1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 77

 

  Today’s look at my year of origin gets political and punk. Who knew that the two could go hand-in-hand? British Punk band the Clash released their first single, White Riot.

A year prior during the Notting Hill Carnival, the local police force (some 1,600 strong) went overboard and literally started a riot themselves. Band members Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon were first hand viewers of the carnage and decided to write a protest song about!

This photo was taken during the 76 riot. The guy wearing the hat in the foreground
is Clash mentor Don Letts of Jamaica and this image was used on the back of Clash's debut album.

   Many incorrectly believe that the song is racist calling for a race when it fact it’s calling out racism in England’s Notting Hill district and asking for white teens to join the cause!

       See Notting Hill is a sort of upscale area and the residents at the time didn’t want the Carnival celebration to occur in the first place. Despite not getting a permit to celebrate, organizers of the celebration went ahead and did it anyway. Looking for an excuse to shut it down, when officers began getting reports of pick-pocketing, they quickly went into action. As a result over 60 people were arrested and countless more injured. By the way, the group targeted most by the Notting Hill police force was blacks, mostly of Caribbean descent.

 

A Carnival attender arrested during the '76 riot.

    As I said, White Riot was the Clash’s answer to the violence. It wouldn’t be for another 10 years before public opinion and public policy changed allowing the parade to be performed with legal permission. But the Nottinghill Carnival has continued to be marred with violence from both police and gangs over the last 30 years to the point of festivities being cancelled at least twice.

   As for the Clash, they became punk rock legends. Their 1978 single London Calling became a standard for 70s rock and they had continued success in the 80s. But the band itself kinda distances themselves from White Riot- not because they no longer feel strongly for the call of social justice but because they see their music style as amateurish compared to later works like London Calling.

    Before I leave, I thought it would be interesting to note that the B-side of White Riot is a song titled 1977. (Talk about irony or bizarre coincidence as today is the 77th day of the year 1977!) That song is a call out to entertainers such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Elvis being no longer culturally relevant! Wow- that takes cajones! Take a listen for yourself and decide.

    Enjoy...

   

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 76

    It's St. Patrick's Day today. That means a celebration of everything Irish. Plus, there's lots of parades, partying, green, drinking of beer, and partying with in a parade drinking green beer. 

    Since St. Patrick's Day falls on the same day every year, I thought I would share some photos of the holiday from 1977!

    Enjoy... and please drink responsibly!

New York State Police marching in the
254th New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Coin issued to parade goers of the
Jefferson Parrish (La.) St. Partick's Day Parade.

An St. Paddy's day party at a tavern in Irish Cedar
Townsville, Australia.

Deadpool, Volume 3: End of An Error

     Untold tales of the non-Deadpool members of the Mercs for Money, a super-sized anniversary issue, an all-Spanish tale starring Massacre: the Mexican Deadpool, and a trip to the Marvel 2099 universe. This Deadpool volume was filled with fun, laughs, and tons of violence. 
      I really enjoyed just about all of this book. The only part I didn't really enjoy was the Mexican Deadpool story. Being all in Spanish and considering I cannot speak a lick of it, I just couldn't read what was being said. Is it wrong to ask for an Spanish-to-English translation? 
     Slapstick is featured in this book as is the 90s horror character, Terror. Both shine in the first half of this book. I'm thrilled that Slapstick has a series again. Now the House of Ideas needs to give the Terror another shot.
     Writer Gerry Duggan continues to thrill, so does artist Scott Koblish. But I think Amazon got it wrong- Brian Posehn isn't still on the creative team. He left shortly before this new series of Deadpool.
    
      Worth Consuming

       Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
       

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 75

 

 
  On the same day that President Jimmy Carter pledges support for a Palestinian state, Lebanese Druze leader (a Lebanese religious sect) and PLO supporter Kamal Jumblatt is assassinated. 
     
      This may not seem like such a big deal, but at the time, Lebanon was already 2 years into a bloody civil war. A war that would last until 1990! Jumblatt was the leader of the opposition to the war. His Progressive Socialist Party, with it's ties to the backings of the Soviet Union and Syria, was actually winning the conflict, occupying over 70% of the nation. However, his assassination put a damper on the PSP's progress. 

     Many historians believe that had Kamal Jumblatt lived, the Lebanese Civil War might had ended before the 80s began.

      It's an odd coincidence that I came across this information. Regular readers of my blog know that I am a professional chef. I currently work for a Lebanese gentlemen as one of his chef managers and it was just the other day that he actually mentioned some of the horrors that had occurred in his beloved nation of Lebanon. Which is a first, as he never gets personal.

    I remember as a child when my parents would watch the nightly news, the reporters would always talk of fighting in Beirut. But I had no idea that Lebanon was undergoing such a trauma and for so long. The things children will hear but never put two-and-two together. Oddly, as a history major, I don't ever remember learning about the civil war in Lebanon either. I really am getting an education doing this project on my birth year. 

    Well, that's all the time I have for today's journey through my birth year. Until tomorrow...

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 74

      Today marks the 40th Anniversary of the debut of Eight is Enough. The family comedy/ drama ran for 5 years and helped make several stars (albeit temporary) household names, such as Dick Van Patton, Adam Rich, and Willie Aimes. 
   

Cover to the book on which the TV series was based.

  
      Eight is Enough was based on a book of the same name by columnist Thomas Braden who wrote about life as a father to 8 children. That's about as close as the book and TV show come because the actress hired to play the mom, Diana Hyland, became ill from breast cancer and ultimately succumbed to her illness just a few days after the first episode aired. She only filmed 4 episodes.

     There was another big casting change. In the pilot, the role of oldest son, David was played by Mark Hamill. Hamill wanted out after the pilot in because he sensed that Star Wars was going to make him a star. But, execs on Eight Is Enough refused wanting to cash in on the possibility of having a big star on the show. However, fate came into play when in January of '77, Hamill got into a massive car wreck. Hospitalized, Hamill couldn't work on Eight is Enough and so he was released and Grant Goodeve took his place as David. But this now meant Hamill could focus all his efforts on movies.

Hamill, center, in the pilot episode of Eight is Enough.

       I vaguely remember the show. By the time I was old enough to remember and watch it, the show was in syndication. Though there was at least 1 or 2 reunion TV-movies in the late 80s or early 90s. I remember that my mother loved this show and my wife seems to have fond memories of it too. But to me, the big deal is the Mark Hamill connection. 

      Well, that's all I got for today. But before I go, here's a clip of the shows original theme. Enjoy...

   

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 73

     

     
 So far as I have been examining my birth year in my year-long series A Madman Turns 40, I have been reflecting on things that influenced me or piqued my interest doing research, or covered benchmarks in history that occurred in 1977. Well today, I have to focus on 2017. 

Over 5 days of continuous cold winds off of
Lake Ontario has completely covered at least 1 New York home in ice.

      See the Northeast is about to get slammed with a massive Nor'easter. The late winter storm has already plunged most of the East into bitter cold temps. Now, a front is heading right up the Atlantic coast posed to dump at least 2 feet of snow. It's expected that another weather system is just a couple of days behind this storm and will add even more frozen precipitation to areas of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and the Boston area.  

The blizzard of '17 looks to be something not to mess with.

     If this at all sounds familiar, well it does. In January and February of '77, the exact same area was crippled by a massive cold front that dumped feet of snow continually over a 2 week period. This storm isn't supposed to be that bad but it's proof of the old adage 'The more things change, the more they stay the same.'

     Until tomorrow... 

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 72

      Before the VCR became a necessity in every home. Before the computer or iPhone became the dominant source for watching TV shows and movies, if a kid wanted to watch their favorite shows anytime the wanted, they had to use the only thing at their disposal- the View-Master!
   
     Don't know what a View-Master is? 

     Essentially it was a personal slide projector. You would have these discs with images of your favorite subjects. You put the discs into the View-Master, held it up to the light and with the flipper, when you were ready, you went on to the next slide. It was great for minutes and minutes of fun- unless you had a big collection of slides, then you really could kill an hour or two.

     Before I go, let's look at some of the reels you could view in 1977:

ElectraWoman and DynaGirl:
     Sid and Marty Krofft were puppeteers who dominated kids TV in the 70s. ElectraWoman was their answer to Wonder Woman, the live-action DC heroine who was a pop culture hit on ABC. ElectraWoman was played by Deidre Hall, who would go on to fame on Days of Our Lives and a short-lived family drama called Our House. In this reel, Electrawoman battles some sort of Spider-Lady villain. 

 Land of the Lost:
         Another Krofft Brothers show. This is perhaps their most popular show. A dad and his two kids get sent to a land full of cavemen, dinosaurs, and aliens. Here, the lead characters seem to encounter a Yeti-like creature.

   Captain America:
           This reel is titled "Where Walks the Sleeper." It's based on the first few issues of Captain America's 1960s series. Here a Nazi robot called a Sleeper is activated by the Sentinel of Liberty's arch-enemy the Red Skull.

     The Harlem Globetrotters:

      Fresh off of an adventure with the Scooby-Doo gang and Gilligan's Island, this entertaining basketball troupe was everywhere. Back then, the Globetrotters were also a regular feature on ABC's Wide World of Sports. The Globetrotters were funny and quite thrilling. Somehow, they just don't seem to transfer well to still images.
   

For the Love of Benji

   

      For the Love of Benji was one of a series of TV specials and films starring the lovable scamp Benji. I wasn't a big fan of the Benji films, or any sort of live action films starring animals. Not because I didn't like Benji but more often than not the main character or another animal pal would get lost from their owners or die in the climatic ending OR both, and I'd cry and cry. 

      Hollywood:

       Lastly, View-Masters also has an educational slant to them. This set of slides showed real-life images of Tinseltown and often came with a small fact sheet to education viewers young and old. Not the most popular in the View-Master series, these things could be very valuable or a dime-a-dozen depending on the set.

      Well, that's my look at 1977 for today. Who knows where I'll go next. Until Tomorrow...