The Seventies 1976

Despite the fact I'd spent most of the last year in pubs and clubs doing discos and drinking to excess. This was the year I celebrated my 18th birthday and I was officially allowed to drink alcohol for the first time. This might explain why I was blissfully unaware of the year's main events.

Harold Wilson resigns as the Labour prime minister in March. Jim Callaghan replaces him.

Water was rationed as Britain experienced the hottest summer in 200 years.

Concorde came into service offering a quick transatlantic route to New York.

America's Viking 1 probe landed on Mars and began transmitting pictures of the surface.

Grand Prix driver Nikki Lauda was badly burned in an accident on August 1^st.

Noel Edmonds and "The Multi-Coloured Swap Shop" appeared on Saturday Mornings Kids Television.

Seatbelts became compulsory for people travelling in the front of vehicles.

For the fashion conscious with a conscience ‘Fun fur’ became a popular alternative to the real thing.

Peanut farmer Jimmy Carter becomes the new president of the USA in November.

FILMS OF THE YEAR

LOGAN'S RUN

This is the cult Science fiction thriller starring Michael York and Jenny Agutter. The Film is set in the23rd Century where everyone over the age of 30 has to go through "renewal" The population don’t know this but "renewal" is actually death. People live in a world of peace and pleasure where nobody grows old. Some members of the community realise the truth and try to flee to a place called 'Sanctuary'. These people are known as "runners" but first they have to get past the secret police known as 'sandmen'. One of the sandmen, Logan 5 is assigned to discover the truth about 'Sanctuary' but soon realises the truth about "renewal" and flees the city with Jessica 6.

TAXI DRIVER

Martin Scorsese directed this cult classic. Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, an insomniac Vietnam veteran Cabbie, who works the nightshift touring the streets of New York. He becomes infatuated with a dull blonde Betsy played by Cybill Shepherd in her first starring role. He imagines his destiny is to save a teenage hooker from her pimp. The prostitute was played by Jodie Foster.

ROCKY

This is the film that made Sylvester Stallone a superstar. The movie won three Oscars including Best Picture and an Oscar nomination for Sly’s script. Rocky Balboa, a promising boxer, is reduced to running errands for loan sharks to survive. Even his trainer Mickey has given up on him. All this changes when Heavyweight Champion of the World, Apollo Creed needs to find an unknown boxer he can easily beat.

Stallone was writer / director of the film which made 60 times what it cost to produce.

THE HITS OF 1976

1) BROTHERHOOD OF MAN - SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME

2) ELTON JOHN / KIKI DEE - DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART

3) PUSSYCAT - MISSISSIPPI

4) ABBA - DANCING QUEEN

5) DR HOOK - A LITTLE BIT MORE

6) CHICAGO - IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW

7) ABBA - FERNANDO

8) TINA CHARLES - I LOVE TO LOVE

9) DEMIS ROUSSOS - THE ROUSSOS PHENOMENON E.P.

10) THE FOUR SEASONS - DECEMBER '63

1976 is largely regarded as the year when Punk Rock made its breakthrough to the mainstream. However if you examine the charts you'd find precious little evidence of it. 1976, for the most part, gave the impression of peace and tranquility. Peter Frampton was selling copies of his 'Frampton comes alive' album by the bucket load. Cliff Richard re-established his chart placing with 'Devil Woman'. The Who were playing with their 'Squueze box' but this year definitely belonged to Abba. The Swedes had three number one hits - "Mamma Mia", "Fernando", and "Dancing Queen".

Some people argue that punk rock began with the Sex Pistols in the UK. However It's widely accepted that 'New Rose' by The Damned is the first British punk single. A visit to Britain by The Ramones helped heighten an interest in punk and another UK group emerged in the 1976 punk explosion: Generation X. All of these bands made the most of the typical punk style in their look and sound: torn jeans, studded jackets, body piercing, short songs, quick tempos, noisy guitars and offensive lyrics.

Abba started their fantastic year well with 'Mamma Mia' giving them their second chart topping song here in the UK. It reached the top on Jan 31st and remained there for 2 weeks. The act that replaced them were fronted by a young man who was destined to enjoy greater fame in the 1980's. However Midge Ure would be more than contented with this number one for his first band Slik. 'Forever and Ever' was the song's title and it sat atop for 1 week.

The Four Seasons made Midge's stay a short one with their classic song 'December '63 (Oh what a night)'. Its brief 2-week stay on top belied its enormous popularity and was an undoubted favourite on the dance floors. Tina Charles then came along with her own disco favourite. She faired slightly better with her song 'I Love To Love '. She managed a stay of 3 weeks commencing on March 6^th. She was soon to be removed by the UK's latest entry in the year's Eurovision song contest.

The Brotherhood of Man performed the year's Eurovision winner. A predictably jaunty little number entitled 'Save Your Kisses For Me' and was accompanied by an even bubblier dance routine. They achieved a 6-week stay at the top of the UK singles chart.

Away from the top and on 14^th Feb, Status Quo charted with their latest rocker entitled 'Rain'. The song stormed up the chart and eventually reached number 7. A big production number made it's UK chart debut on March 20^th.The song climbed to number 3 but really should have made the top. The song in question was 'Music' by John Miles. Also debuting on March 20^th was another memorable hit. This time it was supplied by Chris White and his song was titled 'Spanish Wine'. Unfortunately the song only climbed to an extremely disappointing number 37. This month also saw 10CC fly up to number 6 with 'I'm Mandy, fly me'.

In May another former Eurovision winning act removed Brotherhood of Man. Abba had returned in triumph with the excellent 'Fernando'. This secured a hat trick of UK chart toppers for the Swedes. They survived a month in charge before succumbing to a sickly sweet record by Canadian artist J.J Barrie titled 'No Charge'. Another novelty number removed Barrie after a solitary week on top. 'Brand new Key' had previously charted for Melanie back in 1971, but this year The Wurzels renamed it 'Combine Harvester and it cut a swathe to the top of the crops. The Real Thing replaced the bumpkin bunch from the top after 2 weeks. 'You To Me Are Everything' commenced its 3-week stay at number one on June 26^th.

Away from the top again, another full production sound was causing ructions on the UK chart. This time Eric Carmen arrived on April 10th with his sole UK hit, the unforgettable 'All By Myself'. On May 8^th Robin Sarstedt arrived with a roving eye for the ladies. 'My Resistance is Low' too was a one hit wonder for him. Robin was the last of the singing Sarstedt brothers to chart. The others being Peter Sarstedt and Eden Kane Also in May Thin Lizzy secured a number 8 hit with their second hit single. 'The Boy's Are Back In Town' was taken from their recently released 'Jail break' LP. Rock and Roll also made a surprise comeback in the shape of Hank Mizell's stomper 'Jungle Rock'.

Greek artiste Demis Roussos was nicknamed the 'Singing tent' due to the robes that he used to wear in order to hide his own bulk. However Demis had the last laugh when his record titled 'The Roussos Phenomenon (EP)' hit the top spot on 17^th of July. One week later however, the 'tent' was dismantled when the first number one for Elton John arrived and set up camp at the top. 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' the secured an impressive 6-week stay at the top for him and Kiki Dee.

On September 4^th Abba secured their hat-trick of chart toppers for the year with probably their most famous song of all. 'Dancing Queen' was Abba's fourth UK chart topper and their most massive. It remained at the helm for 6-weeks. Away from the top Dolly Parton pleaded with 'Jolene' not to take her man, Bryan Ferry mounted a plea for unity with 'Lets Stick Together and Rod Stewart was reporting on 'The Killing Of Georgie'. David Dundas had a huge hit with 'Jeans On', which was being featured in an advert for everyone's favourite denim accessory. His most lucrative commission however was composing the Channel 4 theme tune some years later.

Dutch group Pussycat finally replaced Abba in October. 'Mississippi' remained on top of the chart for a month until November 13th. It was then that Chicago's classic smoochie 'If You Leave Me Now' arrived on the UK chart. It proceeded to anchor itself firmly at number 1 giving the group 3-weeks of chart glory. However Showaddywaddy were about to experience life at the top at their 9^th attempt. 'Under the Moon of Love' achieved 3 whole weeks at Number 1.

They were eclipsed by Johnny Mathis who had enjoyed his first UK chart success as far back as 1958. After 11 hits spanning three decades the chart veteran finally secured a UK number one with the year's festive offering called 'When a Child is Born'. The song arrived on top on Christmas day, and remained the nation's favourite for 3-weeks.

LITTLE OBJECTS OF DESIRE

PETER POWELL KITES

Kite flying became the coolest craze in 1976 and Peter Powell was the man responsible. This wasn't the Radio one DJ but an entrepreneur who made stunt kites that became popular with the ordinary person. He made loop-the-loop look easy and found fame by floating his granny up into the air in one of his kites.

THE BIOLATOR

Biorhythms can apparently illustrate how our lives are affected by physical, emotional and intellectual cycles. They were so popular in 1976 that Casio introduced a calculator so you could calculate your own biorhythms. It was called…the Biolator! which doubled up as a normal calculator. This novelty item was an overnight success and sold millions

RAW POWER

If you were getting a bit bored and you need to spice up your Chopper bike you would probably have been tempted to get this novelty item. 'Raw Power' was a sound box that attached to your bike handle and made a revving sound… However I used to achieve the same effect by sticking an icicle stick in the spokes.

FASHION

CARDIGANS

Named after James Thomas Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan, this horrendous garment originated as a military jacket of knitted wool, with centre front buttoning. Fans of cop show "Starsky and Hutch" wouldn’t be seen out without a cream and brown Starsky cardigan. Thankfully this monstrous creation went out of fashion when the show was axed.

PUNK

As the popularity of Punk music began to grow, the fashion of safety pins, studs, pierced faces, Mohican haircuts and torn jackets also began to emerge this year. Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood opened a shop called ‘Sex’ selling specially made punk t-shirts. These frequently got their wearers into trouble with the police due to their shocking and controversial images. Punk was a reaction against all things Hippie: long hair, love of nature, love of everybody, peace. Punk was the most shocking youth movement the world had ever seen: loud, angry, spitting, universal disgust. It was also a reaction against a huge rise in unemployment and inflation.

ITV celebrated its 21st Anniversary by repeating a range of programmes from the past. However there were plenty of new shows to sustain your interest. 'Lukes Kingdom' was a series about British settlers in Australia during the days of covered wagons. Frank Findlay and Susan Penhaligon starred in the controversial drama 'Bouquet of Barbed Wire'. It was the story of a man's obsessive love for his daughter.

Mary Parkinson, wife of Michael, hosted 'Good Afternoon' and Television mourned the death of two of its most popular stars. Angela Badely, who played Mrs Bridges in 'Upstairs Downstairs, and Sid James of 'Bless This House'.

John Craven presented his 'Newsround' at five past five on BBC 1. 'Clapperboard' represented a young person's equivalent to Film 76, with Chris Kelly showing a guide to the latest films and new releases. Bernard Cribbins (or somebody like him) was telling us a story on 'Jackanory' while 'Magpie's Susan Stranks taught amateur Origami in 'Paperplay'. 'The Multi-Coloured Swap Shop' finally arrived on Saturday mornings to rival 'TISWAS' for the hearts and minds of kids across the length and breadth of Britain. Children of all ages would phone up and attempt to trade their old unwanted toys for something more desirable. Noel Edmonds and Keith Chegwin hosted the show throughout its six-year run.

'The Fosters' was the first British situation comedy in which all the main characters were black. The series featured a very young Lenny Henry and looked at the way a West Indian family coped with the pressures of life in London. Two less than successful comedies also appeared this year. Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts starred in 'Yus My Dear. The popular radio show 'Hello Cheeky' failed to make a successful transition to the small screen. The quickfire comedy show featured Tim Brooke Taylor, John Junkin and Barry Cryer.

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