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...that was the Rolling Stones free concert at the now infamous speedway outside San Francisco in 1969. The rock 'n' roll generation-metaphorically at least, with the murder of a fan and the inability of the Stones to control their own hired security force (the Hell's Angels!)-had failed to realize and make credible its dreams of social altruism and communal utopia.
Altamont is a historical moment that, for many, presaged the arrival of a new decade of deceit, disillusionment and danger: the 1970s. Claims for fastidious historical accuracy aside, there appeared to be, if nothing else, a palpable tonal shift from the idealism of the previous decade to a more pronounced cynicism in the decade of Watergate, Nixon, those final atrocious U.S. foreign policy spasms in Vietnam and the deep freeze of the Cold War. Up here, in the North, we wrestled with the October Crisis, the War Measures Act and widespread Canadian regional tensions during the Energy Crisis. (Remember that uplifting Alberta bumper sticker?: "Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze In the Dark.") All this, and BTO, tool. Gimme Shelter indeed.
That was then. Or was it? These days the the 1970s are seemingly everywhere, conjured in contemporary pop culture as a slightly imbecilic, harmlessly indulgent, sartorially embarrassing shaggy dog decade that good taste forgot. Who cares about the absence of political and philosophical idealism? Just look at those haircuts! This version of the 1970s turns up like so much retro debris in disco revivals: wide-leg jeans walking the planet again; Quentin Tarantino movie soundtracks; rock band revival tours;...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
More articles from Take One
Expecting. (Reviews)., December 01, 2002
26th Montreal World Film Festival. (Festival Wraps)., December 01, 2002
Ottawa 02 International Animation Festival. (Vancouver)., December 01, 2002
Between strangers. (Reviews)., December 01, 2002
Yellowknife. (Reviews)., December 01, 2002
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