By John Randle
Publisher
[email protected]
Thirty years ago I went to the movie theater to see the iconic trucker movie Smokey and the Bandit with a couple of buddies from my all-star baseball team. We were 10 years old, lived in Dallas and thought we were pretty cool. So cool that stuffed in our pockets were toy Pontiac Trans Am Hot Wheels just like the real one Burt Reynolds busted up in the movie.
Little did I know that at the same time I was perfecting “breaker-one-nine” CB lingo with my friends, the first issue of Truckers News hit the newsstands. The news-and-views tabloid was an instant hit and continues to entertain and inform truckers 30 years later as a news and lifestyle magazine.
While I now get my music via an iPod and my car radio station is via satellite, I still refer to highway patrol as “bears.” Here are a few entertainment, music and sports highlights of 1977 that stand out in my memory:
Top Singles
“You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone
“Dancing Queen” by Abba
“Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett
Top Albums (on vinyl of course!)
Hotel California, Eagles
Boston
Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
Movies
Star Wars
Smokey and the Bandit
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
TV Shows
Roots (the ABC miniseries)
Laverne & Shirley
Happy Days
Charlie’s Angels
All in the Family
Sports
A.J. Foyt wins the Indianapolis 500 for the fourth time.
World Series: New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, four games to two.
Super Bowl: The Dallas Cowboys (my heroes) beat the Denver Broncos 27-10 on Jan. 15, 1978.
NBA Finals: The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers four games to two. n
