It’s clearly an untestable hypothesis, but perhaps one reason why older generations seem so relatively cynical about the imminence of global warming is the number of unfulfilled apocalyptical prophecies they’ve previously been exposed to. The local papers of 1972 often seem to be saturated in forecasts of annihilation which appear to insist that the end […]
Read More July 4th 1972 – Pseudo-Science & The Apocalypse In The UK PressSo what was the state of play in the world of fantastical fiction in the UK for the first six months of 1972? We might start by looking at how three noteworthy fantastical novels were released and reviewed during that period: The worlds of American and British fantastical novels were often working on very different […]
Read More July 3rd 1972 – The Exorcist, A Maze Of Death & The Wild Boys: A Few Noteworthy Fantastical Novels And Their ReviewersThe perennial challenge of Sundays in the Seventies was always, what on Earth to do? This was especially true when it came to the fantastical. Yet for the period between 7th June and 23rd July in 1972, London’s Hayward Gallery hosted a remarkable exhibition of French Symbolist Painters. With more than 330 works on show, […]
Read More July 2nd 1972 – French Symbolist Painters At London’s Hayward GallerySo it’s a Saturday in the summer of 1972 and you’re looking to see a show in London’s West End. Here are your options, as long as you’re carrying a fair few pounds in your pocket. Top of the list is the acclaimed National Theatre Company production of Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers at The Old Vic […]
Read More July 1st 1972 – The Fantastical On The London West End Stage TodayWith the end last week of the latest Doctor Who series, the coming seven days was even more bereft of terrestrial fantastical shows, with only one new TV episode – from the very poorly reviewed third season of Doomwatch – and one short radio play. Saturday 5th July 1972 BBC1 – 7.00pm – 1965’s Doctor […]
Read More June 30th 1972 – The Coming Week’s Fantastical programmes on UK TV and Radio.Continued from yesterday’s post: 1. I’ve seen Rocket Man take some terrible stick recently. The tune’s shamefully derivative, the lyrics are embarrassing pap. Let me once again declare my membership of Those That Don’t Know And Can’t Understand. I think it’s a gorgeous song, sad and beautiful and, cuss me if you wish, insightfully played […]
Read More June 29th 1972 – The Month In Fantastical Music (Part 2 of 2.)So what is ‘fantastical music’? Well, as the phrase goes, I know it when I hear it, or, at the very least, when I read the lyric sheet and catch sight of the promo photos. Inevitably, it’s in large part a personal matter. It can be decided by a feeling, a title, a sound, a […]
Read More June 28th 1972 – The Month In Fantastical Music (Part 1 of 2.)It seems rather odd, at a remove of 53 years, to see Alejandro Jodorowsky getting second billing on a Rolling Stone front cover, his name sandwiched between those of Van Morrison and the Grateful Dead. But the article, by Robert Greenfield, fully deserves its high billing, being a fascinating, and an often depressing and even […]
Read More June 27th 1972 – The Fantastical In This Month’s Rolling Stone (2/2)To trawl through the pages of the first of the UK’s two editions of Rolling Stone during June 1972 is to encounter a surprising degree of the fantastical. It begins with the Correspondence, Love Letters & Advice half-page, in which one Chris Kuchler of Los Angeles attempts to drum up for support for two of […]
Read More June 26th 1972 – The Fantastical In This Month’s Rolling Stone (1/2)Nostalgia insists that the American comics released in June 1972 were pretty much all fabulous. But the truth is, and I can’t say I’m happy to admit it, that they mostly weren’t. The turn-of-1970 burst of energy and creativity that had charged up so many of DC’s comics was already ebbing, while Marvel’s titles, sadly, […]
Read More June 25th 1972 – The Month In Fantastical Comic Books
The Almanac Of The Fantastical 