Awesome 1970’s

Yusuf / Cat Stevens teamed up with director Chris Hopewell and Black Dog Films to create an animated music video for his classic Where do the Children Play?, an ecological anthem which is as relevant today as ever. The revamped track will be featured on Tea for the Tillerman², which celebrates his acclaimed 1970 album.

Musician Doctor Mix once again proves he’s a synthesizer god, with an awesome cover version of Earth, Wind & Fire’s 1979 classic ballad After the Love Has Gone, played entirely on electronic instruments. With a heaping helping of vocoder, it sounds like a bonus track off of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.

Back in the 1970s, Pong was all the rage. But for those who didn’t have a spare TV to play the game on, there were handheld knock-offs like Blip. YouTube channel Tech Tangents takes a look at this unusual piece of gaming history, and shows off its clever mechanical innards.

Musicians Luna Lee and Han Oh teamed up to record an excellent cover version of the Stealers Wheel classic Stuck in the Middle, melding traditional asian sounds with ’70s folk rock. Of course, we can never hear this song without thinking of Reservoir Dogs.

Need your classic rock fix for the day? Well, you’re in luck. While sitting home with their tour on pause, the members of Blue Öyster Cult got together in their own home studios to record a performance of their 1977 classic about everyone’s favorite building-stomping Kaiju. Oh, no, there goes Tokyo!

(PG-13: Language) Westworld just returned for its third season, and is off to a typically cryptic start. But 43 years before HBO’s hit sci-fi drama appeared, there was a movie version of Michael Crichton’s dystopian story. While it was pretty creepy in its day, and had some promising ideas, Mr. Sunday Movies is here to laugh at its many flaws.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the The Ides of March track Vehicle, Russian band Leonid & Friends proves once again that they can rock out the big sounds of 1970s funk rock with a fantastic performance, packed with thick horns, a crisp rhythm section, and Leonid passionately belting out the lead vocals.

As one commenter on YouTube put it, The Floppotron is “the most consistently good performer I’ve ever heard.” We suppose there’s something to be said for a band that’s controlled by computer. So sit back and enjoy their pristine electro-noise version of the ABBA classic Mamma Mia.

This awesome clip from The Hood Internet rewinds time 40 years to one of the most notable moments in the history of music, combining 50 of the biggest songs of 1979 into one monster mashup. The year was was one of transition, as disco’s glimmer started to fade, giving way to new wave, punk, rap, and a rock resurgence.

There are few things more satisfying than watching old, rusted out objects made good as new by talented restoration artists. In this clip from Odd Tinkering, he takes a 1970’s era Tonka toy dump truck, and gives the yellow plaything a fresh new lease on life. Scrubbing off the old paint looks like a particularly satisfying task.

If you grew up in the ’70s or ’80s, there’s not much more iconic than the box art from classic Atari games. Authors Robert V. Conte and Tim Lapetino explore the history of videogaming’s great forefather, and the artists and creative process behind these now classic works.

From its wild popularity in the 1970s to its appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Electric Light Orchestra’s joyfully symphonic classic Mr. Blue Sky is an indelible part of our cultural history. Polyphonic dives into Jeff Lynne’s inspiration for the track, and how it fits into the bigger picture of Out of the Blue.

An amazing recording of the greatest rock vocalist of all time, captured back in 1986 as part of the 96-track Time. With the help of musician and producer Dave Clark, we now get to hear a stripped-down and cleaned up version, backed only by piano, along with HD footage of Mercury which will send chills down your spine.

Musician Clemens Wenners‘ YouTube channel is loaded up with impressive cover versions of tracks from the 1970s and 1980s, accompanied by perfectly selected analog synthesizers and other period-accurate instruments. Tracks include The Bee Gees Nights on Broadway, The Cars’ Drive, and Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight.

The original Bulova Computron LED watch was released in the 70’s and has since become a collector’s item. Bulova is re-releasing the model this fall 2019 with a couple of upgrades, such as a dual-time feature. It will come in gold, silver, or black.

The guys at MetaFilter dug up this little gem that dates way back to 1976. At the close of the first season of The Muppet Show, the crew of series performed the opening song and a few skits without the Muppets or their voice actors. We had no idea the show was shot in England.

The consistently awesome musician Jonathan Coulton presents a new album loaded with some of the greatest adult contemporary and yacht rock of the 1970s, re-recorded just as they were meant to be played. The CD and vinyl editions have some awesome art.

Love the music of Queen? Then tune in for the next 43 minutes and enjoy this epic compilation from the official Queen YouTube channel including 11 incredible live performances from their heyday, including Killer Queen, Somebody to Love, and Don’t Stop Me Now.

After coming across his dad’s old 8mm film camera, Paul Howard Allen decided to see if he could shoot an episode using the antiquated photo gear and a cassette recorder. He was able to pull it off, but it’s clear that today’s tech is superior in every possible way.

FozzTexx offers a flashback to what life was like for computer users in the late 1970s. Check out the sleek styling and cutting edge monochrome screen on that TRS-80 Model II, complete with 8″ floppy drive and acoustic coupler! They left out the modem squeal, so here you go.

“All day long, wearing a mask of false bravado…” The eclectic Sydney, Australia band Ocean Alley dusts off a 1970s classic – Player’s 1977 hit Baby Come Back, making us feel all warm and fuzzy inside thanks in no small part to Baden Donegal’s soulful lead vocals.

We can say with certainty that we’ve never heard Blue Öyster Cult’s (Don’t Fear) The Reaper like this before. But we’re impressed with the surf rock treatment that musician Bruce Lindquist gave to the 1976 smash prog rock hit, even if it could use more cowbell.

Outfitter Iron and Resin teamed up with 4×4 restorers New Legend to bring this classic 1972 International Scout II back to life, loading it up with a modern GM LS 5.3L engine, a leather and waxed canvas interior, modern roof racks, a swing-out motorcycle mount, and more.