Like every Rangers supporter still attending the games today, I still feel a tremendous buzz about going to the games. I still enjoy meeting friends I've made, talking about our week, our worries, our woes. I can honestly say that I haven‘t regretted or been jealous of anyone - until the subject of 1972 came up!
As a 60's baby, I can still recall a little of the excitement of the day, the buzz of the good half of Scotland wanting the bears to win the ECWC. The neutrals wishing them well, and the other lot wishing us defeat (unlike a few Bears in 1967 as I understand it) How different to the mood in Scotland today towards the Rangers and the support.
I remember as a schoolboy telling fibs about how many games I had attended, how many you were allowed to go to on your own, and some of the (made up) sights you had seen!
And then it dawned on me. I was, still am and forever will be, jealous of not being old enough to go to the Nou Camp that marvellous day on May 24th 1972. I was actually jealous of each and every bear who had been there.
I envied them their tales of daring do, of bears going to Barcelona and not coming back for years. Of bears using planes trains and automobiles to get to Spain. The men who made it their mission to get to Barcelona as a personal homage to the fallen and injured of that dreadful day on January 2nd 1971. Like many bears of my era and younger, I have delved many times into the history of the games, the scorers and the venues. Discovering how eight of the famous Barcelona team were playing on January 2nd 1971 and wondering how poignant that night would be particularly for Jardine, Mathieson, Smith, Greig, Stein, Johnstone, Conn, McDonald and of course, Willie Waddell. On one of my many delves into the wonderful world of 1971 and 1972 it also struck me of the terrific music around at the time, and how like the Rangers winning the ECWC, it helped to shape what I would listen to and enjoy through the years.
The first round on Sept 15th 1971 saw Rangers drawing 1 -1 in Rennes and beating the French champions 1 -0 with MacDonald the Ibrox scorer.
The second round on 20th Oct 1971 and return on 3 Nov 1971 were the colossal affairs with Sporting Lisbon with Rangers scoring 6 times as did Sporting but Rangers scoring the all important 3 away goals to Sportings 2.
The number one albums of the day from August 71 to December 71 included :-
Top of the Pops Volume 18! - Older bears will will remember these albums as the original "Now that‘s what I call Music" idea but with strangely UN-original sounding artistes! We really were an easy bunch to impress.
Who's Next - The Who The mighty Who continued to impress with yet another of their gigantic albums. Arguably their finest album release (Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", utter stand outs) A must for every collection
Fireball - Deep Purple. Again another phenomenal album from one of the truly biggest bands of that era. The settled nucleus of Blackmore, Gillon,Paice. Lord and Glover settled in as DP went from strength to strength right through to the mighty Made in Japan a couple of years later. All music fans with an interest of this time will know this album as the important work it undoubtedly is.
Every Picture Tells A Story - Rod Stewart - Yes kids, in those days, Rod could cut quite a dash as he followed on from the success of the Faces. In his day, Rod Stewart had one of the best white blues voices in the business. Again a worthy inclusion to this selection of No 1 albums.
"Maggie May" and "Mandolin Wind" are two fantastic tracks which have stood the test of time and frankly remind the listener of the heights that Rod could reach. A shame that his music prowess seemed to stagger along after the mid 70's into the occasional "hot legs" and "do you think I'm sexy" etc.
Imagine - John Lenin and the Plastic Ono Band with the Flux Fiddlers - The name suggested a Zappaesque departure from what people expected to see, but Lenin produced what is arguably one of his finest works. "Imagine" and jealous guy" being the obvious commercial stand outs
Great stuff
TOTP Volume 20! - Were we really so gullible even then!?
Led Zeppelin IV - Lep Zeppelin - Arguably The supreme Heavy Metal album (or top three anyway!). If you haven‘t worn this album out (or CD) then can I suggest that you buy it as soon as possible and play at least once a month. Terrific album.
Electric Warrior - T-Rex - described by some as an undying masterpiece of glam-rock at its finest. Jeepster, Life's a Gas, Hot Love are just three tracks from this masterpiece.
Other notable album releases
Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
American Pie - Don McLean
Joan Baez - Blessed are
Fragile -Yes
Meddle Pink Floyd
Master of Reality - Black Sabbath
Pearl - Janis Joplin
The Doobie Brothers - Same
Tupelo Honey - Van Morrison
Whats Going on - Marvin Gaye
Pilgramge - Wishbone Ash
Hunky Dory - David Bowie
And trust me when I say that this is just scratching the surface of this vintage year!
1971 was also the year of the Nike "swoosh" design, albeit the formal trainer didn‘t hit us till 1972. Hotpants were the rage (ask yer dads!), micro skirts were in (just) and for the men, the platform hit Scotia big time. Apparently the hospital emergency units were doing a roaring trade for broken,sprained and chipped ankles!
Toys for the kids of that year included Clackers and the mighty Space Hopper! The mark two Chopper also made its famous appearance despite being issued in late 69 through 70 in a 500 order batch. This new bike defined the real meaning of dangerous when driven at anything over walking pace!(another limb breaker)
Movies released included et Carter and Shaft. The VCR was released by Philips and sadly,Jim Morrison found dead in bath tub in Paris.
1971 was also a good year for 7" single releases including (and not restricted to)
My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
Hot Love - T-Rex
Chirpy chirp cheep cheep - Middle of the road
Get it on - T-Rex
Coz I luv you - Slade
Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones
My Brother Jake - Free
Riders on the Storm - Doors
Love Her Madly - Doors
Family Affair - Sly and the family
I just cant help believing - Elvis
And for all the great music in 71, there was the 70's version of the Frog also! Ding the rounds on the zany "novelty" records were
Grandad -Clive Dunn and Ernie - Benny Hill, although I have to say that Ernie does get better over the years...(another 30 should do it!)
1972 for the European Cup Winners Cup journey, continued with the quarterfinals on March 8th and the home return on March 22nd, with MacDonald scoring the only goal of the second leg after a 1 -1 draw in Italy.
Then we moved onto the semi-finals against the mighty Bayern Munich with the Germans, huge favourites. The draw against Bayern on 5th April with a Zobel own goal being the solitary Rangers strike, set up the return for one of the most famous nights at Ibrox on April 19th 1972. The Teds going on to beat Bayern 2 - 0 with goals from Jardine and Parlane.
The final has been documented on many occasions, and is a must view for every bear unlucky enough not to have been in Barcelona. Needless to say, the two goals from Willie Johnston and strike from Colin Stein were enough to ensure (after a squeaky bum time) that the Rangers were victorious.
The number one albums of the day from January 72 to May 72 included.
George Harrison and Friends - Concert for Bangladesh - In this author's opinion, a hugely disappointing album with an over dependence on Bob Dylan. George himself surprises with a terrific performance. Other artists include Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Badfinger and Bob Dylan for a concert to raise money for UNICEF. I'd leave this one
Neil Reid - Neil Reid Utterly appalling album. "Mother of Mine" his "hit" single must have spawned many a serial killer in my opinion. After winning that street-cred competition Opportunity Knocks, this album was rushed out to cash in on his popularity. Thankfully the follow up single "that's what ! Want to be" magically became what we wanted it to be and crashed as did young Mr Reids career. Utterly garbage. If this didn‘t sow the angry seeds of punk in the UK, I don‘t know what else did!
.Neil Young - Harvest Classic Neil Young that includes Heart of Gold and the fantastic The Needle and the Damage Done. Recommended purchase and always a banker at 1 in the morning at parties once the dancers have left!
Paul Simon - Paul Simon
Have to say I wanted to hate this album and make some smart comment about the only good thing being the album cover (old mods will know what I mean!) But whilst I cant take to Paul Simon in the last 10 years or so, this really is very very good and a huge departure from Simon and Garfunkel. It is crammed full of little gems with my own favourites being Paranoia Blues Congratulations and Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard. I would grudgingly recommend this one as a safe buy.
Lindisfarne - Fog on the Tyne
Gash. Had a hit with Meet Me On The Corner and spawned material for Gazza's world famous reprise! Thats it
Deep Purple - Machine Head - Along with Made in Japan, Fireball and Burn, probably one of DP's top albums. Great tracks and all the raw material for the fantastic Purple live shows. Within a few years, Purple imploded, Ritchie left and I can remember being at the Apollo when the "new" Purple played with Tommy Bolin (RIP) who had to put up with constant chants of "Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie". A great guitarist in his own right (buy Post Toastee if you get a chance) but never ever Ritchie. Machine Head was Purple at their finest.
T-Rex - Prophets Seers and Sages The Angels of the Ages - Frankly a little weird but of the time none the less.For me, stand out tracks are "Debora" and "Salamanda Palaganda
T-Rex - Bolan Boogie One of the first compilation albums. Included Ride a white swan, Get it on and Jeepster. Plenty new versions of these songs going around.
Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street - Actually hit the top spot in June 1972 and is somewhat out-with the time-frame, but a worthy addition none the less. Great album.
Other notable album releases for 1972 included (and not restricted to)
All the Young Dudes - Mott The Hoople
Argus -Wishbone Ash
Catch a Fire - Bob Marley and the Wailers
Close to the Edge - Yes
Foxtrot - Genesis
Made in Japan - Deep Purple
One Man Dog - James Taylor
Roxy Music - Roxy Music
Schools Out - Alice Cooper
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Transformer - Lou Reed
1972 was also the year that Les Harvey, lead guitarist of Stone The Crows electrocuted himself on stage at a show in Swansea. It also saw a new look from Roxy Music of flicks and frankly some unmanly face paint a la Bowie. As clackers started to be phased out, the new rage was roller skates. To be honest, the weight of these skates would be enough to put everyone off today, but back then they were the business.
1972 was also the shameful release of the Paul McCartney single "Give Ireland back to the Irish" . A typical luvvie song with zero understanding but a favourite in the Kennedy household no doubt (when they were avoiding bullets and rickety bridges of course!)
Remember that when you think Heather is fleecing old scrawny neck!
Movies released included the magnificent Godfather, Fists of Fury from Bruce Lee and of course, the housewives favourite Last Tango in Paris (pass the butter)
Again, 1972 was a good year for the 7" single including (not restricted to)
Virginia Plain - Roxy Music
Take it easy - Eagles
All the young Dudes -Mott the Hoople
You wear it well - Rod Stewart
Horse with no name - America
Without you - Nilsson
Tumbling Dice - Stones
Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues
I have only touched on some of the music and memories of the day, but the more I delve into the archives for these sounds of the season the more I admit it.
I'M PLAIN JEALOUS THAT I WASN‘T THERE!
STAN SMITH