Posted on 08/11/2018 3:39:55 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen
On this day in 1973, “American Graffiti,” a nostalgic coming-of-age tale set on the streets and steeped in the car-centric culture of suburban California, is released in theaters across the United States. The movie went on to become a sleeper hit. --SNIP-- The 1970s saw a boom in classic-car restoration, even as more and more Americans were driving Japanese imports. The era also saw an increasing number of “lowriders”–or classic cars or trucks with suspensions that had been modified so that they rode as low to the ground as possible
(Excerpt) Read more at history.com ...
An equivalent movie was Dazed and Confused, set in 1976 and release in 1990 I think. A little longer time apart from the events depicted but a very similar setup: one day, bunch of kids, slice of life with no big story per se. The difference between the mid 70s and the 1990 are actually pretty stark. I grew up in the late 70s / early 80s and was 20 or 21 when that film came out, it’s not a classic but it sort of my “American Graffiti”
And she'll have fun, fun, fun, till her daddy takes the T-bird away.
‘68 Camaro with a built 427 engine. Also a ‘46 Chevy truck with a Z28 302 in it.
2007, wow. Yes, indeed, it’s bizarre to think of a nostalgia movie being made now about ‘07 (the first iPhone is the only thing I can recall that was particularly memorable that year). I guess it goes to show how radically America had changed between ‘62 & ‘73 (JFK assassination, Vietnam, hippies, drugs, Black Panthers, protests, bombings, etc.). 1962 must have seemed like a different world.
Who cut the cheese?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/41_Original_Hits_from_the_Soundtrack_of_American_Graffiti
“Disc One No. Title Original Artist and year Length
1.
“Rock Around the Clock”
Bill Haley & His Comets 1954
2.
“16 Candles”
The Crests 1958
3.
“Runaway”
Del Shannon 1961
4.
“Why Do Fools Fall in Love”
Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers 1956
5.
“That’ll Be the Day”
Buddy Holly 1957
6.
“Fanny Mae”
Buster Brown 1959
7.
“At the Hop”
Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids 1973
8.
“She’s So Fine”
Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids 1973
9.
“The Stroll”
The Diamonds 1957
10.
“See You In September”
The Tempos 1959
11.
“Surfin’ Safari”
The Beach Boys 1962
12.
“(He’s) The Great Imposter”
The Fleetwoods 1961
13.
“Almost Grown”
Chuck Berry 1959
14.
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”
The Platters 1959
15.
“Little Darlin’”
The Diamonds 1957
16.
“Peppermint Twist”
Joey Dee and the Starlighters 1961
17.
“Barbara Ann”
The Regents 1961
18.
“The Book of Love”
The Monotones 1958
19.
“Maybe Baby”
Buddy Holly 1958
20.
“Ya Ya”
Lee Dorsey 1961
21.
“The Great Pretender”
The Platters 1955
Disc Two
No.
Title
Original Artist and year
Length
1.
“Ain’t That a Shame”
Fats Domino 1955
2.
“Johnny B. Goode”
Chuck Berry 1958
3.
“I Only Have Eyes for You”
The Flamingos 1959
4.
“Get a Job”
The Silhouettes 1958
5.
“To the Aisle”
The Five Satins 1957
6.
“Do You Wanna Dance?”
Bobby Freeman 1958
7.
“Party Doll”
Buddy Knox 1957
8.
“Come Go with Me”
The Del-Vikings 1957
9.
“You’re Sixteen” (written by Bob & Dick Sherman)
Johnny Burnette 1960
10.
“Love Potion No. 9”
The Clovers 1959
11.
“Since I Don’t Have You”
The Skyliners 1958
12.
“Chantilly Lace”
The Big Bopper 1958
13.
“Teen Angel”
Mark Dinning 1960
14.
“Crying in the Chapel”
Sonny Till & the Orioles 1953
15.
“A Thousand Miles Away”
The Heartbeats 1957
16.
“Heart and Soul”
The Cleftones 1961
17.
“Green Onions”
Booker T. & the M.G.’s 1962
18.
“Only You (And You Alone)”
The Platters 1954
19.
“Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite”
The Spaniels 1953
20.
“All Summer Long”
The Beach Boys 1964
“
Sophomore at Corona del Mar HS. I had a 63 Buick Special that was my DD - converted into a dirt tracker. I loved my Buick
A two door Belvedere
Yes it was, and we went cruising and frequented Mels and A & W, It was not a bad time.
Can also say that “Grease” too went viral and made a lot of money from the nostalgia of that era.
American Splendor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTql9VUdVYY
Yes, the young woman and I that viewed this film in August ‘74 felt the same way. “nostalgia for a time past’ was what she called it.
Spring 1972. Wolfman Jack broadcast from south of the border on, I believe, XPRS. I drove what was left of Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago in a 1955 Corvette. Did the desert part of California at night listening to the Wolfman. The glow from the AM radio produced a magical experience for me.
It was all a marketing build up by Capitol.
Tollie-VeeJay-Swan released She Loves You etc to little demand.
Except “She Loves You” went directly to number one.
Complete with authentic AM radio static/hiss:
That part sticks with me too.
But having graduated in 1976, ‘Dazed and Confused’ is the movie I relate to.
I remember seeing them for the first time in late 1963 on the Jack Paar show, It was a film of them from England and they were singing She Loves You. I was 15 and I’ve loved them ever since.
Also Dazed and Confused about 1976 came out in 1993.
17 years in the past vs 25 years since the movie.
Really Scary. It’s been 23 years since the Brady Bunch Movie which came out in 1995, which was 21 years after the series ended in 1974.
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