Rock & Roll, Slackers! After seeing some clips online of the band everyone loves to hate, Creed, I took a look at the full slate of 90’s nostalgia acts on the 2024 tour circuit. While the perennial big hitters like Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Green Day are once again hitting the road, a number of late 80’s/early 90’s acts are banding together for shows this summer. But it’s not just rock and metal artists. From the pop world there is New Kids On The Block (with Paula Abdul and DJ Jazzy Jeff), from Hip Hop there is Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, and the “I Love The 90’s Tour”, a wh ..read more

This week’s episode is all about fandom. It seems that by the time the mid to late 80’s arrived, being a fan of something - let’s say a genre of music - also lent itself to fashion choices & even the friends we made. If someone was wearing the shirt of your favorite band, there was a pretty good chance you could end up friends. But there is also the kind of fandom that leads to changes (temporary or permanent) in actual lifestyle.  Ever know an actual Goth? This wasn’t just some dude wearing stage makeup - these kids were living their everyday lives decked out in all black, with dar ..read more

Going old school, Slackers! It’s been a while since I did a single year chart recap. This week I chose 1987 - and it is an interesting time for music, and when sitcoms ruled the Nielsen ratings. The Billboard Hot 100 for 1987 was a big year for a number of artists that we now think of as legendary. Bon Jovi & Whitesnake both had breakout hits after years of plugging away. George Michael had his first taste of solo success after the demise of WHAM!. And the youngest Jackson, Janet, became an absolute superstar in her own right. But the TOP song for 1987 was a goofy, gimmicky song, that wa ..read more

It's baaaack, Slackers! This is a "Whatever Wednesday". Basically, I couldn't decide on a single topic, so I'm going to cover whatever has popped into my head over the past 24 hours! Don't worry, all the key elements are still there: Gen X topics (uh, I got a little click-baited), music hits, movies releases, some TV charts, & a famous Gen Xer getting arrested (for some REALLY bad allegations).  There is even some talk about ancient Sumeria and 1800's mercantile groups - which are totally relevent and topical - no, really. They actually are.  ..read more

Love it or hate, reality television is here to say.  It’s been said that reality tv as we know it started with MTV’s “The Real World”, making this type of program a uniquely Gen X phenomenon. I do agree that we as a generation led the charge for reality tv, but it is probably because we have always been exposed to it - just in a slightly different format.  From the legendary “Wide World of Sports", to “That’s Incredible!”, to my personal favorite, “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” - we have been watching reality based programming since we were kids. Do you really think there is a “Real ..read more

The 90's was an interesting decade for music. Sure there was the grunge explosion, and with it the re-emergence of punk, but there were so many bands that occupied their own unique space in the music scene. On this week’s episode I’ll review my three favorite underrated bands, one of whom wasn’t just underrated, but entirely overlooked.  From a California band that basically created the emo “pop punk” archetype - to a midwestern act that was parts grunge, parts r&b, parts Stonesy sleaze rock - to a little known hardcore band that straddled the line between the metal core bands of th ..read more

I’m back, Slackers! Ever wonder what this whole AI thing is all about? And this ChatGPT - what does it know about our generation? I ask those questions in the default ChatGPT settings, but I also ask “Marv - the sarcastic chatbot” - and “he” sounds like a Gen X programmed AI model! I also share the heartbreaking story of the Myjak family - the matriarch of the family is a friend of mine from high school and they could really use come help. Please consider helping if you can: https://gofund.me/f2a2eb67 I read some listener email, offer some Netflix suggestions, and discuss some of the curren ..read more

In the year 2000. In the year 2000! On this week’s episode, we explore…the future. Or really the present. But from the past. Or something like that. Throughout the 60s, 70s, & 80s, TV and movies tried to give us a glimpse into the future. While some things they got right, many things were way off base. The Jetsons, and later Blade Runner, promised us flying cars! We don’t have flying cars for our daily commute…and that would be a terrible idea anyway. Gadgets like the Starfleet Communicator was the obvious inspiration for the “flip phone”, and I’m sure every Gen Xer has pretended to op ..read more

Extra, extra, read all about it, Slackers! Does anyone read newspapers anymore? I don’t, but news is still an (important?) thing, and this week I take a look at Gen X in the news. Just this week there have been articles from Business Insider, the New York Times, Forbes, and the most prestigious of them all, HuffPost. Some of the business related articles delve into attitudes in the workplace regarding “corporate loyalty”, investment concerns, and general differences in work/life concepts. The Times article by Sarah Miller is titled, “Hate Gen X? Get in Line (Behind a Gen X-er)”, which is h ..read more

Time to get those lighters in the air, Slackers! From the late 80’s into the early 90’s, there was no shortage of amazing live music. The “hair” bands of the time were hitting on all cylinders, with live shows rivaling anything that came before or since. With the bands from the Sunset Strip already used to the competitive nature of the music industry, opening acts would try to outperform the headliners - and more often than not, the headliners would take that challenge head on. Sometimes the opener, with less staging, less lighting, & less people in the crowd, would absolutely destroy th ..read more