There's Nothing In America That's In Good Taste..

[molly bloom]

Or more accurately:

"There's nothing in America that's in good taste, and that's wonderful isn't it?"

So said Alice Cooper, in an interview in the Cobo Hall in Detroit, 1974.


I know this, because I've just been flicking through my New Musical Express 1974 Hot Rock Guide.

It's a little strange, and a little melancholy, and a little exciting all at the same time- looking back at stars whose music I grew up to, and the tail end of the glam rock and prog rock scenes.


There's interviews with the well-known, and articles on the still famous- 'Two Views of Bowie', 'The Life and Times of Alice Cooper', 'The Stones' Mobile Studio', 'Lady Day: The Real Thing' and 'Roxy Music Revolution'.


Then there's the not so well known: whatever happened to jazz-rock three piece Back Door ?

And a brief mention of Sha Na Na and Linda Hoyle.


Sigh. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

[Winston]

Being 7 years old at the time, it is my considered opinion that 1974 was the best year there ever was.

After that, nothing was ever the same anymore. It's all gone downhill ever since.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Winston
Being 7 years old at the time, it is my considered opinion that 1974 was the best year there ever was.

After that, nothing was ever the same anymore. It's all gone downhill ever since.

There's an amusing article by Charles Shaar Murray on the glam rock scene that could be applied to some of today's acts-


"Basically rock theatrics can be divided into two zippy categories.

There are those who who play music histrionically: you know, pulling anguished lead guitarist faces, kicking over your Hammond (!) as if the musical ideas exploding in your tortured midbrain are too utterly cosmic for you to actually play , throwing mike stands at the faces of audiences who for some negligible reason are not howling for encores in frenzied and piteous tones. And so on."

There's a lovely photo from near the end of the annual of Yes's Steve Howe doing the long constipated guitar hero grimace which neatly illustrates this.

" Then there's the Cecil B. De Millions who bring on dancers, smoke bombs, snakes, gallows, onstage vomiting, urinating, simulated sexual intercourse or, in the case of some early performances by Frank Zappa and that jolly bunch of mutants laughingly known as the Mothers of Invention, large sections of the New York Police."


Well illustrated with a photo gallery of the unusual suspects, including Keith Emerson (also a Hammond kicker), Roxy Music's Andy Mackay clad in some space alien regalia, Peter Gabriel as giant flower headed singer, Iggy in glamslam skintight foil trews, Bowie at the Rainbow in one-legged one armed spangly leotard, and Slade in tartan and metallic clothes violations.


Oh, and Alice Cooper, lovingly gazing up at his guillotine blade- and a young Elkie Brooks, toting a guitar from her days in Dada and Vinegar Joe.

[Winston]

Brilliant.

I think in those days a lot of people were thinking things couldn't get any worse than they already were, not just in music but in all kinds of different 'fields'. And look what happened; looking back, it's easy to get nostalgic, if nothing else then by the sheer innocence of it all. But of course it also has to do with us now being able to weed out the things we're not so fond of, things that can safely be forgotten.

But 1974 also saw "Chinatown", one of my favourite films. And Gerd Müller was the man to follow at the '74 World Cup.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Winston
Brilliant.

I think in those days a lot of people were thinking things couldn't get any worse than they already were, not just in music but in all kinds of different 'fields'. And look what happened; looking back, it's easy to get nostalgic, if nothing else then by the sheer innocence of it all. But of course it also has to do with us now being able to weed out the things we're not so fond of, things that can safely be forgotten.

But 1974 also saw "Chinatown", one of my favourite films. And Gerd Müller was the man to follow at the '74 World Cup.

1974 the year in music:


1974

Welcome to the charts SPARKS, COCKNEY REBEL, QUEEN, KENNY, HELLO, THE GLITTER BAND, ARROWS, FOX, SAILOR, BROWNSVILLE STATION and farewell to WIZZARD. BAY CITY ROLLERS bounce back.
Glam hits to reach No.1 include ‘Jealous Mind’ by ALVIN STARDUST, ‘Tiger Feet’ and ‘Lonely This Christmas’ by MUD, ‘Always Yours’ by GARY GLITTER and ‘Devil Gate Drive‘ by SUZI QUATRO, as well as ‘Waterloo’ by ABBA, ‘Sugar Baby Love’ by THE RUBETTES and ‘Gonna Make You A Star’ by DAVID ESSEX.
LULU hits the charts with BOWIE’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’.

Ian Hunter leaves MOTT THE HOOPLE.

Debut albums appear from US glam acts JOBRIATH, KISS and ANGEL, none of which set any charts alight.


Key Albums: Cockney Rebel ‘The Psychomodo‘,

Jobriath ‘Jobriath’, Sparks ‘Kimono My House’,

Queen ‘Sheer Heart Attack’, David Bowie ‘Diamond Dogs’ .

[Winston]

All kidding aside, 1974 was a year of some very fine music, or at least tunes that have proven durable over time. Having consulted my CD rack briefly, I think there was also Bachmann-Turner Overdrive: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, Slade: Far Far Away and also numerous big hits I remember fondly from the Danish music stage.

And now that ABBA was mentioned, I have to admit many of their tunes are among the most time-defining music for that particular time, at least to me. Great stuff for the right occasion, even today.

[Spiffor]

Bah. Punks and hippies having fun, and ignorant youth buying it instead of actual art

[JohnT]

1974 also had The Godfather Pt. 2, The Conversation, Blazing Saddles, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Young Frankenstein.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Bah. Punks and hippies having fun, and ignorant youth buying it instead of actual art

Bet you don't like 'Les Fauves' either...

[molly bloom]

Good ol' Sparks:

[Zoid]

1974 also saw the debut of Judas Priest. Yep, that curly haired blond in the middle is no other than the Metal God himself

[St Leo]

The top left chap looks like either Merry or Pippin from the LotR movies.

[Winston]

And Gerald Ford became President.

Out of the blue just like that. It surprised me a little the other day when I found out that Pres. Ford is actually 91 years old today. If he keeps it up, I believe he's already due to overtake President Reagan as the longest lived Prez in history sometime late next year.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Winston
And Gerald Ford became President.

From Oatmeal Man to Martha Stewart in one easy step:

'Martha Stewart, who built an empire teaching Americans how to cook, garden and entertain, is facing a very different lifestyle after being told to report to a prison in West Virginia by October 8.

The US bureau of prisons yesterday turned down a request by Stewart to serve her five-month sentence closer to her home in Bedford, New York, and her elderly mother. Stewart will serve alongside more than 1,000 inmates - most of them drug offenders - at the Alderson minimum security prison, about 270 miles south-west of Washington DC. It is known as "camp cupcake" because of its low security. There are no metal fences keeping inmates in.

Like other prisoners, Stewart will begin work shortly after a 6am wake-up call. She has good experience in some of the jobs on offer, in food service or grounds maintenance, although instead of the millions of dollars she is accustomed to, she will get the standard rate of between 12 cents (7p) and 40 cents an hour.

Prisoners at Alderson sleep in bunk beds in one of nine large dormitories, each housing between 26 and 90 inmates. There are no individual cells. In her free time, Stewart, 63, will have access to various sports and the prison library.

Alderson's best known inmates include Lynette "Squeaky Fromme", a member of the Manson family who tried to shoot President Gerald Ford, and Sara Jane Moore, who also attempted to kill the president. '