I was an adolescent and teen in the ‘70s, and it’s no exaggeration to say the decade was just huge in my development as a fan of books. I’d always been a reader, and my elementary school years (September 1965 through June 1970) found me immersed in books ranging from Dr. Seuss to Nancy Drew to nonfiction volumes analyzing reptiles and Greco-Roman mythology. I…was an odd kid. Go figure.
My love of books was intensified by my love of comic books. In fourth grade, my discovery of Big Little Books based on comics and TV characters—Fantastic Four, Aquaman, Batman, Dick Tracy, the Lone Ranger, the Man From U.N.C.L.E., Tarzan, Space Ghost, etc.—inspired me to supplement my frequent library runs by getting into the glorious habit of buying books.
By the age of ten, my reading skills had developed to the point where school administrators thought I should bypass fifth grade. This was not a good idea; separating from my elementary school peers and hightailing it to the alien environment of middle school denied me a year of age-appropriate socialization and potential maturation that I could never get back. I comforted myself with music and books.
The photo at the top of this post shows some books from my present-day bookshelf. Each of these books was either part of or tangential to my book experiences in the ‘70s. Over the course of several posts, I’m going to be talking about those books and a number of other books that played a role in my story of that decade: What they were, what they meant, and the memories those pages bring forth. Some will merely be mentioned in passing, some will achieve the digital equivalent of dog-ears. Comic book histories. Comic book reprints. Pulp novels. Movie adaptations. Rock 'n' roll histories. Books about film. Science-fiction anthologies. Harlan motherlovin' Ellison.
Grab a bookmark. We’ve got books to hit, man. This is the table of our discontent, and how books helped to make it better.
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My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.
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