The Great 70s Project: 1979

Looking back, the three years between the disco and pop oriented sounds of 1976 and the majestic jumble of influences that fill 1979 are a huge gulf. By 1979, disco was on it’s last legs, punk had firmly given airtime to what we now think of as new wave and the pop music of the day was about as strong as it had been since 1975.

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“Dear Mr. Le Bon…” – crowdfunding campaign

A few years ago, a couple of pensioners from Bournemouth – home of the mighty prog band Big Big Train – embarked on an unusual hobby.  They began to write to musicians, questioning their song lyrics.  It all began in 2008, when Wilf Turnbull and Derek Philpott decided to write to Simon Le Bon, stating that other animals besides wolves experienced hunger and it was perhaps wrong for Duran Duran to single out our lupine chums.

The whole thing snowballed.  Soon, their project became a fully functioning website, with replies from Gary Numan, Toyah Willcox, Steve Dawson (ex-Saxon), Billy Bragg and many, many others.

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