Nostalgia just ain’t what it used to be

[Levorotatory]

I resonate with very little in this thread, but I do wish we could resurrect the streetcar as the primary mode of urban transportation in more places.

I live in a "streetcar suburb" neighborhood, the main road is unreasonably wide because it used to have two lanes of streetcar tracks down the middle of it. There are some just wonderful brick business storefronts along the street with big beautiful frontage windows, two or three storeys of apartments above the ground floor business, a comfortable sidewalk with awnings and street trees.

It's such a lovely, human-sized, walkable place, and it's now illegal to build in most parts of North America because of setback rules and parking minimums and restrictive building use zoning

The good thing about streetcar suburbs wasn't the streetcars, it was the grid pattern street layout and mixed residential / commercial use. I'd rather see the layout return, but have the extra space of the wide main roads used for bike lanes instead of tracks, with buses for public transit.

 

[PennyThompson]

The good thing about streetcar suburbs wasn't the streetcars, it was the grid pattern street layout and mixed residential / commercial use. I'd rather see the layout return, but have the extra space of the wide main roads used for bike lanes instead of tracks, with buses for public transit.

that's a fair point, these neighborhoods are still wonderful places to live with or without the trolley. more medium-density mixed use buildings, please! I will never live in a single-family-only zoning neighborhood again for as long as I live

 

[SimonDoom]

I can remember when there was a 50s nostalgia phase in the 1970s. It was captured in the popularity of the TV series Happy Days.

It always seemed a little silly. Nobody I knew in the 1970s ACTUALLY wanted things to be like they were in the 1950s, a far more repressive time. Superficially, it seemed more innocent, and that was part of its appeal. The 1970s were a jaded time. People were weary from war and scandal and protests.

I'm always curious how young people look back on older times. I think my kids have less of a sense of history than I did at the same age, but they're much more culturally knowledgeable than I was. They know the music I listened to much better than I knew the music my parents listened to, probably because music of all eras is so easily available now.

 

[PennyThompson]

I'm always curious how young people look back on older times.

Stranger Things was extremely popular for a reason!

 

[SimonDoom]

Stranger Things was extremely popular for a reason!

From your point of view, what's interesting/intriguing/appealing about that era?

 

[Statius]

Seems when you're young the before time was better, cooler. I was kinda obsessed with greaser culture when I was 11/12 yrs old.

 

[SimonDoom]

Seems when you're young the before time was better, cooler. I was kinda obsessed with greaser culture when I was 11/12 yrs old.

I was a kid of the 1970s and experienced some 1960s envy. It seemed more exciting, more idealistic. The pace of cultural change was very fast, and most of my favorite musical artists started in the 1960s.

Over time I lost that. Now I try to appreciate whatever each generation has to offer. It gets harder as you get older.

One thing I DO feel nostalgic about is rock bands. There's no equivalent today, as far as I can tell, of Led Zeppelin, or the Rolling Stones, or even Metallica. It feels like there's a weird void in popular music.

 

[PennyThompson]

From your point of view, what's interesting/intriguing/appealing about that era?

the music, I'm a sucker for dark synthy stuff. also it made me a Kate Bush fan for life.

the fashion, the hair styles, the clothing color palette, the character Barb's glasses!

the kids riding around unsupervised on bicycles, which to me inspires both longing and dread.

I couldn't say how realistic or accurate any of that Material Culture stuff was to the reality of the era, I imagine it's probably highly refined and stylized and takes the best parts and ignores the worst parts?

 

[PennyThompson]

There's no equivalent today, as far as I can tell, of Led Zeppelin, or the Rolling Stones, or even Metallica.

Check out Castle Rat

 

[Statius]

Now I miss the early 90's. Man that music was freaking fantastic. From pop, club, alt, grunge. Miss the flannel and jeans look. And still no smart phones. Still freedom. 20$ full tank of gas, pack of smokes, 20oz pop, set for the night.

 

[SimonDoom]

Check out Castle Rat

I'll check it out.

 

[PennyThompson]

pack of smokes

I somewhat remember the time before indoor smoking bans, absolutely ZERO nostalgia

 

[Statius]

I somewhat remember the time before indoor smoking bans, absolutely ZERO nostalgia

Well I'm not promoting it, just ya know.

 

[Nynah]

One thing I DO feel nostalgic about is rock bands. There's no equivalent today, as far as I can tell, of Led Zeppelin, or the Rolling Stones, or even Metallica. It feels like there's a weird void in popular music.

You just aren't looking hard enough. There are plenty of bands these days whose members grew up with all those acts you've mentioned and it influences their own styles. If you like Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, look up Greta Van Fleet. Metallica has inspired a whole generation of new metal bands; my particular favorite is a three sister act out of Mexico called The Warning; their cover of Enter Sandman got them recognized enough to be on The Metallica Blacklist.

Other bands that are holding the hard rock torch high are Mammoth (fronted by Eddie Van Halen's kid and he can shred just as well as his dad), Royal Blood, Dirty Honey, Thunderpussy and Starbenders. I don't listen to the radio so I have no idea how much reach they all have on that particular fossil of a media outlet, but they are all available via YT or other streaming services. I would suggest checking them out.

 

[PennyThompson]

You just aren't looking hard enough. There are plenty of bands these days whose members grew up with all those acts you've mentioned and it influences their own styles. If you like Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, look up Greta Van Fleet. Metallica has inspired a whole generation of new metal bands; my particular favorite is a three sister act out of Mexico called The Warning; their cover of Enter Sandman got them recognized enough to be on The Metallica Blacklist.

Other bands that are holding the hard rock torch high are Mammoth (fronted by Eddie Van Halen's kid), Royal Blood, Dirty Honey, Thunderpussy and Starbenders. I don't listen to the radio so I have no idea how much reach they all have on that particular fossil of a media outlet, but they are all available via YT or other streaming services. I would suggest checking them out.

Take me to a concert nynah, make me die in the pit

 

[crookedletter]

Radio stations, in my experience, play the same 20-30 songs they've been playing for the past 30-40 years. Streaming services just loop the same algorithmic content. "Popular" music is I guess just whatever 30-second fragments are accompanying the trending tiktok videos.

There's good music out there. It's easier to find than it was when you had to trawl through record stores like digging for buried treasure. But it's also really easy to miss among the glut of other crap that tends to rise to the surface.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I hope you are right. Risk is an inherent part of life. Well functioning people should be able to face it.

One might also add to that list disagreement, insults and a lack of attention. We have become so thin-skinned of late.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I can remember when there was a 50s nostalgia phase in the 1970s. It was captured in the popularity of the TV series Happy Days.

It always seemed a little silly. Nobody I knew in the 1970s ACTUALLY wanted things to be like they were in the 1950s, a far more repressive time. Superficially, it seemed more innocent, and that was part of its appeal. The 1970s were a jaded time. People were weary from war and scandal and protests.

I'm always curious how young people look back on older times. I think my kids have less of a sense of history than I did at the same age, but they're much more culturally knowledgeable than I was. They know the music I listened to much better than I knew the music my parents listened to, probably because music of all eras is so easily available now.

My understanding was that the success of Happy Days was more as a reaction to how dark/gritty 70s entertainment had gotten.
So it was more a light, dare I say, Happier, alternative.

 

[SimonDoom]

One might also add to that list disagreement, insults and a lack of attention. We have become so thin-skinned of late.

If one could try to boil it down to a common denominator, I think it's that people expect too much. They want to be tended to and not offended. They want to be taken care of.

When I was a kid, I rode my bike nearly a mile to get to swim practice. When I was a parent, I drove my kids everywhere, because that's what everybody did and everybody expected. You would have been perceived as weird, and maybe irresponsible, if you didn't drive your kid to swim practice. Nobody rode bikes. As a kid I rode my bike or walked to school. My kids expected to be driven. And I don't blame them. The choice was made by my generation of parents. It remains a puzzle to me why we, as a generation of parents, chose to parent that way.

I see elements of this evolution appearing in this forum. I've been here long enough that I detect an uptick over time of authors being upset about the reaction they get to their stories. People just don't know how to handle negativism and criticism. They want and expect positive reinforcement all the time.

I think the healthier attitude to have is to appreciate good things when you get them, but don't expect things. Nobody owes you anything.

 

[SimonDoom]

My understanding was that the success of Happy Days was more as a reaction to how dark/gritty 70s entertainment had gotten.
So it was more a light, dare I say, Happier, alternative.

That's right. The 70s were cynical and jaded, and the 50s were perceived as being more innocent and happier. Of course, that wasn't really true, especially if you were black or gay or a woman, but there was that perception.

 

[SimonDoom]

You just aren't looking hard enough. There are plenty of bands these days whose members grew up with all those acts you've mentioned and it influences their own styles. If you like Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, look up Greta Van Fleet. Metallica has inspired a whole generation of new metal bands; my particular favorite is a three sister act out of Mexico called The Warning; their cover of Enter Sandman got them recognized enough to be on The Metallica Blacklist.

Other bands that are holding the hard rock torch high are Mammoth (fronted by Eddie Van Halen's kid and he can shred just as well as his dad), Royal Blood, Dirty Honey, Thunderpussy and Starbenders. I don't listen to the radio so I have no idea how much reach they all have on that particular fossil of a media outlet, but they are all available via YT or other streaming services. I would suggest checking them out.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look them up.

 

[iwatchus]

My understanding was that the success of Happy Days was more as a reaction to how dark/gritty 70s entertainment had gotten.
So it was more a light, dare I say, Happier, alternative.

More it was an attempt to profit off the movie American graffiti, Lucas’s pre star wars surprise hit movie. Which was in no way happy.

 

[Duleigh]

Check out Castle Rat

That's nice! I'll have to include it at music night on Saturday.

 

[Off_base]

After watching Netflix for a bit tonight, I was reminded that I miss the days when they didn't show actual puking in movies and tv shows. It's unnecessary. The suggestion was always enough, until it wasn't.

 

[PennyThompson]

After watching Netflix for a bit tonight, I was reminded that I miss the days when they didn't show actual puking in movies and tv shows. It's unnecessary. The suggestion was always enough, until it wasn't.

I have a reply to this but it probably belongs in the Controversial Opinions thread instead