A teen magazine attempts to predict what will be big in the coming decade and fails.
You might think that you know what the music scene of 1969 was like – this was the time when the Summer of Love turned sour, when heavy metal and progressive rock were emerging genres, and when rock was getting hairy, rebellious and revolutionary. But as Pop 70, an 80-page special edition of teen magazine Valentine published by IPC late that year tells us, things in the real world were rather different. While there are nods to Jimi Hendrix and Cream, the bulk of the pop heroes here are the likes of Amen Corner, Peter Sarstedt, Mary Hopkins, Englebert Humperdink, Tom Jones, Cilla Black and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch. Even The Scaffold and the Bonzo Dogs, alongside heartthrobs like Clint Eastwood, Doug McClure and… erm… Ben Gazzara get a mention as the big names of the coming decade. Take that, Led Zeppelin.
Elsewhere in the book, there’s an earnest discussion about what’s next for The Beatles, which predictably lands somewhat wide of the imminent mark, and best of all, there’s a groovy comic strip about showbiz promo girl Mitzi and her new discovery/boyfriend, a singing window cleaner called Kevin O’Dale. It’s both hilariously removed from and worryingly close to the realities of pop stardom simultaneously, and quite essential. You can find it reproduced below.
While it’s easy to mock the misguided pop idol predictions of yesteryear (and surely even in 1969, no one thought Englebert was still – if ever – teen idol material), but who is to say the big names of today won’t be equally ridiculous looking and/or forgotten in thirty years time?
Help support The Reprobate:
