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The Red and Tuesday, January K. IMO
The ’70s: Entertainment had its best and worst moments
Mark Segura: "60s film trends go on in "70s
Bobby Byrd: Top 40 dies a bitter death
Any list of this sort is ultimately arbitrary, subjective and
woefully incomplete “Best" lists are more reflective of the
reviewer s prejudice than of any real depth of critical scrutiny,
so with these provisos in mind. I will list my “Top 10" films of
the downer decade
Films in the 1970s continued some of the trends begun in the
1960s. such as strongly reflecting the current social scene, often
dating the motion picture to a hopeless degree within a couple of
years One earlier trend later reversed saw the low budget,
introspective film of the late '60s become pushed aside in favor of
expensive, blockbuster epics As for the list, excepting the first
entry, the films are in no particular order
1. Apocalypse Now—The epitaph for the era; Coppola’s
towering masterpiece of human conflict set against a
psychedelic, surrealistic Vietnam War. The greatest and most
important film of the decade, as the Wild Bunch had been in the
'60s
2. Taxi Driver-Martin Scorseses Grey Line Tour through
Hell A psychotic vision of the urban jungle, more horrible and
more perceptive than a library of sociological and psychological
volumes
3. Godfathers I and II—Taken as one film they comprise a
family saga better realized than any since The Magnificent
Ambersons The performances are among the best seen on U S.
screen in the past 30 years
4 Chinatown— Roman Polanski's exploration of the essential
Holly wood mystery with a morality play woven in The setting is
perfect, the pacing flawless
5 The Yakuza—Sidney Pollack’s 1975 release Obscure, but its
portrayal of the code of Bushido in modern Japan makes it an
underrated masterpiece,
6 Cross of Iron—One of Peckinpah's two greatest. Some of the
best combat scenes ever filmed as well as some of the most
finely twisted character depictions of the decade A war film that
really shows what combat is all about and with one of the best
musical scores as well.
7. Barry Ly ndon—Perhaps the most beautiful movie ever
filmed A perfect recreation of the Georgian era, a Gainsborough
painting come to life Stanley Kubrick s finest effort
8 Big Wednesday—A plot that might have turned out
something like Beach Bunnies Meet the Wild Bunch is turned into
a cinematic tone poem of the 1960s John Millius has perfected
what George Lucas sought in American Graffiti, a flawless
depiction of a moment in time.
9 Duck You Sucker—Sergio Leone's best, a dubious friendship
against a background of a Mexican revolution. A sprawling,
Italianatc look at the violent New World that succeeds on every
level
10 Dawn of the Dead—Greatest horror movie of all time. A
grim, relentless metaphor for our self-indulgent society of
greedheads George Romero has transcended the genre and the
special effects are textbook accurate down to the last brain
splatter
The ’70s were not rock's greatest decade While harder rock
held Us own, especially with the emergence of new wave, great
pop and Top 40 died a bitter death as the ’60s drew to a close
Nonetheless, there were moments—wonderful moments—in
which old favorites held their own and new ones emerged
With one exception (The Ko'ling Stones), the albums listed
here (in order), are the finest achievements of the respective
artists’ careers And that’s almost enough to help us forget
Foreigner, even if just for a moment.
1. Born To Run. Bruce Springsteen -Rock’s finest hour of the
decade, and quite possibly ever Simply put. a consummate
expression of power, force, wisdom, insight, heart and soul. Not
"rock and roll future." but rock and roll itself
2. Who's Next, The Who—For my money, these guys are The
World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band, (he Stones
notwithstanding This is the best album from the most durable
group of rock’s front line. “Won’t Get Fooled Again" alone earns
this one a place.
3. My Aim Is True. Elvis Costello—Elvis didn’t invent "new
wave." but he emerged as its leading proponent. He may be rude
and obnoxious, but there's an anger here that cannot be denied
4 One More From The Road, Lynyrd Skynyrd—Several of their
studio albums were good, but their stage shows were legendary
Like all great rock acts, they were at their best live, and this
double set is a textbook example
5 Heat Treatment. Graham Parker Parker rocks lough and
lean but can also create joyous, uplifting music '"Back Door
Love") If God's in his Heaven, this man will become a star
Soon.
6. Aqualung. Jethro Tull—Admittedly, much of Tull's work is
pompous and vapid, particularly the later LPs Bui Aqualung is
truly impressive as Ian Anderson's definitive views on religion,
decadence and the correlations therein
7. Exile On Main Street. The Rolling Stones A flawed but
superb rocker, better than anything they’ve turned out since
8 Hearts of Stone. Southside Johnny And The Asbury
Jukes-Along with Parker, these guys are vastly underrated,
Southside Johnny Lyon is one of the finest vocalists of the rock
era What’s more, he knows that the best love songs are
love-gone-wrong songs Awesome, emotional brilliance
9 The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East—Southern Rock
at its best, by the masters of the genre On bad nights they were
dreadful, but on good nights they shone
10 AlA. Jimmy Buffett-Although Buffett’s later LPs are
enjoyable, his earlier work displayed far more of his true talent
Al A is an insightful, moving, touching yet exuberant look at life
"A Pirate Looks At 40." ‘ Migration ' and "Trying To Reason
With Hurricane Season" tell us more about ourselves than a
thousand philosophers ever could.
Gary Evans: Movies provide escape, solace
love, women and the ancient
search for self.
M*A*S*H (1970)— Altman's
dark-comic version of the insani
ties of war remains his greatest
achievement. Suicide is still
painless.
Patton (1970)—George C.
Scott, in overdrive, burned up
the screen as the blood-and-guts
general who believed in rein
carnation. despised cowards and
hated wars to end.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)—
Kubrick's controversial look at
decadent youth in a decadent
age where violence begets con
ditioned response. Malcolm Mc
Dowell was impeccably evil as
the leader of the "Droogies."
Deliverance (1972) — Jon
Voight was at his very best in
Dickey’s haunting story of death
Five fcasy Pieces (1970)— and degradation in the wilder-
Jack Nicholson began what was ness of north Georgia,
to be a very good decade for him
with a moving performance in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)—
this slightly existential look at Al Pacino and John Cazale
After the divisive 'bOs. we fell
into a decade of collective
introspection as America turned
to the movies for escape and
comic comfort, for solace and
inspiration. There were scrupu
lous visions of the past and
tantalizing leaps into the future,
but for the most part the big
screen bathed us in a reflection
that was distinctly our own.
It carried to us a message,
pan warning and pan reward,
that we live in times wherein the
simplest human interactions arc
full of complexity and conse
quence. What follows is an
irreparably biased glance at the
great films of the last decade.
There are flagrant omissions, to
be sure, but these are films (in
chronological order) which I
feel captured a panicularly
human story and told it memor
ably well.
played inept bankrobbers to
perfection in this tragic-comic
story that was based on an
actual incident.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest (1975)— R.P. McMurphy.
the role that finally got Nichol
son his Oscar, was the irrever
ent anti-hero of the decade.
Cinema
Cross of Iron (1977)—This
tale of ambition, friendship and
death among a group of German
soldiers along the crumbling
Russian front received as much
criticism as praise, largely be
cause of its director. Sam Peck
inpah. It remains in my mind
his greatest work and the
underrated film of the decade.
The Goodbye Girl (1977)—
The only Neil Simon film that
ever reallv worked for me.
thanks for the most oart to
the academy award winning per
formance by Richard Dievfuss.
The Deer Hunter (1979)—
Despite the audience manipula
tion in the storv line and
direction, this film conveyed so
much emotion with such sincer
ity and power that its achieve
ment cannot be denied. De Niro
gave the performance of his
career, and Meryl Streep. Chris
topher Walken and John Savage
firmly established themselves
as the rising stars of the ’80s.
Nelson d. Ross: Artists ignore the pablum
For me the best rock n roll of
the 1970s combined intelligent
lyrics and strong melody, which
reflected the unique personal
vision of the artist. The musi
cians in my top 10 list ignored
the pablum and homogenization
of the marketplace to create
their particular art. These 10
albums, in order, had some
thing fresh to say and for me
captured the essence—the
magic and power of rock n roll.
1. After the Gold Rush. Neil
And the envelope, please
To take another look at music and film in the past
decade, we present The Red and Black End-of-the Decade
Critics’ Choice Awards. The albums and films selected, in
lists from Nelson d. Ross, Gary Evans, Mark Segura and
Bobby Byrd, are compilations of those critics’ favorites,
not necessarily the most flawless or popular. And the
awards are just, well...a lot of fun.
Young—Canadian-born Neil
Young blossomed in the 1970s
as perhaps the greatest song
writer in American rock n roll.
His amazing volume of work in
the decade is comparable in
both quality and quantity to
Bob Dylan's in the 1960s.
Gold Rush would be great even
without 'Southern Man.”
Sounds
2. Bom to Run. Bruce Spring
steen’s awesome lyrical and
musical rock n roll classic.
Springsteen is the embodiment
of American urban rock and the
bearer of the rock tradition.
3. Who’s Next, The Who—A
masterwork of British rock n roll
with the 1970s anthem. "Won’t
Get Fooled Again." Incidental
ly. Pete Townshend is a genius.
4. St. Dominic’s 'Preview, Van
Morrison—Intense, joyous, vis
ionary poetry and music from a
true original. “Jackie Wilson
Said" is as triumphant and
upbeat as music can be.
5. Court and Spark, Joni
Mitchell—An absolutely perfect
album so well conceived and
crafted that there seems to be
no time between the cuts. This
is Mitchell's tour de force.
6. John Prine—His first al
bum and his best. From "Illegal
Smile" to “Sam Stone" to
"Hello in There," Prine’s intui
tion and storytelling are haunt
ing and dead-on. Shamefully.
Prine has never been recognized
by the recqrd-buying public.
Someone should give him a
million dollars.
7. Tapestry, Carole King—a
beautiful, emotional album with
heart and soul. Music to cry to.
8. Exile On Main Street. The
Rolling Stones—A raucous,
rowdy celebration. Rock n roll
party music at its best by the
masters of it.
9. the Allman Brothers at
Fillmore East—This music leaps
out of the speakers because
Duane Allman simply cannot be
restrained. Strong stuff that
launched a genre but was never
even approximated by any other
Southern band.
10 My Aim Is True, Elvis
Costello—A refreshing, throw
back to the days of clean,
straight-ahead rock n roll form
the leader of the new wave.
Costello had the dubious dis
tinction in 1978 of having Linda
Ronstadt cover one of his songs.
Better luck in the 1980s.
The R&B Critics’ choice End-of-the-Decade Awards
Best Album of 1979
1. Squeezing Out Sparks—
Graham Parker.
2. Into The Music—Van Mor
rison.
3. The Juk es—Southside
Johnny and The Asbury Jukes.
Best Single of 1979
1. "I Don't Like Mondays"—
The Boonitown Rats
2. "Is She Really Going Out
With Him"—Joe Jackson.
3. “Long Live Rock"—The
Who.
Best Concert of 1979
1. Graham Parker at the
Agora.
2. Southside Johnny and The
Asbury Jukes at the Agora.
3. Van Morrison at the Capri.
Special Mention—The Who in
Landover. Maryland.
Best Film of 1979
1. Manhattan
2. Breaking \wa\
3. Kramer >». Kramer
Worst Album of 1979
1. Cornerstone—Styx
2. Get The Knack—The
Knack
3. Spirits Hating Flown—The
Bee Gees
4. In Through The Out
Door—Led Zeppelin
5. Slow Train Coming—Bob
Dylan
Worst Single of 1979
1. "Escape (The Pina Colada
Song)"—Rupert Holmes
2. We Are Family"—Sister
Sledge
3. "Coward of the County.
"You Decorated My Life" and
"The Gambler" (tic)—Kenny
Rogers
4. “Do Ya Think I'm Sexy"—
Rod Stewart
5. Ring Mv Bell"—Anita
Ward
Worst Anything
Kenny Rogers
Worst Concert of 1979
I. Atlanta Rhythm Section at
UGA
2. Bee Gees at the Omni
3. Pablo Cruise at UGA
Hero of the Year
1. Loni Anderson
2. Gordon Solie
3. J.K. Ramey
4. Phil Niekro
Villain of the Year
1. Fred Davison
2. Alex Cooley
3. Maynard Jackson
Drug of the Year
Crystal Mcthadrinc
Club of the Year
The Agora Ballroom
Worst Club of the Year
Alex Cooley’s Capri Ballroom
Fad of the Year
1. Mooschead Beer
2. Roller Disco
3. Colored Vinyl Records
Disappointment of the Vear
I. Fred Davison
2. Bob Dylan
The Look How Far We’ve Come
Award
1. The University Union
2. Fall 1972: Yes. The Beach
Boys. The Doobie Brothers. The
James Gang, and Loggins and
Messina
3. Fall 1979: Pablo Cruise and
ARS
Worst UGA Concert of the ’70s
1. Kennv Rogers
2. ARS
3. The Carpenters
Most Influential Artist of the
’70s
1. The Allman Brothers
2. Bruce Springsteen
3. Willie Nelson
Most Overrated Artist of the
’70s
1. Led Zeppelin and Pink
Floyd ttie)
2. Yes—Rick Wakeman
Most Underrated Artist of the
’70s
1. John Prine
2. Southside Johnny and The
Asbury Jukes
3. Graham Parker and The
Rumour
Most Likely To Survive The 80s
1. Bruce Springsteen
2. Willie Nelson
3. Dean Tate
Least Likely To Survive the ’80s
1. Disco
2. The Career of Herman
Talmadge
3. The Knack
Best Live Act of the ’70s
1. Bruce Springsteen
2. The Who
3. Southside Johnny and The
Asbury Jukes
Best Local Act of the '70s
1. Darryl Rhoades and the
Hahavishnu Orchestra
2. The (original) Cruis-O-Mat-
ic
3. The Incredible Throbs
4. Silverman—Deborah Mc-
Coll
Best Venue of the Decade
1. The (original) Great South
east Music Hall
2. The Last Resort
Fad of the Decade
1. Clackers
2. The Rockv Horror Picture
Show
3. Festival Seating
4. Fred Davison
Disappointment of the Decade
1. Paul McCartney
2. John Lennon's retirement
3. The New Student Center
4. Fred Davison
Unknown of the Decade
Tonio K.
WHAT'S UP. TIGER ULV?
TAKE THE MONEYED RUN
BANANAS
EVERYTHING M3UVE
si FFDFR
LOVE AND DEATH
ANNIE HALL
INTERIORS
is TO KNOW
Bruce Springsteen was the '70s best live act, Manhattan was the best
film of the decade and Kenny Rogers won four awards in the R&B
Critics' Poll
Why Doesn’t He Shut Up and
Go Away?
Kenny Rogers
The “I Wish I Hadn't Done
That’’ Award
Suzanne Somers
The ‘‘If the Union Won’t Do It,
Somebody Should" Award
The Georgia Theatre
holding The Cramps’ show in
the attic.
Belie\c In the Magic of Rock
and Roll
Jonnv Hibbert
Most Famous Graduate of the
Decade
Ort
Where Are You Now?
Robert Holland
The Unsung Hero Promoter
Award
Chapter Three Records, for
Most Damaging, Unnecessary
Addition to Athens Nightlife
The live bands at T.K.
Harty's