Dick's Pick
of the 70s
To mark his appearance in Supernatural's '70s spin-off, Fanworld asked Rich for his picks of the decade.
Music
"Dean says any music made after 1979 sucks ass."
- Jack, Supernatural 1416, "Don't Go into the Woods"
One of my favourite albums from the 1970s was one of the first albums ever given to me as a gift. My Uncle Walter gave it to me on my 10th birthday. The band was Foreigner and the album was "Double Vision". Not only did I love the music, I thought it was hilariously awesome that one of the band members on the cover was wearing a full length fur coat. Even as a little kid, that struck me as a really badass, audacious move.
Thanks to my Dad, I also grew up loving the album by The Outlaws - that's Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessie Coulter and Tompall Glasser. Every single song on that record is a classic. I even covered the Willie Nelson track "Me and Paul" on my Dick Jr. & The Volunteers record "The Dance and How to Do It."
Waylon Jennings - Henry Horenstein
Television
"Oh no, those movies were terrible. The TV Hulk."
- Kathy , Supernatural "Changing Channels"
"Happy Days", "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Six Million Dollar Man," and the original "Incredible Hulk" with Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby were all mainstays in the Speight home.
​
Supernatural and The Dukes of Hazzard are distant cousins. Both focus on the adventures of a brace of handsome guys with a familial bond and a badass muscle car. It's a connection Supernatural has acknowledged - from Dean revealing in 1113, "Love Hurts", that his deepest, darkest desire is Daisy Duke, to episode 1517, "Last Call", which features Dean posing as an Agent Dukes and duetting with Christian Kane on "Good Ol' Boys", the iconic theme song by The Outlaws' Waylon Jennings, whose voice appeared on every episode as The Balladeer. Jennings would eventually appear on screen in Dukes in the season episode "Welcome, Waylon Jennings."
Farrah Fawcett and Lee Majors - Getty images
Movies
"What, no severed horse head?"
Dean Winchester references "The Godfather", "My Heart Will Go On"
Keep in mind, I didn’t actually see these movies in the '70’s because I was too young. But whatever. The 1970’s are heralded as the Golden Age of American Cinema for good reason. Here are some faves…
“Being There” - Peter Sellers was a genius and magnificent in every movie he was ever in. This is such a departure from his comedies. It blew me away and broke my heart while also being oddly uplifting.
“Chinatown” - Robert Towne’s script is held up in Syd Fields’s book on screenwriting as THE screenplay. Unique, suspenseful and tight as a drum. Oh, and Jack Nicholson vs John Huston. I mean COME ON.
“Marathon Man” - Dustin Hoffman. Laurence Olivier. Enough said.
You can’t talk about movies from the 1970’s without talking about John Cazale. He made five films in seven years, all nominated for Best Picture Oscars: “The Godfather” (1972), “The Conversation” (1974), “The Godfather Part II” (1974), “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975), and “The Deer Hunter” (1978). Both of the Godfather films and “The Deer Hunter” won. He shot “The Deer Hunter” while dying of cancer, dying before it’s release.
His girlfriend, Meryl Streep, was by his side until the end. His best friend Al Pacino, who starred in three movies and three plays with him, said, “John Cazale, in general, was one of the great actors of our time — that time, any time. I learned so much from him. I had done a lot of theater and three films with him. He was inspiring, he just was.”
If you aren’t familiar with John’s films, do yourself a favor and watch them, in order if you can. There are only five, and each is a masterpiece, with John putting on a clinic in each and every scene he graces.
Style Icon
"Jimi, Janis, Jim Morrison, Amen."
- Carlos, The Winchesters pilot
John Cazale and Meryl Streep - Margaret Herrick Library
Jimi Hendrix - Linda McCartney
Gosh, so hard to say. Everytime I see a band playing in the '70s, I'm like 'Oh my God, I wish I'd been that guy, that bass-player, in that band, at that moment.'
Or, y'know you see those black and white photos of the coolest people in whatever industry, all sitting around? Steve McQueen lounging around with someone, and you're like 'Good Lord, look at all that polyester and those neck scarves - those outfits are astonishing!"
And I loved Hendrix's look, but that was its own thing - the Nehru collar, crazy huge hair, slip on boots, feather jackets. Just bananas.
Late '60s and early '70s was an era I was fascinated with, because I was a little boy in the '70s, so my images of my father are as that hipster dad with the sideburns. He was an attorney , so it wasn't like he was a hippy, but even the conservative guys back then wore those matching plaid suits and sideburns. I mean, it was just an awesome era for fashion.
​
I just think, overall, honestly? My fashion icon, my style icon, was probably my Dad. Because, when I was a little kid, that's who I saw dressing in that '70s way.
I still have a pair of his boots, by the way. He said he bought them in the late '60s. They're such a '60s/'70s pair of zip up boots; calf high, leather. And they're just amazing. And I admired those boots; I'd go to his closet and look at those boots. He never wore them anymore in the '80s/'90s, but I kept looking at them, because he never got rid of them. And the second I went to college, I took 'em! And actually, as soon as I started playing in bands in high school, I wore them every show. And I also wore the shirt that I stole from my Dad. It was a frog making the peace sign - a cartoon homage to The Doors' song "Peace Frog." He bought it in 1971, and I still have it today.
Even as a conservative southern lawyer, my Dad was rockin' a style - those super cool boots, optic green pants, crazy colored blazers, fat neckties, wide shirt collars and bitching sideburns, I gotta say, my fashion icon was definitely Richard Speight, Sr.
