Why 1976?
Of all the years out there, why did the two knuckleheads choose 1976 to discuss? Besides the United States Bicentennial, was it a banner design year? Was the royal king Cheltenham or the prophet Helvetica born to bless us all? No. None of that. As it turns out, 1976 happened to be a red-letter year for creativity in general. On the 1976 episode, we talk about design inside and out and touch on the music of the time. Spoiler alert: We talk KISS specifically, but you already guessed that.
If you look across the landscape of pop culture, this time in the mid-1970s brought many creative peaks across many genres and mediums. Sure, the impact KISS had on a thirteen-year-old was knee-weakening, yet it’s impossible to overstate the gravitational pull of the band at that time. As the year begins, they are celebrating the album KISS ALIVE! for putting them on the rock god map. Then in March of 1976, they release Destroyer – often rated by critics and fans as their top studio album and definitely the most creatively adventurous. Throughout the summer the band was everywhere shouting it out loud. Then in August of 1976 the genre-defying ballad “Beth” was released proving cartoon characters also have feelings. October saw the band rock the ultra-camp Paul Lynde Halloween Special followed by their second release of the year – Rock and Roll Over. Fans thought the rockers could do no wrong, but the band soon showed them otherwise.
Although KISS was everywhere, others also made creative history too. Stevie Wonder released Songs In The Key of Life which won a slew of Grammys, made Wonder the first American artist to debut on Billboard at number one, then hold that spot for 11 weeks finally giving way to another 1976 record giant – The Eagles’ Hotel California. There was also Bowie’s Station to Station, Rush’s 2112, The Ramones’ The Ramones, Boston’s first record and Frampton Comes Alive. The list goes on and on.
The year also saw plenty of achievements in movies and books with Taxi Driver, Rocky, All the President’s Men, Carrie, and A Star is Born on the screen and literary cornerstones Roots, Ordinary People, and Interview With a Vampire adding to the creative fireworks. Worth noting too that George Lucas started filming his little space gamble Star Wars in March of 1976 to be released the following summer. That worked out well.
Whatever was happening in the world, it all came magically together for a massive, cultural fist pump in 1976. Maybe creatives were energized by celebrating the Bicentennial hope of the founding fathers. Maybe we were pissed off enough at the lack of civil rights and the dark spots of Watergate. Maybe we just wanted to shake our collective booties to disco music’s guilt-free excess.
Whatever it was, the seismic shift from that year continues to be felt today, influencing second and third generations of creatives. It’s hard to imagine a time when that level of pop culture impact can ripple so widely again.