 |
| Fair use photo from Wikipedia |
Being a baby boomer myself, I always felt that radio music, television shows, fashion, and most other cultural aspects were designed to appeal to my generation.
During the 1960s we
had television shows such as Bewitched, Gilligan’s
On February 1 1971
the Osmonds had the number 1 song at WLS.
“One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, give it one more try
Before you give up on love
One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl”
The 1960s and early 1970s were a time of AM superstations
like WLS which played a variety of hit sounds. Along with Iron Butterfly heavy
metal and Tom Jones ballads groups like the Osmonds, the Jacksons, and even the
contrived Archies held proper place on the charts and airwaves.
We listened on our battery operated transistor radios carried
along much like smart phones today. We knew that our classmates would be
listening to the same station, hearing the same songs played and we felt a
sense of immediate community though we were not in presence or sight of each
other. As we heard the songs we mentally recorded questions and comments we
would share with our friends upon later meeting up with them.
Likewise for
television, since there were only three major networks to watch there was a
very good chance that our classmates had seen the same shows over the weekend
and therefore would have something to talk about at lunch-time at school on
Monday.
But, as AM
superstations gave way to more localized FM stations that specialized in a
particular genre, as cable television gave more options to viewing preferences,
we baby boomers began losing our synchronized and outsized impact on culture.
As younger
generations exert influence on culture with their different musical and viewing
tastes, we baby boomers feel much like our grandparents must have felt “That’s
not music, that’s just noise!”, “They wouldn’t let smut like that be on
television in my day!”
Alas, it appears
that American culture is for each generation to decide for itself. We baby
boomers can no more impose upon younger generations what is and is not proper
cultural norm any more than our parents tried to impose upon us.
I expect that as it happened for our predecessors, we boomers
will increasingly become frustrated and uncomfortable with the prevailing
tastes of the younger generations. We will feel detached. And what I think will
irritate us the most is that we will be considered irrelevant.
Butcha know what! Periodically I run upon some young
wait-staff person at a restaurant that names a 1960s singer or group as their
favorite musical interest. Maybe we baby boomers really did set in cultural
stone some undeniable and absolute classics that transcend subsequent
generational whim. Yes…that’s what I’m going with!
