Man on the Street is Greg Kristapovich
“Do YOU remembers the ’70s?”
(asked in Murphys, and rated PG-13)
“Day on the Green Concerts at Oakland Coliseum, with the Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Jackson Brown! Earth Shoes, puka shells, Ditto Jeans for the chicks. M*A*S*H, The Muppets, Hee Haw, Cheech and Chong! All the girls had the Farrah Fawcett ‘flip” in their hair. Atari was pumping out video games! Pac Man, Centipede! I was growing up in Los Gatos. Learning how to drive; and the freedom! Up here, it was Mountain Aire concerts, and I saw the Frog Jump in my first trip to Calaveras County in ‘78! It was just the best times of my life! I was young, good lookin’ and bulletproof!” – Andy Kinyon, Murphys (handyman/”renaissance man”)
“The ‘70s were absolutely wonderful! I graduated high school in ’72 and then met the most interesting people in my life! Working every week to pay for concerts every weekend in San Francisco! One night at Fillmore West, I crawled under everyone’s legs, claiming to have lost a bracelet, and made my way up to the stage to meet Janis Joplin – who offered me a chug of her Southern Comfort! Wow! And the most rewarding memories of the ‘70s are the wonderful kind of people – who’d take the shirt off their backs to help you! What happened to our world?” – Kim Huber, Murphys (soapstone packer)
“Bell bottoms, feathered hair and everybody smoked. I remember Sanford and Son, Dukes of Hazzard and B.J. and the Bear. I listened to Marty Robbins and a lot of ABBA – still the leading export of Sweden! You know, it’s against the law to put down ABBA in Sweden! There was Urban Cowboy and Star Wars! Invasion of the Body Snatchers! And, oh yeah, my friend’s older brother had a poster with a naked girl running through a forest. But the ‘70s weren’t that great then. I don’t know why everybody’s trying to reproduce it now. The best decade is the NEXT one; this one coming through right now.” – Tommy “Gun” Woodburn, Murphys (bartender and “persecuted artist”)
“I graduated in ’73. That year was very special! I went to a Led Zeppelin concert at Kesar Stadium! I also started at Chico State and met my husband! Another memorable moment was when I was on an anti-Vietnam War march in San Francisco. People were more ‘world-conscious’. When we didn’t like what was happening in the government, we spoke out! Yet, people were more caring. Everyone wanted to get along and love one another. I was just a hippy chick. Back then, you wore bell- bottom pants, waffle-stomper boots, empire shirts, paisley prints and no bra! I listened to The Who, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix! The ‘70s were psychedelic, baby!” – Debra Roach, Arnold (secretary/waitress)
“Cheryl Tiegs! The gas shortages! The first few years were high school. Then it was off to college. All in the Family was big! Charlie’s Angels, Happy Days, a lot of Johnny Carson stuff at night! At the movies, Rocky Horror Picture Show!! Hot pants! That didn’t last long, but it was good! Those hairdos the guys had; you know, feathered, and stuff. The ‘70s were a little awkward. It was like, ‘it’s not the ‘60s anymore’; so people were wondering ‘What’s it gonna be like?’ ‘69 was the big year I remember! That’s when everything seemed to happen! And after that, people were just kind of wondering ‘What’s next?’” – Chris Roach, Arnold (maintenance)
