Soundtrack to your studies - 1970

Back in 1967, the era of the six o’clock swill had finally come to an end and bars were allowed to open until 10pm. Up until that time, musicians had usually played in coffee lounges, cabarets, and halls. The map of the 1970 capping pub crawl shows the bars that were in the vicinity of the university at the time and some of these became important spots for students to watch live music - particularly the Kiwi Tavern and the Globe.

New Zealand’s first multi-day music festival Redwood 70 was held at a campground near Swanson. The line-up was made up of pop stars from the C’Mon TV show and the headliner was Robin Gibb from the Bee-gees, which didn’t suit the audience who were expecting to attend their own local version of Woodstock. When Gibb reacted with shock to someone running onto the stage, the crowd lost respect for him and pelted the stage with cans and rubbish. 

The music at that year’s music awards didn’t match the burgeoning counter-culture either. The solo winner was pop star Craig Scott with his ‘Let's Get A Little Sentimental,’ while the group award was won by joke skiffle group Hogsnort Rupert's Original Flagon Band with ‘Pretty Girl.’ 

1970 was also the year that The Fourmyula released their enduring classic ‘Nature’ and John Rowles broke into the US Billboard charts with ‘Cheryl Moana Marie.’

The most popular international album in New Zealand that year was most likely Simon and Garfunkel’s 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. Here they are playing an earlier hit ‘Miss Robinson’ during a show in 1970.

What was on the turntable while you were on campus? Suggest songs to add to our 1970s playlist, and you could win $100 Flying Out voucher.