Nostalgia: Growing Up In Australia in the 70s Quiz

Answer: Cassette Tape

"Countdown" (1974-1987) was one of the most popular television shows on Australian television and by far the most popular Australian music program of the 20th century. It was broadcast by the national broadcaster so it reached even the most remote parts of the country. Hosted by Ian "Molly" Meldrum, it featured music videos (innovative at the time) and lip-synched "Live" acts. If you wanted to get a hit record in Australia, all you needed to do was get onto "Countdown". The show, through its commitment to Australian content was instrumental in raising awareness of little-known Australian bands amidst the plethora of overseas acts. Skyhooks and Supernaut are two local acts that owe their success to appearing on "Countdown" early in their career.

Portable cassette recorders were not meant to replace reel-to reel tapes (music format of choice in the early 70s); they were meant to be used for dictation. Yet the cassette tape proved both compact, cheap and robust and, with the portable recorder an ideal way to play a music in a portable format, (Who cares if it did not have the musical quality of vinyl?), it was very common to tape music from the TV on blank tapes (illegally!) to be play back whenever one wanted to.

Answer: "All My Loving"

"Young Talent Time" (1971-1988) was a popular talent quest type program featuring young performers singing contemporary songs belonging to other acts. The show was hosted by Johnny Young (b. 1944), who had a string of hits in the mid-late 60s including The Beatles' "All My Loving" (1964) which Young crooned rather than sang.

It was this song that closed all 804 episodes of the show. The show was shown on the 0/10 network on a Sunday evening and was seen as a family show. The careers of Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena were launched as a result of their time as young performers on "Young Talent Time".

Answer: Yo-Yo

The Yo-Yo had a resurgence in the late 60s world-wide after a version of this toy had been known since Ancient Greek days. The trend did not take off in Australia until the early 70s. A key attribute of the latest generation of the yo-yo was the ability for the yo-yo to "sleep". To make the yo-yo sleep, one had to make the yo-yo spin at the end of its string (without returning) while the player then performed tricks with the string such as "walk the dog", "around the world" and "rock the baby", the latter a very complex maneuver that I, for one, never could master.

Answer: Holden cars

Holden was the leading car maker in the country in Australia and the brand was seen as quintessentially Australian (even though it was a subsidiary of the American General Motors). In the mid-seventies, Holden released a television and radio advertisement with a catchy jingle - "We love football, meat pies kangaroos and Holden cars". Every kid knew this jingle and it was as well known as any popular tune from the popular rock groups of the day. Sales skyrocketed but it wasn't until a few years ago (playing fun trivia of course), that I found out, the jingle was lifted from an American GM stable mate's advertising campaign called "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet". (No wonder we questioned "Holden cars" and not just "Holden" - Oh, the shame, the shame).

Answer: NASA space station that re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and crashed in Western Australia

Skylab was the first American space station. It orbited earth from 1973 to 1979. It was maintained by three separate manned crews who were flown from earth to repair the station as well as conduct experiments. The station was supposed to last much longer than it did but the space shuttle program was delayed. One of the consequences of this, was that necessary maintenance of the space station did not occur in time so the space station re-entered the earth's atmosphere causing it to break up. NASA scientists tried to get the debris of the space station to land in the ocean 1300kms south east of Cape Town, but there was a chance the debris could land in Australia.

This it did, but in a remote location near Esperance in Western Australia. With some jingoism and more than a little tongue in cheek, the Esperance Shire fined NASA $400 for littering. (The fine was paid thirty years later by a US radio host who raised the funds from listener pledges). While we young Australians were all a bit worried, (We had read "Day of the Triffids" (1952) in high school), we were still a bit excited. One school boy who found 24 pieces of Skylab near his house was flown by a Philadelphia man to San Francisco where the boy claimed a $10,000 prize for delivering part of Skylab to their offices.

Answer: Every shop closed at noon and did not re-open until Monday

Until shopping hours were deregulated in the 1970s (four states still have some regulatory restrictions on shopping hours), all major shops and supermarkets used to close at noon on Saturday and re-open on Monday. Small "corner-shops" were allowed to stay open, but service stations were closed with a roster to allow only a few places allowed to sell fuel until Monday.

There were no digital cameras in the 70s. You had to get your film developed at the chemist who sent it to a film company for processing. It might have taken up to a week to get your photos back only to find your photos were too dark because you did not turn on the flash.

Answer: Ted Mulry Gang

Beginning in 1970, the third wave of Australian Rock Music was born. After the first wave from 1955-63 where the home-grown product was influenced heavily by American acts, the second wave 1964-1970, was very Beatles influenced. The third wave was grounded in pub rock - a genre where aspiring bands would play in pubs and similar venues hoping to get enough attention to earn a recording contract.

This was the first era where Australians started believing their own music was as good as the international acts. Groups like Skyhooks, Sherbet, Hush and AC/DC all started as pub bands.

The Ted Mulry gang was no exception. Ted Mulry himself was a known singer songwriter who had had a couple of middle of the road hits, but who teemed up a drummer and two guitarists including Les Hall to form a hard rock band. "Jump in My Car" was their first and biggest hit in 1975.

It told the misogynist story of a young man who offered to drive a young lady home in exchange for something, but the offer was rescinded when she lived "Down South, It's roughly 85 miles".

Its political incorrectness did not stop the song staying at Number 1 for six weeks. (N.B. The words, "misogynist" and "political correctness" whilst not unknown in the 70s, were rarely used to describe anything, let alone contemporary music.)

Answer: One third of a pint

In 1950 the federal Australian government passed a bill which ensured that all primary school children each received a bottle of milk in the early part of the school day. In Queensland, the implementation was delayed because of concerns over the non-refrigeration of the milk in a hot climate.

In the end the scheme was introduced Australia-wide with unrefrigerated milk by 1953. School kids who were subjected to the milk ritual, had mixed feelings about drinking such milk. Personally I had no qualms (I was a milk monitor which meant I had to go to the tuckshop to pick up 30 bottles of milk in a metal crate for my class.

This task meant I could sneak an extra bottle of milk, performing said task and, as it was picked up just before school started.

It was colder than at the designated drinking period, which, in Queensland was called "little lunch"). Getting the lid off the milk was a challenge. It was of metal foil construction and required deft skills. I preferred the thumb-jam technique which was expressly forbidden.

It was here I learnt the art of discretion. The scheme was stopped in 1973 (my last year of primary school).

Answer: A new form of ice treat

A Sunnyboy was a flavored ice-block in a distinctive tetrahedral shape packaged in a, (revolutionary new) tetra-pack. These treats were a favorite with schoolkids not just because they were cheap. Sunnyboy referred particularly to the orange flavour but the term was used to cover the product range including the other three flavours: Glug (cola). Zap (lime) and Razz (raspberry). Pow (Pineapple) flavour was available in the 70s but was short-lived. Sunnyboys are still available forty years later, but they are now rather passé compared with the more sophisticated ice-blocks on the market today. Sunnyboys (with an "s") were a popular post punk Australian rock band, named after the Sunnyboy.

They formed in Sydney in 1980, and are best known for their hit single, "Alone with You" (1981).

Answer: It's Time

The 1972 campaign for the Australian Labor Party was built around two things: The power of Gough Whitlam as the leader and orator and the "It's Time" campaign. With the latter, the catchphrase was seeded in the everyday fabric of Australians long before the official campaign began in October 1972. The campaign featured a song which was televised as an advertisement. The people who sang in the song were all notable Australians: Bert Newton, Jimmy Hannan, Judy Stone, Col Joye, Little Pattie and Barry Crocker to name a few. The policy promises that underpinned the campaign included: withdrawing troops from Vietnam, a universal medical insurance scheme and massive education and social justice reforms. The ALP was elected in on 2nd December 1972, unprecedented and turbulent change followed but three years later, the government was sacked controversially by the Governor-General on 11th November 1975.

Answer: Mountain bikes with 21 gears

Wheelie bikes took off in the early 70s. These were new types of bikes with banana seats, sissy bars, 20 inch rather than 26, 27 or 28 inch tyres and often a three speed gearing system with the lever mounted on the crossbar rather than the handlebars.

The English Raleigh Chopper design was popular but not as popular as the Australian made Speedwell or Malvern Star Dragster. The more adventurous boys used to modify their bikes to have higher sissy bars and / or handlebars. Most girls' bikes were content to have flower-patterned seats and baskets with the ubiquitous streamers hanging from the end of the handlebars as an essential option. And can you please tell me who did not, at least once, peg playing cards to the spokes of their wheels to make a clacking sound that was meant to represent a motorbike exhaust rumble? These types of bicycles were replaced by the BMX (Bicycle Motorcross) bikes of the 80s.

Answer: "Life. Be In It "

The "Life. Be in it" media campaign was firstly a Victorian state government initiative (1975) and later, in 1977 became a national program to increase physical activity of Australians by participating more in "life". The campaign was centred around an animated character called Norm, a "normal" Australian Couch Potato with a beer belly. Norm arose from the couch and encouraged us participate in a wide range of physical activities such as walking, throwing a frisbee, playing cricket all to the tune called "Be in it today, live more of your life".

This campaign was highly successful. Federal funding ended in 1981 but the program was continued in association with state governments and associated public health stakeholders.

Answer: Reef Coconut Oil

In the 70s we were more worried about getting a tan than a melanoma.(Unfortunately far too many Australians have succumbed to melanoma with Australia having the dubious title of Melanoma Capital of the World). Nevertheless, when at the beach we coated ourselves with coconut oil hoping to get a tan without sunburn. We were oblivious to SPF (Sun Protection Factor) ratings of these products. (Regulation of Sunscreen effectiveness was not implemented until the early 2000s). Today you can get the same product in SPF 15 and SPF 30+ but you can also get the same product without any SPF properties at all.

Even today the smell of coconut reminds me of the beach, not food.

Answer: "Number 96"

"Number 96" (1972-1977) was an Australian peak-time soap opera centred around the inhabitants of a block of eight apartments in Sydney. The show was considered groundbreaking because it depicted nudity and story lines included sex scenes. This was considered risque in the extreme but television viewers loved the show even if the critics hated it. For five years it was the most talked about show on television but few kids were ever allowed to watch it.

The show rescued the 0/10 television network from bankruptcy. "The Box" (1974-77) was another popular night time soap opera set in a TV station using the same populist elements that made "Number 96" so popular.

Answer: World Series Cricket

World Series Cricket turned the cricket establishment upside down in Australia between 1977 and 1979. It was all due to one man - Kerry Packer. The change was instigated by two issues: Australian Test Cricketers being underpaid by the Australian Cricket Board and TV rights. Kerry Packer owned the national Channel Nine Network. All TV stations were required to have a set percentage of Australian content. Live sporting matches counted towards that quota. Colour television, first seen in Australia in March 1975 made watching sport on television a much more attractive proposition. Packer tendered for the cricket rights but they were re-assigned by the Australian Cricket Board to the national broadcaster for a much more modest sum, in part for loyalty in screening cricket when it wasn't viewer popular.

This infuriated Packer who subsequently, secretly contracted most of the (underpaid) Australian and West Indian test players as well as enough international test cricketers to make up a third "test" side.

The results were astounding. Packer had single-handedly wrested control of Australian Cricket from the establishment into the control of a single entrepreneur. The new style of cricket was a success. "Supertests" were popular but one day cricket was hugely successful. The project lost money but the ACB floundered. In 1979 there was a compromise which saw the television rights go to Channel Nine for ten years. The legacy of World Series Cricket is night matches, drop-in pitches, coloured uniforms, one day limited over cricket matches and enormous technological improvements in television broadcasting.