1970 and a January 1st Rock Ranch Report

Share what you know about the year you were born.

1970 = let’s brainstorm what I know (ha) about that year. The following are the unreliable memories of a 5 year old (I’m assuming any memories I have from 0 to 4.9 years old are non-existent):

The United States was still embroiled in Vietnam. And they were trying to get out without political fallout. Yeah, that sure as schitt didn’t happen. Those images were probably on the television whenever my dad watched the news.

I remember grabbing a shovel and attempting to dig up a neighbours sewage line. My mum caught me and marched me home. I was probably crying as I had left the safety of the lot at 24th Avenue in Crescent Beach, BC.

The only music I knew was Country & Western music. Classical? Rock and Roll? Nope. My dad wouldn’t allow it into the house (which is a sad because my mum loved Harry Belafonte [I peeked online to see what HB was doing in 1970. He was a dashing young man who did a 1969 television special with Julie Andrews on NBC; “his discography included… calypso, blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards”]… a proud Jamaican-American]). Fear not mum: My music collection contains a whole bunch of music inspired by this artist! My dad’s bigotry died with him (and I’m working on whatever poison I unwittingly absorbed by his influence). Do I hate all Country & Western music? Of course not! Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins have selections that I enjoy. Oh dear old (dead) dad: he misunderstood what Mister Cash was singing on about. And the 2015 release Live At Fulsom Prison? Nope. He wouldn’t have cared for it at all. That makes me smile (and I have that album). Nice!

I went on a tangent. Yes! 1970. I vaguely remember Pierre Elliot Trudeau in power. My dad relished pointing out the “Trudeau salute”. Hell, my family might have repeatedly voted for the Federal Liberal party in Canada. I remember there wasn’t much subilty in my home with respect to politics.

I remember being at different grade 6 and 7 classrooms in White Rock Elementary school. My dad would have his classroom and I would be minded by him and occasionally by his students (the big kids, as I remember). Those were the times when my dad was at his best with me. He became the teacher and I was able to see him as a role model.

As an adult, I understand 1970-1975 as the following era:

There was a metric fuckton of good music coming out. The Beatles were winding down. I remember my mum had both the red and blue albums on audio tape. I found the early stuff engaging and the blue-album music weird and unsettling.
The United States had been to the Moon. It was a common occurrence. Now Skylab… that was a strange exercise. I remember it being portrayed as a pile of potential space junk that could deorbit and trash a city!
Nobody talked about the U.S.S.R. In my house, they were the evil empire.
The United States was an economic juggernaut. The civil rights clashes were never discussed in my home growing up.

Instead of using Wikipedia, here is a timeline published by Encyclopedia Britannica:

January 22nd. Boeing introduced the 747 jumbo jet.
April 10th. Paul McCartney bailed out of the Beatles.
April 22nd. United States claims it Earth Day?!
June 21st. Brazil wins its 3rd World Cup victory, defeating Italy 4-1.

Source: Tikkanen, A. (2023, June 30). Timeline of the 1970s. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/timeline-of-the-1970s

That’s it?! Oh for f**k’s sake… here’s what Wikipedia had to say about the year:

Nigerian Civil War ends.
Japan launched its first satellite, the Ohsumi.
The republic of Guyana forms.
Rhodesia declares itself a republic.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, ratified by 56 nations.
New English Bible, published in the UK.
West and East Germany meet at a summit since its partitioning post WW2.
NASA’s Explorer 1 de-orbits after 12 years in orbit.
Japanese Red Army. Ugly business.
Did they really find the remains of THOSE monsters? And then crushed and scattered those Nazi remains in an East German river? Fcuk, I hope so.
Apollo 13 nearly ended with an oxygen fire in space.
China launched its first satellite, the Dong Fan Hong 1.
Ohio became infamous with the Kent State University massacre (when I traveled through the state, the vibe is STILL there).
More death and violent demonstrations in Jackson, Mississippi.
Holy shit, 109 people were killed when a plane crashed near Toronto International Airport.
Jimi Hendrix died at 27 of an overdose.
October 5 and the FLQ crisis. And by October 16th, my country enacted the War Measures Act. By December 3rd, 5 Canadian terrorists got safe passage to Cuba.
Japan has a militia leader commit public ritual suicide, after an attempted coup d’etat.
And oh fuck… the following were born the same year as me: Queen Latifah(!), Trevor Linden, Naomi Klein, Melania Trump(?!), Andre Agassi, Uma Thurman(!), Beck, Kevin Smith, Nick Offerman(?!), Ani DiFranco(?!), River Phoenix(?!), Claudia Schiffer(!) and, Matt Damon(!),

Source: Wikipedia contributors. (2024, December 21). 1970. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:15, January 1, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1970&oldid=1264234983