Top 10 Icons of the 70s

[saildog]

Actually, I think a "top ten" makes it necessary to exclude certain things. There can only be ten things, right? The seventies were much more than that. Hell, the reason we are all here is a love for Mego. A top ten excludes the one 70s reason we are all here to begin with because not one person has listed "Mego". That is our one common bond and no one thought to list it.

[The Toyroom]

I wouldn't consider POTA's or Elvis as 70's icons. I know there were some POTA movies, but just spin offs of the 68 movie.

In the 70's, Elvis was basically washed up Vegas act that people saw when he toured to relive to 50's & 60's, like we do now with KISS and bands from the 80's.

Dude....ready to defend :

Planet of the Apes...yeah everything that came in the 70s was a spin-off of the '68 movie sure. But there were 4 movies in the 70s, a cartoon, and a TV series. Not to mention a Mego toy-line, a model line from Addar, Ben Cooper costumes and other toys and memorabilia. My cousin even had a POTA garbage can! And that good sir, is what we call a FRANCHISE! And definitely worthy of being on anyone's Top 10 list.

Elvis Presley...The King of Rock and Roll....one of rock's first stars back in '56, he was still a viable force until his death in '77. As has already been mentioned, his Aloha From Hawaii special was huge. And even though Elvis himself eventually got huge physically he still sold out arenas all across the country, not just Vegas. Everyone wanted to see Elvis when he came to town and everyone seemed to be effected when he passed away. His funeral was HUGE! For me, his death on August 16, 1977 is one of the seminal moments for me of the 70s. I remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news the day the music died. And the same can't be said when Bo and Luke Duke skipped out on their contracts.

[BlackKnight]

Ok...fair enough...

My turn then...

I never watched the Dukes of Hazzard...never liked that show...I have absolutely no ties, no feelings, or connection with hillbillies.

There.

" HillBillies.

Me either,.. But,.. I actually watched Quite a bit of the Show when I was a Kid. The Car Jump scene's were fantastic. I coulda sworn I was watching this show in the 80's ,.. I had no idea,.. at the time I was watching re-runs.

But on a Different Note,.. the Duke's were Slinging MoonShine in a Currupt Small Dry Town. Correct me if I am Wrong,.. but for the Theme of the Show,.. isn't that very Iconic to How Most Small Southern Dry Towns were at one point in time or another, or atleast How they were Precieved at one point in Time ? .

NASCAR Anyone ?
I believe NASCAR Even came about ,.. because of the Prohibition ..., when all the Booze was legal again, all the MoonShiner's became Race Car Drivers.. As I watch the Show Today,.. I think that was pretty much the intention of the Show,.. to Show you the Currupt Small Town's, Hillbillies Running from the Law, Moonshining , Bar Fights, Good Old Fashion HillBilly Music & Hot Southern Chicks in " Dasiy Dukes" . Which is very Iconic,.. Perhaps not for the Time of the 70's or 80's ,.. But at one point in time.

[The Toyroom]

Actually, I think a "top ten" makes it necessary to exclude certain things. There can only be ten things, right? The seventies were much more than that. Hell, the reason we are all here is a love for Mego. A top ten excludes the one 70s reason we are all here to begin with because not one person has listed "Mego". That is our one common bond and no one thought to list it.

Check da rules...Megos=inanimate objects. For all intents and purposes they can be lumped together with lava lamps or that bag of weed your older brother had stashed in the "Frampton Comes Alive" album in the 70s.

[The Toyroom]

" HillBillies.

Me either,.. But,.. I actually watched Quite a bit of the Show when I was a Kid. The Car Jump scene's were fantastic. I coulda sworn I was watching this show in the 80's ,.. I had no idea,.. at the time I was watching re-runs.

"Dukes" premiered on Jan. 26, 1979 so points to BK for showing that they barely even made the cut for the 70s.

[The Toyroom]

2. Muhammad Ali...the greatest.

6. Steve Austin...SMDM was my favorite 70s show...so he was my favorite male TV character.

9. John Travolta...yeah...at one point...I thought Disco was cool, lol.

I thought about all of these guys but had to make cuts somewhere...

[saildog]

Check da rules...Megos=inanimate objects. For all intents and purposes they can be lumped together with lava lamps or that bag of weed your older brother had stashed in the "Frampton Comes Alive" album in the 70s.

Fair enough! I already outed myself for being a skimmer of post.

However, Mego made KISS and Dukes. Why no love for the Waltons?

[Hector]

Why no love for the Waltons?

Oh no...more hillbillies!!!

[saildog]

Oh no...more hillbillies!!!

[Hector]

[johnnystorm]

I think a Top Ten list needs broken out by category.

#1 MUSIC: THE BEE GEES- While Kiss, Elvis, Abba, etc. were debatably bigger sales or concert wise, the Brothers Gibb are the defining SOUND of the '70s. Love it or hate it, the 1970s will always be linked to disco.

#2 MOVIES: LUKE SKYWALKER- Star Wars ...nothing like it before, it's still iconic and will be around like forever.

#3 TV: ARCHIE BUNKER- It can't be emphasized enough how huge All in the Family was, and how much today's tv owes to what Archie got away with saying.

#4 MALE STAR: BURT REYNOLDS- Burt was box-office gold in the '70s with Smokey & the Bandit and it's like.

#5 FEMALE STAR: FARRAH FAWCETT- Farrah was the 1970s "it" girl. End of story.

#6 STYLE: DOROTHY HAMILL- That haircut was embraced by more people than the Farrah Flip, from Toni Tennile to Bruce Jenner. Even the kid on Eight is Enough had it.

#7 COMEDY: ANDY KAUFMAN- Again, love him or hate him, Andy was like nothing before or since.

#8 SPORTS: MUHAMMED ALI- He WAS & IS the GREATEST!

#9 POP CULTURE: BRUCE LEE- Bruce was the factor behind the entire Kung Fu craze which was huge in the late seventies.

#10 POLITICS: JIMMY CARTER- Carter was the 1970s great hope of change, but he wasn't able to carry forward his goals. Still, he upset a lot of the status quo of American politics, and gifted us with the phrase "Lusted in my heart".

[kingdom warrior]

Lot's of greats from the 70's here are my fav Icons
1.Elvis
2.Donny and Marie
3.Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett
4.Bruce Lee
5.Muhammad Ali
6.Queen
7.The Jackson 5
8.The Fonz/ Henry Winkler
9.Lynda Carter
10. Iris Chacon........

[Nemozoe]

1. Elton John - always present from 1970 to 1979

2. Bee Gees - as stated already

3. Saturday Night Live - Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtain, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Lorraine Newman & Gilda Radner.

4. Farrah Fawcett - the original poster girl.

5. Paul Newman & Robert Redford - I have to team them together!

6. Star Wars - It has never really gone away.

7. The Godfather - Al Pacino

8. Jaws - Perhaps the most realistic horror movie ever made!

9. The Brady Bunch - nothing else says 70s like the original "groovy" family in leisure suits with permed hair.

10. Howard Cosell - Annoying but a permanent fixture when it came to sports.

[huedell]

STAR WARS
"KROFFT" STUFF
HAPPY DAYS
LYNDA CARTER
JAWS
MUPPETS
THE INCREDIBLE HULK
JOHN TRAVOLTA
BEE GEES
BURT REYNOLDS

DUKES OF HAZZARD, REGGIE JACKSON and BRADY BUNCH for honorable mention

[huedell]

I never watched the Dukes of Hazzard...never liked that show...I have absolutely no ties, no feelings, or connection with hillbillies and a car painted with the Confederate flag...so it's not an iconic show to me.

I'll always stick up for that show---I feel it was the first show that I
felt like I really found on my own and loved....became a fan.

It seemed like a huge hit to me at the time---altho' probably not until
1980 or '81---but I was still a big fan in 1979.