Glad you stopped by!  I don't know if you remember this stuff, but while I was writing these, more stuff kept coming up.  I will add some more pages later on.  If you visit the site and have a favorite song, movie, book, TV show, etc. send me you memory and I will included.

1966-1968 we saw the re-runs

This was one of my favorite shows in the early to mid 70s.  They showed at 10:30 or 11:00 every Saturday morning.  This was the closest thing we had to music videos.  In every episode they would perform a song while acting out.  Back then, I was not aware that we were watching nothing reruns from the 60's.  I thought all the shows were current.

1968

I went to the theater ( in Piedras Negras ) and saw every single "Planet of the Apes" movie that came out.  I thought they were great!  The apes looked so real. The TV show started in 1974.  I watched a few of the episodes but they weren't very good.

I guess the future would be ok if we had Apes running the planet as long as the human females all looked like the ones in the movie.  There were no fat, old, or ugly females.

Another controversial inter racial or inter species first time kiss in a movie.  Not from a love story.

The 70's were a very kinky decade.

1969 - Midnight Cowboy

OK, so this  movie is not from the 70s, but it was the first drama/adult theme movie that I remember seeing.  I saw it in 1971 and I liked the European style of the movie.  After I saw this movie on TV ( Late Night Move) I started watching more Italian and Spanish movies.  You know, the ones with few shootings, few car chases and few fight, but lots of dialogue. 

The movie is about a Texan who decides to go to New York City and become a Gigolo for rich women and ends servicing gay men.  Dustin Hoffman is a cripple who wants to get out of the big city and go to where the weather is warmer.  The ending is pretty sad. 

We would deliver bread early in the morning and at about 03:00 PM.  after that we would help clean the trays.  As soon as we got our dollar we would shower and head for the movie theaters.  There were 5 or 6 movie theaters in Piedras Negras so every night it was at a different theater.  There was no such animal as a Rated R movie in Mexico.

No I never learned to make bread.

1970 Love Story

The movie  was about Oliver and Jenny  who fall in love and get married despite his fathers opposition.  He is rich and she is poor ( every girls dream).  The most famous line in the movie comes at the end when Oliver's father tell him he is sorry that Jenny died.  Oliver answers, "Love means not ever having to say you're sorry."

The theme song for the movie was a great instrumental, but I know I have heard it with lyrics both in Spanish and English.

All in the Family

The number one television series from 1971 through 1976 that dealt with controversial subjects in realistic ways.   Eventually other shows followed that dealt with the same subjects: Chico & the Man, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times and Sanford & Son.

The series centered around the Bunker family who lived a home located at 704 Houser Street in Queens, New York. Archie Bunker was the main character.  He was television's most famous bigot.  He was crass and down right rude. Edith Bunker was his somewhat dizzy wife whom he called "Dingbat". Edith put up with Archie and had qualities about her that made her one of television's most unforgettable characters. Living with the Bunkers, was Archie and Edith's daughter, Gloria and her husband Mike, "Meathead" as Archie calls him.

The stories revolved around many controversial topics including rape, homosexuality, death, and other topics that were relevant to the 1970's, especially political strife and inflation. Archie Bunker use racist remarks when referring to blacks, homosexuals and Mexicans, but since he was shown as a buffoon, people accepted this.

While I was in Jr. High there were very few other kids who watched this program.  When were were in High School, everybody was watching it.

Don McLean 1971

"American Pie" is the song that paid tribute to the end of the 60's.  The song was about everything that had identified that decade and its coming to an end.  

Many people said that it was about Buddy Holly, but it was about him, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the attitudes that had made the 60s so fresh.

It was the end of the Free Love era and the beginning of the Free Sex era.

M.A.S.H.

The movie came out in 1970, but I didn't see it until about 1972 or 1973.  I went to see it at the Cinelandia theater in Piedras Negras.  I was talking to my wife about this and I realized that I had seen most of the movies in the 70's in Mexican theaters.    That was because it was 3.00 pesos (25 cents) to get into the theaters.   It was a lot cheaper to go in Piedras Negras to a theater than to go to one in Eagle Pass.

The TV show began to air in 1972 and ended in 1983.  By the time the show ended I was married and had a son.

The show would air on Sunday nights right after "60 Minutes" and before "One Day at a Time".  I use to come back from Piedras Negras at about 05:00 PM, start on my homework and finish it during "60 Minutes".  By the time "M.A.S.H". started I was already snacking.  Most of the time I was the only one at home Sunday evenings.

The Electric Company 1971-1977

This was a kiddy show that I spent a lot of time seeing as a teen ager.  During the summer, when I was at home all day, the only thing on TV were Soap Operas and game shows.  I hated both, so I started watching PBS.  The Electric Company was filmed in the MTV style of 30 seconds to 3 minutes of content per scene.  The graphics were very cool and it seemed every song was accompanied by a very cool acoustic guitar.

This web page was brought to you by.......

 the letter "A"

1973

Oh yeah, American Bandstand.  Even though this show had been on TV for about 20 years already, this is about the time I started to watch it regularly.  Saturday 11:30 AM, the house had to be clean and the yard work done or Mom wouldn't let us sit down to watch American Bandstand.

When in Piedras Negras, my cousins would come over to my Tia Julia's house to watch the new American dance fads and to see the new hit makers perform their newest songs.  

1973

Bruce Lee was the big action hero.  When they showed his movies the theaters were full of boys who would come out kicking and throwing Karate chops all over the place.  I was never big into these movies but my cousins were, so I went with them to see Bruce Lee kick his way through every movie.

We saw this movie also at the Cinelandia.  It wasn't that good, but the music was good.  I don't remember what the plot was.  I think it had to do with the last week of Jesus Christ's life on earth as a man.  I do remember the Roman soldiers running around with chrome helmets.

1973

My sister, Dora, bought this album and every time I heard it, it made me long for going back to Colorado, at least for the summer.  I sure missed the cool weather in Greeley, Colorado.  Summers in Eagle Pass consisted of 100 degree days and 80 degree nights.  John Denver sang about the cool breeze and clear mountain streams in the Rocky Mountains.....what a bummer.  For a while I even drank Coors beer...it was a very short while.

1973 Harmony

This has to be my all time favorite album.  "Yellow brick road" had some great songs.  "Benny and the Jets", "Saturday Night's all right for Fighting", "Candle in the wind", etc., but my favorite one was "Harmony".  It was on the flip side of "Benny and the Jets". 

"Harmony" reminds me of when we would sit at the corner of Galean and Talamantez in Piedras Negras and just chill.  "Benny and the Jets" reminds me of the times The Ramons and the Vazquez were in Eagle Pass.  We use to walk from our house in Eagle Pass to "El Popo" in Piedras Negras ( about 5 miles) to eat snow cones.  They were huge, served with bananas, tamarindo, and lime.  They were worth the walk.

"Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting" reminds me of the Saturday nights we would go to the "Oscar" with Mona, Cruz, Maike, Rafa and my other cousins on cold winter night.  We would sit there and drink chocolate or coffee for hours.  The restaurant was round and had a single column about 5 feet in the middle.  The column was hollow and the restroom was located in the column.  When you went in there and flushed the toilet, everyone heard it.  You had to time the flush with the juke box so that the music would drown out the flushing noise.

1973

Ooooh, This movie was scary!  Maike, Juan, Rafa and I went to see it at the Cinelandia.  The late showing so it would really be scary, IT WAS!  I think we smoked every cigarette we had before the movie was over.

Walking home (about 2 miles) took us about 20 minutes.  No one ran cause we weren't scared, but we sure walked fast!

When I was at UTEP, we spent a whole night up talking about this movie.  Every one was telling stories about how they had seen the devil or someone they knew had seen the devil.  

OK, I have never seen the devil, just his cousin.

1974

After my sister, Maria Elena, married Juan Mauricio, we went to every Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson movie.  Juan was really big into the shoot'em up movies.  We would walk to the theater and after the movie we would stop at the "Cafe Zocalo" and eat dinner. Juan would order 12 tacos and a Stake Ranchero just for him.  Maike and I would split a 12 taco order.

One day we were helping Juan paint their house and he had cut the electricity since we had removed the covers on the electrical outlets.  When we quit painting he lit a fire in a metal bucket to warm the house.  It was in the winter and the house was super cold.  We were drinking rum and coke while we told stories.  Well, I had a pocket full of bullets and started to use a pair of pliers to take the lead of the casing.  I was dumping the powder into the fire for entertainment and when I had done that to all the bullets I figured I could throw the casing in the fire.  I forgot about the primers!  You should have seen us running when they started to go off.  It sounded like a war zone!!!

Oh, that was funny.

1969-1974 in UK

In mid 70's They started to show Monty Python's Flying Circus on PBS.  It was the first TV show that I remember that had pictures of naked women.  The show was real funny, but you had to watch it for some time before you could understand the actor because of their British accent or the lack of one on our part.  

I never knew anyone else in my high school that watch the show.  In fact, I never knew any one who watched it until I went to college.  Now my two sons love the re-runs and the Monty Python  movies.  My wife hates the show and says she can never understand the jokes.

My favorite skid is the one on learning how to defend your self incase you attacked with a banana.

1974-

Tony Orlando and Dawn was a good comedy show.  I still like their music.  It use to show on Wednesday nights and since it was a school night, I use to watch it while doing my homework.

Some times I would run down to "El Indio" store to buy a bag of Doritos and munch on them while watching the show.

At Seventeen - from "Between the Lines" Album

It was 07:15 AM in 1975 when I first saw Janis Ians perform "At Seventeen".  I was waiting for my neighbor to give me a ride to school and was watching the "Good Morning America" show.  She was not a beautiful woman but she had a beautiful voice and played the guitar beautifully.  She was wearing a denim hat and a denim skirt.  She talked about her other hit song, "Society's Child", and about hoping "At Seventeen" would be a hit.

"It was long ago and far away.  The world was younger than today..."

1976 

Detroit City and Beth

Their album "Destroyer" was the first Kiss album that I really liked.  "Beth" got a lot of air play on the AM radio station which was what we listen to most of the time.  We had only one FM station in Eagle Pass and it played mostly classical music. 

I remember seeing Kiss on "In Concert" or "Midnight Special" show.  That was the coolest rock band I had ever seen.  Their concerts were real shows.  By the eighties their following was made up of mostly very young kids and their parents.  They had become cartoon characters.

1976

Frampton Comes Alive!  This is a great album.  Carlos Ramon came to Eagle Pass close to end of the summer and brought it with him.  

In 1977 while at El Paso, I got to go see him in concert.  After that he just kind of vanished.

Once summer came, I use to watch less TV because there was always some where to go at night.  Most of my time was spent in Piedras Negras and you could always find out where the weddings and quinceañeras were going to be at on the weekend.  During the week you had to make do with crashing the smaller parties.

Once in a while we got chased by the police, but it was never for any serious deal.  Most of the time it was for being out to late at night or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it.

By the mid 70's were were real teenagers.  I had no curfew and stayed out very late during the summer and on weekends.  OK, on weekends I would leave home on Friday and come home on Sunday and during the summer I spent about 80% of the time away from home, but I was a good boy.  

September 22, 1976- June 24, 1981

CHARLIE'S ANGELS

They worked for Charles Townsend Detective Agency. Charlie, their anonymous boss, gave them assignments over a speaker phone. The show was based on guns, big hair, tight clothing,lots of make-up and no bras. The trio consisted of Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson) the "smart angel," Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett-Majors)  the "athletic angel," and "street wise" Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith). The Angels supervisor was, John Bosley, played by David Doyle. Charlie's Angels was a huge success the moment it hit the airwaves in 1976. The Angels found themselves not only on gum cards, doll boxes, puzzles and posters, but they also found themselves on the cover of Time magazine.  Farrah Fawcett (then: Majors) took off like a rocket with her famous "swimsuit" poster, which sold millions of copies!  That was some poster!!!

Camilo Sesto 1977

Man, could this guy sing.  I never bought any of his records.  I would just record them off from Rojelio's.  

"Fresa salvaje con cuerpo de mujer.." brings back memories of sitting at the corner talking to everyone that walked by.  There were no strangers.  Everyone was a friend of a friend or a cousin or a cousin.

"Jamas" was one of those song you hoped to experience at least once in your life.  

 1978 Juan Gabriel

My cousins from Juarez, Mexico, would always tell the story of how their mother knew Juan Gabriel when he was a little boy and how he use to sing on the city buses for change.  That he was very poor and singing was how he earned money to eat.  I don't know if that is true, but it made for a good story.

Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night was a super band from the 70's.  There are a many of their songs that I like, but "Pieces of April" is my favorite.  It's is an incredible song.

Rojelio had a cassette tape that José had given him.  It was  "Seven Separate Fools" and had "Black and White", "Pieces Of April", "Chained", I use to listen to it as I laid in my bunk bed in the cellar.  I had moved there because my loud music was causing to many headaches for everyone else at home.  I would leave the door open at night and could see the sky with all its star.  When the Space Station would fly by you could actually see it.  A very small light moving across the sky.

1976

"The First Cut is the Deepest" has to be the best song in this most excellent album.  "Tonight's the Night" was a teenager's dream.

  If only he would not prance around like a girl.  It's hard to admit you like Rod Steward's songs when he walks around like such a girly.

In 1978 he had "Do You Think I am Sexy" and I think I quit listening to him for about 5 years!  That song sucked.

Elton John

Check out the Shoes.  Everyone was three inches taller in the 70's.  There were guys at school who had their pants tailored so that the bell bottom covered the platform shoes.

When I met my wife she was 5' 5".

1975-1979

Starsky & Hutch

Starsky's souped-up 1974 Ford Torino was the real star of the show.  The two detectives where OK.  My brother was really into their show.

I remember David Soul had a hit song in the 70's, but I can't remember the name of it.

The Village People

Oh, Oh...It's the Village People.  I don't think they were ever as big in the 70's as people try to make them.  They became more popular when the older people got into disco dancing in the 80's.

"Macho, Macho, Macho, man.  I want to be a macho man..."

Now everyone know how to sing "Y.M.C.A."  People are still trying to learn how to dance it.

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1976-1979 Lynda Carter

I don't think I ever paid attention to what the plots on her show were about.  It was one of those shows you watched while she was in her costume and then changed channels when she wore her military uniform.

She use to do the eye commercials.  Now that is where I remember her from.