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Soundcheck Smackdown: Baby Boomers vs. Generation X
The poet and philosopher George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." To ensure that future generations don't forget the triumphs and tragedies of pop music's past, we host another Soundcheck Smackdown over the musical legacies of baby boomers and Generation X. Joining us in studio are Jeff Gordinier, editor at large at Details magazine and author of "X Saves the World," and music critic Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor at Rolling Stone and author of "In Other Words: Artists Talk About Life and Work."
"X Saves the World" on Amazon.com
"In Other Words" on Amazon.com
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Music is always a sign of the times. It represents the attitude of what is happening. We often love to listen to music from the past as it brings it front and center to our feelings. Every generation the parents think their kid's music is "pretty wild"...That will go on for generations. carol stanley author of For Kids 59.99 and Over: www.carolstanley1.com
Certainly I'm not in any position to tell anyone what is great music and what isn't but to suggest that Nirvana, Pearl Jam, et.al even come close as far as musical and cultural output as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, The Temptations, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Everly Brothers, Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane,... (jeez, my fingers are getting tired!) is absurd, ABSURD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will argue for the impact of Nirvana on popular culture. They did drag us out of the LA hair tarpit that rock and roll had been wallowing in for years, and I will never stop listening to them for that reason. But I think contemporary culture has too little memory, too short of an attention span to hold on to that impact. Look at where we are now--pop stars are bigger than ever, Motley Crue is still in the news, Bon Jovi is probably making more money now than he did then. For those reasons, I think baby boomer culture-particularly Dylan, Rolling Stones, Beatles, etc.--will always have visible effects permeating society.
I'm a Gen X-er, and there is no comparison between the two. The Boomers had the music to make any 30-something today envious. Mick Jagger, Pete Townsend, and Jimi Hendrix define rock and roll. While the music of my teens and twenties can hold its own, I would have given anything to be at a Stones or Who concert in the early 70s.
Your X'er's assertion that X'ers are responsible for the rise of college radio is off the mark.
College radio started growing in the mid-'60s, and was in full, firm swing by 1980. X'ers didn't start entering colelge until about 1983.
I would argue that the X-ers have much to be proud of in the Golden Age of Hip Hop, of which the boomers are largely ignorant. If the boomers paid attention, they'd understand that the work of Public Enemy, EPMD, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Run-DMC, etc. can easily stand up to the best of the '60's.
And I'd better not hear that it's "not music."
From Gen Y: you're all a bunch of geezers!
Isn't it kina obvious that each generation learns and is influenced by that which came before. The boomers benefit from the relative scarcety of people producing that type of sound back when they were doing it so they are on the pedestals because there are fewer of them.
I think mid-twentieth century American black music is much more important than everything being discussed here.
Ok Ok .. Jeff is from Details AND grew up in LA .. end of story , The Stones film sucks .. get a life jeff ...
Lets stop this stupid dicussion and celebrate all the GREAT music that each generation has made .. ALL OF THEM
There is so much music that sucks today.. and there was so much music that sucked back them .. but the gems the gems are ageless new or old
Just comparing the two sample tracks you played "Machine Gun" by Hendrix and "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead I would have to say that you showed the Boomers were making a Quantum Leap and the Gen-Xers were building upon the scaffolds they found waiting there for them left by the boomers.
The truth is that after you have exhausted the music of your teenage years you need to go explore new music. Witness Robert Plant getting into country and rock-a-billy.
I've started listening to Frank Sinarta recently.
Rock On!!
Yeah, Art! [6]
It's funny how Hip Hop gets shoved aside in these discussions.
But don't forget, people like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Bambaataa and Chuck D are boomers!
this smackdown is funny, as it is turning into less of a "I'm the best! I'm the best!" and more of a "Why do you gotta pick on me?" for each side. which is right, both generations contributed lots of important and great music. the only lame thing is anyone that refuses to listen to either thinking their's is best.
and so I don't seem too much like a pushover, I'll weigh in and say that this last sentiment is something I find more prominent in boomers than x'ers. people are stubborn. x'ers will hate the next generations music, its the cycle of life.
I find that boomers have been riding on the coattails of the revolutionary spirit of their time whether it be in music, politics or otherwise, making it harder to asses their true legacy. That said, there were plenty of boomers who matter contemporaneously --politically and/or musically (dylan, beatles,and countless non mainstream musicians). It's not an issue in which one can definitely determine a superiority however, it can be said that gen x music is far more relevant, but that is incidental, not an intentional by-product of the work. I think the most interesting thing about this argument is how different sounding the music is. Take the Zombies for example, I can't think of anything that resembles their sound in the 90's grunge era, however if it weren't for the Zombies, there'd be no Shins. So perhaps the boomer legacy skipped the 90's sound, making the gen x sound something actually 'new' and a sound to be reckoned with.
I'm a baby boomer and I like bands of both groups but I think Gen X has lost the sense of freedom and adventure that baby boomers had. They also achieved world wide communes, U-Tube and Face Book, where they are able to expose personal details at a young age before they realize those details are just that, personal.
An opinion from the "Y" generation: As the daughter of a Boomer, I grew up listening to the Beatles, the Stones, Tull and Led Zeppelin before I was walking. I will always venerate those bands and the others of my dad's generation, they tempered my musical tastes. However, I grew up to discover Radiohead and Nirvana and the Foo Fighters and Greenday and of because I loved them I thought for some reason that my father would too. My tastes grew from his, didn't they? He didn't get it. He thought it was noisy and "unpoetic." But I think the real reason that his boomer ears couldn't appreciate it was because it didn't conjure his college days for him. I wonder if nostalgia is a big part of why the boomers can't look beyond their own music to appreciate later generations, while the Xers will always give credit where it is undeniably due.
Jeff is sooo right. I'm an Indie rocker born in 68. Don't get me wrong I love Hendrix, The Doors and a lot of 60's Garage bands. That said- The mystique of the 60s has been wrung out and burned out. We're over it. 1987- 1995 was a beautiful, underrated time. Seatle, Manchester, Hip- Hop were all booming. The world stood still for us when Kurt Cobain blew his head off. Not to mention Blind Melon, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains and the other drug casulties of our era. I laugh when I hear boomers say 'we did a lot of drugs back then'. You don't know the half of it.
The fact is as soon the corporate rec industry caught up w grunge it killed it as soon as it got a whiff of the danger and apathy that went with it. It was a time of intergrity which has always been a threat to corporate culture.
All these oldsters have had these head in the sand who think that music ended w them. Ask the older black generation where the Stones and Who and Zep got there blues. Tune in, Turn on and shut up!!!
As a boomer, I'm creeped-out by my smup contemporaies who can not listen to anything "new"! I recently had to explain that Green Day is not same as Earth Day. Have you ever had to ride in $$$ Porsche with that old dude (my age!) who only listens to Bon Jovi and Jimmy Buffet? I shudder. Every generation has their crappy music, and every generation has their greats, you just have to keep your keep your ears open, or turn up your hearing aid.
Sara (16) you just nailed it I think. All the boomers I know who gripe about "today's music sucking" are really just wanting to re-live their college and post-college years. THey're not really listening to the music; just reflecting on how it makes (or doesn't make) them feel.
@Art #6 & John #12
I am a boomer with a gen x'er daughter. You are both right and I enjoy the best of both worlds in music however, let's not forget the ladies in both era's...lol
To say that the music of gen x has or had a more profound effect on pop music as a whole is proposterous. I guarantee that there are and will always be more records sold by artists like the beatles, the beach boys, bob dylan, pink floyd, the rolling stones, the band, and jimi hendrix. Not just because they have been around longer but, because of the timelessness of the music. And my god.. the sheer musicianship. Lets face it, the quality of music, on a "popular level" has done nothing but get worse as the years go by. And though i think that Nirvana is and will be timeless, Kurt Cobain was a terrible guitarist. This is one of my favorite bands but, his great songs would have been dust in the wind without that rhythm section.
Otis's original is still timeless.
That's another thing that makes our music the best, they use all our "boomer tunes"in a lot of commercials. This makes me feel a little weird, but brings back good feelings.
Read "Rip It Up and Start Again." The post punk 80s were more revolutionary than the 60s.
Blame it on MTV Janis Joplin wouldn't have had a chance today.
Hey Jack (21)
I bet you judge guitar playing by who can play the penatonic blues scale and go on and on. As a younger guy who has played most of my life and who cut my teeth on those old solos (I'll give you Hendrix as unmatched), Gen X deconstructed the electric guitar and gave it a new raw voice. I urge you to listen to Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and the Meat Puppets and tell me these are not GREAT guitarists and musicians. Sometimes it's about what you don't play.
Let's not forget that crap comes from both generations, be it Strawberry Alarm Clock or Candlebox...there's embarrassing stuff from both generations, some of it heralded as greatness.
I think the secret to the best music of the gen-xers is that there was simply MORE music and some of the true geniuses of gen-x were not in the limelight.
And the lines are so blurred..take Guided by Voices...gen-xer music made by boomers.
As a Gen Y-er, or whatever the heck we are, I have had this battle with my father. I love music from both generations but there is a difference in aesthetic, much of the time. My boomer father has never understood the punk aesthetic and how it's affected all the music that followed. While virtuosic performances are great, sometimes music is too important to be left to just the musicians.
Moreover, to get on the Led Zepplin, Jimi Hendrix virtuosic guitarist argument is to ignore where those guys learned their licks: Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters...
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