mellicious | 1976 - in trutina mentis dubia (a classical interlude, more or less) (Reply)

In the late 70s I was heavily into classical music, and '76 was the year that Barbara Streisand released a classical album, so I figured this was a way to slide in a little example of classical music and still be semi-current with what was going on that year. This was also the year that her remake of A Star Is Born came out, so it was a big year for her. (I saw it; it didn't seem totally terrible to me at the time, although I think I had seen the '50s remake and so knew it wasn't as good as that one. But in any case, however the movie itself was received, the music from it was a big hit that year.)

Here's a translation (I have no idea how accurate this is, it came from here:

"In the wavering balance of my feelings

Set against each other

Lascivious love and modesty

But I choose what I see

And submit my neck to the yoke;

I yield to the sweet yoke."

I never sang that song but I always thought it was really pretty - it might well have been deliberately left off the official list of appropriate music for high school singers, now that I think about it (there was one, for Solo and Ensemble contest) since I assume "the sweet yoke" is a veiled sexual reference. Anyway, it's from Carmina Burana, which hardly anybody - including me, frankly - knows much about after that one bit of it that you hear all the time. (I think that's "O Fortuna," right?)

Let's talk about the Bicentennial. 1976 was a year of American-everything - we sang almost exclusively American songs in choir, even. It was one big, mostly really boringly-presented and probably inaccurate history lesson that lasted for a whole year. It did leave a lasting impression on some things, though - like quilting more or less became popular again because of it. Schoolhouse Rock even did special Bicentennial segments. There was sort of a fad for things like the tall ships and of course there was a ton of merchandise. I remember somebody saying at the time "the big bore is almost over" and that's about how most people felt about it after it had been going on for a while.

In the non-classical music world, it was the year of "Bohemian Rhapsody" - which I loved the minute I heard it - and "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and I think disco was starting to be a fad by then, too, although it didn't hit its peak until later. I see "Convoy" on the top 100 list so I guess it was the year of the CB radio fad, too - one of the more inexplicable fads that I remember. There were a bunch of faddish songs that year too, like "Afternoon Delight" and I think "Squeeze Box" could sort of be considered one too, since it doesn't sound like anything else the Who did. "Welcome Back Kotter" was a huge thing, too. We were up to maybe 5 TV stations by then - in Houston it was 2, 11, 13 (which were the networks) and then 26 and 39, which were mostly reruns, so there still wasn't a lot of choice about what you watched on TV.