CAN YOU TRACK A SOUND, DOCTOR? NO...?

Y'know, I'm quite partial to the original motion picture soundtrack of the first JAMES BOND movie, Dr. NO.  Although I didn't acquire it 'til around 1973 or '74, it reminds me just as much of the '60s as it does the '70s, which you might think is no big deal considering when it was first released.  There's more to it than that however, and let me try and explain just what I think it is, in the unlikely event you might be remotely interested.

First of all, I was only a young teenager in the early '70s, and to me at least, the stylish differences between the two decades weren't all that obvious to me.  This was because there were still many '60s cars on the roads, and, certainly where adults were concerned, clothes fashions were pretty much the same.  My grandparents still dressed in clothes that could have come from the '30s to the '50s, and my parents' apparel was much as it had always been since as far back as I was capable of remembering.

Another aspect that helped dull the differences between the decades was the fact that, right up until the late '70s, the furniture in our house had graced our three previous houses since 1960, and mainly dated from the '50s (and perhaps even from before I was born).  As this was 'the norm' for me, my childhood and teenage years seemed to take place in an unchanging, ageless environment, where the dividing lines between the decades didn't really exist.  They might well have for others of course, but not to me.  (It would be interesting to know if my friends from the period considered my house (and room) decidedly old-fashioned, or accepted it as normal in the same way that I did.)

So, because the accoutrements of my bedroom in the '70s didn't reflect the style of the times, it was as if I operated in a timeless bubble that was immune to the changing fashions of the passing years.  I've probably overstated the case in order to make the point, but that's why, whenever I listen to that Dr. No soundtrack, I have a real sense of the '60s around me, and associate it as much with the decade it first appeared as the one in which I first heard it.

Is there something in your life that reminds you of an earlier time than the one in which you first acquired or experienced it, or do you think I'm merely babbling like a lunatic?  If the former, feel free to express yourself in the comments section.

Posted in: Cartoons