Tag Archives: 1970′s

A couple of months ago, the crew from the Collector’s Quest website became the first people to actually visit the offices of The Museum Of UnCut Funk, interview me and see our collection.

The Barack Obama Comic Book Collection is the newest addition to The Museum of UnCut Funk’s archives. As comic books fans and avid collectors, we are dedicated to the preservation of funky comics that reflect Black contributions to contemporary culture.

The Museum of UnCut Funk’s Black Movie Art and Black Animation Collections are also growing. We have acquired art from some of the coolest and most obscure movie posters and Saturday morning cartoon art on the planet.

I got six.
That’s all there is.
Six time one is six, one times six
He got six.
I put mine with his and we got twelve
Six time two is twelve, two times six
I got six, you got six,
She got six.
We got eighteen altogether.
If we can get ‘em all together.
Six time three is eighteen, three times six

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids the animated series was created, produced, and hosted by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert himself. Filmation was the production company for the series. The show premiered on September 9, 1972 and ran until 1985. The show, based on Bill Cosby’s remembrances of his childhood gang, focused on the lovable, oversized Albert, with his signature rumbling exclamation “Hey hey hey!”, and his friends.

Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids was a long-standing Saturday morning cartoon that featured a group of Black adolescents growing up in a Philadelphia neighborhood. It had various “show-within-a-show” elements throughout its production run, and one of those elements was a segment called The Brown Hornet, which first appeared on September 1, 1979 when the series itself was re-titled The New Fat Albert Show.

The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the 1960’s set the stage for the 1970’s Black film revolution.

Blaxploitation films had very funky trailers, featuring the latest threads and hippest jive.

The Museum of UnCut Funk continues to celebrate the best decade ever with a review of Poster Art from funky music based films that helped to create the soundtrack of the 1970’s.

This is a real blast from the past!

I started collecting movie posters from Blaxploitation and all Black films from the 1970‘s because I love these films. I also love the illustrated artwork that was used to create these posters. Poster illustration has become a lost art form, as today’s posters utilize photography.

East Germany Digs Blaxploitation!

Many U.S. movies from the 1930’s and 1940’s arrived in East German theaters for the first time after 1947. During the Blaxploitation film explosion of the 1970‘s, movies took 2 to 3 years on average after the U.S. release to make it into East German theaters.

France Digs Blaxploitation!

The arrival of American sound films at first created panic among the European countries who immediately resisted the influx of US films. The French public didn’t accept films in other languages, the film industry tried to ignore them and the government strengthened censorship and tariff laws and stopped ‘talkies’ from being shown in France for a period of time.

Italy Digs Blaxploitation!

The first presentation of film in Italy was in February of 1896 by Vittorio Calcina at the Ospedale di Carita in Turin. Blaxploitation Films made their debut in Italy during the mid 1970’s. As with most international releases of American films, each film would screen a few years after the American release.

Japan Digs Blaxploitation!

The Japanese have always had a fondness for Black culture. Blaxploitation films were a huge hit in Japan and have continued to be, so much so, that one of the largest collections of Blaxploitation memorabilia is owned by a Japanese man. He has catalogued his collection in a book called The Soul of Black Movie!

Poland Digs Blaxploitation!

American films have always been watched by the Poles, not only because of their quality but also due to the role that the U.S. played in the consciousness of Polish citizens. Many went to see American movies to become acquainted with the country.

During the 1970’s, Blaxploitation moved into the horror category with a number of movies, made for Blacks, staring Blacks. One of the most important actors from this period was William Marshall. He starred as Blacula, a Black version of Dracula in two movies, Blacula and Scream, Blacula, Scream.

1973 marked the beginning of the one-two combination of Blaxploitation and Kung Fu. It happened when taekwondo champion Jim Kelly appeared in Bruce Lee’s film Enter the Dragon. Kelly proved to be a popular character actor who would sign with Warner Brothers for a few more action films, thus creating the first crossing over of these two prolific genres.

From 1970 to 1976, during the height of the Blaxploitation era, there were fourteen westerns made for public consumption. Some of these films never made it to a national audience and others haven’t been seen since their release. There were a few films that found box office success and were critically acclaimed by some of the toughest film critics.

Some of the greatest moments in sports history happened during the 1970‘s, like the New York Knickerbockers winning the NBA championship. Hopefully they will make it to another championship before I collect Social Security…LMOL!!!