On the other side of the Generation Gap

Tony Orth · From: Evansville, Indiana, USA

Recently, a fellow band member, and high school teacher, found that he was repeating himself in front of his students. He used the phrase.."I'm sounding like a broken record."

The kids said "Huh???????"

I have a daughter that thinks "stylus" is an affliction of the eye.

What's your wake up call that you're on the far side of the music generation gap????

Tony

[This message was edited by Tony Orth on 05 September 2002 at 12:09 PM.]

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Funny, Tony. I listened to an NPR radio piece a while ago on the subject of the use of the sound of a needle scratching across a record abrupty, like it's being yanked off, as a common sound effect in commercials. Pay attention and you still hear it surprisingly often. When they asked a bunch of high schoolers what that sound was they had a hundred different wrong answers. Only one (his father had an 'antique' LP collection) actually had a clue. Hey, I just discovered this great new computer game called Pong! It's awesome, man!

Dave Birkett · From: Oxnard, CA, USA

What about the hip-hoppers, don't they use turntables?

Mike Baxter · From: Vancouver, B.C., Canada

These comments remind me of the following story:

One evening a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events. The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandma replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born, before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill.

There were no credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens. Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man had yet to walk on the moon.

Your Grandfather and I got married first and then lived together. Every family had a father and a mother. Until I was 25, I called every man older than I, "Sir"- - and after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir".

We were before gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers, day-care centres and group therapy. Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgement, and common sense. We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions. Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.

We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.

Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins. Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started. Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.

We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yoghurt, or guys wearing earrings. We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk. The term making out' referred to how you did on your school exam. Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of. We had 5 &10-cent store where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600 but who could afford one? Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon. In my day, "grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink, "pot" was something your mother cooked in, and "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby. "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office, "chip" meant a piece of wood, "hardware" was found in a hardware store, and "software" wasn't even a word.

And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say here is a generation gap..... and how old do you think I am ???.....

****************

Grandma would be only 58 years old!

Sad - but at the same time, many of us should consider ourselves lucky to have been a part of this era.

Mike

Alvin Blaine · From: Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA

nick allen · From: France

I have a slide guitar book, by Fred Sokolow, published sometime in the mid-90s. He gives a little history of the performers transcribed, and talking about Muddy Waters, mentions a particular record, which had I-forget-which-song "on the B-side". Then there's an asterisk, and a footnote at the bottom of the page:
"Old 78 and 45rpm records could be played on both sides. One song on a single record was designated as the A-side, and the other as the B-side" (paraphrased, I don't have the book here).
It took me a while for it to sink in just WHY he felt the need to put that note...

Nick

Tony Orth · From: Evansville, Indiana, USA

Mike,

Boy, that story covers a lot of ground. And I can relate since I'm almost 51.

Nick,
Another interesting "spin" (excuse the pun) on the record topic. I hadn't considered that different RPM speeds and "A" and "B" sides would be foreign. I guess we old guys just take it for granted that everyone knows that history.

Tony

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I'm still confused when an artist announces that they are going to release a "Single".

The term always meant you could buy that song on a 45, and not have to buy the album.

Now I think the term only applies to radio promotion.

And another thing....

Remember when you heard a song and wondered what the band or artist looked like?

[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 06 September 2002 at 03:59 PM.]

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

While browsing through an antique store one day, I noticed a kid examining a small box of cylinders (for an old "Victor Talking Machine"). Trying to be helpful, I told him that this is how they listened to music at the turn of the last century, and that cylinders came before records. He cocked his head a little and said "A couple hundred of these would sure take up a lotta space!"

I just laughed and told him that, back then, nobody had "a couple hundred" of anything!

As he placed it back in the box, all he said was "Hmph...bummer".

Tim Harr · From: Dunlap, Illinois

Think about this...

Today's Senior in High School has (in most cases)...Never:

1> Owned a record 33 or 45

2> Used a DIAL telephone

3> Does not remember when President Regan got shot

4> Does not remember when the first Space Shuttle took off/landed

5> Never lived without MTV or HBO

6> Never had a TV without a remote control

7> Seen an 8 track tape let alone a reel to reel

8> was in Kindergarten when Desert Shield/Storm took place

9> Lived with out VCRs ...never heard of BETA

10> Doesn't remember Elvis being alive..

The list can go on and on and on and on

Barbara Hennerman · From: ** R.I.P. **

*

[This message was edited by Barbara Hennerman on 21 August 2006 at 01:13 AM.]

R. L. Jones · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

You are taking us back a ways, remember Lum and Abner, Amos n Andy. Yes I know what you mean, we`ve almost forgotten how to just sit around and talk. There`s a bunch of us old retirees, who go to a local barbershop each morning to drink coffee, visit , talk lie , laugh etc.
RL

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

Barbara....when I was a kid we had to talk because there was no television and the battery on the radio usually needed to be replaced. (No electricity either)

I was allowed to watch the "Lone Ranger" on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and it was special because each episode was 30 minutes long! "Jack Armstrong, The All American Boy", a daily 15 minute program, was also allowed when the battery was new.

Jim Florence · From: wilburton, Ok. US * R.I.P.

My brother and I used to make crystal radios using a razor blade for a diode
Jim

Bob Shilling · From: Berkeley, CA, USA

Well, at 61 I remember all that stuff. I made crystal radios, but never used a razor blade.

It's funny though, last night on my way home from work, for no apparent reason, I was looking at the "STOP" sign and thinking, "I wonder how many people remember when those things were yellow, and mailboxes were dark green."

My grandparents were all born when there were no cars, but lived to fly cross-country in jet planes. In our lifetimes it seems the big changes have been more in communications than in transportation. I remember when mom convinced her parents to get a telephone. (you had to crank it, and it was an 8 party line.) She said, "They're here to stay, you need one to keep up." Now we're at the same point with the internet and mobile phones, etc.

------------------
Bob Shilling, Berkeley, CA--MSA S10, "Classic"

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I guess my first wake-up call was when I read years ago that a certain high school principal was retiring...after 25 years of being the Principal. Funny, that veteran Principal was just a teacher when I went to that school!

Oh yeah, and those toys that we had as a kid...and threw away so many years ago...they're all "collectibles" now.

But I guess my favorite toy was the sling-shot that my dad made me. Some hickory trees are still around, but those natural-rubber inner tubes they used to use in car tires are a thing of the past, too.

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