The Best of OMG The 70’s

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey y'all, and welcome. Welcome back to something just a
little bit special. You know us, Krista with a Kay
and Greg, and together we've taken you on an incredible
ride through over one hundred different podcasts. We've explored cities,
shared tips, laughed about life, dug into history, talk, travel, food, sports,

(00:22):
and everything in between. Each show has its own personality,
its own rhythm, and its own community of listeners who've
been right there with us for the entire journey. But
now it's time to shine a spotlight on the very
best of the best. Over the next stretch, we're going
back through our episodes to pick out the ones that

(00:44):
truly stood out, the one that made us laugh the hardest,
taught us something new, inspired us, or just captured that
spark that makes podcasting so much fun. We've poured a
lot of ourselves into these shows, and we're excited to
bring you the highlights that we're the most proud of.
So whether you've been with us since episode one or

(01:07):
just found your way here today, you're in for a
special treat. This is our chance to celebrate everything that
we've built together one episode at a time. This is
the best of a collection of moments, stories and conversations
that remind us why we love doing this sit back

(01:27):
press play unless relive the magic. Hey everybody, and welcome
to the seventies. We're going back in time to like
one of the most fun, strange, rebellious times of American history.
I think, I really do. I think it's amazing. I
wish that I had a song that I could play

(01:47):
for the intro that was just a great seventies song.
But if I do that, then the powers that be
at Spotify or Serious or Pandora whatever that will yank
it down on me mediately because of you know, contract
rights and all that kind of stuff. You know, I
just want like thirty seconds of a song. I've done
it before and yanked. I mean, it's absolutely insane, and

(02:11):
now I'm not going to pay that much money for
thirty seconds of your song. I'm sorry, even though it
might be one of my favorite songs, not going to
go that way. I'm sorry. Oh maybe if I had
millions and millions and millions of dollars, which I do
not have. That's why I'm doing these wonderful podcasts. Actually,
I enjoyed doing these, and I hope that you guys
enjoy listen to a little bit. So we're doing seventies.

(02:33):
Oh actually, O m G. The seventies. Oh my god,
who the seventies? What a time? Man? So last time
we were just going down right. We hit, we hit
the disc, we hit hit the Jackson five, we hit
all the hair and the glitter and the platform shoes

(02:53):
and the polyester sweat and smell that that led to
the jewelry and the big chains and oh man, what
a time. I used to love the disco thing. But
you know, I was like kind of split. I mean,
I was just developing. I was a young teenager twelve, thirteen,
fourteen when all this was going on, and actually born

(03:17):
in sixty six, so I was kind of getting the
tail end of a lot of it. But I was
just developing my music taste, all right. I mean, when
do you really know? I mean, my daughter, my thirteen
year old's all over the place. You know, one day
it's some kind of like a gangster rap, and the
next day it's it's some kind of like awesome country
song that you never thought she listened to. The Next

(03:39):
time she wants, you know, she wants to go to
a Kenny Chesney song and then she's telling us we
listen to cheesy country music, and now she's into the weekend,
and I know what the weekend is. I thought that
was a time. Evidently it's a dude and he seems
to be talented, but the first few times I heard
him sing, I thought it was a woman singing. I
was like, who's this chick singing? I got scolded. I

(04:00):
got really scolded, and I had to buy two what
do you call it posters to hang up on the
wall because I, you know, I disrespected the weekend. I said,
you know, go back and listen to lover Boy right
in the eighties working for the weekend. That that was
a good song right there. So anyway, the icons and

(04:22):
the anthems, we're gonna leave the disco behind because that
wasn't the only sound that was shaping the soundtrack of
the seventies. I mean, it just wasn't, and not by
a long shot. While some were busy bogging down and
I was, I was bugging down in private, but I
just couldn't dance in public. I'm still not very good
at it. My wife calls me the best worst dancer

(04:47):
in the world, and I take that as a compliment
because when I'm out there, I'm having a good time.
I mean, I might knock some people down by accident,
but that just goes with it. Just clear the dance floor.
Here it comes so while, you know, so while we
were bugging down in just like the haze of glitter

(05:07):
and sweat. Right, the polyester, you know, I mentioned that,
Oh my gosh, the polla. It makes me just like
itch and feel burning sensations and smells just for thinking
about it. I don't even think polyester has come very
far since then either. Maybe a little bit to make
something stretchy, I don't know. So another revolution was brewing,

(05:31):
and this one had a lot more stained power with me, right,
and it was louder, more rebellious. It was the rock
and roll revolution. You know what I'm talking about, brother,
You know what I'm talking about, and what a revolution
it was. It wasn't just about the music. It was
about attitude or rebellion and a healthy dose of long hair.

(05:55):
Now I never could grow long hair matter. I don't
have any hair right now. I look like stone Steve Austin.
By the way, if you if you're into wrestling, if
you're in a wrestling I mean we could be twins anyway.
I get I've signed autographs and stuff on his behalf.
I don't think that's legal. I didn't get paid for anything.

(06:15):
So think about it. The seventies were a time of upheaval,
social change, and a growing sense of disillusion in rock
and roll. Became the perfect soundtrack for all that angst.
That's a good word, angst. So I always think of
the Forrest Gump right when he got back from Vietnam

(06:37):
and it was this whole other country, just all the protests,
and I think of the soundtrack of Forrest Gump because
I think, to me, that kind of defines that era.
That's kind of what I remember. I remember that music,
you know, Don't Fear the Reaper. There's some really good
music that I still listen to. And my son, who's eighteen,

(06:59):
totally raised a lot of those songs and types of music,
and I think that's his play list is better than mine,
and it's more people my age that would enjoy it.
So it's kind of cool. I mean, kids are cool
most of the time, So think about it. So it's
funny how you remember certain moments with such just like

(07:23):
crystal clarity, like the time that I saw led Zeppelin
at Madison Square Garden. I didn't really see him, but
I'm doing this and like, what is that second person?
But that I'm setting a stage here. The air thrumned,
not drummed, but thrumned with a raw electric energy. It

(07:47):
wasn't just the music, though that was phenomenal plants, just
soaring vocals, pages of the worldly guitar riffs. No One
was the collective experience. Forty thousand people united by a
shared love of this incredibly powerful music. I still remember

(08:09):
the sheer volume, the way the sound physically vibrated in
your chest cavity. It was almost primal, and we were
all part of something bigger than ourselves. Doesn't that sound
like the seventies and all the things that were going
on in the seventies, And slightly death for a week afterwards,
but worth it, absolute worth it. And then there was

(08:33):
the Rolling Stones. I went to a Rolling Stones concert.
This was in the eighties, maybe the late eighties. It
was the Steel Wheels Tour and I went in Death
Valley Clemson Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. And I'm
not a big concert guy. There was a lot of
people there because that's a big place, holds eighty five
thousand people. It was amazing. I got thrown out. I

(08:56):
actually got thrown out of that concert because I broke
up a fight. While they threw me out, I don't know.
I mean, I was actually helping the security guards because
they were overwhelmed and looking like stone cold Steve Austin.
I just came in off the top rope, stunned a
couple of people, and I was going to go back
on my merry Way, but no highway patrolman caught me

(09:17):
from the rear, and first he tried to tell me
I was going to jail, and I said, no, you know,
I don't think that's going to happen today. And he
said why. I said, well, mainly because my father's the
judge of the city and he has been for twenty years,
and going to jail is not an option. But I'll
leave if you want me to. So he took me

(09:38):
to the gate and I went on my Mary Way.
I think I found Tigertown Tavern and it was still
standing in good shape and it's still there. So anyway,
that's a personal story. You don't have to repeat that.
You don't even have to like it. But I felt good.
I got to share something. So the Stones were already
legends by the seventies, but they somehow managed to reinvent themselves,

(10:01):
remaining eternally cool I mean, and eternally rebellious. And they
still are I think, I mean they're getting up there
though man in age. They were the soundtrack of the counterculture,
the anti established feeling that permeated the decade. Their concerts
were legendary just don't get thrown out, A potent mix

(10:23):
of swagger, charisma, an incredible musicianship. Do you just describe
me mineus the musicianship. That's a joke too. You felt
a raw, just visceral energy in their performance, a sense
of danger, of recklessness. It was oddly comforting, and it

(10:46):
really was. It was a feeling of belonging to something
raw and real and, like we said earlier, bigger than yourself.
I remember one particular concert I think it was around
seventy five, Yes, I was nine years old, and where
Jack actually jumped into the crowd created an absolute pandemonium.
People were screaming, security guards were scrambling, and the jagger

(11:10):
just grinned, stuck his tongue out that mischievous grin of
his soaking it all in pure rock and roll, total anarchy,
and it was fantastic. I wish i'd been there. But
the seventies weren't just about the establishment Titans. Are the
established titan Titans of rock. This was a decade of

(11:31):
incredible creativity and innovation. Think about the rise of rock. Okay,
bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Loved Me Some Genesis. Yes,
they weren't just playing music. They were creating sonic ah man,
I don't know what the word is, but they were

(11:51):
complex and ambitious works that just challenged listeners to engage
to a more it's just a deeper and more intellectual level.
The albums weren't just something you listened to casually. They
were experiences, often requiring your full attention to concentration. Pink

(12:13):
Floyd Dark Side of the Moon, I mean, my seventeen
year old daughter likes this. You where it's a T
shirt all the time? For instance, it was more than
just an album, right, It was a journey, a mood
piece that transcended a genre. The album artwork, the concept,
the sheer sonic landscape they created completely redefined what a

(12:37):
rock album could be. You know, another brick in the wall.
I mean, I'm talking about Pink Floyd and how many
times have we sing that when we were in school,
you know, I was in junior high and we're singing
that thing and probably got in trouble. So anyway, I
remember listening to it for the first time in my
friend's basement. This part's true. We were sprawled across a

(12:59):
being back chairs and in that perpetually dim light that
seems to only exist in basements, and this was his room.
By the way. It was utterly captivating by the unfolding drama.
It was a transcendential experience. It really was cool, and
we still talk about that today. And speaking of transcendental experiences,

(13:24):
let's not forget about the Eagles. And you can't forget
about the Eagles. Their blended country rock was uniquely seventies,
reflecting the air's blend styles and influences. We listened to
the Eagles all the time, you know, it's part of
yacht rock. That's when you know you're getting a little
bit old when you have all of these channels on Pandora,

(13:46):
our stations, and what do you go to almost every
afternoon yat rock. I've even been to the bands, you know,
the the yacht rock bands, just right down here at
the Windjammer a Palms. It's a to do. Man. Everybody
dresses up like captains and it's the cheesiest thing you've

(14:07):
ever seen. But man, that's fun. I mean, it really is.
I didn't know it was such a move, but until
I did so, they captured the spirit of the time,
the romanticism, the delusionment, the yearning for something more. Hotel
California still haunts me a little bit, for example, became

(14:28):
a cultural touchdown, its lyrics open to a multitude of interpretations.
To this day, I still catch myself singing along lost
in its atmospheric soundscape. It's almost eerie how vividly those
melodies transport me back to the time. Well, I mean,
I listened to it all the time, and it doesn't
transport me anywhere, but just put's been a good mood

(14:51):
most of the time. And then there were the power ballads,
right remember those, Oh the power ballads. The sheer, emotional
and city of those songs could could bring a grown
man to tears. I think Rio, Speedwagon, Journey, Boston. I
really liked Boston and Journey. My son was eighteen just

(15:13):
really just dig's journey. So Rio Speedwagon. I could tell
a really crazy story about Rio Speedwagon. Uh, my secretary,
who actually my dad's secretary, who ended up doing some
things that weren't really good for our business financially. Not
to go into detail, but I had to go through

(15:33):
her things when she wasn't at the office and I
found these pictures and I understand she was married and
she was pretty pretty young lady. Ah these pictures. When
I looked at them, you know, she was just put
it this way in a hotel room with a man
that looked familiar to me, but I wasn't sure who
it was until about two weeks later when I saw

(15:59):
I don't what TV show I was watching, probably did
Clark or something, and there he was lead singer, Orio Speedwagon.
Oh man, that was a tough one. That was a
tough situation to deal with, but we did so anyway.
You know, that was the eighties, So I know some

(16:20):
might cringe at the mention of power ballads, but let's
be honest. Those songs are impossible not to sing along to,
at least once. It's a fact of life. Their impact
on the musical landscape is undeniable and their culture significance
should not be underestimated. So I'm going to have to

(16:43):
let it go there. I'm getting the red light time
to vacate the studio. So I hope you guys enjoyed.
I mean, I can't wait to get back in the seventies.
This is one of my favorite podcasts. Just brings back
so many memories. But anyway, we'll catch up next time.
I'll see you next time, and God Blast