Is it really the Seventies again?

"maybe Doctor Who put me in the Tardis and, voila, its back to the Seventies....to take out a second mortgage on your house to buy a ticket to see your old faves"

Since being back in the UK I have been experiencing feelings of deja vu. Naturally, deja vu can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what it is. Well in this case I feel that I have been transported back to the late Seventies. The funny thing is I don't remember being teleported back approximately 28 years. Maybe Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise did it while I was sleeping, or maybe Doctor Who put me in the Tardis and, voila, its back to the Seventies. Strange thing is I didn't need my passport!

Despite my youthful age(?) I do remember a fair bit of the Seventies as I was still at school and going through the growing pains of being a teenager. I recall quite clearly that I was a music and sports fan as were all of my fellow friends and schoolmates. In fact I still am. I do recall being a hotshot at table tennis but sadly not any more.

Anyway, getting back to this feeling of deja vu. Some of you may recall that in the late Seventies Labour were in Government and the Prime Minister at the time, Jim Callaghan, contemplated calling an autumn election only to decide against it. When he called the election in the following spring he was comprehensively beaten by the Iron Maiden (Mrs T!).

Fast forward to now and the new PM, Gordon Brown, also contemplated going to the polls but decided against it when the Conservative opposition started to poll well in the opinion polls. Will history repeat itself for Mr Brown? As Cyndi Lauper sang only 'time will tell'.

From a musical point of view progressive rock is making a comeback as groups like Muse and Mostly Autumn bring back the memory of Seventies super groups like Yes, Genesis (the early version before Phil Collins lost his hair), ELP and Pink Floyd. For the uninitiated 'prog rock' consists of long keyboard and guitar solos, songs lasting 15 minutes and lyrics generally with a sci fi or fantasy type theme. Just to inform all that Kylie Minogue and Madonna are definitely not prog rock!

On the touring scene groups like Kiss, Police, Status Quo, Jam, Stranglers and many more (including Cliff Richard - real age 124) are still playing concerts. Whereas the tickets in the old days were a few pounds now you need to take out a second mortgage on your house to buy a ticket to see your old faves!!

Fashion certainly has gone back to the Seventies. If you look in any clothing store, or view a catalogue, you will see this is the case. Flared jeans, platform boots, black leggings, multi coloured dresses, hot pants, smock coats and large hooped earrings are just some of the recycled fashions. I do believe I have seen some huge shoulder pads on view as well! Men are now sporting longer hair ala James Blunt. Also the beard seems to be making a comeback just as it did in the Seventies. Thankfully, I have resisted the urge to make my chin disappear under a face of hair!

If you are watching television here in the UK you will most likely see shows like Fawlty Towers (an all time classic), M.A.S.H., Last of the Summer Wine, Miss Marple and so on. Some of the presenters are still on prime time television. Bruce Forsyth and Des O'Connor are still plying their trade on prime time shows! Similarly, Terry Wogan and Tony Blackburn are still broadcasting on the radio for all to hear!

So will my feelings of deja vu continue? I don't think so. I am sure I will be transported back to 2007 any day now. Even if Captain Kirk or Doctor Who cannot help me I am sure that someone will (pretty please!). In the meantime I'll get out a CD (oops, I mean vinyl) and listen to the sounds of the Seventies on my cd player (erm, i mean record player)!

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