For the record, I've never flown First Class on any airliner and can only imagine that I could only enter that august part of a passenger plane by giving up my firstborn and a handful of internal organs. The above video is showing merely Business Class in the 1970s on a Qantas flight. First Class must involve thrones.
Maybe it's that image of fine flying and dining that Fantastic Plastic Machine was harboring in his mind when he came up with "First Class '77". There is that immediate sensation of soaring into the air and dreams coming true ("Fantasy Island" was on the air back then, if I remember correctly). In fact, I think the entirety of the song illustrates what flying must have been perceived as back in the day of Pan Am: a LUXURY experience. There are even the horns which reminded me of a theme song of many an American TV drama, especially one where travel is involved.
Excerpts of "First Class '77" have been heard by me on Japanese variety shows as background music or transitional music between segments, something that has become a trope with FPM's songs. The song itself was included as a track on the man's debut album "The Fantastic Plastic Machine" from October 1997. "Please, Stop!", which was my previous FPM entry, is a track mate on the album.
Yes, I think I will have that Beef Wellington with a glass of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon. It would make for a nice change from the roast beast and Pleistocene epoch hard roll that I'm usually used to.
Even the Business Class on that Qantas flight looks far more roomy than the business on some flights I seen in more modern times.
ReplyDeleteApparently way back when, air travel was seen a truly luxurious experience. Passengers used to wear suits and fancy dresses as a matter of course.
DeleteHey, some passengers still wear business suits when traveling regardless of what class they a flying in.
ReplyDeleteYeah, maybe if it's cold inside the plane but otherwise, I think some folks would at least unloosen their ties or take off their jackets.
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