Transcription
The nineteen sixties were arguably most known for music, counterculture, and its culmination at Woodstock. The sixties was the era of the music festival, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. As America turned to the nineteen seventies, new technology and music introduced Americans to the vinyl record, which was affordable and capable of holding more than four tracks or songs. This gave the artist creativity to tell a story with their music, while at the same time, allowing the public to access the music at a low price. All of these factors allowed for an explosion in music during the nineteen seventies.
Countless new artists and new genres emerged on the market for consumption by Americans. No matter your background, there was music for you to fall in love with. The nineteen seventies was the decade of disco. The disco era in The United States is marked by such great artists as Donna Summer singing hits like Hot Stuff and Last Date. Date.
One of the hottest dance crazes at the discos was created by Van McCoy's hit, Da Hut. Other great disco songs include We Are Family, Disco Inferno, Stayin' Alive, I'm So Excited, and Night Fever, the title track to John Travolta's iconic movie, Saturday Night Fever. Along with the music, disco brought a new dance craze to the clubs. Young Americans would learn intricate dances and dance together at the disco. Some of the most popular dances were the hustle, the bum, the YMCA and the funky chicken dance.
Disco was more than just music and dance. Disco brought about some of the most iconic fashion statements in our nation's history. Who doesn't remember such fashion masterpieces as the bell bottom pants, vinyl jumpsuits, wide collared shirts, space dresses, these ridiculous high heels and denim. Oh, so much denim. Disco wasn't the only transformative music craze in the nineteen seventies.
Motown and Soul emerged in the nineteen seventies and were on display on the TV show Soul Trap. This genre was highlighted by acts such as Marvin Gaye, seeing I Heard It Through the Grapevine and Let's Get It On. The temptations with My Girl. The four tops with Reach Out, I'll Be There. Stevie Wonder was superstitious.
Superstitious. And Gladys Knight with the midnight train to Jordan. The Motown and Soul movement was a great expression of African American culture in the nineteen seventies. Allowing for all of America to enjoy and appreciate this aspect of African American culture. As in any decade, music was a defining feature of the nineteen seventies.
Despite this flood of music, the nineteen seventies were not all fun and games. America in the 1970s went through an energy crisis that was unparalleled to anything in recent American history. The shortage of energy mobilized many Americans to begin thinking more about the conservation of our limited resources. The administrations in the nineteen seventies saw the growing concern about the environmental issues and created Earth Day to bring awareness to the topic, which was first celebrated on April twenty second of nineteen seventy. Although Nixon wasn't known as an environmentalist, he saw the importance of protecting our environment and helped to create the Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA.
The EPA was given the power to set and enforce pollution standards. Due to the EPA, the US has become a world leader in environmental protection. One of the best examples of the EPA in action came with the Alaskan pipeline. Alaska sits on a mountain of oil, which would provide energy to millions of Americans. Nixon saw the necessity of tapping into this oil, so he authorized the pipeline to transport that oil to the lower 48 states.
In return for the construction of the pipeline, Nixon turned over millions of acres of land to the state's Native American tribes. He also set aside an additional 56,000,000 acres in Alaska as national monuments. This designation of land may not have happened without the EPA and its enforcement powers. Another hot debate topic in America in the nineteen seventies was the use of nuclear energy. Many believed that this was a very dangerous practice because a leak could release radiation, harming people and the environment.
These fears were validated when the nuclear reactor, a three mile island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania malfunctioned. The reactor's cooling system failed and some radiation had escaped causing people nearby to evacuate their homes. While no one was injured or killed during the accident, over 100,000 were evacuated causing the government to get more involved in nuclear safety. This disaster brought back the debate of using nuclear energy to help power The United States. The nineteen seventies were an amazing time to be a kid.
One new invention started entertaining kids and teenagers across the nation. This invention was the video game. In 1972, Americans became captivated by Atari's interpretation of table tents that they called Pong. Players were asked to move a paddle up and down to prevent a ball from passing by them. Then, in 1978, Space Invaders was unleashed on the public and kids couldn't get enough.
Within a year, sixty thousand machines have flooded the market, causing American consumers to spend millions of quarters on the game. By the end of the decade, one of the most famous and recognizable video game characters was created. Half of it. You may not have played Pong or Space Invaders. The chances chances are you have played a version of this classic.
Some of you may have a version of this on your phone right now. This interactive game changed the way video games were created and revolutionized the industry. The games that you play everyday on your phone and on your Xbox or PS4 take the roots directly from these pioneering games that were invented in the nineteen seventies. By the nineteen seventies, '9 out of 10 households had a TV, making TV one of the most influential products on the market. TV programming grew to represent the diversity of America and the changes that were occurring across the nation.
Television programming began to highlight social issues for Americans. Shows like Chico and the Man showed what life was like in a Mexican American barrio in East LA. The highest rated show in the seventies, All in the Family, showed working class values and dealt openly with the division of classes in American society. The Mary Tyler Moore show highlighted what it was like to be a working woman in a big city. And the TV miniseries, Roots, showed the dark history of African American slavery that prior to this seemed taboo to talk about.
All of these shows are classes that you can still view in syndication on TV today. But one show got a start, 10/11/1975 and still running today. Saturday Night Live was and is an iconic show that still is a voice for many Americans. It's staying power can be attributed to its up to date social commentary that many people turn to for information and entertainment. Many of the most starts on the show.
These actors include Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Alec Baldwin, Will Ferrell, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Billy Crystal, Chris Rock, and many, many more. This show has been a cultural icon to which millions of Americans would tune in every Saturday night. Movies in the seventies. Can you say classic? Movie players emerged in the movie industry during the nineteen seventies.
Young directors like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg announced their arrival with their movies Star Wars. And Jaws. We're gonna need a bigger boat. These movies are iconic and capture the imaginations of millions of Americans for generations to come. Both of these movies started epic movie franchises.
And Star Wars is turning to one of the biggest brands in the world and is now owned by Disney. The inspiring story of Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone, showed that with hard work, you can achieve anything. 12 in a month from now The classic mobster movie, The Godfather, took Americans inside the organized crime rate to the boroughs of New York. I wanna make them an offer they can't refuse. The horror genre of the seventies was one of the greatest in history.
Classic killers like Michael Myers in Halloween terrified teenagers everywhere. The religious theme, Exorcist, made Americans crawl out of their skin and gave us some of the most iconic horror movie images of all time. People's heads are still spinning about this movie today. Look at that. Look at that.
Are you kidding me? The seventies brought the start of the gut busting series Alien. Where Sigourney Weaver saved the world from a bunch of aliens using humans as hosts. Okay. So this is the part where the alien comes bursting out of his chest.
We can't show you that but it's really gnarly. All of these movies did an amazing job of sparking the imagination of the American people. Whether it be music, fashion, TV, or movies, culture in the nineteen seventies was truly unforgettable. The nation had shifted to become more and more socially liberal. And as we know, every action creates an equal and opposite reaction.
It's time for the conservative tide to watch across the nation.