The other day I walked into the music store, wanting to buy a CD with Harry Belafonte singing Jump in Line. Of course, there are twenty-gazillion different sections, and after looking in “Pop”, “Latin”, and “R & B”, finding nothing, I go over to two employees chatting with each other.
“Hi,” I say, “Where would I find music by Harry Belafonte?”
Blank stares.
“Harry Belafonte. You know, the guy who sings The Banana Boat Song.”
Blank stares.
I finally had to break into the chorus before they knew who the hell I was talking about. Please tell me I just got a bad sampling of the younger generation, and that most kids know who Harry Belafonte is.
most of the time they get dumb preps to work at Record Town, Sam Goody, and other music shops…
I, on the other hand, like Classic Rock, punk, and everything a guy should like… (-country) ::cringes::
so yes, in fact, you got a blank stare from a dumb Generation Y person, feel proud, hope you didn’t get too much hair Gel on yourself though… hahahaha
Seeing Beetlejuice at a midnight movie was actually the impetus for finding the song. I wanted a collection of Belafonte songs, though, and Beetlejuice only had two, IIRC.
I have very unusual taste in music for a girl my age and in my geological area (northeast New York): country bands nobody’s ever heard of, altcountry bands nobody’s ever heard of, normal country, and some regular stuff.
I think I could maybe forgive somebody for not knowing about Harry Belafonte, but I once got that same blank stare when asking for Limp Bizkit. The guy actually said “Is he a new artist”. And this guy worked at Goody’s. Sheesh.
not knowing Limp Bizkit :wally- hey I take that as being rather enlightened, actually. But it is rather odd, especially if one were to work at a record store…
The Yoko Ono box-set story, LOL.
I can also say I didn’t know Harry Belafonte. But c’mon, I don’t listen to that type of music…you can forgive me that, right?
I went into a video rental store and had a vapid teenage clerk give me the “deer in the headlights” look when I asked for Alfred Hitchcock and Mel Brooks.
Try going to a record store and asking for Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Or Muddy Waters. Or Sam and Dave. Or Marty Robbins. Or Mark Knopfler. Or the Chieftains…
I hope you eventually located the “Vocals” section. That’s where I find MY Belafonte recordings.
I try to never ask the help ANYTHING when I go into a record shop. In the Pop section, anyway…jazz and classical are different. Some of those guys really know their shit, and get a look of sheer relief when you prove you’re not a musical moron.
The opposite happens to me. I’m 18, and I don’t listen to anything but classic rock and a little bit of jazz and blues–no Limp Bizkit, no N’Sync, no Eminem. This leads to problems every once in a while…
Friend: “Hey, have you heard that new Nelly CD?”
Me: “Uhhh…”
I was exposed to a very eclectic range of music as a child. Rock, heavy metal, folk, country, show tunes, opera, classical… I heard it (and like it) all.
Except for Gordon Lightfoot. My dad loves his stuff and would play it over and over and over…
If I hear one of his songs, I run from the room screaming.
See? There you go. I know who Harry Belafonte is, but I have no idea who, or what, Nelly is.
(I did some stagehand work in college, and Harry performed there once. I got to watch from the rafters. His daughter Gina went to school with me. She’s cuuuuuute!)
I have also made the mistake of saying “record”, “album”, etc., and gotten a vapid look. Tell 'em you own a turntable and see what the reaction is…
I was in the Museum Store the other day, and noticed that they had a record player for sale, in a beautiful wooden case. I thought, huh, that’s cool, where else would you get them now, but as a reproduction?
Then I found it online and realised it takes CD’s. The turntable part is fake.
