OT: More Feeling Older, The 1970's Are Passing Away This Week

Submitted by superstringer on

In just the past 24 hours:

- The Professor passed away

- the bewildered manager from Partridge Family passed away

- Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese soldier who kept fighting WWII in the Philipines until he was ordered to stand down in 1974, passed away 

Theese events provoked a heated, spirit debate on Mike & Mike this morning.  While the two hosts completely disagreed on both the picks and the over/under on both games Sunday, they instead yelled at each other about two other very 1970's-related competitions -- Ginger v Mary Ann, and Farrah v Jaclyn -- and split on those too.  (Me, I'm squarely in the Mary Ann and Jaclyn camps.)

If you know what all this means, you're very old because the 1970's, my friends, are dying now.

I bet some of you younguns are now going to go on Wikipedia to find out about that Japanese soldier, because it's stranger than fiction -- yes, the guy refused to believe the war ended in 1945 and he kept fighting.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda  I will leave you young folk to look up the Mary Ann/Ginger and Farrah/Jaclyn stuff yourself.

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LSAClassOf2000

January 17th, 2014 at 10:29 AM ^

That would be Sarnia native Dave Madden (although for some of his childhood, he lived in Port Huron). By far, he's best known as Reuben Kincaid, he was a regular on "Laugh-In" and had a recurring role on "Alice", not to mention being a guest on a long list of shows. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

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GunnersApe

January 17th, 2014 at 10:29 AM ^

Radio stations sucked (the disco). My mother would clean the house on Satuerdays blaring Barry Manilow so if I ever see him I might go all "Manchurian Candidate"....Man that was some tourture. 

Joined: 11/19/2009

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Ccapilla

January 17th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^

1. Mary Ann

2. Jaclyn Smith

3. Lafyette Coney Island

If for any of these categories you choose the other option, I could agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong...

Joined: 02/11/2012

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247Hinsdale

January 17th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^

So too young for much of this. I know Ginger vs Mary Ann through reruns and I say, why not both?
I was more struck by the Japanese soldiers. I'd heard of Japanese hiding out on islands still fighting the war, but I had no idea they lasted for almost 20 years. Suck on that Bear Grylls.

Joined: 03/06/2013

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MGoShoe

January 17th, 2014 at 10:56 AM ^

...for a long time for those of us who lived it as kids. Of course, Gilligan's Island was a 60s thing as it ran from 1964 to 1967, but we Gen Xers experienced it in its rerun glory.

MaryAnn was my favorite, but who's kidding who? Ginger was all that and more. Let's just say that Bob Denver had it quite good for those three years.

The NYT has a wonderful obituary for Hiroo Onoda today. 

 

Joined: 04/23/2009

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MGoBlue24

January 17th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^

The Onoda story was interesting, thanks for the link.  Amazing that he and his three soldiers were responsible for "about 30 inhabitants...killed in skirmishes...over the years", and yet the Philippine government honored him at the time he gave himself up.

Joined: 08/22/2013

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Der Alte

January 17th, 2014 at 11:30 AM ^

Back in the 80s, while on a Canadian fishing trip, I met and spoke at some length with Alan Hale, Jr. He was at the same lodge, filming a fishing segment for Red Fisher's TV show. Red was a well-known sportswriter for the Montreal Star. I told Alan that my children were great fans of Gilligan's Island, which was then in reruns in the Detroit area.

Alan was the nicest guy anyone could hope to meet. He brought us up to date on all the cast members from the show, provided some interesting insights into the show's production, and invited all of us to his then-restaurant in LA.

I read the obit of Russell ("The Professor") Johnson in today's paper. Those of you who remember the show might recall that he could fix or build about anything. He was quoted in the obit as saying about the only thing he apparently couldn't fix was the hole in the S.S. Minnow, which would have allowed the cast to escape from the island. But that idea escaped most of the audience as well, so no harm done.

 

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MMB 82

January 17th, 2014 at 5:57 PM ^

As a freshman with the Marching Band, we were given the day off after the game and weren't flying back to Detroit until the 3rd. My first time out to LA, I got to meet up and spend the day with my aunt, uncle and cousin (who usually made the trip back east for family events). That night we went out to dinner at Alan Hale's restaurant, "The Lobster Barrel." Aside from overhearing a conversation at the next table where some would-be actor was trying to impress his date that he almost got the part of the computer voice on the first Star Trek movie, I did get a chance to meet The Skipper; my memory was he was a nice, but quiet/unassuming kinda guy.

 

Oh, and +1 for Mary Ann

Joined: 07/06/2008

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mGrowOld

January 17th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^

Common guys.  Speaking first hand here the 70's weren't ALL bad....

1. Drinking age was 18

2. In Ann Arbor possession of less than 2 ounces of pot was a $5.00 fine

3. The sexual revolution was absolutely in full swing (not many STDs out there yet)

4. And our football team was pretty damn good

Joined: 10/04/2010

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Julius 1977

January 17th, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^

I had a ton of fun.  Never expected the Bo - Woody battles to be so historic.  You could income average back then - so I averaged all my post-school income over the four years at Michigan.  All the laws were better.  I still have that SI magazine - along with all the Daily football articles from that season.

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zapata

January 17th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^

Yeah there was a whole bunch of good stuff going on,  I personally have never been able to decide Ginger and Mary Ann, and was glued to the show to watch both of them, even as a young'n.

And the music was the best part of the 70s.  Whoever said radio was all disco didn't know how to change the dial.  From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWWW-FM: "Many Detroit-area radio listeners of the 1970s remember WWWW-FM as a rock station with a slightly progressive bent, and one which would offer unique programming, such as the "All-Night Album Replay," wherein several full rock LPs would be played consecutively during a given evening. Print advertising for the station occasionally featured images of Godzilla, the mythical character seen in the Toho-produced Japanese series of feature films. That format would not extend into the 1980s, however. The change to the country format (nicknamed "W4 Country") alienated many former listeners." 

Also: "From 1960 to 1984, WABX was the call sign of a widely influential freeform/progressive rock radio station in Detroit, Michigan.

Joined: 03/10/2010

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bigfan2959

January 17th, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^

Gilligan's Island actually ran in the 60's, rather than the 70's.  It is a bit sad though, these people we may have grew up watching, passing on.  Enjoy the Day while it lasts!

Joined: 01/27/2013

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User -not THAT user

January 17th, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^

Am I wrong or are Dawn Wells and Tina Louise now the only surviving cast members?

That doesn't seem rational, because I can still remember the reunion TV specials (the ones Tina Louise bailed on because she was sick of being reminded of that role) as though they didn't take place all THAT long ago, but of course that's not true, they happened in the '80's and that WAS a long time ago...just not as long ago as the '60's.

But yeah...it would seem that the energy from the Ginger-or-Mary Ann debate feeds both of them, keping them recharged in a manner similar to that of the portrait of Dorian Gray.

Joined: 06/05/2012

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Uper73

January 17th, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^

MaryAnne and Jaclyn. Fidrych, Lytle, Huckleby, Hipple, Unger. Detroit catholic league. Other than M football, not a lot to make Detroit sports fans stir that decade.

Joined: 10/12/2013

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Louie C

January 17th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^

YouIt really hits me when I watch old sitcoms from the 70's and 80's and I realize that most of the cast members have passed. Call me weird all you want to, but I liked Mary Ann better than Ginger, and I had the biggest crush on pre-plastic surgery Joyce DeWitt as a kid.

Joined: 11/16/2009

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leftrare

January 17th, 2014 at 4:06 PM ^

A high school classmate of mine, a great guy, Bob Teninga passed away recently.  Some may recognize the name.  His dad played both ways in 1949 and at some point held some sort of record which I can no longer find.  Anyway, Bob and I graduated from HS in 1977 and both of us were students at the U.  Lovely guy who will be missed.

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San Diego Mick

January 17th, 2014 at 6:41 PM ^

Maryann and Jaclyn guy, although when Cheryl Ladd took over for Farrah, I liked her a lot too.

The 70's was a great era, IMO the greatest decade of music ever, all the great rock bands who started in the 60's were in their primes in the 70's besides the ones that started in the 70's and R&B and Jazz and Funk had it goin' on too.

I liked some disco too, it was an interesting era, who doesn't love to dance baby dance!

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