I was born in 1976. I roll my eyes whenever I see a prime-time TV special that caters to the memories of baby boomers. The Ed Sullivan Show means nothing to me, as does Woodstock. Every once in a while, though, I come across something from "the good old days" and say, "Wow! That really was as good as they said it was." A few examples: 1) I kept hearing about how gorgeous Grace Kelly was in all of her movies. Yeah, okay, I thought. Maybe it's just the quality of the film prints, or that the women's hairstyles of the time made them all look 50 even when they were 25, but I had been regularly underwhelmed in the past. Then I actually saw Grace Kelly in a movie. Wow. Just wow. :wub: 2) I kept hearing about how great Casablanca was. I had already seen Citizen Kane, and was underwhelmed by this supposed "greatest film of all time." I thought it was solid, but I thought the first 2 Godfather movies blew Kane completely out of the water. I was expecting the same from Casablanca. I was wrong. Bogart was cool, so cool. Ingrid Berman was beautiful. And Claude Rains had me howling with laughter. When that scene came, I almost stood up and tried to sing La Marseillaise with the rest of the crowd in the bar. I was blown away. 3) I was driving home from work one night, scanning the AM band. I heard this man talking. He was absolutely electrifying. He sounded somewhat like a preacher, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. At times, he seemed more philosophical than theological. He made use of dramatic pauses in much the same way that Paul Harvey did. He spoke about the threat of communism, and the sound quality sounded like something from the 50s or 60s. I later found out he was Archbishop Fulton Sheen. He was TV's first televangelist. He was Catholic, and he would come out in the long flowing black and red robes, and speak for 20-25 minutes with nothing else on set but a chalkboard. His show "Life Is Worth Living", was in prime time in the early '60s and actually won an Emmy for best television show. Yes, prime time TV actually had a televangelist, and that televangelist's show, where he simply lectured in front of a chalkboard for half an hour, actually won an Emmy. My, how TV has changed. When I mentioned him to my parents sometime later, each of them were of the "You've really never heard of him?" persuasion. "We used to watch him every week when I was a kid!" Anyone else? MathManTim
Oddly enough, I'm currently surfing through a website dedicated to photos of Old Miami. It's amazing how different it looked with the Henry Flagler's Royal Palm Hotel still standing on the mouth of the Miami River, before they filled in part of biscayne bay to make a park, and when there were actually trees and green space on Miami Beach.
I just missed the Beattles craze...in fact I never liked them because I always associated them with being 'old'. It blew me away that my son's friends are nuts about them now...
well, being born in '86, I wasn't around for most of the stuff some of you guys rave about like being able to roam around the neighbor doing whatever until dark without anyone worrying about you or bothering you. One thing I thought was cool though was when talk started about Jay Leno leaving his show this year. People on the board started talking about how great Johnny Carson was. Well, Jay's been the host since I was 6 years old. I don't remember Johnny Carson. But they were showing some of the old episodes on TVLand. He was pretty funny and you can see how Jay and David and the others modeled they're styles after him.
Johnny Carson was not even the first host of the tonight show...nor the second. Carson was the third host of the show. Steve Allen was the first (1954-957), followed by Jack Paar(1957-1962). Carson took over in '62. He was; however, the longest running host of the Tonight Show, which is why many people think he was the original host.
Loved Carson.... Who remembers the "wild and crazy guys!" from Sat. nite live? Or Rosanna Rosanadana?
Well, Carson did host the show for 30 years. The other two just sort of fade into the background of history. Allen and Paar were reasonably famous comedians of their time. The show was popular enough with them as hosts, but it was Carson who turned the show into a staple of American late night television.
Here's a funny one...three years ago, my nephew, 16 at the time, told his mom he wanted to go get a new CD, from this great new band. They were awesome, playing on the local rock station all the time. She asks, who are they? He says, "the Beastie Boys!" So she starts singing all the oldies...You Gotta Fight...Intergalactic...Brass Monkey...Girls...he was mortified that his MOM knew this cool NEW band! To make it even better, she takes him to Target, and finds the CD he wants...in the bargain bin!
ha! That's awesome. If you want a blast from the past, walk into ANY high school in America and look at the kids who they're so cool with their latest fashion...which is from the 80s...
I love old movies. I have DVDs of every Doris Day, Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe movie in print, plus most of the Hitchcock movies. Mostly, though, people laugh at me when they see all my TV box sets for Remington Steele, Wonder Woman; they really howl laughing at my CHiPs sets. And then I have every disaster movie ever made, right down to all the obscure straight to video, cable and tv movies. I think the only part of my DVD collection that ever meets with approval are my 2-3 copies of each Bond film (the DVDs all have different extras because of changing licensing rules and arguments). We got my dad the Johnny Carson box set last Christmas. He made us watch some of them. I was not amused! My favorite was when I was subbing and some middle school kids were talking about some sort of Nirvana tribute concert thing they were excited about. Apparently Nirvana was "cool" again a few years ago. It was the last 5 minutes of a Friday, so I was chatting with them a little and mentioned that I saw Nirvana in concert three times. They were amazed by how "cool" I was to have such current musical taste.
Ick!! I am amazed the tacky '80s clothes are back, honestly. Anyway, I love watching I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched. I was raised on Beattles, Eagles, Bruce and U2 courtesy of my dad
I love those movies too! When I was in high school on AMC, I believe it was, they used to show many of those movies every Sunday. My sister and I always watched them. In fact she just bought one of them for me, "Barefoot in the Park." I also really love Audrey Hepburn and have several of her movies.
Me too!! I was so glad that time in my life was behind me. Now I'm seeing it everywhere! I just hope the fad passes before my kids are old enough to start picking their own clothes. I can't stand those tight-legged jeans, esp on boys! Oh, and I love watching old episodes of "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie." And, not terribly old, but I still love "Friends."
I watched them regularly live on Saturday nights. I also remember watching the pilot to Mork and Mindy. Both were the funniest things on TV at the time. Trust me.
I love the Adam Sandler/Chris Farley era on SNL, and after that the Cheri Oteri/Will Ferrell era. I was born in '81 so I got all into the 80s craze: the Troll Dolls, the fashion, the music. For my best friend's bachelorette party 2 years ago, we dressed in 80s fashion and went to this great dueling piano bar. It's was the best time!
I've had exactly the same taste in music for 20 years. The Police, The Who, The Beatles, David Bowie, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, Chicago, the Doobie Brothers, Peter Frampton, and so on. The reactions have gone from "God, those guys are so OVER!" to "Who are they?" to "You've got this weird retro thing going" to, finally, "I see you have excellent taste in Classic Rock!" :thumb: MathManTim
Your bands and the year they peaked (according to Sarge's so called "memory." Police - 1982-83 (I saw them in '82) The Who - 1969, 1973, or 1976, depending on who you ask (I saw them in '83) The Beatles - 1966-69 Bowie - Mid Seventies or early Eighties (depending on who you ask) Tull - some time in the 70's Supertramp - 1978-79 Chicago - Mid Seventies Doobie Bros - 1977 or so Frampton - 1976 (he was really a one-album wonder) Which begs the following question (imagine Sarge shining a bright interrogation light in your face at this point. You are seated, looking very tired, hoping I will soon give you a glass of water) So, MathManTim (if that is your real name, I doubt that it is) why were you not listening to U2, Depeche Mode, the Pixies, Guns and Roses, or even Aerosmith back then. Why were you listening to music that was at least 10 years old?
My 19 year old daughter asked for leg warmers for Christmas. She wears them with colored tights and a short sweater dress....just like I wore in the 80's. She didn't believe me until I showed her a picture!!!! Her dress just didn't have the shoulder pads.... Think shoulder pads will make a come back????
(MathManTim blinks and tries to avert his gaze from the horrors in front of him. The bright light Sarge is shining in his face is merely annoying, but Sarge's lime green leisure suit with hot pink trim is giving him a migraine. An unholy, acrid smell permeates the chamber. Someone has set fire to limburger cheese marinated in turpentine, or else it is simply Sarge's aftershave. If MathManTim is going to survive this interrogation, he must remember his Jedi training...) I like older U2 songs (before 1992) now, but back when I was in school, the only people who listened to them were the "socially conscious" types. These were the students who moaned about how could they possibly be happy about their Christmas presents when there was apartheid in South Africa. I was a Reagan-Bush kid. If I had to not listen to U2 to avoid being grouped with them, then so be it! Depeche Mode was for the sullen, moody types. Their listeners were the 1990 version of today's "emo" kids, minus the nail polish on the boys. See the reasoning for U2. The Pixies...who? Guns and Roses were a little heavy for my tastes. There's a fine line for me between hard rock and heavy metal, and Guns and Roses was just a shade beyond that line for me. It didn't help matters that Axl Rose's singing voice sounds like an emotionally disturbed Wizard of Oz munchkin. Aerosmith was pretty good. Again, I preferred their older songs. The most recent songs I like are from their 1989 Pump album. Give me "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle" any day over "Crazy" or, God forbid, "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing." As for my taste in older music: My mother was a gonzo Paul McCartney fan. You know that black-and-white footage of the Beatles getting off the airplane in New York, on their way to be on the Ed Sullivan show? See that crowd of frenzied, screaming teenage girls? My mother was actually in that crowd, after cutting class that day. My dad, my stepfather, and my late uncle are big time classic rock fans. My Dad introduced me to Queen, the Doobie Brothers, and Steely Dan. My stepfather introduced me to The Police, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Jethro Tull, among many others. My uncle introduced me to the Talking Heads, David Bowie, and Chicago (which is ironic, given that he was from New York City). Artists that were actually contemporary with my childhood that I listened to were Van Halen (I preferred David Lee Roth, but some of Sammy Hagar's stuff was okay, too), ZZ Top, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Robert Palmer, Sting's solo music. Grunge started when I was in high school. Because it was being so heavily promoted, I naturally shied away from it. Looking back across 15 years, a lot of early Nirvana and Pearl Jam holds up surprisingly well for me. Can I have that glass of water now? MathManTim
Actually, I know exactly where you're coming from. I was in high school in the late seventies, in suburban California. Sacramento to be exact. At the time, many of the bands you mentioned ruled - Doobie Bros, Jethro Tull, Led Zepplin, Lynnard Skynnard, Journey, Eagles, Boston, Foghat and many other bands with five guitar players and two drummers. Everyone thought I was a freak because I like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Skip forward a few years. Me and the handful of other guys at my school who had similar tastes in music had all spiked our hair, bought black converse high tops, and were spending our weekends at clubs, bouncing to Elvis Costello, Ramones, B-52's, Sex Pistols and other punk and new wave bands. The trend I found very interesting was that virtually everyone at those clubs with whom I had serious conversations about music admitted that throughout the seventies, they chose Beatles, Stones, the Who, the Kinks and other bands from the sixties over the seventies rock bands that their contemporaries were listening to. It was as if liking the Beatles in the late 70's was a predictor of being a punk rocker in the early 80's.
Some of my students were talking about the show "Sister, Sister" which began in 1994 and went off the air in 1999, and being silly me I sang the words "sister, sister" like in the show's theme song. The girls looked shocked and asked how I knew how to sing that, so I explained I watched that show growing up. They had NO clue they were watching re-runs. I thought that was cute.
Mathmantim, I have the same taste in music as you, however, I am 8 years older. I still listen to them. Speaking of blasts from the past...my nephews (12 & 9) love the ALF series on DVD. My students named AC/DC and Metallica as their favorite bands when I asked this year, and my students have also mentioned leg warmers just last week.
Besides the "superior" music of my youth, how about the cartoons of yore? Elmer Fudd....Deputy Dawg....Tweetie....Daffy Duck... and I loved all those cartoons that were set to classical music!
I recently went to LA and the only stars I wanted to find on the Walk of Fame or Handprints were "old Hollywood Stars" like Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, etc. I could have really cared less about anyone else.
My all time favorite...Scooby Doo..the original series. I have the whole original series on DVD and the kids are not allowed to touch them.
I remember when Barbara Walters was the first female host of a morning news program - The Today Show. I remember the first time I ever saw someone (not an athlete) jogging - for no reason! We all gathered at the front door to watch him make his way down the block. We were really confused as to why a grownup was slowly running down our street. I remember when Tony the Tiger said Frosted Flakes were GREAT, and when Smokey Bear said only we could prevent forest fires. Romper Room and Soupy Sales in the morning (Sesame Street hadn't yet been created).
I've noticed one of my third graders wearing those capri tights with the band of lace on the bottom, just like I used to wear. And jelly shoes are back too! I just hope they won't start rolling their jeans up tight over their push down socks like we did in middle school.
Upsadaisy, I remember watching Romper Room when I was student teaching. It gave me insite on how to keep the flow in a classroom. My good old days are a lot further away than most of yours. I remember when we got our TV. We were the first on the block, and all my dad's co-workers would come home with him to watch. It wasn't color either. And Jack Paar was host of the late show, The Lone Ranger was my favorite show, and Gun Smoke was just beginning.
I loved The Lone Ranger - and Sky King, Lassie. I'm glad somebody here remembers those times. When my daughter was young, she'd rush home from school to watch reruns of Lassie. I loved watching with her. I can still hear the music. Do you remember the night the Walt Disney show was broadcast in color? (Did your kids ever ask you if the world was in black and white when you were little?)
Jesuit. I should have mentioned it, because it was actually relevant to the music discussion, being that it was an all-male school.
Such memories!! My high school years were from 78-81. I watched the Not ready for Prime time players every Saturday night. I had feathered hair until I got MTV (yes, I remember the first video played was "Video Killed the Radio Star") and then I went to my version of "punk". I don't miss the style of the 80's, but I miss the music!! I grew up with lots of influence from my brothers: Bruce, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Southside Johnny, Steely Dan, Heart, The Who, Chicago, and so on. Much to their dismay, i went "soft" with the 80's pop. I listen to all of it now...but I must admit, my heart leaps when I hear an 80's song!! Oh yeah, my 20 year old song thinks he is going "old school" when he listens to AC/DC. Yikes-I'm old?????
