I was 20 and 21 years old in 1976.

I was suffering from a physical ailment called Labrynthitis in 1976. I'd never heard of the ailment, but having spent months with dizziness and vertigo, doctors finally, (after an exhaustive battery of tests), came to the conclusion that Labrynthitis was my problem.

Television was still great as was newer music, but the big '70s blast that came to fruition around 1971, came to a head by 1976. The shock waves of revolution and innovation were quieting to a ripple. Repurcussions over Watergate and Vietnam led to a massive distrust in the U.S. government. Discourse over the government's handling of the economy, social welfare, and environment furthered this mistrust. The Punk Rock movement was in full swing, as was Disco.

Aside from this, great music was still being created, recorded and performed. A haunting ballad by Janis Ian "At Seventeen" was incredible. It seemed only popular with the girls, but I thought it was one of the best songs ever written. The Eagles released "Hotel California" and managed to latch onto the ultimately popular Joe Walsh on guitar. Peter Frampton came alive, and every teeny bopper in the world seemed to fall in love with him.

Rich Man, Poor Man

1976 did bring us one of television's finest moments in the epic mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man". The show made stars out of Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte. It was a great movie and spawned a sequel in 1978 titled "Rich Man, Poor Man Book II". Both series' highly elevated the character actor status of actor William Smith who played the iconic supervillain "Falconetti". Though the sequel wasn't as good, it was engaging. The original "Rich Man, Poor Man" is still excellent, and watching it in its entirety is time well spent.

PONG!

Soon after I'd turned 21, I discovered, in my favorite hangout Pub 205, a wierd game played on table tops called Pong. The screen served as part of the table top with glass covering it for safety. My friends and I were wildly fascinated by the "booop" sound it made as a blip bounced across a black screen. Ping Pong was the game, only it was played with controls instead of paddles. How Tech! The space age had arrived. Pong was great! Soon, it would be available for home televisions from Atari. However, the earlier versions were reputed to burn out television screens.

AAAAGGGHHH! Disco Duck!

What the heck happened to this country?!

For a rock and rolling young guy like me, the most frightening world event happened in 1976: Disco had arrived. "Disco," was short for "discotheque", and when it burst fully onto the scene, it was extremely popular. Though disco slowly emerged earlier in the '70s, the release of Paramount Pictures' "Saturday Night Fever" was a signal for all young men and women to put on their "dancing shoes." Disco was for me, awful.

Unlike mainstream rock, disco didn't rely on lead guitars for soloing. Instead it used synthesizers, programming, and strong regimented drum beats. Even bass guitars would solo! Moreover, disco wasn't original; it was stolen from earlier '70s soul music which by far had more class. Disco T shirts with slogans like Death to Disco! were sold in mass quantities.

Punk Rock & New Wave

I truly hated punk rock, and saw no value in it whatsoever. Punk was the new rage, but like disco, it wasn't for me. I remember my first experiences with the strange new world of Punk Rock. At first, I saw it as a sort stupid flash-in-the-pan that would evaporate as quickly as it came to light. Oh, how wrong I was; it burst onto the scene like a bomb.

Soon, the safety pin and razor blade world of punk was mega-popular, and a slew of new bands burst onto the scene. One in particular that managed to make a fair impression on me wasThe Clash. They were tolerable, and their album "London Calling" had a few songs I liked. It wasn't long before Punk gave birth to an offshoot known as "New Wave" which was a cleaned up version of punk that dominated the later '70s and '80s. As punk branched off into the evolving New Wave, the music became something more elite. Acts like Blondie, The Cars, Gary Numan, David Werner, and The Ramones made a huge splash onto the '70s music scene. New Wave created in itself, a counter-culture made up of a careful balance of punk, techno, and mainstream rock that found its strength in '80s.

Helter Skelter

In 1976 television gave us one powerful version of Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry's best-seller "Helter Skelter". Several movies have been made on those events (all of them inferior), but this made-for-television version should be a template on how to produce a shocking true crime mini-series. The movie was excellent from start to finish, and captured the feeling of not only those August events, but the feeling of 1969. "Helter Skelter" was shown in two parts and was able—with a nearly 3-hour run time—to deeply explore the events of that horrible August of 1969. The lead role was played with serious conviction by actor Steve Railsback. The soundtrack Beatle tunes are all covered by an imitator band, but were effective just the same.

Happy Birthday America.

New Year's Eve of 1975-76 was the most robust New Year's Eve celebration I can remember. I'd stayed up with some friends listening to Paul McCartney and Wings' exclusive 3-record set "Wings Over America. The concert exemplifies what Paul McCartney is capable of on stage, and that in Wings, he lives again as a both a solo Beatle and solo artist. The album is a magificent portfolio of past Beatles and Wings tunes performed reverently, faithfully and at times, vigorously.