ABOUT

While you’re never too old – or too young – to rock, if you are part of our ClassicRockForever community there’s good chance that you are a Baby Boomer.

You believe that “The Wonder Years of Rock” started in the 60’s with the Beatles and started fading away in the early 80’s.  After that, fewer bands and artists kept your attention - maybe U2, Tom Petty & Heartbreakers or Guns & Roses. 

You know that music can’t be formatted and packaged as neatly as “the biz’ would like it to be.  Yes, the same person can handle The Who, Earth Wind & Fire, Loggins & Messina, Elvin Bishop, The Ramones… and all in one day.

You might have checked out of the music scene for a decade or two while you pursued a career and/or raised a family.   You knew there was probably some great new music happening out there… in fact, even today… but, sorting through the media clutter makes finding it a chore.

You know there are killer tunes that have disappeared from the radio.  Contrary to what your kid (or local Classic Rock station) might think, J. Geils existed before “Centerfold”; “Can’t You See” isn’t the only great Marshall Tucker Band tune. The James Gang did “Funk #49” AND “Funk #48”.

Back In The Day

Music was an important part of your life. You went to every concert you could, you bought every album you could afford.  However, you weren’t what they now call a “fanboy”.   Close To The Edge might have been the last Yes album you bought.  Van Halen may have been the last band where you knew the lead singer’s name — and then they had to go mess with that.   Basically, you didn’t cross the line from Star Trek fan to Trekkie.

You stood in line (or you would have if you were a kid back then) to see a Hard Days Night and HELP!   You were blown away by the “triple split screen” effect in Woodstock.  And, if you didn’t actually go, you seriously considered attending the midnight shows for “The Song Remains The Same” and/or “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Beyond the music there were certain movies, TV shows, comedians and entertainment events that, well, there was something about them that stuck with you.  Some of them seem pretty goofy to you as an adult but, they still make you smile (or wince) a little inside.

Goldfinger, Thunderball, Love Story, Billy Jack, Walking Tall, Shindig, Hullaballoo, Vanishing Point, That Girl, All In The Family, George Carlin, Second City, Cheech & Chong, the first seasons of Saturday Night Live, Don Kirshner, Sam Kinison, Mod Squad…

The warped bottom line - whether it’s legitimate or not – you believe there are huge cultural differences in how you perceive the entertainment picks you have made over the years.  In fact, they’re part of who you are:

-  You’d rather be a Monkee – or heaven forbid – a Cowsill… before you’d become a member of the Partridge Family or the Brady Bunch.

-   You’d take a bit part in a Looney Toon before you’d take a lead role as a Disney character.

-  You actually wanted to know “Who Shot J.R.?”  but, you weren’t that concerned about Dynasty.

-  You “totally got” SOAP.  You really wanted to like Mary Hartmann, Mary Hartmann more than you did.

To be continued.