Sunday, December 10, 2017

Dr. Strangemusic or how I learned to love (tolerate) the Bieber

Justin Bieber has a monkey on his back
It must be almost a year ago from this writing that for some reason an acquaintance was suddenly commiserating to me or into his Dixie cup beer that his son wasn't enjoying the same things he had enjoyed with his own father when he had been his son`s age.  I thought that was strange.  I guess I hadn't heard of any movies the guy was talking about that he said he used to watch with his father.  I have a feeling they were like ultra artsy movies for kids.  Whatever that is.  His son got the nickname "hooligan" when he was in nursery school, so I didn't think he would be watching intellectual English movies.  His son was 10 years old at this time.  Hmmm.

Anyway, that got me thinking on the merits of your kids growing up in the exact same tennis shoes that you grew up in.  I mean it seems akin to cultural incest or at least in-grown toe nails to give your kids the exact SAME that you grew up on.  Unless you are a teen age parent, do you really want your kids listening to the same music that you did, 20 or 30 or 40 years ago?  Shouldn't they listen to their own stuff, discover their own music and arts and crafts and their own path in life?

Another anecdote.  I remember a greaser classic rocker type proclaiming to me proudly that his children didn't listen to anything past 1977, and mostly Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.  I think he was a closet racist and was glad his kids weren't listening to hip hop like everyone else in the neighborhood was.

How weird is that?

But wait, people who live in glass houses shouldn't denounce Billy Joel.


I realized that off and on for the past several years Santa Claus, wink wink nudge nudge, was giving my young kids CDs of either the Beatles or the Ramones.  The two most famous and original bands in the universe.  I mean how smart is that Santa that he tried to turn my kids on to the modern classics?

On the other hand, how weird is that?  To have your six year old humming around the house, "I'm living on Chinese rock.  All my best things are in hock.  I'm living on Chinese Rock.  All my things are in the pawn shop".  Or, "The KKK took my baby away, they took her away, away from me".  Songs written by Dee Dee Ramone and Joey Ramone respectively.  If you know what those songs are about, well, not stuff for a six year old, even though they are great tunes.

It was just last Sunday that I was sitting on the couch with my daughters, one messing on her mobile telephone playing some car race video game, the other with the computer watching music videos by some pre teen teeny bopper girl band called the Hackensack Sisters or something like that.  I watched one or two videos, one where the group tried out for the "cheer dance squad" and another where they sing that boys (11 year olds) are so terrible and lame.

I walked away and went to the kitchen to clean the dishes and I thought, wow, I am not bringing up my kids well.  I have to get them away from this junk.  I am not a good father.

Then I thought, well you know, how many quarters did you waste when Missile Command and Asteroids came out?  And when PAC Man came out, my grades slipped and I had serious holes in my pockets where no money could stay.  And I recalled the biggest band of the early or mid 90s was probably the Spice Girls.  Not that I watched them, but this Hackensack girl band is just an updated, younger version of the Spice Girls and how many people loved the Spice Girls?  If my girls would have been around at the time, they would have watched the Spice Girls. No big deal.

I mean,  both things are true.  Every generation has to find its own path and or create it.  Or do they RE create it?  Because, there is nothing new under the sun.  In a way, Elvis was the first boy band and its all been repeating itself every twenty years.  Sort of.  On top of that, each generation thinks that their pop culture they grew up on is the REAL sh.. stuff.

Is this the Life we Really Want?
Roger Waters (formerly of Pink Floyd) has a great album out in 2017, but I am not going to push it on
my kids.  When they get to their teenage years they will discover some music which is just as great or better than Pink Floyd but within their own generation.  And you know what?  If I get bothered by it or say it is crap, listen to this... then I ought to be pinned up on the wall and they should throw shoes at me.

So, I am going to let them play video games on their telephone, well, as long as they don't get addicted to it and they have their homework and studying and guitar practicing done and have cleaned their room first.  And they can watch the Hackensack Sisters videos too.  A bit cheesy, but hey, so were the early Beatles, "So pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese ... love me do", sheesh how corny can you get?

Uh... just this Christmas will be the last time.  I have word that Santa already got them a CD of the Ramones last album "Adios Amigos" and the Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour".  I can`t tell Santa to throw them away can I? But this will be the last time.  It  may be the last time, I don't know.