Sunday 21 July 2013

Tracks of my Years - 1975



In the news:

Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party



The first Inspector Morse novel, 'Last Bus to Woodstock' was released whilst the last 'Poirot' novel -'Curtain' - by Agatha Christie, was published


  


The seeds of a huge change were sown in 1975...

Motorola obtained a patent for the first mobile phone which had been designed by Dr Martin Cooper a couple of years earlier. Nicknamed 'the brick', it took another eight years to come to market, at a price of nearly $4000






And Microsoft registered as a trademark





Car launches abounded : British Leyland brought out the Morris 18-22 (later, Princess) range; Vauxhall their Chevette; Chrysler their Alpine; and Vauxhall their Cavalier...


Early Austin Wedgie.jpg

Vintage car at the Wirral Bus & Tram Show - DSC03336.JPG

Simca 1307 GLS 1978.jpg

1994.vauxhall.cavalier.ls.arp.jpg


Can't see any of those becoming desirable classics!


In Britain the average house price was £11,87; petrol cost 72p a gallon; inflation ran at 24.2% and the Bank of England Interest Rate was 11.25%



On TV:


The Good Life



The Sweeney




Angels




Fawlty Towers




And 'Bernie, the Bolt!' was called for the last time in 'The Golden Shot' 




Bob Monkhouse used to tell the story of a man who participated in the show from a telephone kiosk, watching the programme in the window of a television rental shop (Remember when we used to rent rather than buy TVs?)  Sadly, as the man directed the bolt around ('left a bit, down a bit, right a bit - aim, fire!') the shop assistant changed the channel!


At the cinema:

















(The only one I saw!)





On the radio:

Bye Bye Baby - The Bay City Rollers

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Hold Me Close - David Essex

I'm Not in Love - 10cc

The Last Farewell - Roger Whittaker

The Hustle - Van McCoy

Lovin' You - Minnie Riperton


The Streets of London - Ralph McTell

Jive Talkin' - The Bee Gees

Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell

SOS - ABBA


For this year's clip, one of those songs that takes me right back to a moment in time - a hot summer's day, spinning in a fairground ride with friends, singing this at the top of our voices!






In my life:

Moving from Oxfordshire to Hampshire, to the house where my parents still live

A new school and new friends 

Having enjoyed our cramped camping experience in Wales the previous year, our family had acquired a large tent of our own and set off for a week of camping on the beautiful west coast of Ireland, followed by a week in Dublin with our hilarious great-aunts and cousins.  Here's a photo from that holiday, with a rare appearance from my Dad (usually the photographer!)





What were you up to in 1975?




6 comments:

  1. Love it1 I remember my sister going to see Jaws. I wasn't allowed and was very jealous, but she came back terrified!.xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. What an excellent post.....I turned 10 in 1975 and was just having a lovely childhood!
    Xxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was 12 with my tonsils finally out & beginning to really enjoy secondary school & not being ill !

    some great TV series here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was living in Darmstadt, Germany where my husband was stationed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your post just bhrought back some lovely memories. I could sing all your songs and the video saw me in a marquee, in a field enjoying life.
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  6. The first year of our marriage, we bought a 2 up 2 down house that needed lots of t.l.c. I took us 4 years to complete,just evenings and weekends, both worked full time. Those were the days!!

    ReplyDelete