1972 -- The way we were (well, some of us)
Tuesday, March 20 marked birthday 35 for me. I guess I'm supposed to feel weird about being closer to 40 than 30, but I don't. Age isn't a number I can do anything about so I don't think about it a lot. I know people in their 60s who act like they're 25 and I know people in their 30s who act elderly. It's all the attitude and outlook I say.
Other important 1972 dates
January 5 -- NASA announces the development of the space shuttle
February 16 -- Wilt Chamberlain scores 30,000th NBA point
March 8 -- First flight of the Goodyear blimp
March 16 -- John Lennon and Yoko Ono are served with deportation papers
April 3 -- The first ever Mobile phone call is placed (it must have been the same size as a stereo receiver from the same era)
November 14 -- The Dow Jones Industrial average closes above 1000 for the first time.
And some more important yearly facts:
* Eleven Israel Athletes were murdered by Arab Gunman at Munich Olympics (a fantastic documentary was released in 1999 about this tragedy called "One Day in September," narrated by Michael Douglas.)
* American Swimmer Mark Spitz wins a record 7 gold medals
in
the Summer Olympics in Munich
* Bloody Sunday - the British Army kills 13 unarmed Roman Catholic civil rights marchers in Derry, Ireland. (U2 wrote a song about it)
* Hurricane Agnes kills 117 in US east coast.
* Sixteen survivors from plane crash survive and are rescued after practicing cannibalism. (A well-known movie called "Alive" (1993), starring Ethan Hawke, detailed this amazing and horrifying story.)
* Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarising the offices of the Democratic National Committee marking the start of the Watergate Scandal. (One of the most important movies of the 1970s detailed the investigation of this major scandal, the four Oscar winning "All the President's Men" starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford.
Thirty five years later and we suffer yet another
corrupt, scheming White House)
* Last United States ground troops withdrawn from Vietnam.
* Earthquake in Nicaragua kills
5000-10.000 in the capital Managua.
* The Largest Diamond The Star of
Sierra Leone is unearthed it is 969.8 carats
* Digital Watches are introduced (rock on!)
* First scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced (price $395).
* The Volkswagen Beetle becomes the most popular car ever sold with in excess of 15 million sold.
* Atari kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of PONG, the first game to achieve commercial success (we've come a long way baby!)
The cost of living in 1972 (here's where I really start feeling old)
Average Cost of new house
$27,550.00
Average Income per year
$11,800.00
Average Monthly Rent
$165.00
Gas per Gallon
55 cents
Roxanne Ladies Swimsuit
$30.00
Kodak Pocket Camera
$28.00
Wrangler Jeans
$12.00
A six-pack of Shlitz beer (according to my Dad)
88 cents
Who else was born in 1972, you might ask?
Jude Law, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, The Notorious B.I.G., Shaquille O'Neal, Toni Collette and two best friends, Andrea Bridges (3/1/72) and Clare Vance (8/10/72)
Top music hits of 1972:
American Pie - Don McLean (one of my least favorite songs of all time)
Papa was a Rollin' Stone - The Temptations (that's more like it)
I'll Take you There - The Staple Singers (and so's this)
Lean on Me - Bill Withers (overplayed, unappreicated by me)
Heart of Gold - Neil Young (one of Neil's best)
Me and Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul ('72 was a good year for soul)
The First time Ever I Saw your Face - Roberta Flack (Sweet...it was the first time anyone ever saw my face as well Roberta. I feel ya.)
I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash (Really great lyrics, always an upper to hear this one)
Without You - Nilsson (Can't say I know this one,
but I'm sure I'd recognize it if I heard it)
Black and White - Three Dog Night (a truly great one)
I am Woman - Helen Reddy (hell yeah, Helen!)
Ben - Michael Jackson (back when he was a black male)
Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan (horrific!)
Let's Stay Together - Al Green (one of the best love songs ever written 100% soul, 0% sap)
A Horse with no Name - America (fantastic acoustic guitar song. their self-titled album went #1 in '72)
Oh Girl - The Chi-Lites (sweet sweet soul)
Candy Man - Sammy Davis, Jr. (don't know it at all)
My Ding-a-Ling - Chuck Berry (WTF? I hate this song. Chuck can keep his ding-a-ling to himself.)
Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me - Mac Davis (?)
Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) - Looking Glass (Perfect sign-of-the-times soft pop song from a band we never anything else from. My favorite acoustic duo from college, the excellent Phil and Walon, played this one on a regular basis.)
Other important 1972 dates
January 5 -- NASA announces the development of the space shuttle
February 16 -- Wilt Chamberlain scores 30,000th NBA point
March 8 -- First flight of the Goodyear blimp
March 16 -- John Lennon and Yoko Ono are served with deportation papers
April 3 -- The first ever Mobile phone call is placed (it must have been the same size as a stereo receiver from the same era)
November 14 -- The Dow Jones Industrial average closes above 1000 for the first time.
And some more important yearly facts:
* Eleven Israel Athletes were murdered by Arab Gunman at Munich Olympics (a fantastic documentary was released in 1999 about this tragedy called "One Day in September," narrated by Michael Douglas.)
* American Swimmer Mark Spitz wins a record 7 gold medals
in
the Summer Olympics in Munich* Bloody Sunday - the British Army kills 13 unarmed Roman Catholic civil rights marchers in Derry, Ireland. (U2 wrote a song about it)
* Hurricane Agnes kills 117 in US east coast.
* Sixteen survivors from plane crash survive and are rescued after practicing cannibalism. (A well-known movie called "Alive" (1993), starring Ethan Hawke, detailed this amazing and horrifying story.)
* Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarising the offices of the Democratic National Committee marking the start of the Watergate Scandal. (One of the most important movies of the 1970s detailed the investigation of this major scandal, the four Oscar winning "All the President's Men" starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford.
Thirty five years later and we suffer yet another
corrupt, scheming White House)
* Last United States ground troops withdrawn from Vietnam.
* Earthquake in Nicaragua kills
5000-10.000 in the capital Managua.
* The Largest Diamond The Star of
Sierra Leone is unearthed it is 969.8 carats
* Digital Watches are introduced (rock on!)
* First scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced (price $395).
* The Volkswagen Beetle becomes the most popular car ever sold with in excess of 15 million sold.
* Atari kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of PONG, the first game to achieve commercial success (we've come a long way baby!)
The cost of living in 1972 (here's where I really start feeling old)
Average Cost of new house
$27,550.00
Average Income per year
$11,800.00
Average Monthly Rent
$165.00
Gas per Gallon
55 cents
Roxanne Ladies Swimsuit
$30.00
Kodak Pocket Camera
$28.00
Wrangler Jeans
$12.00
A six-pack of Shlitz beer (according to my Dad)
88 cents
Who else was born in 1972, you might ask?
Jude Law, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, The Notorious B.I.G., Shaquille O'Neal, Toni Collette and two best friends, Andrea Bridges (3/1/72) and Clare Vance (8/10/72)
Top music hits of 1972:
American Pie - Don McLean (one of my least favorite songs of all time)
Papa was a Rollin' Stone - The Temptations (that's more like it)
I'll Take you There - The Staple Singers (and so's this)
Lean on Me - Bill Withers (overplayed, unappreicated by me)
Heart of Gold - Neil Young (one of Neil's best)
Me and Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul ('72 was a good year for soul)
The First time Ever I Saw your Face - Roberta Flack (Sweet...it was the first time anyone ever saw my face as well Roberta. I feel ya.)
I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash (Really great lyrics, always an upper to hear this one)
Without You - Nilsson (Can't say I know this one,
but I'm sure I'd recognize it if I heard it)
Black and White - Three Dog Night (a truly great one)
I am Woman - Helen Reddy (hell yeah, Helen!)
Ben - Michael Jackson (back when he was a black male)
Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan (horrific!)
Let's Stay Together - Al Green (one of the best love songs ever written 100% soul, 0% sap)
A Horse with no Name - America (fantastic acoustic guitar song. their self-titled album went #1 in '72)
Oh Girl - The Chi-Lites (sweet sweet soul)
Candy Man - Sammy Davis, Jr. (don't know it at all)
My Ding-a-Ling - Chuck Berry (WTF? I hate this song. Chuck can keep his ding-a-ling to himself.)
Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me - Mac Davis (?)
Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) - Looking Glass (Perfect sign-of-the-times soft pop song from a band we never anything else from. My favorite acoustic duo from college, the excellent Phil and Walon, played this one on a regular basis.)
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