January 20th, 1974

On this day, 35 years ago, I entered this world....what was happening at the time?

I was born in Zimbabwe, which at that time was called Rhodesia with Ian Smith as Prime Minister. At the time, civil war, known as the ‘Bush War’ by White Rhodesians and as the ‘Second Chimurenga’ (or 'rebellion' in Shona) to supporters of the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe, was ongoing and would culminate in the creation of the Republic of Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe in 1980.

South of the Limpopo River, Prime Minister Balthazar Johannes Vorster (better known as John Voster) was following white public opinion in South Africa by supporting Rhodesia publicly, but was unwilling to alienate important political allies in the United States by extending diplomatic recognition. Later that year, he would pressurise Ian Smith to accept in principle that white minority rule could not continue indefinitely.Nelson Mandela had already been incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town, for 10 years.


On the other side of the Victoria Falls, Kenneth Kaunda ruled Zambia as a one-party state, while Seretse Khama was the first president of a democratic Botswana. The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique were mounting their guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule, and would take control of the territory by April that year, gaining independence from Portugal the following June.

Internationally, the Cold War was simmering away, the ‘Iron Curtain’ was firmly in place and there was an East and a West Germany. Leonid Brezhnev was leader of the USSR (which comprised 15 'union republics') and Richard Nixon was in the White House. In just over a week’s time, Nixon campaign aide, Herbert Porter, would plead guilty to the charge of lying to the FBI during the early stages of the Watergate investigation. Nixon’s resignation would follow 8 months later.Mao Zedong was Chairman of the Communist Party in China.

The United States had withdrawn from Vietnam the previous year, but fighting still continued between the communist North and the government of South Vietnam. Two days earlier (18th January), Egypt and Israel had signed an armistice agreement officially ending their 1973 war. The agreement became known as Sinai I because it was signed in the Sinai peninsula and involved Israel’s occupation of that strategic desert. Sinai I had been achieved after a heavily publicised week of shuttling between the two countries by US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who for his efforts was hailed in the media as the 'Superman of diplomacy'. It was only later that American taxpayers would learn that Sinai I laid the groundwork for the start of unprecedented massive aid to Israel by the United States, which continues to this day.

British Prime Minister, Edward Heath, still had two months’ tenancy on Number 10 Downing Street, before Harold Wilson (Labour) would move in for his second term. A fortnight earlier, the Conservative Government had introduced The Three-Day Week to conserve electricity during industrial action by coal miners.

Conflict (‘The Troubles’) was ongoing between elements of Northern Ireland's nationalist community (principally Roman Catholic) who wanted Northern Ireland to be politically reunited with the rest of Ireland, and the unionist community (principally Protestant) who wanted it to remain part of the United Kingdom.

Trousers made from about four square miles of fabric (typically polyester - the new staple fibre) had begun making an appearance, together with massive shirt collars, so big that you glided if you fell over. Platforms were everywhere, but had not yet reached the heady heights of 1975, when, to be 'hip', at least 2 inch soles and 5 inch heels were required.While the 'No Style' hairstyle was the barnet of choice, the mullet was already popular, due in part to the influence of David Bowie, who wore the haircut circa 1972-1973.

'The Sting' (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) and the original 'The Exorcist' were showing in US cinemas, and Peter Benchley's novel, 'Jaws', had just been published (16th January).

The New Seekers were top of the UK singles’ chart with their second biggest hit, 'You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me'. Towards the end of 1971, the group had recorded an adaptation of the Coca-Cola jingle, ‘I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke’. Reworked as ‘I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing’, the song became a worldwide success.

The top selling album that week was ‘Sladest’ by glam rock group Slade.Meanwhile, in the US, Al Wilson’s ‘Show And Tell’ was the #1 single, and Jim Croce’s ‘You Don't Mess Around With Jim’, first released in 1972, was in its second week at the top of the album chart. Renewed interest had been sparked in Jim Croce’s albums following his premature death in a small commercial plane crash in September 1973. He is probably best remembered for the songs ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’ and ‘Time in a Bottle’, both #1 hits in 1973.

'Time In A Bottle' by Jim Croce (written for his unborn son):

If I could save time in a bottle

The first thing that I'd like to do

Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away

Just to spend them with you.

If I could make days last forever

If words could make wishes come true

I'd save every day like a treasure and then

Again I would spend them with you.

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find themI've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go thru time with.

If I had a box just for wishes

And dreams that had never come true

The box would be empty except for the mem'ry of how

They were answered by you.

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them

I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go thru time with.