That’s fine, but did you hate them before or after Desintigration? 
What if I want a GTO, Chevelle, and a WRX?
Also, I remember Sat. morning cartoons, we had yellow linoleum floor in thek itchen and matching fridge, stove, and dish washer. My childhood playgrounds were mostly metal bars over lawn or dirt, at best, sawdust or woodchips. No plastic, a couple wood things.
However, I got my first email address email address in seventh grade, didn’t really know anything about grunge till it was almost over, and no nothing of Dallas or JR.
FTR, I was born in '82, so I am generation Y, but the very earliest Y, so I’m not big into a lot of other gen Y stuff, like the current hip-hop and pop trends, ricers, and loud clubbing.
I’m guessing that’s an album for theirs (FYI, for you young 'uns, an album is something that looks like a big CD, only it’s black, and can play on both sides). But I have no idea of when it was released. What year?
'83 baby here. This is all so confusing. I guess I’m an XY. As a kid I listened to records, was raised by Saturday morning cartoons, owned rollerskates (not rollerblades) and bought albums as cassettes. Yet I’ve always used a remote control for changing channel as far as I can remember, got my first email address way before graduating high school (or even middle school), and have no idea what a console TV is. Any sort of pop culture reference is meaningless to me as I never followed any bands or had any interest in MTV at all.
Imagine a television set built as a piece of furniture, in a hulking wood credenza-like cabinet adorned with tacky wood trim and bicentennial eagles. Behold! If your parents were younger baby boomers, they likely had something more modern. Up to the mid-1980s, all 25" televisions were consoles.
If you had a new console television at any time growing up, you’re Generation X. If not, you’re a Y baby. I don’t even think they make old-school console televisions anymore.
No, I think that is stupid.
I love loud music, my iPod is usually up so high when I’m on campus that people have to hit me to get my attention. And I love loud rock shows. But if I am in a social situation, I prefer to be able to hear myself talk. So loud music in car/ ears/ concert = yes, party/ club = no
Yep. It seems like a contest to me to see who likes the most underground band, which is lame but that’s the way it is. But it’s cool to like a band that isn’t huge because you have real access - they answer your emails, they talk to you at shows, etc. Going to an intimate rock show with less than 100 people is so completely different than seeing Coldplay rock out for 20,000 people (I do like Coldplay though). But I dig bands because I like their music - it just happens to be that a lot of the music I am into isn’t super popular. I think people quit liking bands that get popular for two reasons - one they are trying to be cool and diss anything that is popular, and two, they don’t feel that connection anymore and it just isn’t the same. If you once saw a band you loved in a small, shithole club with 30 other people and now you pay 25 bucks for a ticket and are in a huge venue, it sucks. Good for the band because now they are making money but it is a completely different thing. I’ve only quit on bands that became popular when they change their sound to something I just don’t like - I haven’t enjoyed a Weezer album since Pinkerton. Not because they’re popular, but Green and Maladroit and Make Believe just don’t do it for me.
Then you should go have a tea party with your mamma, Poindexter!
Those poor bastards.
–Cliffy
I was born in 82 and suppose I’m in between. I feel more of a connection with Gen X, though. This is probably because I had one sibling, a brother 6 years older than me and my aunt who was 18 when I was born, and I thought both of them were the Coolest People Ever.
Ask me some questions to determine my X or Y-osity. C’mon! 
What if you lust after a 1957 Chevy Nomad? And, truthfully, these days, engine modifications are still quite popular. There are things you can do even on something as bizarre as my car’s engine. (14:1 compression… stock. Aluminum. In a station wagon) For example, ever hear of a VTEC cam? Not a VTEC engine, a cam. Puts the engine in permanent high-rev mode, but you burn fuel like mad. My VVTiL could, theoretically, be run the same, but you wouldn’t want to.
(74, by the way. I’m just an odd hybrid of 60s and 90s)
Along the same lines - Gen Y does not tend to sing the Preamble.
Desintegration was released in 1989.
Perhaps for you we can ask another question…do you remember a time when McDonalds did NOT have chicken McNuggets? If so, Gen X.
Likewise, when you can remember when it was still possible to buy a burger, fries and drink at McDonalds for under a dollar.
I was born in 1973. I have vaguest recollection of Mickey Dick’s not carrying McNuggets, but not enough to say so definitively.
I don’t know exactly WHEN McDonald’s added them, but I DO remember that some of them were dark meat, and a lot greasier and tougher than they are now.
For the record, I am Gen-X, and I realized it a long time ago. Just playing devil’s advocate.
And I didn’t hate the Cure until AFTER Desintegration. But only because I wasn’t aware of them until afterwards.
Dude, extreme’s been out for years.
Most people do. I wear earplugs. I suppose it will be the next big thing. At least that’s what I tell myself when none of the girls will talk to me (ironically, I can hear better than anyone else on account of those things).
- For fans of emo and indie rock, does more obscure = better? Back in the 1970s and 1980s, when a band was big, it toured and played HUGE venues; places like football stadiums and municipal sports arenas. Even in small cities, every week there was some huge concert. Now when a band is big, the size of that bigness seems much smaller; all but a few of the largest stars play small venues. Instead of Boston or Journey at a 20,000 seat auditorium, it’s Papa Roach at the House of Blues. With the emo and indie genres, it seems like the less popular a band is, the more popular it is; people seem take pride in being fans of unknown acts rather than big stars. Do you think the quality of a band is inversely proportional to its fan base? Do you stop being a fan when they become popular? Why?
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Selling out sucks. Hipsters are always looking for either a) the next big thing or b) the forgotten old things that could be the next big thing.
Witness their constant discussions of old cartoons and cereal.
I think elmwood is generation W.
My diconnected moment was the first time I had no idea who the host of saturday night live was. It was Joshua Jackson.
Here’s one: if you think you’re not being as asshole by taking a cell phone call while you’re on a date, you’re probably gen-Y.
Re: Grrrl Power. Bands like L7 were Riot Grrrls, generally socially aware (read: feminist) punks. The Spice Girls had “Girl Power” (I don’t think it had any relation to the Riot Grrrls) and as Hot Topics proliferated across the country (IIRC late '90s for this timeline) the message became more mainstream (a reaction against the corporate Spice Girls and their “Girl Power means act independent so boys like you” message?) and was eventually “defanged” to Grrl Power.*
AFAICT, the whole Riot Grrrl thing fell apart but we’ve got Kathleen Hannah still doing her thing albeit with a much less interesting “let’s get our glam on 'cause we’re freaky” bent.
Here’s a question: “What’s your opinion of Cassavettes?”
Gen X: Pretty good, heavy themes. I’m angsty now. Let’s eat some frozen pizza.
Gen Y: Misogynist!..Genius!..Misogynist!..Genius!..Alcoholic!..Messiah!..Alcoholic!..Messiah! Hey, look at my new tennis racket bag that I’m using for a purse! Let’s go out to that shitty bar behind the warehouse where the ceiling’s only life six feet off the ground. I hear that this guy who sends in “Do” and “Don’t” pictures to Vice is going to be there. I hear he likes Count Chocula. Let’s bring him some and maybe we’ll get in free.
- Bust magazine had a great article on how the shift from Grrrl to Grrl took all the power out of the movement, going from the sound a pissed-off dog (bitch?) makes to the cool misspelling of “girl.”
How about this: You’re most likely Gen X if you remember what the first McDonald’s Happy Meal was a promotion for.
Most definitely. I also remember McDonalds without Happy Meals, and a few without indoor seating.
If you remember when McDonalds had soft plastic straws and coke spoon-like coffee stirrers (McSpoons, not McPaddles), you’re a Generation X-er. Likewise if you ever had or attended a birthday party there, or at Burger King.
If you remember when suburban fast food restaurants didn’t have drive-through windows, you’re a Generation X-er.
If boxed cereal from your childhood often came with a toy or other “prize,” but they really weren’t that great, you’re a Generation X-er.
If you remember products being advertised as “radical!” and “awesome!” instead of “X-TREEEEEEM!”, you’re a Generation X-er.
If your high school didn’t have a zero tolerance rule, you’re probaby a Generation X-er. If it had a student smoking lounge, you’re a Baby Boomer. If it had a cigarette vending machine, you’re in the Silent Generation.
If you remember when smoking in enclosed public places was acceptable – arenas, malls, airports and the like – you’re a Generation X-er. If you remember when smoking was allowed in hospitals, you’re a Baby Boomer.
If you remember cars that had large-ish ashtrays, you’re a Generation X-er. If you remember cars that had huge ashtrays for each passenger, you’re a baby boomer.
If your first e-mail address ended in .edu (or the non-us equivalent), you’re probably a Generation X-er. (Mine was [last name+ last two SS digits]@snybufva.snybuf.edu, from 1987.)
If, in your use of the Internet, you “crawled Gopherspace” before “surfing the Web,” you’re probably a Generation Xer. Doubly so if you remember using Archie and Veronica.
If you remember spending hours on the Internet – using a text terminal to play on MUDs, chat on IRC and post to Usenet – you’re probably a Generation Xer.
If you ever used a dial-up bulletin board that was not connected to a larger network, you may be a Generation Xer.
If you ever said the following poem …
Sex and drugs and rock n’ roll
Disco sucks and so does soul
Country sucks and rap is gay
Rock n’ roll is here to stay!
… you’re probably an Atari wave Generation X-er.
if you remember when most radio stations were locally owned, you’re probably a Generation X-er.
If you remember when the quality of terrestrial radio was actually pretty good, you’re probably a Generation X-er.
If you remember television before infomercials became legal, when stations either shut down at night or aired old movies, you’re probably a Generation X-er.
If you remember hearing the Star Spangled Banner played on a television station when it signed on the air or shut down for the night, you’re probably a Generation X-er. If it was both the Canadian and American anthems, you’re an X-er from Buffalo or Detroit. (On one local station I remember, the Canadian anthem was usually accompanied by images of farms in Saskatchewan, hockey, curling, that castle-like hotel in Quebec City, and Mounties, while images of jets, soldiers marching in formation, battleships, gun salutes and proud old veterans were shown during the US anthem.)
If you knew any veterans of World War I, you’re probably a Generation X-er. If they were still somewhat active and healthy, you’re Atari wave.
The Preamble’s a good one. Weee… the people… o/’
The other ones may be picked up ironically, but having that memorized by singing is definate X.
Do you remember when MTV showed mostly concert footage?
When blue jeans were only to be worn inside and around the house?
When sneakers were the same? Shoes for school.
I had one of these! I was born in 80. I remember using an actual box connected to the tv to change channels. I remember DOS programming, and the larger floppy disks, when they were floppy. I had a record player in my room. I also had Prodigy and a modem in my pre-teens.
And I had Sunday morning cartoons.
X or Y?