Talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-generation

[Grumpy]

11435_n.jpg

(Or these two objects, even. I found it on the web, and I don't feel like trying to fix it.)

I may be old, but I got to see all the cool bands.

Grand Funk
Three Dog Night
The Who
Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush
Bad Company
Ted Nugent
Foreigner
Eric Clapton (electric Clapton, not 'let me ruin Layla with an acoustic guitar' Clapton)
Bruce Springsteen (Thunder Road Springsteen, not Glory Days Springsteen)
James Taylor
Nazareth
The Outlaws
The Atlanta Rhythm Section
UFO
...

Remember, you have to push 'play' and 'record' at the same time.

So...where were you in '69?

[JaymeC]

Not born yet... but I'm still old enough to remember recording songs off the radio on a cassette. Thank goodness the internet got popular soon after ;) I grew up with VHS and also remember my grandparents having one of those machines dedicated to rewinding your VHS tape (so that you didn't burn out your VCR!). My kids don't know what a VHS tape is, which really makes me wonder what my grandkids won't know about some days.

[Jay]

...and my 1972 trip to Disneyland was during my post HS graduation cross country trip in a 1959 23 window VW Microbus with sunroof. My drummer friend and I lived out of that for 2 and a half months.

[Jay]

Hey man, I got to see Hendrix (Temple Stadium, Philly), the Allman Bros when there were brothers in the band (Duane), every Pink Floyd show starting with the Meddle tour, the Who debuting Who's Next, and tons more. It was a great time for live shows and the bands were very prolific. Another cool thing was that you could take a camera and basically walk right up to a 4ft tall stage and click away.

[Grumpy]

What was your favorite Floyd show? Mine was 'Animals'. (Atlanta Stadium, '78 (?) They had the pig balloon flying over the stadium.

Never got to see Hendrix, but I saw the ABB. I've always lived in GA, it was pretty much a requirement. It was a great time, wasn't it? Remember 'general admission' tickets? I paid 6 bucks to see Grand Funk Railroad.

[mousehelper]

I was 10!!! Yay!!!!! There's someone here older than me!!!!
: )

[Jay]

What was your favorite Floyd show? Mine was 'Animals'. (Atlanta Stadium, '78 (?) They had the pig balloon flying over the stadium.

Never got to see Hendrix, but I saw the ABB. I've always lived in GA, it was pretty much a requirement. It was a great time, wasn't it? Remember 'general admission' tickets? I paid 6 bucks to see Grand Funk Railroad.

I think my favorite Floyd show was the first one I saw, probably around 1971. Lots of Ummagumma and of course, Meddle, as well as the surround sound system. They played some songs from their upcoming LP "Dark Side of the Moon". Animals was good but by then the shows were getting really big. I did see one of the original Wall shows in NY although that was a bit lacking due to the very large production. I lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia, so I was always close to the concert scene. The best place in Philly for shows was the Electric Factory, although I was too young to ever see a show there, but that is where all the bands played - and it was a small venue. A buddy of mine, who was a few years older and could drive, saw Hendrix, Cream, Floyd, the Who, etc, there, basically all the bands on their initial US tours.
The general admin shows in Philly were call Dance concerts, although no one ever danced, but there were no seats on the floor and you could wander around. There were 3-4 bands on each show, sort of like Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and maybe J.Geils, for example. I remember the Allmans show had Redbone and Johnny Winter And as openers (or at least, I think I remember). I took pictures of most of these shows - I use to bring in a backpack with lenses, film and a camera and walk up to the stage, so I can look at the negatives to see who played.
Also, radio back then was really bad. There was only one station that played a two hour rock show on Sunday nights (the Marconi Experiment) from 10-midnight. That was they only source for new rock music until a few stations went to rock format in the very late 60s/early 70s.

[BlountFam5]

(Or these two objects, even. I found it on the web, and I don't feel like trying to fix it.)

I did one of those eye tricks and read it correctly the first time...HA, HA! I love the pic!

I'm still on the younger side - I was born in '69. But grew up with parents who loved the music of the early '60s and I must admit many of the bands you mentioned I loved and still love listening to. BTW, my Hubby is a Floyd fan.

[blyday]

I did one of those eye tricks and read it correctly the first time...HA, HA! I love the pic!

I did this too!!!!

I'm happy to say that I'm also on the young side here. I wasn't born until '72 (well....made it by 7 days since my b-day is Jan 7th). My older sister was born in '69 though (she is old....bawhahahaha)

Oh and Trudy......turning 40 really is no big deal. I just did it a few months ago!! And I guess I don't get the gray hair thing......I started going gray at 16 so it really is a joke to me more then anything. Of course......I do still color it but have had to do that since I was 27!!!!

[clanmcculloch]

I'm making 40 work for me. I bought a 40th anniversary Dooney to soften the blow. LMAO!!! I got my first greys in high school as well. I can't be bothered dying it and I'm pretty lucky that it's going a nicy shiny silver rather than a dingy yellowish colour but I don't like the Bride of Frankenstein stripes when I wear my hair in a pony tail.

I'm really not feeling anything special about the number 40. For some reason it's just got me thinking about things like right now I'm in a really good position in my career if I was to job hunt (yes even with the current job market; I've got a particular set of skills that make me very marketable) but I'm realizing that by the time my kids finish high school I'll be at an age where companies are starting their age bias for hiring (yes I know it's not legal but it does still happen) and I don't want to relocate until they're done high school because our high school has some AMAZING opportunities. I know the age bias cutoff may be going up these days but only so much. I'll be 46 when my youngest finishes high school and I know it's still young enough to get a new job, especially when you are specialized, but it gets harder. I guess just looking at the next set of milestones AFTER this next one has me kind of shaking my head.

[mdsd8700]

So...where were you in '69?

I was 2. However I remember well using a pen to get the tape back into the cassette especially after the recorder had eaten it up.

I don't know all of the bands you listed but many I have on my iPod.

[clanmcculloch]

Thank you for making me feel young. I wasn't born yet in '69. My parents got married that year. My upcoming 40th coupled with significant increase in grey hair had me feeling a little on the old side so this is VERY welcome.

[JulieC]

So...where were you in '69?

I was a fetus! I like to say I was born shortly after the dawn of time (1970), but only geeky programmers from the 1980's and 1990's really get it. (The "time" functions all used seconds from a base, the base was January 1, 1970.)

But yeah, I remember using pens to fix cassette tapes, some of which had programs stored on them!

[Janine]

I was 3. Watching Captain Kangaroo and waiting for the premiere of Sesame Street.

[RoonieRoo]

I was 3 and about to survive my first cat 5 tornado in Texas the coming spring.

[George]

I was 3 for most of 1969 (my birthday is in November), so I didn't do much of anything except for Romper Room and Bozo's Circus. I don't even think Sesame Street started until the year after.

I was never much of a concertgoer, but my musical heart lives firmly in the 70s. Anything 70s: bad pop, classic album-rock, disco, you name it.

My first concert was the Rolling Stones' Tattoo You show, on the eve of my 16th birthday, November, 1981. In fact, The Stones were playing "Miss You" (their disco song!) at midnight when I turned 16. I later saw the same tour when I spent the next summer in Spain after my junior year in HS. It was widely rumored at the time that this would be their last tour.

[peachygreen]

I am a product of the 70's but I definately remember using a pen to rewind, fix, etc a cassette tape. I also remember marking the tape so you knew where to wind to to get to a favorite song or to know where the blank part would be to record your next song.

[off2neverland]

My first concert was the Rolling Stones' Tattoo You show, on the eve of my 16th birthday, November, 1981.

I first saw the Stones in 1969- I was 14- w/BB King, Ike and Tina Turner, and Terry Reid. We tried to get to Altamont but the traffic was so horrible we turned around. Glad of that!
Since then have never missed a tour, except the Steel Wheels tour in 1990 (had a 2yo and no babysitter- so DH went without me). I finally took that 2yo to see The Stones when she was 17.

Rumor is they will tour again- but it better be soon! I’ll be there.

[roball]

I feel old...I turned 7 in November of '69. I saw many concerts throughout my late teens and college years+. My claim to fame(among my friends) was when I fell asleep during the Allman Brothers concert at the old Palladium in NYC, granted, it was mid July with no air conditioning.

[George]

40's the new 30. I think 60's the new 40.

[blyday]

40's the new 30. I think 60's the new 40.

[pfalcioni]

and my 1972 trip to Disneyland was during my post HS graduation cross country trip in a 1959 23 window VW Microbus with sunroof. My drummer friend and I lived out of that for 2 and a half months.

Awesome!!

I was in my first year of school in '69. And yep, I remember rewinding the tape with the pen, and then the trick with the matchbook to try and realign the head on the heinous 8-Tracks so your ears didn't cross trying to listen to that slightly off stereo effect. I remember taping a penny on my record player's stylus so it wouldn't skip as much when playing my brutally ill-treated, warped, and scratched records.

My concerts all came mainly after high school, I had a few years there where we'd take in 30 concerts or more a summer. Glad prices were less than $25 for even the big names, or I would have had to rob a bank to pull it off! And I don't care how cheap it was, Festival Seating sucked. I can't tell you how many times we camped out overnight in front of GI Joes to buy tickets.

I still have all my ticket stubs. Someday I'll go through and write up a list of every band I saw, though most of them are pretty laughable in company with ABB, the Stones, & Hedrix. Neil Diamond was my first, then Gordon Lightfoot (yep, I was such a hard core rocker rebel as a child!). It got better, REO Speedwagon, Grand Funk, Foreigner, Scorpions, Bon Jovi (multiple times, once front row), Cinderella, Sammy Hagar (too many times to count), Motley Crue (still have a drumstick and balloon from that one), Journey (the real one with Steve Perry, not the one with my high school buddy Dean playing drums), Steve Miller Band, Air Supply (please, don't barf), Styx (a few times), Van Halen (with Diamond Dave, then my first love Sammy), etc. etc.

My license plate during my party years was RedRokr - for Sammy Hagar. Actually got him to sign it at a concert in Seattle one year - then drove around with only one plate on the car for years afterwards because it's not like I was going to put the signed plate back on the car, DUH!

Now, do any of you have pictures of yourselves from those rocker days? I'd be willing to post one. Heck, I'm willing to be the brunt of Monday morning laughter!

[jbird327]

Bus1.jpg

1972, the night before leaving for California (pith helmets and all). I am on the left, my best buddy Bob on the right. The Bozo sign on the van was a reference to Firesign Theater's "We're All Bozos on This Bus". Our original plans had us driving across Canada and up to Alaska, but we could not take the snow in June with no heat in the bus so we went south to Minnesota and out to Washington.

Tour1.jpg
Stopping for gas in Fargo. Fortunately the bus did not need premium at .30/gal.

[George]

Stopping for gas in Fargo. Fortunately the bus did not need premium at .30/gal.

Wow.

And pith helmets too!

[Grumpy]

I'm glad y'all are having so much fun with this. Love the old photos. Pam, I had forgotten about the matchbook trick and the pennies on the phono arm. Yep, did those too.

Now, do any of you have pictures of yourselves from those rocker days? I'd be willing to post one. Heck, I'm willing to be the brunt of Monday morning laughter!

I think I can save you from that.

Clearwater.jpg

That's me on the far right. 1977. We were playing a Halloween Party. We were actually a pretty decent cover band. I even remember some of the set list from that night:

Ridin' The Storm Out (REO Speedwagon)
Queen of Spades (Styx)
Dreams I'll Never See (the Molly Hatchet version)
Long, Long Way From Home (Foreigner)
Jailbreak (Thin Lizzy)
Stairway to Heaven (of course)

Loads of fun. Money, not so much. But loads of fun.