That joke you can’t use...

[BrokenSpokes]

I wrote a (IMO) fucking hilarious joke for my next chapter involving Pete Townshend and The Who, then realized my character weren’t old enough to make that joke and had to cut it.

Don’tcha just hate it when that happens?

 

[ElectricBlue]

I wrote a (IMO) fucking hilarious joke for my next chapter involving Pete Townshend and The Who, then realized my character weren’t old enough to make that joke and had to cut it.

Don’tcha just hate it when that happens?

Careful there, sunshine. Your idea of hilarious and mine, when it comes to The Who, might be irreconcilably different .

 

[BrokenSpokes]

Careful there, sunshine. Your idea of hilarious and mine, when it comes to The Who, might be irreconcilably different .

Lmfao

 

[Bramblethorn]

Or when you come up with a hilarious zinger and then find that it's already been done to death.

("The closest you'll ever get to a threesome is using both hands.")

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

I wrote a (IMO) fucking hilarious joke for my next chapter involving Pete Townshend and The Who, then realized my character weren’t old enough to make that joke and had to cut it.

Don’tcha just hate it when that happens?

Was it along the lines of "I met my wife while we were both blowing the same bloke."

Actually I think that was from an interview.

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

How old are your characters? I just asked my kids, 17, 16 and 14 if they knew who Pete Townshend was and they all said yes. And of course they know who The Who are. Do kids these days not know?

 

[ElectricBlue]

How old are your characters? I just asked my kids, 17, 16 and 14 if they knew who Pete Townshend was and they all said yes. And of course they know who The Who are. Do kids these days not know?

A millennial I met somewhere tried to convince me that Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails wrote Behind Blue Eyes. I said, "I don't think so. That's a cover version."

"What's a cover version?"

Cute, but oh so very innocent. I explained gently who Pete Towshend was.

"Really? Wow. He sounds really talented."

Sigh.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Was it along the lines of "I met my wife while we were both blowing the same bloke."

Actually I think that was from an interview.

Wasn't that David Bowie?

 

[Bramblethorn]

A millennial I met somewhere tried to convince me that Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails wrote Behind Blue Eyes. I said, "I don't think so. That's a cover version."

"What's a cover version?"

Cute, but oh so very innocent. I explained gently who Pete Towshend was.

"Really? Wow. He sounds really talented."

Sigh.

But... but... the cover version isn't even Reznor! That's Limp Bizkit.

 

[MelissaBaby]

How old are your characters? I just asked my kids, 17, 16 and 14 if they knew who Pete Townshend was and they all said yes. And of course they know who The Who are. Do kids these days not know?

Boomers have forced us to listen to their music our whole lives, then assume we don't know anything about it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

But... but... the cover version isn't even Reznor! That's Limp Bizkit.

What can I say? Cute, but gormless.

I wouldn't know, didn't like Limp Bizkit at all; didn't mind some Nine Inch Nails, but would never go out and buy anything.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Boomers have forced us to listen to their music our whole lives, then assume we don't know anything about it.

Forced? Surely you can change the channel on your radio?

Mind you, it is entertaining when "the next latest unique sounding band" comes around, working out what bands their parents had in their record collection. There's not much new under the sun.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Forced? Surely you can change the channel on your radio?

Mind you, it is entertaining when "the next latest unique sounding band" comes around, working out what bands their parents had in their record collection. There's not much new under the sun.

Who listens to radio?


How about every music system in every restaurant and store? Soundtrack to damn near every movie and tv show?

Try it. Keep track as you go about your daily business. How many songs from the 60s-70s do you hear?

Don't get me wrong, a lot of it is great. But seriously, boomers need to quit talking down to the younger generations. I'm guessing that the average millennial knows a lot more music from the 60s than the average boomer knows from the 1920s.

 

[Bramblethorn]

What can I say? Cute, but gormless.

I wouldn't know, didn't like Limp Bizkit at all; didn't mind some Nine Inch Nails, but would never go out and buy anything.

I never really went for the rap-rock style, excepting Faith No More's "Epic", so Limp Bizkit weren't my thing. I thought their version of BBE was nice enough as a cover, but I didn't feel it added a lot to the original. (My philosophy of covers is: do something different, or why bother?)

I went through a major NIN phase in the 90s (goth? moi?) I haven't really kept up his later work but there are plenty of happy memories attached to that, and Just Like You Imagined is still a fantastic wall of sound.

Forced? Surely you can change the channel on your radio?

What's a "radio"? Is that the thing that plays Jimmy Barnes all day?

 

[Bramblethorn]

How about every music system in every restaurant and store? Soundtrack to damn near every movie and tv show?

Try it. Keep track as you go about your daily business. How many songs from the 60s-70s do you hear?

A couple of years ago I saw a brand-new high-school textbook trying to explain something with a "Saturday Night Fever" reference. Very strong "hello fellow kids" energy.

 

[Voboy]

I'm guessing that the average millennial knows a lot more music from the 60s than the average boomer knows from the 1920s.

Exactly right.

The average milennial (or, in my case, Gen Xer) known more Boomer music than the average Boomer knows milennial music, too. I love my Boomer parents, but I can't wait until I no longer have to hear breathless coverage of the remaining Beatles.

 

[SimonDoom]

But seriously, boomers need to quit talking down to the younger generations. I'm guessing that the average millennial knows a lot more music from the 60s than the average boomer knows from the 1920s.

This, in my experience, is definitely true. Music went through a revolution in the mid-60s. I came of age in the 70s and 80s, was a big fan of 60s and 70s rock (love the Who!) and growing up I hardly listened to music before 1960. That was my parents' music. I didn't learn much about it until I was an adult.

But my kids have songs from 40 years ago on their various streaming playlists. The modern model for listening to music makes it much easier to learn about music from the past. It surprises me sometimes how much they know about "old" music.

Of course, they have an incentive to listen to old music. Their generation's music sucks compared to what I grew up with.

 

[NotWise]

Of course, they have an incentive to listen to old music. Their generation's music sucks compared to what I grew up with.

Now there's a generation-centric bias if ever I heard one.

 

[BrokenSpokes]

Boomers have forced us to listen to their music our whole lives, then assume we don't know anything about it.

MelissaBaby, I feel this comment So. Fucking. Much.

 

[Voboy]

So, OP... what’s the joke?

 

[JamesMiehoff]

I wrote a (IMO) fucking hilarious joke for my next chapter involving Pete Townshend and The Who, then realized my character weren’t old enough to make that joke and had to cut it.

Don’tcha just hate it when that happens?

So just have them standing there eves dropping when somebody older tells it.

Problem solved.

James

 

[Hypoxia]

A few musical revolutions struck in the last 150 years. Western 'classical' music went atonal. Before the 19th century's end, only live music could be heard anywhere; recording changed that totally. Dynamic microphones circa 1926 led to high-fidelity (acoustically faithful) recordings. Music of the world was recorded -- my grandparents (born around 1885) could and did listen to 78s of Maori and Zulu chants, Arab and Persian songs, rough blues, hot jazz, Chinese opera, hillbilly string bands, naughty novelties, Polynesian gamelans, Broadway musicals, Shavian plays, and more that're totally alien to earlier generations.

Then came long-play records, and taped music, and then digital -- and now, the world of sound is open to anyone with the cheapest smartfone. Ye need only seek and ye shall find.

Did my parent's generation force me to listen to 20th-century pop? Pretty much. Does my generation force anyone to listen to anything? Since classifying any generation as monolithic is bullshit, the answer is no. Well, I make my grandkids listen to me play banjo-'ukulele, so I'm guilty. But they can run off.

I don't bother myself with Pete Townsend. But I've seen Jim Morrison up close. And my infant daughter pissed on Jerry Garcia. Hail hail rock-n-roll!

 

[SimonDoom]

Now there's a generation-centric bias if ever I heard one.

Of course! Half in jest. But only half.

 

[MichaelGH]

A couple of years ago I saw a brand-new high-school textbook trying to explain something with a "Saturday Night Fever" reference. Very strong "hello fellow kids" energy.

Has anyone ever actually seen Saturday Night Fever? It’s like one of the most shockingly dark films I’ve ever seen. Besides all the dancing it’s just kind of a constant stream of racism, misogyny and rape.

 

[SimonDoom]

Has anyone ever actually seen Saturday Night Fever? It’s like one of the most shockingly dark films I’ve ever seen. Besides all the dancing it’s just kind of a constant stream of racism, misogyny and rape.

I saw it when it came out. I've seen other people with your reaction, and it's interesting to me to observe how differently the movie is seen today from the way I recall it being received when it came out. The movie and the soundtrack were both cultural phenomena at the time. The movie is dark, but it was intended to represent the gritty lives of the main characters as a contrast with the world of the dancing. Dancing was an escape -- sort of -- from the everyday world. I thought it was a powerful film, and definitely one of the "must-watch" movies of the 1970s. Many films in the 1970s were very dark. Ever seen Taxi Driver? Chinatown? Looking for Mr. Goodbar?