a frank and earnest chat with my generation

and no, this isn’t about a shitty comic strip…

…honestly i don’t blame us for that one.

and i feel i can gripe at you people…and “you people” isn’t a racial reference – it’s a generational one. for we are to blame, we need to own it, and then see what we can do to correct it before things circle back around, as pop-culturally things tend to do.

i’m talking about 80’s hair metal.

i feel i did my part to turn the tide – hell, just look at my skateboards high school. the grip tape is slathered with band logos from the era – and you don’t see “warrant” or “bon jovi” or even the arguably only “cool” one, “guns n’ roses”. no, you see red hot chili peppers (they weren’t as lame back then) or depeche mode or the cure or new order. hell, i think there’s even some beastie boys and run dmc and public enemy thrown in as well, since those all go back to that era, too.

so i don’t feel i’m to blame here.

i actually ran into cinderella in the raddison hotel in downtown austin (which is now the omni, for all who care) and they asked if i wanted an autograph…i kinda chuckled at ’em and said, “no”. this was in 1989. two years later waterloo opened their vinyl store and in the used section they had two versions of their (cinderella’s) debut album – one plain ($3.99) and one autographed ($1.99).

’nuff said.

i remember being in camelot music on the lower level of barton creek mall and by the checkout they had FREE records (again, this was around 1987 or so) and it was a new album from a new band named “europe” called “the final countdown”. i grabbed it while i waited in line since most of my favorite bands at the time (depeche, cure, new order) were european so i figured it would be right up my alley…

…but the band pic inside and the song titles let me know this was not my thing, and even though it was FREE i put it back in the rack for somebody that might enjoy it as i knew i wouldn’t.

see – i could do it, why couldn’t the rest of you people?

so before this tide swings back around any worse than it already has (rocklahoma) let’s remember that we need to LEARN from history, not repeat it.

and now i’ll get off my soap box.