Well here we are. It is hard to credit that a full half-century has passed since 1976, the year which gave us that long hot summer which is talked about even today, which provided with so much great television, cinema and memorable events in sport, and which in music served as a cultural crossroads of a kind that we have never quite seen the likes of since.
How do we celebrate such a milestone in a way that would even begin to do it justice?
It is certainly an endeavour which is way beyond my capability alone. But I feel I need to do something to honour those days, the friends I shared them with, the artists and the bands who gave us the music, in fact everyone who played a part – just by being there – in making that magnificent year, well, 1976. As a well-known Canadian rock band once put it, echoing the words of the Bard, all the world’s indeed a stage and we are merely players, performers and portrayers. Everybody who was there played their part. It was just a glorious coming together of so much individual karma, even when taking account of the rose-tinted spectacles that we all wore to deflect the glare of the relentless sunshine that prevailed, unbroken, for so long.
This year I’m going to be embracing new technologies, of the kind which younger people use today as if by second nature but which hitherto I have found too daunting to be moved to venture into. I’m going to be looking for collaborators, not just in literature and in blogging but hopefully too in the field of music, animation, AI and visual arts. I want to make something which, when this new year eventually hands the baton over to the next one, will remain as my tribute and my statement.
I want to build an industry around 1976, not in a tacky way but in a form which brings memories into life. I am disturbed by the proliferation of “nostalgia” forums and groups which already celebrate the eighties and even the nineties as though they themselves were the stuff of ancient lore. Don’t get me wrong, not everybody’s adolescence goes back fifty years and younger people are as entitled to honour theirs every bit as much as we are. But the seventies was a unique and beautiful age, and must never be permitted to slip silently from history.
So whether your thing was glam or punk, northern soul or disco; whether you went to church club or marauded the cold, stony, barren football terraces looking for a fight (and I did both); whether you were into Bowie, the Bee Gees, Barry White or Donny Osmond – this project is for you.
And it is your project. Like I say, I want to collaborate. If you feel you have something of value to offer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
If you enjoyed reading this article, make sure you stay updated with all Phil’s latest blog posts by signing up to receive his free Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time and your details will never be shared with any third party. Click here to sign up today.