1976 was a year of scandal and shocks, but it also had a great soundtrack. It featured scorching sunshine, the Sex Pistols swearing live on teatime television, and women protesting for equal pay.
The summer of 1976 was the driest in more than 350 years and 50 years later, one then teenager turned historian is reminding us of the politics and music that exploded on to the culture as a nation sweltered.
In his book 1976: The Year That Scorched, a 19-year-old Cambridge University student, Christopher Sandford recalls when the temperature reached 35.9C and the temperature reached 30C for weeks, with some places experiencing 45 days without rain.
Now 69, Brit Christopher, who lives in the US, remembers it as a year of phenomenal contrasts, saying: “Bombs were going off regularly because of the IRA – and yet strangely enough, right in the middle of this turbulence, there was an incredible heatwave.
“There were saddest and funniest times.” There was a financial crisis, and workers were striking. Moments of light were brought forth by the soundtrack of The Sex Pistols and Abba.
READ MORE: ‘David Bowie wanted to make the album of his life before he died two days later’
When ex-professional football player turned drought minister Denis Howell shared baths with his wife Brenda, which he called the show’s spiralling comedy and tragedy of the year, he revealed to reporters how he was conserving water.
But the year had begun with a storm before the heatwave arrived. Mirror readers would have opened their January papers to news of winds of 110mph sweeping over East Anglia, flooding of coastal streets and rail and air traffic coming to a standstill. The Old Vic Theatre in London was damaged when scaffolding crashed into the foyer, killing 23 people, and the roof of a stand at Stoke City football ground blew off.
Just a couple of days before the heatwave officially began that June, Christopher remembers the England vs West Indies cricket match being called off because of rain. “I was a big cricket fan,” he tells the Mirror. “I remember going to Lords on June 19 and it started to drizzle before play. It wasn’t torrential rain, but it didn’t stop and eventually we were sent home without a penny in compensation.
“It was ironic, as a couple of days later marked the start of the UK’s longest period of sustained dry weather for more than 350 years, and its driest summer for more than 200. Over the next 10 weeks papers like the Daily Mirror were full of pictures of bikini-clad sunbathers cooling off in the nearest stretch of water.” These images were accompanied by photos of businessmen in bowler hats rolling up their trousers and paddling in the fountains at Trafalgar Square.
“It was so hot I couldn’t sleep at night,” Christopher recalls. “I remember walking into Victoria Station one very hot morning and a huge swarm of ladybugs were circling around “Ladybirds struggle to find vegetation when it is that hot – but seeing them swarming around was rather eerie, almost like a disaster film.” It was also an unexpected year in the world of sport. In May, second division Southampton defied 50-1 odds to beat manchester-united-fc>Manchester United in the FA Cup Final at Wembley.
The British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch was won by the Austrian Niki Lauda, after the home favourite James Hunt crossed the line first, only to be disqualified on a technicality. And in golf, the Open Championship will be remembered for the impact of crane operator Maurice Flitcroft, a newcomer at 46, who took part in the Open’s qualifying competition.
On arrival, Maurice was lost driving to the Royal Birkdale Course and immediately went to the bar. His subsequent round score of 121, which puts him at 49 over par, was 38 shots better than the next worst player’s (also). In politics, Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigned, claiming that he wanted to replace a younger leader despite being succeeded by James Callaghan, who was four years his senior. Wilson claimed that he had been made to resign from office in the days that followed. Rumors were spread that author security forces operatives wanted him out because of his left-wing policies.
And there was rumor that there might be a second British Civil War as the pound fell against the dollar. Although I was a student on a grant, there were many people who were much worse off than I, “Christopher recalls.” The most recent exchange rate would appear daily on the front pages, and it was reported as a major issue if the pound dropped a point or two.
Because the pound had lost three points against the dollar and was still in decline, Chancellor Denis Healey turned his car around on his way to a conference in Hong Kong in September.
After 21 weeks of industrial action, women at the Trico factory in Brentford, West London, were able to claim the same basic pay as their male counterparts. Christopher recalls other celebrations, such as the release of Abba’s album Arrival and the chart-topping singles Money, Money, Money.
He adds, “I can recall that almost every song on Top of the Pops had the words “dance” and/or “love” in it. Dancing Queen had a chorus that was difficult to resist, despite the fact that I wasn’t a huge Abba fan. The Sex Pistols, a punk rock band, were at the other end of the spectrum. They were just starting out, so you had a happy, jovial crowd that liked Abba, the Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, and then them, according to Christopher.
And then came Bill Grundy’s interview one teatime in early December on BBC TV with The Sex Pistols. When the band’s guitarist Steve Jones said the F-word on live TV, it became a national scandal, plastered across the front pages. And the Mirror had undoubtedly the most memorable coverage. Our headline, The Filth and the Fury, became the title of Julien Temple’s 2000 documentary film about the band.
“I found the headlines amusing.” When I was 19 years old, Christopher says, “I was enjoying every aspect of it. What was a tumultuous and tumultuous year with drama, fun, and controversy was a great way to wrap things up. The best way to describe 1976 as tragicomic is “a year where comedy and dark times collided with one another.”
Source: Mirror
Leave a Reply