Bored And Old

In “Eating the Dinosaur,” Chuck Klosterman writes that the world’s cultural memory is expanding. For evidence, he points out that in Back To The Future, Marty from 1985 calls Johnny B. Goode an oldie before playing it for a bunch of 1955 teenagers. Johnny B. Goode came out in 1958, 27 years before Back To The Future came out. Billie Jean came out in 1983, but nobody’s calling it an oldie. (Not to be confused with the capital ‘O’ Oldies section of 50s rock in some record stores).

Maybe the cultural memory is expanding because of technology, longer lifespans, etc., I don’t know. I’m bringing this up because I went to a music student showcase yesterday and heard a 14-year-old play the Blink-182 song Dammit, which came out in 1997, when the singer covering it was 1 or 2 years old. The kid was really into playing this song; it seemed like an emotional experience for him. He was relating to Dammit the way kids born in 1983 related to it when it was new and they were 14.

That kid rocking out to Dammit would be like me, at age 14, earnestly rocking out to Wang Chung, Tiffany, Huey Lewis or any of the other hits of 1987.

Two fun asides:

1. When I was 14, Dammit was 2-years-old and completely old and uncool.
2. Tiffany and Billy Idol both had hits in 1987 with covers of Tommy James songs that were hits 19 and 20 years prior. That’d be like someone today having a hit with a Nirvana or Pixies cover. While today’s hitmakers probably still dig those acts, why would a band release a single of I Bleed, when the Pixies are still playing it live? Also, the Pixies still playing live and drawing big crowds of hipsters is like if Tommy James toured through the 80s and had thousands of teenagers lining up to watch him rock out to Hanky Panky.

• • Color Me Badd had a hit in 1991, and the biggest influence they’ve had on this generation’s culture is as the inspiration for the “Dick in a Box” skit. So maybe this new generation (my generation) is faster to idolize or mock the ‘oldies’ of modern times.