The late 1970s was a dynamic period marked by significant cultural and political developments. In television, iconic series such as "Wonder Woman," "Happy Days," and "Saturday Night Live"
1975-1979
An examination of culture, politics, and the general goings on of the late 70's.
Fashion & Politics by Clare
Inventions & Music by Sam
Celebrities & Movies/TV by Brent
Main topic
TV!
Saturday Night Live
-late night live sketch comedy show
-started in 1975, still going every Saturday night!
-Dan Akroyid
-Jon Belusci
-Chevy Chase
-Bill Murray
- each week is hosted by a pop culture celebrity guest
Happy Days
-first aired on January 15th 1974
-last episode in 1984
starred Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Scott Baio
-set in Wisconsin 50s,60’s
-American sitcom about the Cunningham family, with a cool tenant, Fonz
Wonder Woman
-tv series that spanned from 1975 – 1979
-created by William M. Marston
- starred Lynda Carter as superhero Wonder Woman
-60 episodes
-Wonder woman had a tiara that was a weapon, a magic lasso and bracelets that
can stop any bullet
Movies
1975-1979
Grease (’78)
- starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
-grossed $395 million worldwide
-musical about teens falling in love over the summer then trying to make it work
When they realize they go to the same school
Jaws (’75)
-Steven Spielberg film
-starred Richard Dreyfus, Roy Sheider, Robert Shaw
-grossed about $490 million worldwide
-about a shark attack on an island, they want to shut down island to tourism but they’re
not allowed and a colossal shark begins to kill people
-first of a trilogy
Star Wars(’77)
-movies achieving new special effects, ie George Lucas’s Star Wars (ep. IV)
-the film starred a young Harrison ford- Han Solo, Mark Hamill- Luke skywalker,
Carrie Fisher –Princess Leia
-grossed $460 million at the box office in the states, and $340million overseas
-epic space battle movie
-first of a trilogy
-later their was a prequel trilogy
Subtopic
INVENTIONS
Printer (Ink Jet) 1976
-This is the most commonly
used printer today
-Much quiter the the dot matrix
or daisy wheel is in comparison
-fast warm up time and it is very cheap to print
-Printing can be made in color or black and white
Walk man 1979
-Cassette Based
-Invetion made it able to listen
to music on a portable device
Cell Phone 1979
Tokyo became the first 1g nation in the world
the term 1g means first generation
A group of friends dresses in typical 70's style.
FASHION
For men, late 70's fashion was much different than it is now. Wide ties, wide lapels, long collars, flared pants, neck scarves and jumpsuits were quite popular. Other typical late 70's looks for men were:
- baseball t-shirts
- platform shoes
- afro hairstyles
- waistcoats (often a part of the popular 3 piece suit)
- polyester "lleisure suits"
- patterned silk-type shirts
That 70's show character Bob wearing a colourful, long-collared shirt and sporting a fashionable afro hairstyle.
The most popular articles of clothing for women between 1975 and 1979 were as follows:
- Tube tops
- Neck scarves
- Spandex pants
- Wrap skirts and dresses
- Silk blouses
- Cigarette-leg pants
- Painter's pants
- Leotards
- 1 piece swimsuits
A woman wearing a 70's style wrap dress.
A popular hairstyle for both men and women was the layered, feathered look; men wore their hair shorter though, and women's was longer (see the above photo from the original 1976 Charlie's Angels). Another popular hairstyle for women was the "gypsy" style: long hair that was all one length and parted in the middle.
That 70's Show character Jackie sporting a boldly striper, polyester jumpsuit.
Fashion in the late 1970's was very distinct. Man-made textiles were becoming more easily accessible and therefore more popular -- polyester and Spandex were all the rage. Bold, bright colours and patterns were also commonplace, and several would often be worn at one time.
POLITICS
Some fun politics-related facts from the late 70's:
- September 3-5 1977: all Canadian road signs were converted to metric units
- The first Inuk, Willie Adams, enters Parliament on May 5, 1977
- On February 6, 1977, Rene Levesque is caught in a scandal after he hits and kills a homeless man while driving with a woman assumed to be his mistress
- Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his wife seperate
- From June of 1979-March of 1980, Joe Clark became the youngest Canadian Prime Minister ever, although his Conservatives held only a minority government
- Canada became one of the G7 group of economic powers in 1976
Photo: Some citizens were all for the adoption of the Metric system.
Photo: a boat-load of Vietnamese people immigrating to Canada
The Immigration Act, 1976, was altered to include a "Refugee Class" in response to the approximately 70, 000 "Vietnamese boat people" who fleed their oppressive communist country to Canada in the late 1970's.
Between the years of 1975-1979, Pierre Trudeau was Canada's Prime minister, leading the Liberal government. On October 16, 1978, however, fifteen by-elections were held across Canada, causing the Liberals to lose five seats. This led to a general re-election in the months to come. Trudeau became Prime Minister once again in March of 1980.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau was known primarily for his charisma, his success in officially making Canada a bilingual country, and encouraging and enforcing a "multicultural policy within a bilingual framework".
Photo: Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1919-2000
MUSIC
ACDC
-Highway to hell album was their break
through album
-The rise of disco music was the
lead up to hard edge rock and roll
Led Zepplin
-Hard rock
-Guitar and drum solos
Ramones
-Punk music
-Only 2 minute songs
-No guitar or drum solos
-Rebellious as rock was also