A Look Back at 1970s Colombo

Last year, a nearly three minute video shot on 16 millimetre film featuring aerial videography of

1970s Colombo, Sri Lanka was released on the Kinolibrary YouTube channel. The video is called

“1970s Colombo Aerials, HD from 16mm”. I’m embedding the video below which you can watch if

you wish. Following that, I will give my thoughts on this footage.

The video actually begins in Kandy lifting off from the Police Grounds. It then flies over the Kandy

Market and the Kandy Railway Station. Many of the buildings seen at the start are thin and long

which seems to be an older style, dating back much further than the 1970s. Quite a few of them are

later seen in Colombo. These types of buildings still exist in Sri Lanka, but they are not present to

the same extent as before. It’s interesting to see steam trains as those type of trains are no longer

in use.The train featured is likely going from Kandy to Matale. It’s good to see that there is a lot of

green areas, as I see a large amount of trees and paddy fields. I see many palm trees both here and

later on in Colombo which is a good and common sight in Sri Lanka. Following that it goes to

Kadugannawa, a town near Kandy. In this town there is a tall monument known as Dawson’s

Column.

We finally reach Colombo, going right into the centre of the city. Colombo in the 1970s looks very

different to Colombo in the 2010s, with a small part of the footage shown not looking familiar. The

most prominent difference between the two periods is the buildings that no longer exist and the lack

of ones that do now. I notice that there are some then modern buildings in the Colombo City

alongside the old ones.

Following the main area of Colombo, we then go to the Colombo Port. After our brief look at the

Colombo Port, we go to a suburban area of Colombo that I’m not familiar with. This suburban area is

very crowded, unlike the main part of Colombo that was seen earlier. We then see two familiar

landmarks that being Town Hall and Beira Lake. I’m pleased to see that the Beira Lake is in a very

clean condition.

When it comes to traffic featured in this video, the second instance of traffic is more crowded making

it somewhat reminiscent of current traffic in Colombo. However, the first instance of traffic is calm

and peaceful totally unlike today. I wish Colombo could have traffic like this again. On the reverse, I

think there is an achievement Colombo has made since then. Though the city has more

improvements needed when it comes to cleanliness, it is my perception that the city is cleaner now

than it was than.

It’s good that the Internet allows us to find out this information about the past which would have been

very difficult to see two to three decades back. Despite the differences, Colombo of the 1970s still

has the uniquely Colombo look and feel we see now in the 2010s, which will no doubt remain in 40

years time in the 2050s. If you have lived in Colombo in the 1970s, I’d be interested in hearing your

thoughts on this video and/or your memories of this time.

Virtual Views of Bob Seger's America

As a fan of American rock singer Bob Seger, I wanted to capture a collection of American places in

Google Street View that are referred by or connected with Bob Seger. It can be viewed as a Bob

Seger blog post, an American travel guide or at best together. You can explore these places in the

Google Street View embeds or outside it in a larger size by clicking the “View on Google Maps”

button. That button can also be useful if any of the places featured do not load. Hope you enjoy it. 

Detroit

The first place chosen is Bob Seger’s hometown of Detroit, Michigan where he still lives.  

Muscle Shoals 

This is the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama home to the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section who Bob

Seger recorded many songs with in the 70s and 80s. Hits of his recorded there include “Katmandu”,

“Sunspot Baby”, “Mainstreet”, “Old Time Rock & Roll”, “We’ve Got Tonight” and “Fire Lake”. The

image below is from the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio on 3614 Jackson Highway where Bob

recorded with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.

Miami

Miami was referenced in his 1976 song “Sunspot Baby” and ten years later he wrote a song called

“Miami” about the Cuban immigrants moving to America. He had also recorded some songs in

Miami. The Miami image I chose below features a good mix of both trees and buildings.

The songs Bob Seger recorded in Miami were on his albums “Stranger in Town” (1978), “Against

The Wind” (1980) and “Like a Rock” (1986). It was on the “Like a Rock” album that the “Miami” song

is featured.

The recording studio he used the most in Miami was Criteria Studios which has been renamed The

Hit Factory Criteria. Here is the recording studio below.

Manhattan

New York City’s most famous borough of Manhattan has been featured in Bob Seger’s songs, most

notably in his 1995 song “Manhattan”. Firstly, this is Washington Square that was referenced in it.

Secondly, I’m featuring the iconic American landmark the Statue of Liberty which was featured on

the cover of his 1991 album “The Fire Inside”. The title track is one of the epic long Bob Seger songs

(totalling nearly six minutes) with incredible piano playing from Roy Bittan. I had featured the song in

my article “Ten Great Bob Seger Songs by Ten Different Piano Players”.

This is the important Manhattan location of Wall Street which was referenced in his 2017 song

“Forward Into The Past”.

Chicago 

This is Chicago which was referenced in his 1980 song “Long Twin Silver Line”. The following two

locations are also referenced in the same song.

Salt Lake City 

I will now be featuring natural environments before bringing back some city areas in the final section.

Here’s a look at Salt Lake City.

Kansas 

The song mentions the state of Kansas. I decided to feature Lake Shawnee from its capital city

Topeka.

Paradise Valley, Montana 

Bob Seger’s 1995 song “West of the Moon” was written in 1988 is about the state of Montana.

He had written it in the region of Paradise Valley, so I’m featuring that location below. 

Blue Ridge Mountains

Paradise Valley is known for its mountains. There is another set of iconic mountains in the US, which

is the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s part of the Appalachian Mountains and is located in the eastern

United States. The Blue Ridge mountains was the subject of his 2017 rock song “Blue Ridge”. 

California

We’re now going back to the big cities. The state of California has been referenced in some of his

songs, including Los Angeles which will be featured here. Bob Seger has recorded some songs of

his in Los Angeles. I’ll begin with the iconic Capitol Records building which is his record label.

Here’s a look at the world famous Hollywood sign, as one of his hit songs is “Hollywood Nights”

(1978).

This place has no mention in a Bob Seger song. Since this is about California, I wanted to select one

place in California that I like. It’s the beautiful city of Santa Barbara that features the good Californian

feature of many palm trees. 

This is taken in Mojave, California. The mountains look similar to the mountains featured on the

1994 “Greatest Hits” album cover. They may be the same mountains as that album’s cover photo

was taken near Mojave. 

So that was my selection of American places connected with Bob Seger. I’d be interested in hearing

if you’re from any of the places featured here as well as anyone’s thoughts in general about this blog

post. America has given the world a great singer & songwriter in that of Bob Seger.