1976

 

1.    Snap Shots

 

2.    General News

 

3.    Gerald Ford is President

 

4.    Apr - Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

 

5.    Jul - In New York City, the "Son of Sam" pulls a gun from a paper bag, killing 1 and seriously wounding another, in the first of a series of attacks that terrorize the city for the next year.

 

6.    Jul - U.S. track and field athlete Bruce Jenner (@ age 27) won the gold medal for decathlon, setting a world record of 8,634 points.

 

7.    Nov - U.S. presidential election, 1976: Jimmy Carter defeats incumbent Gerald Ford, becoming the first candidate from the Deep South to win since the Civil War.

 

8.    Misc.: VHS released, and eventually won the war with Betamax tapes, although most agree it was an inferior product. 

 

9.    Open Comments

 

10.    Money Snapshots

 

11.    Min. wage = $2.30hr (+.20) / $92wk / $4,600k yrly - 2018 = $20,408yrly

 

12.    Avg. Income per year - $16,095

 

13.    Avg. Cost of new house - $43,340

 

14.    Avg. Rent - $220

 

15.    Avg. Cost new car - $4,557

 

16.    Unemployment 7.8% vs Black unemployment 12%

 

17.    Open Comments

 

18.    Black Snapshots

 

19.    Jul - Sugar Ray Leonard (@ age 20), Leon Spinks (@ age 23), Michael Spinks (@ age 20) won gold medals in boxing.

 

20.    Jul - Twenty-year-old Morehouse College student Edwin Moses sets a new world record in the 400m hurdles,

 

21.    Aug - Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley (@ age 55) is published. in 1976. (Forty-six weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List, w/ twenty-two weeks at number one.) (TV mini-series already in production)

 

22.    Open Comments

 

23.    Music Snapshots

 

24.    Record of the Year: "This Masquerade" - George Benson (artist) & Tommy LiPuma (producer)

 

25.    Album of the Year: Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder (artist) & Stevie Wonder (producer)

 

26.    Song of the Year: "I Write the Songs" - Bruce Johnston (songwriter) (for performed by Barry Manilow)

 

27.    Best New Artist: Starland Vocal Band

 

28.    Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1976

 

1.    "Silly Love Songs", Wings

 

2.    "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", Elton John & Kiki Dee

 

3.    "Disco Lady", Johnnie Taylor

 

29.    Open Comments

 

30.    Movie Snapshots

 

31.    Highest-grossing films

 

1.    Rocky

 

2.    To Fly! - *(Weird documentary film about the history of flight)

 

3.    A Star Is Born

 

4.    All the President's Men

 

32.    Open Comments

 

33.    TV Snapshots

 

34.    To Shows

 

1.    - Happy Days

 

2.    - Laverne & Shirley

 

3.    - M*A*S*H

 

35.    Debuts: 

 

36.    Aug - What's Happening!!

 

37.    Open Comments

 

38.    Social Scene

 

39.    What: Black History Month

 

40.    Why: First year of national recognition

 

41.    Key Person(s): Carter G. Woodson, the "father of black history" (d. 1950), historian, author, and journalist.

 

42.    Short Story:

 

43.    Started as Negro History Week (1926)

 

44.    Woodson (@ age 51) announced the second week of February to be "Negro History Week" because it covered the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Woodson said teaching black history was essential to ensure physical and 

 

45.    intellectual survival. - "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian left no continuous record. He did not appreciate the value of 

 

46.    tradition; and where is he today? The Hebrew keenly appreciated the value of tradition, as is attested by the Bible itself. Despite worldwide persecution, therefore, he is a great factor in our civilization."

 

47.    The push for Black History Month (1970 -76)

 

48.    BHM was first proposed at Kent State University in February 1969.  The first celebration happened in 1970. Six years later, President Gerald Ford recognized BHM during the Bicentennial celebration. - "[Americans should] seize the opportunity to honor the 

 

49.    too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history".

 

50.    Open Comments

 

51.    Question 1: Is BH "M" too small/short of an emphasis or just, about right?

 

52.    Question 2:  Did you do anything for BHM growing up &/or while raising your kids? 

 

53.    Music Scene

 

54.    Billboard Year-End Top 40 Black singles of 1976

 

55.    3 - "Disco Lady", Johnnie Taylor

 

56.    6 - "Kiss and Say Goodbye", The Manhattans

 

57.    7 - "Love Machine", The Miracles

 

58.    11 - "Sara Smile", Hall & Oates

 

59.    14 - "Fly, Robin, Fly", Silver Convention

 

60.    15 - "Love Hangover", Diana Ross

 

61.    19 - "Misty Blue", Dorothy Moore

 

62.    20 - "Boogie Fever", The Sylvers

 

63.    22 - "You Sexy Thing", Hot Chocolate

 

64.    24 - "Get Up and Boogie", Silver Convention

 

65.    27 - "Sweet Love", Commodores

 

66.    28 - "Right Back Where We Started From", Maxine Nightingale

 

67.    29 - "Theme from S.W.A.T.", Rhythm Heritage

 

68.    30 - "Love Rollercoaster", Ohio Players

 

69.    32 - "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", Lou Rawls

 

70.    Vote:

 

71.    Jan - Gratitude, Earth, Wind & Fire

 

72.    Jan - Wake Up Everybody, Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes

 

73.    Feb - Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, Rufus And Chaka Khan

 

74.    Apr - Eargasm, Johnnie Taylor

 

75.    Apr - Brass Construction, Brass Construction

 

76.    May - I Want You, Marvin Gaye

 

77.    May - Breezin', George Benson

 

78.    May - Look Out For #1, The Brothers Johnson

 

79.    June - Harvest For The World, The Isley Brothers

 

80.    Jul - Contradiction, Ohio Players

 

81.    Jul - Sparkle (Soundtrack), Aretha Franklin

 

82.    Aug - All Things In Time, Lou Rawls

 

83.    Aug - Hot On The Tracks, Commodores

 

84.    Sep - Wild Cherry, Wild Cherry

 

85.    Sep - Hot On The Tracks, Commodores

 

86.    Oct - Songs In The Key Of Life, Stevie Wonder

 

87.    Vote:

 

88.    Key Artists

 

89.    Who: Yvette Marie Steven, a.k.a., Chaka Khan (@ age 23) - Queen of Funk, singer, songwriter, actor, activist.

 

90.    Why is she being featured: "Sweet Thing", she is breaking out, and I don't want to cover disco yet.

 

91.    Short story:

 

92.    Born and raised in Chicago housing projects, the oldest of five. Started singing early, formed a girl group at age eleven. Changed her name to Chaka Adunne Aduffe Hodarhi Karifi at thirteen and started running around with the Fred Hampton and the Panthers.  In 1969, at age16, she dropped out of high school, left the Panthers, and focused on singing with local bands. In 1973, she joined the band Rufus. The first album in 1973 was a dud, but Stevie Wonder was so impressed by Chaka Khan's vocals, he wanted to write a song specifically for her. "Tell Me Something Good", written by Stevie, on their 1974 album won a Grammy. (He also played harmonica on 'I Feel For You'.). But, because of her increasing popularity the record label started calling the group Rufus "Featuring" Chaka Khan, (which was the title of their fourth album that had the hit single "Sweet Thing") and this caused tension in the band. She was back and forth with the group for a few years. Went solo in 1978 and became a legend. (10 Grammys, 8 of them solo)

93.    [Audio Clip]

 

94.    Open Comments:

 

95.    Movie Scene

 

96.    Notable releases

 

97.    Mother, Jugs & Speed, starring Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, Harvey Keitel

 

98.    The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, starring Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, & Richard Pryor

 

99.    Silver Streak, starring Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, Ned Beatty, Ray Walston, Patrick McGoohan

 

100.    Open Comments

 

101.    Key Release

 

102.    What: Car Wash

 

103.    Who:  Starring Franklyn Ajaye, Bill Duke, George Carlin, Irwin Corey, Ivan Dixon, Antonio Fargas, Jack Kehoe, Clarence Muse, Lorraine Gary, The Pointer Sisters, and Richard Pryor.

 

104.    Director: Michael Schultz - Honeybaby, Honeybaby (1974), Cooley High (1975), Greased Lightning (1977), Which Way Is Up? (1977), Bustin' Loose (1981), Carbon Copy (1981), Krush Groove (1985), Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon (1985), Disorderlies (1987), Livin' Large! (1991), Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)

 

105.    Why is it featured: The Soundtrack is DOPE!!

 

106.    Short Story: An episodic comedy about a day in the lives of the employees and the owner of a Los Angeles car wash.

 

107.    Critic Review: "Car Wash initially left critics unimpressed (except for Roger Ebert who correctly called it a "wash-and-wax M*A*S*H") but over the decades both the film and the soundtrack have left their mark on pop culture. With its Afros, bell-bottoms, cars as big as boats, and disco soundtrack, Car Wash is a perfect time-capsule of America's bicentennial year." - http://www.threemoviebuffs.com/review/car-wash.html

 

108.    [Audio Clips]

 

109.    Open Comments

 

110.    TV Scene

 

111.    What: What's Happening!!

 

112.    Who: Starring Ernest Lee Thomas, Haywood Nelson, Fred Berry, Danielle Spencer, Mabel King, Shirley Hemphill

 

113.    Why is it featured: The last show dedicated to black families until(?) The Cosby Show in 1984. The next few years introduced the interracial family dynamic. (Different Strokes like stuff.)

 

114.    Short Story: Loosely based on Cooley High. What's Happening!! follows the lives of three working-class African-American teens living in Watts.

 

115.    Critic Review: Unlike its contemporary Good Times, What's Happening!! isn't committed to presenting enlightening social commentary or providing empowering African-American role models. Most of the problems the gang faces here are typical of what kids from any community have to deal with. While the show has its funny moments (especially when Dee offers her strong, often sarcastic opinions), much of the show's humor stems from a slapstick-like comedy style that's reminiscent of the minstrel show stereotypes of the 1930s - https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/whats-happening

 

116.    [Audio Clips]

 

117.    Open Comments:

 

118.    Final Question: Biggest legacy from 1976?