I was jealous of the 50's and 60's teens. I always thought they had a simpler/better time than us. Also the time we were graduating the whole 50's nostalgia thing was really popular so pushed that narrative on us.
Friday OT: Rock & Gown
- Thread starter cyclones500
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As I told our two sons, there is nothing new today that wasn't around in my time.
The music was so much more eclectic, musical genius shined brightest, and the best was the most popular. Today, ugh. Hyper consolidation of playlists eliminates 95%+ of all music.
"Country Music" today tries, lamely, to regurgitate the Eagles. So sad and dumb.
That was my freshman year of college. I remember one streaker in a lecture hall, and a group of about 5 at a football game. Then of course, the famous streaker at the Oscars when David Niven was presenting. Niven's dry response to the streaker running across the stage behind him was "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?"
I'm old enough to remember how "thick" the '50s/early '60s nostalgia was in the early/mid-70s. That type of thing isn't unique to any decade, of course, but it seemed especially noticeable throughout the '70s, from "American Graffiti" then to "Happy Days," and Sha-Na-Na TV variety show (!) and hitting a fever pitch with "Grease."
I think Richard Linklater said in an interview, around the time his breakthrough "Dazed and Confused" was released, to the effect: "I didn't really grow up in the '70s. I grew up in the '50s."
Ironically, "D&C" was as close to "American Graffiti Filtered Through '70s Culture" as you could get. (He never shied away from the "Graffiti" comparisons, either, from what I recall).