from zero to hero
To this day, I am consistently having to explain 60's and 70's music to my parents, and my wife's parents? Where TF were they?
There were a few Beatles albums lying about the house while I grew up, sure, but I think my dad, as a doctor, famously said that he had "no time for music". My mom had easy listening on the radio...Debbie Boone, Engleburt Humperdinck, and whatnot.
But why is it that *I* need to explain all the pop-music references from that generation to my parents and my wife's parents? ........that, for example, yes "Dusty" can be a girl's name! Dusty Springfield. You guys don't remember Dusty Springfield?! --somewhat obscure reference now, sure, but THEY should know more about who that is, not ME...you get my point.
For my part, I've always been hip to it. I had to discover AC/DC and KISS myself. I noticed that the 60s and 70s were awesome, but that the 80s was the penultimate decade for rock/pop music (90s being largely a nosedive, and the 00s being a time now where you really need to pick your bands carefully). For all intents and purposes, it appears that the 80s (and the entire history of pop/rock music) peaked on the legendary and unforgettable Memorial Day weekend in 1983, out near San Bernadino, CA, at Steve Wozniak's *US Festival*, which featured:
New Wave Saturday: INXS, Oingo Boingo, Flock Of Seagulls, Stray Cats!, Men At Work, The Clash!, etc.
Heavy Metal Sunday: Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Van Halen, etc.
Modern Rock Monday: Los Lobos, U2!, Pretenders!, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie!, etc.
Heavy Metal Sunday dominated the event (of course!) while *setting the USA's single-day concert attendance record* at 375,000 people! It is generally agreed that Judas Priest put on the most brilliant performance of the US Festival.
Lesser known fact: My brother's leg fell asleep in the afternoon heat during The Flock Of Seagulls, and when we were getting up to go grab a hamburger, he (a big boy; leg still asleep, mind you) fell completely on top of a leathered biker dude and his topless sunbathing girlfriend next to us -- *completely* decimating the guy's cheap beer cooler and more-or-less getting his grubby hands momentarily intertwined with the girlfriend.