Search
Fun, 1970s-style - a list by Taffastrophe
Options for This Page
About this list:
The 1970s were a pretty hideous decade, but looking back and cherrypicking, there are a few things I'd love to hold onto for a little while longer. This is my list.
- Show items only
- Show full recommendations
Viewing 1-9 of 9 Items
ATARI: Atari 2600 Video Game System Package
First to recommend
Description
Oh my. 1977 was an interesting year. The Clash and The Sex Pistols were riding high, Jimmy Carter was sworn into office, Star Wars mania was sweeping the country.... and for $199, you could buy an Atari 2600 with two joysticks and the game "Combat."
$199 in 1977 was about $700 in today's dollars... and all we got was Combat? Seriously? But then, as the soon-to-be-classics started rolling out (Space Invaders, Missile Command, Asteroids, Adventures of Tron, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Slot Racers, PacMan), the Atari 2600 was all the rage. Even five years later with (slightly) better technology, the Atari 5200 couldn't come close to matching the popularity of the 2600.
These games were just great. They were simple, easy for kids to learn, and engrossing.
Best of all, there is not a single Atari 2600 game that involves driving to a bodega, picking up a couple of forty-ounce bottles of malt liquor, heading over to your dealer's house, blowing his head off and stealing his stash, having sex with some hookers, and then ramming an old rollerblading couple with your Camaro.
In other words, if I had to choose between Asteroids and Grand Theft Auto IV, I'd pick Asteroids and never look back.
This website has all kinds of old game consoles and hundreds of games for each. Check it out!
Updated Sep 23, 2008
White Cherry: Play That Funky Music
First to recommend
Description
Okay, okay, I'm not a big fan of a lot of 70s music. The all-time classic rock bands (The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd, to name a few) were great, but there were so many bad, bad, bad musical acts out there that it's amazing we, as a country, made it through the decade.
White Cherry is one of those terrible bands... but they had one incredible, memorable, fantastic, influential song: Play That Funky Music. For 99 cents, you can download the song (or play $9 for the whole album).
Why, you ask, is this such a good idea? Well, anyone who can hear this song without breaking into some kind of hip gyrating/arm-flailing dance is obviously either dead or from another planet.
Doctors, nurses and EMTs should stop wasting all that money on stethoscopes. See a guy laying on the ground in some alley? Just blast "Play That Funky Music." If there's a response, yay, he's alive. If not, he's dead... or an alien, in which case your pathetic earthling science can't help him anyway.
But I digress... get this song, turn up the volume, and get funky!
Updated Sep 23, 2008
Led Zeppelin: Stairway To Heaven
First to recommend
Description
For the longest time, Led Zeppelin had a stranglehold on "Stairway to Heaven." In order to get your hands on the single, you had to buy the entire album... and more than a few friends of mine (who didn't like Zeppelin's other music -- the morons) weren't willing to plunk down $30 for one song.
Luckily for them, you can now get the song as a single... although I'm not sure why anyone would want to miss out on the entire "Led Zeppelin IV" album. Either way -- whether you get just the song or the album -- you're guaranteeing yourself a copy of a song that is pretty much universally acclaimed as one of the top three songs of all time.
(Personally, I'll take Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as #1, The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For the Devil" as #2, and then "Stairway.")
But.. since those other songs were released in the 90s and 60s, respectively, that makes "Stairway" the best song of the 70s in my opinion, and deserving of $0.89 any day of the week. If your body makes wild flailing motions when listening to "Play That Funky Music," you probably at least play a little air guitar -- or even sing along -- to "Stairway."
Updated Sep 23, 2008
Patton (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
2 people recommended this item
Description
By the time I was 8 years old, I could do the entire opening speech from "Patton." I still quote the movie at random, sometimes inappropriate times. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure there is anything funnier than a kid sitting in church and then suddenly standing up and yelling, "Jesus, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!"
Of course, then my father's belt "went through me like crap through a goose," but oh, wasn't it worth it...
This collector's edition has restored the movie to nearly modern-day quality, and has a bunch of features and bonuses. It's sitting on my shelf, begging me to watch it right now...
Updated Sep 23, 2008
Dr. Martens - VINTAGE 1490
First to recommend
Description
Punk music is one of my favorite things about the 70s, and any self-styled punker out there was wearing Doc Martens. The company was vilified for closing their UK-based production factories and moving them to cheaper, third-world nations a few years ago, but apparently they've regained their senses and started producing Docs in the UK again.
These boots look great... and all of a sudden, I'm nostalgic for ripped acid-washed jeans and black jean jackets and thick silver chains. What, you thought I was going to recommend a leisure suit just because this is included in a list of 1970s stuff?
Updated Sep 23, 2008
All in the Family - The Complete First Season
First to recommend
Description
Forget "The Simpsons," "Roseanne," "Married With Children," and the like... if you're a fan of laughing at dysfunction, "All In The Family" is the show for you. And not just regular, vanilla dysfunction: Groundbreaking dysfunction. Racist, homophobic, misogynistic dysfunction. Dysfunction so sick and twisted that all you could do was laugh at it.
Essentially, "All In The Family" redefined what you could and couldn't do on television, ushering in a new era of fantastic television shows ("Sanford & Son," "The Jeffersons," "Mork & Mindy") that weren't afraid to take on controversial subjects.
Even now, some of the things from "All In The Family" are considered too hot-button for most shows... and yet, 37 years ago, one show was willing to go there. "All In The Family" is one of my favorite things from the 1970s, and a show that (to me, at least) will never get old.
Updated Sep 23, 2008
16" Gold Disco Mirror Ball
First to recommend
Description
I'm not sure if this is going to make any sense, but it does in my head.
But anyway...
I've always looked back at the disco era with a twinge of embarrassment. I mean, leisure suits and terrible dancing aside, nothing is as gaudy as a shining silver ball being the centerpiece of a dance floor.
But a GOLD ball? Oh, my. It just seems classy. Laugh all you want, but somehow I still equate gold to being elegant and silver to being... well... chintzy. This gold disco mirror ball would look perfectly fine in any modern establishment, but it would -- at the same time -- remind us of how far we've come.
Yes. I'm a dork.... and yes, the site sells normal silver balls, as well as a host of other disco-related items. Go look at a silver ball next to a golden ball, and tell me you don't gravitate towards the golden one!
Updated Sep 23, 2008
Lava Lamp 70's Edition
First to recommend
Description
Lava lamps. I could watch these things for hours, and I'm sober! I can't imagine how many hours upon hours upon millions of hours were wasted in the 70s just staring at these lamps, watching them do their thing.
(Note: I can actually sit around for hours staring at a blue TV screen, so I guess I shouldn't be throwing stones. It's not that there's something extraordinarily comforting about the blue screen... it's just that I'm really, really lazy and I haven't been able to find my remote for a few days. I guess I'm glad I wasn't performing some national security-sensitive function in the 70s... I would have had one of these lamps in my office and been the Worst. Employee. Ever.)
But seriously, these things are cool. Always have been, always will be.
Updated Sep 23, 2008
Carl Douglas: Kung Fu Fighting
First to recommend
Description
Catchy, off-the-wall tunes were the name of the game in the 70s. And apparently, the 70s was a violent decade. Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting.... them cats was fast as lightning.... o/~ o/~
Anyway, even if you didn't like the song, you now know the answer to a trivia question: Who the hell was the singer of that Kung Fu Fighting song?
Updated Sep 23, 2008
Viewing 1-9 of 9 Items
ThisNext: Become a Member
- Shopping ideas just for you
- It's easy and free
- Takes less than a minute
Lists
Make a difference!
Updated Nov 27, 2008
Whether it's a charity, a good cause, or just trying to save a favorite TV show, you can make a difference with just a couple...
Avoid the knife: Simple tips for healthy skin
Updated Sep 2, 2008
Averse to nips and tucks? Want healthier-looking skin without injecting yourself with botulism? Here's a list of products and...
The Man Cave: Things for your secret hideout
Updated Aug 28, 2008
Ever wanted that perfect basement or downstairs room, where you can slip away and hide for hours at a time? This list is...
Doggystyle: Great stuff for man's best friend
Updated Aug 22, 2008
A list of things every dog owner should have.
See More of ThisNext
ThisNext Information
- Shopcast New!
- Retailers
- FAQ
- Blog
- About Us
- Contact ThisNext.com
- Newsletter
- ShopSafe
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Use
Copyright ©2005-2009 ThisNext, Inc.