How "with it" are you?

[TokyoBayer]

The NY Times has an interesting article in the Sunday magazine about music and knowledge of obscure bands. Written by a self proclaimed old-school music snob, she certainly seems to have a pretty good knowledge of a lot of bands. Some interesting comments:

At the time, it was very cool to know about obscure music.
. . .
Obscure knowledge was once a kind of currency. To get it, you had to be in the loop. You had to know the right people to learn about the right bands. You had to know the right record stores to hear those bands. The right record stores, like the right comic and book and video stores, were manned by knowledge guardians who scared the bejeezus out of us, so the act of going in to these stores felt kind of intrepid.

What I found really interesting is this “with it” music lover mentioned One Dimention, as such.

A month ago, I was walking by the MuchMusic building (that’s the Canadian MTV, though there is an actual Canadian MTV — nevermind) past a line of tween girls coiled around three city blocks. They were waiting for a boy band called One Direction, which, judging from my quick on-the-spot polling, seems to be some sort of tween version of the original Mr. Snuffleupagus: no one over 14 knows who they are. (Their debut album later entered the pop chart at No. 1.)

So, I guess if you are hanging out with 13-year-olds, it is important to to know who One Direction is, but if your friends are 15 or above, then this knowledge isn’t essential.

[coolbyrne]

@voguevixen

Like I said earlier, I want to be able to hold a coherent conversation in day to day life. You know, with the people, who like the things.

But the things you appear to like are quite age/gender specific. Do you find you have much interaction with young females? Is it then possible to have a coherent conversation with them while discussing the finer merits of Justin Beiber/Big Time Rush/One Direction? Those are the conversations you want to have?

And I will be perfectly honest with you, though I know this will blow your mind- I live about 2 hours from where Justin Beiber was born and beyond the over-saturation of teen magazines gazing at me from the bookshelves in Coles and Shoppers, I have no real idea who he is. A teen singer discovered by Usher. I think that’s it. Oh, wait, a local car dealership in Burlington had a Batmobile he got custom made on display. They had a huuuuuge sign advertising this seemingly very important bit of news. I probably know a Beiber song, but I’d have to hear it first in order to say either way.

Now take what I know about Justin Beiber and assume that I know even LESS about those other two bands.

Maybe I’m lucky that I work with people between the ages of 19 and 40, so when we have conversations, there’s usually something discussed that I don’t know and something they don’t know. That way, we both walk away having learned something. Doesn’t it get tiring (and expensive) constantly trying to stay “with it”?

[TokyoBayer]

@coolbyrne

But the things you appear to like are quite age/gender specific. Do you find you have much interaction with young females? Is it then possible to have a coherent conversation with them while discussing the finer merits of Justin Beiber/Big Time Rush/One Direction? Those are the conversations you want to have?

A decade ago, my friend, then 40, had a midlife crisis and started going out with a barely legal girl. He brought her along for dinner once, and the whole conversation revolved around J-Pop – and wasn’t Ayumi’s outfit really cute in this video, much better than in that one, et al.

Now, it’s possible to have zero interest in J-Pop and know who Ayumi Hamasaki is because she was the queen of the genre at the moment, but I’m not into J-Pop for the same reason I’m not into boy bands – it’s not my cup of tea. So, they had an apparently fun conversation while I zoned out. I really can’t imagine any of our peers knowing which of Ayumi’s outfits that 18 year-old girls find “cute” and which they don’t.

I know damn well that my friend was never into J-Pop until he started dating a girl a few years older than his son. He was “with it” because he wanted to hang out with someone who was far too young for him. All the more power for him, I guess. I was completely bored by the conversation and felt no need to spend hours and hours researching the subject just to appear knowledgeable.

Of course, I wasn’t screwing a high school student, so YMMV.

[Crab_Rangoon]

I am 44, I have never been with it in the past, I am not with it now, and I sincerely hope never to be with it in the future.

I am considering becoming a hermit to avoid all the it.

[Kasper1014]

I was “with it” in the 80’s and 90’s and I choose to hold on to those glory days.

[msmith537]

My SO and I were eating in our favorite gourmet pizza place. The guys working there seemed pretty “with it” with their talk of SXSW and obscure indie and hip hop acts. Then again, they also work in a pizza place.

@Kasper1014

I was “with it” in the 80’s and 90’s and I choose to hold on to those glory days.

So we should be on the lookout for a guy with a mullet and a leather 8-ball jacket dancing around to the Spin Doctors?