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Kindergarten cards


As a young, music-loving teenager, I turned to the radio like every teenager of my era. Music television was still a year or two away during my first couple years of adolescence and the radio was all we had.

For music, it was FM only, of course. Where I lived, we had three choices for popular music:

WAAL, "The Whale," played rock. The Doors, Styx, AC/DC and newer groups like The Fixx and Zebra. The first time I ever heard U2 was on WAAL. The Whale still exists and it's still playing the same music. Only now it's called "Classic Rock".

WMRV played "middle of the road" music. Most of the pop music on the charts at the time, that wasn't too rockin', aired on WMRV. Hall and Oates, Stevie Wonder, Sheena Easton. This was the station that played in the orthodontist office. It was also my first regular listening station, until I got tired of Kenny Rogers and Kool and the Gang.

WWWE, "Three W E," was the best station. It played a combination of the previously mentioned stations and it was the most teenage-friendly. I heard the Talking Heads, Blondie and Thomas Dolby on WWWE. They weren't afraid of pop, rock or new wave. It was my favorite station. Unfortunately, the reception wasn't great sometimes.

To me, those three radio stations contained everything music could be. A vast array of genres and sounds. My music world was actually pretty tiny in retrospect, considering the availability of all possibilities of music today. But I look upon it fondly and am happy I grew up at that time.

It bothers me when I read or hear younger people -- some maybe only 10 or 15 years younger than me -- take jabs at this era. I am a child of the '70s. I must defend it.

I loathe the term "yacht rock". Hate it. I know this is terribly defensive of me, but that's the way I feel. Some people my age have embraced the term and have used it as an opportunity to share why they like the music lumped into that category. However, I tend to think of it as a phrase developed by snarky younger people who don't understand the music time period from which they are hand-selecting songs as "yacht rocky" and are looking at it from their current musical perspective.

Yes, lots of music was "softer" at the time. It was the west coast sound, and a term I prefer much more than "yacht rock" (If Christopher Cross never wrote "Sailing" would that term even exist?). But to stereotype music from this period annoys me. I don't think Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan -- two bands that are often lumped into "yacht rock" -- are alike at all, but people are letting their knowledge about music from the last 20 years, harder-edged music that tends to be more cutting or angry, color their opinions about past music. Sorry we were having a good time in the '70s, folks. Sorry we weren't miserable all the time.

Even though I'd never say music from the '70s is the best ever made. I appreciate it for what it is and the atmosphere in which it was made. I know about '70s music A LOT. (My recent post using the lyrics from a John Paul Young song shows that. Few people knew the song and I knew that would happen). And I can appreciate the sappiness from Randy VanWarmer just as much as "London Calling". To me, every year of the '70s is unique from a music perspective.

And I would say the same thing about '70s baseball cards (and you thought I'd never get here).

Younger people who didn't experience the '70s like to lump the '70s cards together as "those '70s cards, those weirdly bright cards of players just standing around, from just Topps and no other card company." There is so much more to them than that.

I recently received some 1970 Topps cards from Bo of Baseball Cards Come to Life! It's a set I'm slowly collecting -- although I need to get '73 Topps out of the way before I seriously consider '70.


I call these "kindergarten cards" because the '70 Topps set came out when I was in kindergarten. This Roy White card was the first non-Dodger card from the set I ever owned. Having known White only with an Afro and often a mustache, this was a strange and mysterious card.

But it speaks to the time. In 1970, players had short hair and big glasses. They looked much different in 1970 than they did in 1979 and that's why you can't lump the years together. Nobody in 1970 knew what disco or punk rock was.


In 1970, Bob Moose was alive and pitching. By the end of the decade he was no longer with us. See? Not the same. That's a whole 10 years we are talking about there. So many changes over the span of 10 years.



To me, 1970 Topps is distinctive from all of the other Topps sets from that decade because -- well, duh, the gray borders -- but also because it's not really a '70s set at all.

It features photos taken in 1969. The design is as minimalist and simple as Topps design from the second half of the 1960s. The bright blue-and-yellow backs fit perfectly into the '60s. It is a '60s set masquerading as a '70s set.


Here, look, people were still writing on their cards with the 1970 set. That's definitely a trait from the '60s (and earlier). The 1970s, not so much as collectors slowly became aware of the value of their cards during the course of the '70s.



Each 1970s Topps set is distinctive. There is almost no way to mix them up. And I like that I can associate a different grade in school with each set:

1970: kindergarten
1971's black borders: that's first grade
1972's psychedelic tombstones: that's second grade
1973's silhouettes and awkward action: third grade
1974's pennant flags: fourth grade
1975's two-tone color extravaganza: fifth grade (and collecting on the playground)
1976's little position guy: sixth grade
1977's bold team names and flags: seventh grade
1978's script names and classy design: eighth grade
1979's banners: ninth grade


I didn't know what a baseball card was in 1970. Wouldn't have any idea what it was for another couple of years. But by the end of the decade, I was deeply entrenched. I had started going to card shows. I knew about cards you could find in cereal boxes and with snack food. I was a totally different person.



I mean, come on, Tommy John was a White Sox and then a Dodger and then a Yankee during the decade. Three distinctive teams and periods!



Sparky a Red Sox pitcher? Wasn't he a Yankee? Yeah, both of those happened in the same decade.



I guess what I'm saying is that every art form -- whether it's music or baseball cards or whatever -- has its own nuances and characteristics and labeling them -- especially in a snide manner -- is a dangerous game.

Sure, there are similarities. If I listen closely, I can tell that "Minute by Minute" by the Doobie Brothers has something in common with "Lotta Love" by Nicolette Larson or "Biggest Part of Me" by Ambrosia. And, yes, some of the music from the '70s and early '80s ("yacht rock" has to paint-brush the early '80s, too), is cringe-inducing. When songs like "Key Largo" started playing on WMRV, I turned the station off. Immediately.

But to dismiss them as songs that only preppy sweater-wearers would play as they partied on their boat is a disservice to the music of the time. Every musical time period has their shared characteristics. I can see them in the late '90s and I can see them in music today. Some of it I don't like at all. But I don't like dismissive labels that marginalize art. Even if people claim they're doing it in a loving manner.


Every era of music or cards has its good moments and bad moments, but within those moments are characteristics that make each individual, whether it's a musician or writer or a baseball card, unique. "Yacht rock" connects the dots between Boz Scaggs and Robert Palmer. But honestly, I was happier when I hadn't made that connection and had enjoyed their stuff on their own merits.

The way I do with baseball cards.

(P.S.: I've been known to label some periods of '90s cards. I'll try to stop doing that).

Comments

Jafronius said…
I'm a big fan of songs lumped into "Yacht Rock". Whenever I listen to the station on Amazon Music, the first song is always Toto's "Africa", and I always think "how can the first song not be "Sailing"?" The second song is almost always Michael Jackson's "Rock With You". And now you know more about Amazon Music's "Yacht Rock" station than you ever wanted to.
karsal said…
Excellent post. I really respect and appreciate how you recognize the importance of music in our lives. I tell everybody that "every song has a memory attached to it". Thanks.
Jeremya1um said…
Christopher Cross is a great songwriter/singer. Anyone who can be on acid and write something as good as ‘Ride like the Wind’ deserves lots of credit.
Your ‘70’s cards are kind of like my ‘90’s cards. I think every generation thinks their teenage years contained the best music/baseball cards, but I think your generations baseball cards and music definitely rank as some of the top ones.
Old Cards said…
I came here for the cards, not the music. Really like these 1970 cards with good clear pictures of the players standing around. Agree this year is more like 60's cards, which is why they appeal to me so much.
Bo said…
I had never heard the term "yacht rock" before this post. I also think of 1970 as the last 1960s set, mostly for the cardstock. In 1971 you had the switch to the cardstock that would be the same one used through '91. The cards just feel different in your hands. Thanks again for the trade!
Fuji said…
My brother hooked me up with the Christopher Cross album last year. I always though it was my mom and sister who got me to like that album as a kid, but now I'm wondering if it was my 70's rock loving brother. Anyways... I've listened to that album at least twice in the past six months. As for Fleetwood Mac, they're one of my favorite groups of all-time. Just like baseball cards, I enjoy a wide range of music. One day I'm interested in autographs and A Tribe Called Quest... the next day I'm collecting rookie cards and listening to The Cure... and the day after that I'm looking for 70's Kellogg's while listening to Van Halen.

By the way... my kindergarten cards were 1977 Topps Star Wars cards.
I had never heard the term "yacht rock" until this post. I also don't know who John Paul Young is. But I do know who John Paul Jones and Angus Young are. Does that count?
Matt said…
You stopped your list just short of my "Kindergarten cards" - 1980. Never heard of "yacht rock" before this post either.
CaptKirk42 said…
Never heard of "Yacht Rock". Heard of 1960s "Surf Music" which the Beach Boys were kings of w/ Jan & Dean and I forget who else was part of that bunch. I guess the Surfin' Tunes were the pre-cursor to '70s "Yacht Rock"?
Big League said…
Yacht rock is a term I heard for the first time a couple years ago. Sirius XM even had a temporary station playing only that type of music. It had Ambrosia songs, maybe 10cc, and others.
AdamE said…
I am glad I read the comments and found out I wasn't the only one who never heard of yacht rock. While I never heard of John Paul Young I at least heard of all all the other musicians/groups you mentioned and some of them are things I listen to all the time.
BaseSetCalling said…
The 70s were the peak of perfection of everything Analog. The baseball cards are all warmly lit, and I don't mean just because baseball is played outdoors in the sunshine. Digital photos are all too often not warm while being perhaps overly lit up at times.

In music, the 1970s had the greatest recordings of the drums, ever. Even on any given Adult Mellow composition you might not care to hear coming through the elevator speakers for 1,099th time in your life, those drums on there are _crisp_

The 80s had plenty of good stuff too, but the digital stuff started creepin' in to everything.
JGreen said…
Great blog! I am about one year older than you based on your school breakdown. I also remember the cards based on the year of school I was in at the time. The 70s were a great decade for music and cards. I guess I am getting old but I long for those simple years over today's Rap & Hip Hop as well as chrome refractors and autographed numbered cards.

By the way, I did not know about baseball cards until the first grade when a kid was giving some to his friends. He refused to give me any. I knew at that point that I had to get some of these cards. That creep started me on a life long hobby that has lasted over 50 years now. Good things often come from bad experiences and 70s cards are my favorites as well as my MP3 player being populated with 70s tunes.
bbcardz said…
Count me as another who's never heard of the term "yacht rock". It's funny but around here it seems lots of young people really like 70's and especially 80's music. And you'd be surprised how many of them can be seen wearing Pink Floyd and even Beatles t-shirts. Apparently 70's is still extremely popular. The Rolling Stones will be performing at the Rose Bowl in May, Santana and the Doobie Brothers will be at the Hollywood Bowl in June, and Heart (plus Joan Jett and opening act Elle King) will also be the Hollywood Bowl in September. (Not to mention the Who at the Hollywood Bowl in October!) Classic stuff, just like the cards of the 70's.
defgav said…
I grew up with my mom playing the "easy listening" station in the car most days, and have a soft spot for a lot of those tunes. I also love the Channel 101 Yacht Rock videos, available on YouTube, which are like short (~5 min) mockumentaries.. highly recommended for fans of smooth music and silliness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMTI8vg7A5U&list=PLC27051327121F1BC
acrackedbat said…
this post hit home again, as so many of yours do. Music and baseball cards are the perfect blend of relaxation these days. I have a 5 disc player in my hobby room currently stacked with nothing but discs from the Time/Life Sounds of the 70s series. I sorted through the entire playlist yesterday. (I picture a stoned Jimmy Buffet any time I hear the term "Yacht Rock".) I have a greater appreciation for 70s Topps these days too. 1971 has been my least favorite of the decade but feel a bit differently now. Seeing this set as a transitory one changed my whole perspective. While it will never be my favorite, I suddenly have a need to own a Sparky Lyle and Bob Moose to keep my Timmy McCarver company.