- Comedic critic Kalkofe views the 1970s as the least vibrant decade.
Comedy Artist Oliver Kalkofe remembers the 1970s in West Germany as a "mind-numbingly boring era". "The 70s were the most drab decade. There was Flower Power and the Hippie movement earlier. But around the mid-70s, the dominant colors were a boring mix of brown and gray," said the 58-year-old Berliner in an interview with dpa, marking the 50th anniversary of disco music, which started in the summer of 1974.
"I'm currently enjoying watching old 'Rockford Files' episodes or 'Streets of San Francisco' with a smile. You see all the brown shades and a hint of muted green and olive tones, and then it's just gray, brown, gray, olive. If they wanted to be flashy, maybe a pop of orange, a bit of an attention-grabbing color in between. But other than that, it was just dull," said Kalkofe. "It wasn't until the 80s that things became colorful again, and that's why disco was such a hit. It was colorful, with a disco ball reflecting all the colors on the wall."
Disco, he said, was "a truly sparkling piece of trash in human history". By that, he meant danceable pop music in general. "But that disco phenomenon, with its colorful lights, was like a kind of dance party in those days."
Kalkofe on disco: "The collars and the bell-bottoms - everything got bigger and wider, and everyone wanted to show off how cool they were." It was a way of trying to impress others and have fun. "I thought it was a wonderful time. Not something I would have actively participated in personally. I experienced it, but I wasn't that type physically. But I've always found it fascinating to watch from a distance, knowing I don't belong and don't want to belong. But I've always watched it with great curiosity."
He paid tribute to disco in his "SchleFaZ – The Worst Films of All Time" festival. The 125th "#Schlefaz" film was "Disco Godfather" (German title "Heroes of the Night"). "That was great, it was a Blaxploitation disco film that failed," he said. The term Blaxploitation refers to older low-budget films with African American heroes. "It came a bit too late and was totally messed up. It had everything between Black Power, action, disco, and drug crime, it was insane." The film series "#SchleFaZ" recently moved from Tele 5 to Nitro.
The media frequently highlighted the fashion trends of the 1970s, with collars and bell-bottoms becoming iconic symbols of the era. However, Oliver Kalkofe finds humor in viewing these old videos now, as they represent the monotonous color palette of the time.
