Did you watch it? It’s been called the most remarkable documentary series ever made and 70 Up is supposedly the last time we’ll touch base with the 14 children who took part in the original Seven Up. I think I first got hooked watching the second documentary in 1970. I’m only four years younger than the children who took part in the original documentary, so very much of the same era, and you can’t help but compare how your life has turned out compared to theirs.
It started out as an examination of the class system and how children who attend elite private schools (confusingly called public schools in the UK) are likely to fare better in life, but over the decades it became so much more – an exercise in social history by following 14 individual lives. Reality television is omnipresent in the 21st century but back in 1964 this was called a documentary and over the decades we’ve come to realise it was the first time we got to delve into real people’s lives over time, and human nature being as it is, we loved it.
Sadly two of the original children have now died, as has the film-maker, Michael Apted, but it was highly likely that that might happen over a 63 year period. It was thought the series would die with Michael, but after ITV was contacted by Nicholas Hitchon (a participant who had terminal cancer), it was decided to make one more series called 70 Up. No-one has actually come out and said why it is finishing, but I think it’s implicit that no-one wants to carry on filming them aging, losing partners, becoming infirm and passing away.
I have actually been working my way through the archived series on ITVX over the last month and am nearly finished. When I do I will rewatch the 70 Up episodes that aired in September. If you have watched it, who do you identify with most? I think I’m a combination of the boys from the Liverpool comprehensive and Nicholas who came from the Yorkshire dales. If you’ve followed this blog for some time you’ll know why, as I’ve kind of told the story of my life by sharing the songs that go with it.
Five of the original children went to private schools, which I definitely did not, but neither did I live in the working class East End of London (four of them) or live in a children’s home (two of them). Like the three I mentioned above, I did go to University but like Neil I have suffered from anxiety over the years and probably never fulfilled my potential because of it, BUT, I have on the whole had a very nice life with supportive parents, close friends, a soulmate husband and daughter to be proud of. At “remuneration age” (I still can’t bring myself to name it properly) I’m quite happy with my lot, as it seemed were all the participants in 70 Up, so that was nice to see. If we’re spared, more adventures beckon, but maybe not another trip to Rome in the heat of summer (reference to last weekend’s post)!
A photo gallery showing the pop persons I would have been listening to, all seven years apart, starting with Petula Clark in 1967 (when I was seven) to Wham! finally reaching the No. 1 spot in 2023 (when I was 63). We would all have different photos, but fun to look back and remember.
Posts from 1967, 1974, 1981, 1988, 1995, 2002, 2009, 2016 and 2023 featuring the artists above.
It was interesting, revisiting the original documentary, to see that most of the children at age seven were chatty, animated and full of fun, sadly something that is often knocked out of us as we get older. It certainly was the case for some of them. At the start of every new documentary the phrase, “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man” is quoted, which was the original premise. In just about all the cases that came to pass, and I found it interesting that the five children who went to private school all married only once and have stayed married. Something to do with financial security I imagine and marrying later. Of the other nine children, only three have stayed married for the duration. The cheekiest chap amongst them all was “artful dodger” Tony from the East End of London. I think Michael had preconceptions of how his life would turn out, but Tony proved him wrong, at one point owning two homes, and being a regular at the stables and golf club. If it is over for good, I will miss them.
I’ve covered a lot, but no song yet. One that comes to mind is one about a different journey through someone’s life. Frank Sinatra was the master of “phrasing” (how a musician shapes a sequence of notes in a passage of music in order to express an emotion or impression). I do believe that with, It Was A Very Good Year, he does that with bells on.
Until next time…
It Was a Very Good Year Lyrics
(Song by Ervin Drake)
When I was seventeen, it was a very good year
It was a very good year for small town girls
And soft summer nights
We’d hide from the lights
On the village green
When I was seventeen
When I was twenty-one, it was a very good year
It was a very good year for city girls
Who lived up the stairs
With all that perfumed hair
That came undone
When I was twenty-one
When I was thirty-five, it was a very good year
It was a very good year for blue-blooded girls
Of independent means
We’d ride in limousines
Their chauffeurs would drive
When I was thirty-five
But now the days are short, I’m in the autumn of the years
And now I think of my life as vintage wine
From fine old kegs
From the brim to the dregs
It poured sweet and clear
It was a very good year
