Ah the 1970s: that in-between-time which spanned the earthy-idealism and radical upheavals of the 1960s with the slick techno-consumerist-complacency of the 1980s. Having spent most of the decade as an unfertilzed egg I can’t really offer any first-hand account, but I think we can agree that this at least holds true in the popular imagination. Media critics often use the term ‘incoherent’ to describe the texts that come from this time period, meaning that there is often very faulty logic revealed when the binary signifiers within the texts are mapped out and correlated. The 70s saw the ascension of Asian technology, New Hollywood, and Rock-Music-As-Industry. Rock-into-punk, soul-into-disco, and transistors into everything.
People tell me that I am obsessed with the 1970s. Now, I am not consciously aware of any particular bias that I have towards this time period (or its cultural products), but ain’t it true that we often see ourselves very differently than others see us. Psychologists call this The Problem Of The Differential Fit. NEways… Here’s some photos of 1970’s recording-studio-dreamlands to get ya started. Man could you imagine going to work in one of these crazy, lurid dream-factories everyday? Amazing. The lights, colors, the mirrors, the supergraphics… Much more to come so stay tuned. (btw – photo attributions refer only to the image directly above the text – the other images, i have no idea).
Above: unknown studio circa 1970