Tonight:
5°c
Economic meltdown, flared trousers, un-ironic heavy metal: these are indeed alarming times. But I'm staying calm because I've lived through recession before. I'm not talking about 1992, or even 1984. No, I'm talking about 1973. I may have only been seven at the time, but the iconography of that year of hardship is ingrained on my mind. And now I'm getting a queasy sense of déjà vu.
Industrial disputes and wildcat strikes. Firms adopting a four- or even three-day week. Banks on the brink after unwise property speculation. Share prices tumbling. Unemployment rising. An embattled government. Israel at war. Good lord, this looks familiar. Worse, it adds up to a feeling of uncertainty about what this country is about, other than just trying to survive.
And beyond the headlines and history, I see subtler parallels with 1973. The Osmonds have come round again: then it was Donny, now Jimmy's in the West End. Flared jeans and patchwork prints are in the shops. Wall's has brought back Arctic Roll, Heston Blumenthal has reintroduced prawn cocktail to Little Chef and 1973's favourite instant mash was recently relaunched.
Meanwhile, the man who bestrode Saturday night TV, Bruce Forsyth with his Generation Game, will be in the same position later this year with a new Strictly Come Dancing. In sport, Britain's puny hopes are still pinned to a racing driver (Lewis Hamilton rather than James Hunt) and a tennis player (Andy Murray, not Virginia Wade). And Fabio Capello still holds the fate of our national football team in his hands - although now as manager, rather than, as he did in 1973, scoring for Italy to beat England 1-0 at Wembley.
It's like an extended episode of Life on Mars. I keep expecting to see Morris Marinas trundling past, to switch on my TV and see Rolf Harris imploring me to learn to swim. On the other hand, this sense of déjà vu is consoling. We got through 1973 (and 1984 and 1992), so maybe we'll get through this.
And there are still reassuring signs that we have not slipped completely through a 36-year timewarp. My local corner shop stocks organic honey and free-range eggs and stays open after 5.30pm.
So far, the gravediggers haven't gone on strike and, as I type this on my laptop, I'm relieved to note that so far we haven't had any power cu...
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- Peter, Leeds, 15/02/2009 15:30
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lots of differences between then and now im afraid,we did not have the racial tensions then which we have now,society was lead by polititians who were educated individuals and not the imbiciles we have now,the population was full of youth and now we have more pensioners than young people ,we had universities which were still credible institutions and degrees which were worth the paper they were printed on,we had polytechnics which had credible qualifications,we had O levels and A levels and CSE's which were credible bits of paper,banks were credible institutions,You could still buy made a made to measure suit at Burtons.The list is infinite,1973 is nothing like 2009 this is the worst situation in many hundreds of years,wait and see.Noone has any answers because man has lost his soul to the cause of money.The problem is money is a fiction lodged in the brains of us all.Im pleased that this has come to past ,we can all start againand you know what noone has any answers to this one.Its like the big one which at some point will break san francisco.
- Bernard Michaelis, kulmbach germany, 14/02/2009 10:42
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nice article - ah those heady days (the year I bought my first single!) - the good thing is we survived 1973 so hopefully we will do the same in 2009. Though the interesting thing is people's expectation - somewhat less inflated in the 1970's n'est pas.
- Jc, se1, 13/02/2009 18:42
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