My daughter wanted to ask David Bowie to her senior prom. That was this past May so obviously that didn’t happen. Bowie and The Beatles are her favorite music.
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When I was 17 I was listening to the alt-rock everyone else was listening to, but I also had a thing for Louis Jordan. His music was nearly 50 years old at the time. This would have been just before, and completely independent to, the 90s swing revival.
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Is that an autocorrect? Because I cannot think of a better taxonomic classification for myself than Home sapien.
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home-eating-chips-and-watching-Netflix sapien.
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I’d go with the full term, personally:
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It’s all a matter of generations. Wolfman Jack certainly was iconic for his era – there is a reason why Lucas made him such a central focus of American Graffiti. Fame is fleeting.
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No. This is not about fame.
This is about achievement. Comparing a radio announcer to a pioneering astronaut is relativistic bullshit.
And again, I’m saying this as someone who admires both people.
No wonder goddamn Trump got so many votes if people can’t tell the difference.
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Only if we put you in charge.
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I hope my future children are as cool as your daughter.
o_0 No. I listed three name out of list of 200 or so celebrities who died in 1995. Three names who I recognized their names and their work. There were a few others I sort of recognized or their works, but didn’t list.
This was to illustrate the point that the people dying in 2016 aren’t greater in number, but in some greater relevance because of their affect on the current generations.
Dean Martin as probably the biggest icon who died in 1995, and I am sure there were 40 and 50 year olds feeling that pain in 1995 we feel in 2016. And likewise there are 20 year olds today going “meh” at Glenn’s passing the same way I did in 1995 to Martin’s passing.
In other words, I am not directly comparing people’s importance or contributions, I am comparing the sense of loss they impart and how relative that is based mainly on age, but also exposure and interest. I remember wearing a little black armband with a Star Trek symbol when Roddenberry died when all but one other person in school was like, meh. And hence the stories of of Bowie and Prince hitting some teenagers hard.
How about comparing Glenn to Prince or Bowie? All three left an indelible mark on history. If I wasn’t a fan of space exploration I might pessimistically remarked that while he was the first American to orbit, he was basically a guinea pig strapped into a tin can and shot into space, and if it wasn’t him it would have been one of a half dozen other guys, all equally brave. Of course he was more than that, but others would argue that even Wolfman Jack had an affect on culture that isn’t easily dismissed as well. And same for someone like Bowie or Prince, whose affect on culture and individuals is also great, though perhaps in a different way from Glenn’s.
In short, it’s great to have heroes, but you don’t need to place them over other people’s heroes. It is subjective. For some people their greatest hero will always be their mom or dad, and they never went into space either.
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I’m sorry, but given Bowie’s… indiscretions with the underaged, that made me cringe a little. Still, he was a great talent.
He and Yuri Gagarin are sharing a sip of liquor right about now.
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I used to be a bit amazed at the number of traditionally college age students on campus that were wearing t-shirts promoting their love of the Ramones, the Who, or the Beatles. After a while, I just got used to it and accepted that they enjoyed bands that were around before they their parents were born. Like your offspring, many of them were hit hard by the deaths of Prince and Bowie.
Hmm … 50 years before I was 17 would have been 1937, … Bennie Goodman, Count Basie, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington. Oh, I’m fine with that! I remember really being into Pink Floyd when I was 17, as well as other groups that would now be considered “Classic Rock.”
Of course I also grew up listening to Dr. Demento. Scrolling down that Wikipedia list, I see quite a few others names of musicians that I still enjoy, and ones like Raymond Scott tend to jump out at me!
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Not to get too far off topic but the shittiness of 2016 for me is more to do with a couple of acts of national suicide than the loss of some cultural icons (although as you say, this year has been bad for those of us of a certain age and has been the shitty cherry on the top).
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Well, you know. There must have been small talk about the terrible champagne as the Titanic went down.
Definitely a better decade! I’ve been unable to interest my children in Fred & Ginger movies. That’s one underappreciated aspect of the era of broadcast only TV, the serendipity of watching whatever was on. Even straight suburban boys were versed in movie musicals! At least the ones that aired after school.
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I was actually comparing Wolfman Jack to Bowie, but really, being an astronaut isn’t exactly being a rocket scientist (or a DJ or a musician). You basically are Laika with less fur and a greater chance of getting home.
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Spam in a can, like Yeager said? He’s still going, too.
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Good Planets are hard to find now
Temp’rate zones and tropic climes
True currents in thriving seas
Winds blowin’ through breathing trees
Strong ozone and safe sunshine
Good Planets are hard to find
http://www.metrolyrics.com/good-planets-are-hard-to-find-lyrics-steve-forbert.html
We’re of the same era. A few years back, my wife and I were listening to these very artists while playing with the kids. When we finished, my 9 year-old son, wanting to switch to TV, asked if we were done listening to our “80s music.” To him, the word “80s” just meant really old.
I guess he wasn’t wrong.
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