Tuesday | November 3, 2009 | 1:36 pm
Another birthday gift post for my favorite fellow ’70s fan: Rachel’s library of ’70s books. I Wanna Be Sedated by Phil Dellio & Scott Woods.  Talks about many genres of ’70s music with humor; crazy-packed with references you might not pick up on in the first or even second reading.  First heard about Tales from Topographic Oceans here.  Also one of my friends saw me carrying this book and thought it said “I Wanna Be A Stepdad.” Stuck In The Seventies (Second Edition) by Matthews, et al.  Reads like a blog in book form—a jumbled collection of lists, essays, and odd little drawings.  But it does cover a LOT of topics, mostly from the POV of the Gen Xers who were children in the ’70s. The Seventies by Bruce J. Schulman. This is by far the most scholarly work in my collection.  It delves somewhat into the culture, but the most illuminating section is on the “silent majority” type cultural backlash that gave us the Reagan years.  Would have fit in well with the reading I did for US History, 1933-present. Platforms by Pagan Kennedy.  MY BIBLE for ’70s fandom. I read this my sophomore year in high school and my life has never been the same.  One of my favorite passages describes what clique you were in based on what band you liked: If you liked Yes, that meant you got high at lunch and hung out in the art room drawing dragons; if you liked the Stones, then you were majorly into partying; if it was Tull, you were a shy, awkward guy with long greasy hair, skinny legs, and hiking boots; if it was Heart, you were a heavily made-up girl with a smoker’s hack laugh and a penchant for Boone’s Farm wine. The Big Book of the ’70s by Jonathan Vankin. This is a compilation of short comic book-style essays on various ’70s topics.  Has a real variety in the art and types of stories. The Collectible ’70s by Michael Jay Goldberg.  This book has some great pictures of all types of things that were trendy in the ’70s - from children’s toys to home decor to drug culture items.  The title is also set in the delicious Arnold Bocklin font. The Complete Van Book by Lucian K. Truscott IV.  One of my prized possessions.  It’s not a Seventies Book in the same way that the others are, but I am such a dork for custom vans that I had to include it here.  The pictures are to die for.

Another birthday gift post for my favorite fellow ’70s fan: Rachel’s library of ’70s books.

  • I Wanna Be Sedated by Phil Dellio & Scott Woods.  Talks about many genres of ’70s music with humor; crazy-packed with references you might not pick up on in the first or even second reading.  First heard about Tales from Topographic Oceans here.  Also one of my friends saw me carrying this book and thought it said “I Wanna Be A Stepdad.”
  • Stuck In The Seventies (Second Edition) by Matthews, et al.  Reads like a blog in book form—a jumbled collection of lists, essays, and odd little drawings.  But it does cover a LOT of topics, mostly from the POV of the Gen Xers who were children in the ’70s.
  • The Seventies by Bruce J. Schulman. This is by far the most scholarly work in my collection.  It delves somewhat into the culture, but the most illuminating section is on the “silent majority” type cultural backlash that gave us the Reagan years.  Would have fit in well with the reading I did for US History, 1933-present.
  • Platforms by Pagan Kennedy.  MY BIBLE for ’70s fandom. I read this my sophomore year in high school and my life has never been the same.  One of my favorite passages describes what clique you were in based on what band you liked:
If you liked Yes, that meant you got high at lunch and hung out in the art room drawing dragons; if you liked the Stones, then you were majorly into partying; if it was Tull, you were a shy, awkward guy with long greasy hair, skinny legs, and hiking boots; if it was Heart, you were a heavily made-up girl with a smoker’s hack laugh and a penchant for Boone’s Farm wine.
  • The Big Book of the ’70s by Jonathan Vankin. This is a compilation of short comic book-style essays on various ’70s topics.  Has a real variety in the art and types of stories.
  • The Collectible ’70s by Michael Jay Goldberg.  This book has some great pictures of all types of things that were trendy in the ’70s - from children’s toys to home decor to drug culture items.  The title is also set in the delicious Arnold Bocklin font.
  • The Complete Van Book by Lucian K. Truscott IV.  One of my prized possessions.  It’s not a Seventies Book in the same way that the others are, but I am such a dork for custom vans that I had to include it here.  The pictures are to die for.