Remembering 1979 solar eclipse drums up memories of gas lines, 'Apocalypse Now' and more

So, who remembers 1979?

That is the last time we Earth folk experienced a total solar eclipse comparable to what we will see (though not directly, please) on Monday.

The disco-dancin’ ‘70s were inching to an end, Jimmy Carter was president, Pope John Paul II visited his native Poland — becoming the first pope to visit a communist country — and singer-songwriter Carly Simon was 34 years old.

Seven years earlier, Simon scored her first No. 1 record with “You’re So Vain,” a song about a cocky ex who wore an apricot scarf and took his Lear jet “up to Nova Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun.”

WHAT TO KNOW:Everything you need to know about the solar eclipse

SAFETY FIRST:Eye doctor explains what will happen if you look directly at the sun during the solar eclipse

ECLIPSE:How to view the eclipse on Monday

Traveling to catch an eclipse from its most flattering angles is still a lark for those who can afford to fly there. Or drive, if you happen to be close enough.

In 1979, driving wasn’t the ideal option. That’s the same year of the second oil crisis that had Americans lining up again at the pumps.

People were outraged by the price of petrol: About 86 cents a gallon for regular gas and a few cents more for premium.

(In an attempt to persuade Americans to cut down on their fossil fuel consumption, President Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House. During the early days of the Reagan administration, the panels were taken down “to be cleaned” and never seen again.)

According to the folks at 1970sflashback.com, a few other prices were equally amusing by today’s standards. The cost of a new home in '79 was about $71,800 in the northeast; the median household income was $16,461 and the cost of a dozen eggs was 85 cents.

Among the biggest hits on the small screen were “Three’s Company,” “M*A*S*H,” “Taxi” and “The Dukes of Hazzard,” which featured a  now-iconic1969 Dodge Charger with a Confederate flag swathed across its roof.

On the radio, people were listening to the Eagles (“The Long Run”), Donna Summer (“Bad Girls’) and Supertramp (“Breakfast in America”).

Michael Jackson released his breakthrough solo album “Off the Wall” (which many fans still deem superior to “Thriller”) and Fleetwood Mac had released “Tusk,” their follow-up to “Rumours.” (“Tusk” was said to have been the most expensive album ever made up until that point, but the band could afford it. “Rumors” was one of the most successful albums ever, eventually selling over 40 million copies.)

Americans were gobbling up vinyl at incredible rate in 1979, blissfully unaware that they were about to replace all their favorite albums with remastered CDs, two or three years later.

In theaters, movie fans were gasping at “Alien,” sobbing at “Kramer vs. Kramer” (which would earn Meryl Streep her first Oscar) and Francis Ford Coppola’s mesmerizing (and overlong) “Apocalypse Now.”

Posters for Coppola's war epic, which starred Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen, featured a stunning view of the sun, partially obstructed not by the moon, but by helicopters. In a later version, half of it is covered by Brando’s head, which appears even bigger than the sun.

Perhaps he thought the film was about him.