14,407,200
28. The Streets of San Francisco ABC 14,407,200
29. The Carol Burnett Show CBS 14,268,000
30. Police Woman NBC 14,059,200

LATE NIGHT TV WE WATCHED
September 1975 – June 1976

 
Saturday Night Live debuted during our senior year on October 11, ’75 with host George Carlin.

Other late night shows we watched:
Hoolihan & Big Chuck
The Ghoul
Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert
Midnight Special

SPORTS EVENTS WE WATCHED
September 1975 – June 1976

 
…In the fall of ’75 the Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Red Sox four (4) games to three (3).
…In January ’76 the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated Dallas, 21 – 17 in the Super Bowl.
…Boston defeated Phoenix, 4 – 2, for the NBA Championship.
…The Stanley Cup was won by Montreal over Philadelphia, 4 – 0.
…The Kentucky Derby Champion was Bold Forbes.
…In the NCAA Basketball Championship Indiana defeated Michigan, 86 – 68.
…Johnny Rutherford won the Indianapolis 500.

MAGAZINES WE READ
September 1975 – June 1976
(Cleveland) Scene
National Lampoon
Rolling Stone

Sports Illustrated
Glamour
Jet
Down Beat

Creem
Teen Beat
Hit Parader
Mad
Seventeen
Cosmopolitan
Science Digest

Ebony
Circus
Omni

Mother Jones
Crawdaddy
Hot Rod
Rock Scene
Heavy Metal
High Times

THE ARTS
September 1975 – June 1976

 

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: Humboldt’s Gift, Saul Bellow
Music: Air Music, Ned Rorem
Drama: A Chorus Line, Conceived by Michael Bennett
Nobel Prize for Literature: Humboldt’s Gift, Saul Bellow

Grammy Awards
Album of the Year: Still Crazy After All These Years, Paul Simon
Song of the Year: “Send in the Clowns,” Stephen Sondheim
Male Vocalist: Stevie Wonder for “Songs in the Key of Life”
Female Vocalist: Linda Ronstadt for “Hasten Down the Wind”

Tony Awards
Best Play: “Travesties” … Tom Stoppard
Best Musical: “A Chorus Line”
Best Actor in a play: John Wood … “Travesties”
Best Actress in a play: Irene Worth … “Sweet Bird of Youth”
Best Actor in a musical: George Rose … “My Fair Lady” ”
Best Actress in a musical: Donna McKechnie … “A Chorus Line

Miss America: Tawney Elaine Godin (NY)

TOP SELLING FICTION BOOKS
September 1975 – June 1976
Trinity – Leon Uris
Sleeping Murder – Agatha Christie
Dolores – Jacqueline Susann
Storm Warning – Jack Higgins
The Deep – Peter Benchley
1876 – Gore Vidal
Slapstick: or, Lonesome No More! – Kurt Vonnegut
The Lonely Lady – Harold Robbins
Touch Not the Cat – Mary Stewart
A Stranger in the Mirror – Sidney Sheldon

TOP SELLING NON-FICTION BOOKS
September 1975 – June 1976
The Final Days – Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
Roots – Alex Haley
Your Erroneous Zones – Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Passages: The Predictable Crises of Adult Life – Gail Sheehy
Born Again – Charles W. Colson
The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank – Erma Bombeck
Angels: God’s Secret Agents – Billy Graham
Blind Ambition: The White House Years – John Dean
The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality – Shere Hite
The Right and the Power: The Prosecution of Watergate – Leon Jaworski

1976 BEATLE BIDDING

…On January 19, ’76 Concert promoter Bill Sargent makes an offer of $30 million to the Beatles if they will reunite for a concert.
…On April 24, ’76 Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels makes an on-air offer to pay the Beatles $3000 to reunite on the show. Lennon and McCartney were apparently watching the show together in New York and considered walking down to the studio to accept the check.
…On May 22 Lorne Michaels raises his SNL offer from $3000 to $3,200.

STATS & NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF 1976:
September 1975 – June 1976
…Military spending in the world skyrockets to $300 billion a year.
…Barbara Walters is the first broadcaster to be offered a $1 million per-year contract to cohost the nightly news.
…Racial violence in black townships outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, is the worst in 15 years.
…Jimmy Carter, a “born-again” Baptist from Georgia, is the leading presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
…US GDP (1998 dollars): $1,819.00 billion
…Federal spending: $371.79 billion
…Federal debt: $629.0 billion
…Median Household Income – (current dollars): $12,686
…Consumer Price Index: 56.9
…Unemployment: 7.7%
…Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.13
…Air France and British Airways begin the first regularly scheduled commercial supersonic transport (SST) flights.
…Viking I lands on Mars.
…The US Navy tests the Tomahawk cruise missile.
…Richard Leakey discovers a 1.5 million year old Homo erectus skull in Kenya.
…Cosmic string theory first postulated by Thomas Kibble.
… Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a former follower of Charles Manson is arrested after pointing a gun at President Ford in Sacramento.

… On March 17 Rubin “Hurricane” Carter is retried in New Jersey.
… Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco bank.
… On January 15 would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison.
… Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on April 1.
… The punk rock group The Ramones release their first self-titled album in April.
… In a reorganization of his cabinet, President Ford announces that George Bush will succeed William Colby as CIA directory and Brent Scowcroft will replace Henry Kissinger as National Security Council director.
…Dictator Francisco Franco of Spain dies.
… Former Texas congressman George Bush is named the new Director of the CIA by President Ford.

ROCK ‘N ROLL NEWS & EVENTS
September 1975 – June 1976
On Thursday October 9, ’75, John Lennon’s 35th birthday, John and Yoko’s son Sean is born.
On Saturday October 11, ’75, Saturday Night Live premiers on NBC-TV. George Carlin is the first host, and Janis Ian and Billy Preston are the first musical guests.

Pink Floyd releases their album Wish You Were Here and is a huge hit on September 15, ’75.
Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour begins the night before Halloween.
The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin’s School of Art in London on November 6, ’75.

On March 19, ’76 Paul Kossoff, guitarist for the band, Free (‘All Right Now”), dies of heart failure on an airplane crossing the Atlantic at age 25.
Bernie Leadon, original member of the Eagles since they were organized in 1971, leaves the group and is replaced by Joe Walsh.
Because of booming record sales in recent years, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) creates a new platinum award, for singles that sell in excess of 2 million copies and an album that sells 1 million units. The first platinum album went to the Eagles for their Greatest Hits 1971-1975.
Lasers are used in a rock show for the first time by the Who.
Genesis begins its first tour of America.
Bruce Springsteen, while playing in Memphis, tries to sneak into Graceland to see his idol Elvis Presley. He is stopped by security guards, who quietly lead him off the grounds, unconcerned that he is a major star.
Paul McCartney begins his Wings over America tour, from which an album by the same name would be released a year later and zoom to number one.

KISS have their footprints added to the sidewalk outside Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater in February ’76.
In March EMI Records reissues all 22 previously released British Beatles singles, plus a new single of the classic “Yesterday”. All 23 singles hit the UK charts at the same time.
A wax likeness of Elton John is put on display in London’s Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.
Alice Cooper marries Sheryl Goddard (still married!) on March 20.
In April 14 Stevie Wonder announces that he has signed a “$13 million-plus” contract with Motown Records.
In May Paul Simon puts together a benefit show at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the New York Public Library. Phoebe Snow, Jimmy Cliff and the Brecker Brothers also perform. The concert brings in over $30,000 for the Library.

 BANDS THAT WERE BORN
1975-1976

Starz release their debut LP on Capitol.
Peter Tosh’s solo career begins.
Artful Dodger release their debut & tour with KISS.
Bunny Wailer’s solo career begins
Leif Garrett’s solo career begins
.38 Special’s musical career begins
Cheap Trick signs with Epic Records.
Steve Martin signs a contract with Warner Bros.
Eddie Money signs a contract with CBS.

BANDS THAT DISBANDED
1975 – 1976

Faces (w/ Ron Wood & Rod Stewart)
Brinsley Schwarz
The First Edition
The Guess Who
Humble Pie
Jo Jo Gunne
Raspberries
Stealers Wheel
Wizzard

TOP OPERA 1976
Peter Maxwell Davies – The Martyrdom of St Magnus
Carlisle Floyd – Bilby’s Doll
Philip Glass – Einstein on the Beach

TOP MUSICAL THEATRE
September 1975 – June 1976
Bubbling Brown Sugar – Broadway production
The Club – Broadway production
Fiddler on the Roof – Broadway revival
Guys and Dolls – Broadway revival
Irene – London revival
My Fair Lady – Broadway revival
Oh Calcutta – Broadway revival
Pacific Overtures – Broadway production
Porgy and Bess – Broadway revival
Salad Days (Julian Slade) – London revival
Side by Side by Sondheim – London production
The Threepenny Opera – Broadway revival

TOP MUSICAL FILMS
September 1975 – June 1976
The Blank Generation
Bugsy Malone
The Slipper and the Rose
The Song Remains the Same
A Star Is Born
That’s Entertainment, Part II

NOTABLE BIRTHS
September 1975 – June 1976
1976:
February 24 – Zach Johnson, American golfer
March 8 – Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor
March 13 – Danny Masterson, American actor
March 20 – Chester Bennington, American singer Linkin Park
March 22 – Reese Witherspoon, American actress

March 23 – Keri Russell, American actress
March 24 – Peyton Manning, American football player
April 6 – Candace Cameron, American actress
April 18 – Melissa Joan Hart, American actress
April 20 – Joey Lawrence, American actor
May 31 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
June 1 – Angela Perez Baraquio, Miss America 2001

NOTABLE PASSINGS
September 1975 – June 1976
1975
Sep 4th – Walter Tetley, cartoon voice (Sherman-Bullwinkle Show), dies at 60
Sep 9th – John McGiver, actor (Patty Duke Show, Jimmy Stewart Show), dies at 61
Sep 29th – Casey Stengel, NY Yankee manager (1949-60), dies in Glendale at 85
Oct 1st – Al Jackson, rock drummer (Booker T & The MG’s), dies at 39
Oct 4th – Joan Whitney Payson, owner of New York Mets, dies at 72
Oct 6th – Henry Calvin, actor (Sgt Garcia-Zorro), dies at 57
Oct 27th – Rex Stout, US detective writer (Nero Wolfe), dies at 88
Oct 28th – Oliver Nelson, American jazz composer and arranger (b. 1932
Nov 5th – Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physology or Medicine (b. 1909)
Nov 20th – Francisco Franco, [y Bahamonde], Spain dictator (1936-75), dies at 82
Dec 1st – Nellie Fox, American baseball player (b. 1927)
Dec 7th – Thornton N Wilder, US writer (Bridge of San Luis Rey), dies at 78
Dec 8th – Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (Uriah Heep) (b. 1948)
Dec 9th – William A Wellman, US director (Ox Bow Incident), dies at 79
Dec 11th – Lee Wiley, American jazz singer (b. 1908)
Dec 14th – Arthur Treacher, TV announcer (Merv Griffin Show), dies at 81
Dec 17th – Noble Sissle, jazz musician, dies at 86
Dec 29th – Euell Gibbons, American outdoorsman and proponent of natural diets (b. 1911).
1976
Jan 3rd – Mal Evans, Beatles’ roadie, dies
Jan 3rd – Michael V Love, US test pilot (X-24), dies in F-4 crash at 37
Jan 4th – Jan B Cammans, Flemish actor (Brothers Karamazov), dies at 84
Jan 8th – Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1898)
Jan 10th – Chester Arthur Burnett, US blues pianist/harmonica player, dies at 65
Jan 10th – Howlin’ Wolf, singer/guitarist, dies following brain surgery at 65
Jan 12th – Agatha Christie, mystery writer (10 Little Indians), dies at 85
Jan 23rd – Aleksey Vasilyevich Sorokin, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 44
Jan 23rd – Paul Robeson, athlete/lawyer/singer, dies in Philadelphia at 77
Jan 28th – Chris Kenner, rocker (I Like it Like That), dies
Jan 30th – Jesse “Lone Cat” Fuller, SF Blues Great, dies at 80
Feb 1st – Edgar Pangborn, sci-fi author (Judgment of Eve, Davy), dies at 66
Feb 1st – Werner C Heisenberg, physicist (Nobel 1932, field theory), dies at 74
Feb 1st – George Whipple, American scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1878)
Feb 5th – Rudy Pompilli, American musician (Bill Haley and His Comets) (b. 1926)
Feb 6th – Vince Guaraldi, jazz pianist (Charlie Brown TV specials), dies at 43
Feb 9th – Percy Faith, Canadian musician (b. 1908)
Feb 12th – James Clifton Williams, composer (Sinfonians), dies at 52
Feb 12th – Sal Mineo, actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause), stabbed at 37
Feb 13th – General Murtala Mohammed, head of Nigeria, killed during a coup
Feb 20th – Kathryn Kuhlman, religious leader/faith healer, dies
Feb 22nd – Florence Ballard, rocker (Supremes), dies of a heart attack at 32
Mar 6th – “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom, leight heavy weight boxing champ (1930-34), dies at 71
Mar 14th – Busby Berkeley, US choreographer/dir (Strike Up the Band), dies at 80
Mar 18th – James McCartney, father of Paul McCartney, dies at 73
Mar 18th – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Sicilian mafioso (b. 1893)
Mar 19th – Paul Kossoff, rock guitarist (Free), dies of heart failure at 25
Mar 24th – Bernard L Montgomery, British general, defeated Rommel, dies at 88
Mar 28th – Arthur Crudup, American blues singer and guitarist (b. 1905)
Apr 1st – Freddie Lennon, father of John Lennon (Beatles), dies at 63
Apr 1st – Max Ernst, German/French surrealist painter/sculptor, dies at 85
Apr 2nd – Ray Teal, actor (Sheriff Roy Coffee-Bonanza), dies at 74
Apr 4th – Harry Nyquist, Swedish contributor to information theory (b. 1889)
Apr 5th – Howard Hughes, reclusive billionaire, dies at 72
Apr 9th – Phil Ochs, singer (Draft Dodger Rag), dies at 35
May 1st – T.R.M. Howard, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon (b. 1908)
May 5th – Thomas Burnett Swann, sci-fi author (Day of Minotaur), dies at 47
May 14th – Keith Relf, rock vocalist (Yardbirds), electrocuted at 33
May 27th – Ruth McDevitt, actress (Jo-All in the Family), dies at 80
May 30th – Max Carey, American baseball player (b. 1890)
May 31st – Martha Mitchell wife of former Att Gen John Mitchell, dies in NY at 57
Jun 6th – J Paul Getty, oil magnate/billionaire, dies at 83 in London
Jun 7th – Bobby Hackett, jazz cornetist/orch leader (Air time ’57), dies at 61