You're hopelessly out of touch if you've never heard of...

Cafe Society
61

I’ll be 56 in a few weeks, and I will have a shot.

Gwen Stephanie - I know she is a singer, but I doubt if I could name any of her songs.

P Diddy - rapper, I think, but also not someone with whose work I am familiar.

Maroon 5 - first hint of trouble. Never heard of them.

Christina Aguilera - another singer. I think she used to be more famous than she is now, but I can’t recall any of her songs.

Katy Perry - OK, that’s better. I know her, and I like TGIF (This Friday Night), her latest ode to alcoholism.

Justin Timberlake - He used to be a Back Street Boy, or something similar, so I know the name.

Beyonce - I know her, in the sense that I would like to drink her bathwater.

Justin Bieber - I know him from getting a paternity suit by some lunatic woman. And I think he is Canadian. No idea what he sings.

Nikki Minaj - No clue.

Snoop
Jay Z - these two are rappers, I think. Again, couldn’t name any of their songs.

Black Keys
Adele - nothing.

Glee - my daughter watches this. I have never seen it.

Florence and the Machine - sorry, got nothing.

Can I get half credit for knowing who Lady GaGa is, and being able to name a couple of her songs? Even if I had no idea what her real name was.

Regards,
Shodan

62

I think the point was that 20 somethings would be naive enough to think that everyone is as hip/informed as they are, and so the things ubiquitous to 20 somethings might be unheard of by us older crowd, and thus surprise them for our “being out of touch”.

Stephanie Germanotta was her name before the Lady Gaga persona. Youtube her performances, and you will see a reasonably talented musician and singer. She developed the Lady Gaga persona and became a pop icon, but the extremism that makes her such a hit overwhelms her musical talent with showy stylings and flashy clothes. She’s deliberately more about performance art than music. And autotune.

My stab at Knorf’s post as a 40 year old:

Gwen Stephanie [Stefani]
Lead singer of No Doubt. Released a solo album a couple years ago. Known for her flashy clothing.

P Diddy
Hip hop artist formerly known as Puff Daddy. Could recognize him if I saw him, but don’t follow his music.

Maroon 5
Pop group, current hit “Moves Like Jagger”. Adam Levine is cohost of The Voice, a TV competition show to pick talented musicians.

Christina Aguilera
Pop singer. Former Disney channel star, turned sexy singer, now cohost of The Voice. Used to be skinny, now a bit more plump, but has boobs (frequently demonstrated on The Voice).

Katy Perry
Hit pop star, first hit “I Kissed a Girl (and I liked it)”. Lots of songs about teenage partying. Married to that British guy, Russell Brand. Known for dressing in funky outfits.

Justin Timberlake
Pop singer. Exposed Janet Jackson’s boob. Former boy band member, also something of an actor.

Beyonce
Pop singer. Blingy. Somewhat actress. Known for her thighs.

Justin Bieber
Pop singer and teeniebopper heart throb. Don’t know his music.

Nikki Minaj
Never heard of her.

Snoop
Hip hop artist, aka Snoop Dogg. Occassional actor. Numerous run-ins with law enforcement. Pitch man for Girls Gone Wild. Says words strangely to be hip.

Jay Z
Recognize the name as a pop star. Not much else.

Black Keys
Pop group. Heard a couple songs on radio, not really into them.

Adele
British pop star, known for Rollin’ In The Deep.

Glee
Hit TV show about a high school glee club trying to transform from the geeks to the school stars. Over the top presentation of high school. Big musical numbers. Can’t stand it.

Florence and the Machine
I 've heard of them, but that’s about it.

But I do listen to Top 40 radio.

My take is all the internet social media - Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, etc. And texting. Not necessarily being aware texting exists, but actual use.

Smartphones and all their gadgets and apps.

63

The focus on music is a little misleading. People who don’t pay attention to pop music aren’t going to know the current stars, no matter what their age. Others who are little more musically inclined will know the singers but be waaay out of touch in other ways.

For instance, I’m 44 and know all the musicians that have been mentioned here. Some I listen to and some I just know by reputation. On the other hand, I don’t know anything at all about computer games. I’ve never played one. I recognize the titles of a few of the big ones _ World of Warcraft, Grand Theft Auto, etc. _ but basically the gamer world and my world do not intersect at all.

I’m guessing that for people of a certain age, games are so ubiquitous that not playing them is as bizarre as someone not using a telephone.

64

That’s a good point. P Diddy is much more of a behind the scenes guy now. I think he still produces, but that doesn’t matter. You’re right. Kanye is the new P Diddy.

The Stephenie Germonatta thing was a digression. It’s one of those trivia things that people know about Lady Gaga. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the OP.

65

I’m actually surprised how few have heard of Jay Z. He’s a rapper, a media mogul, and Beyonce’s husband - a very influential figure in contemporary music. His track 99 Problems was #14 in Pitchfork’s Top 500 songs of the naughties. I know hip hop isn’t for everyone, but 99 Problems is a seminal example of the genre.

66

I’ll be 42 in a couple of months and I’m aware of everyone on that list. “Chav” I had never heard of until I started watching Misfits on Hulu.

I do remember a few years ago when Dane Cook was hosting SNL - it was the first time that I had never even heard the name before of an SNL host.

I will say that there would be lots of younger pop culture that I would have never known about had it not been for this board. The whole Brony-Pony thing, for example, or the “adding a bunch of extra letters to the end of a word in a text” thing, or Rage comics / memes.

67

I agree with both of your points. I don’t listen to pop radio, and so I’m completely unaware of most modern music and artists. I actually don’t listen to radio at all–I listen to audiobooks when I’m in the car and my mp3 collection or Pandora at home. And since my Pandora stations are all build around old music, they rarely play new music. Sometimes I’m introduced to a “new to me” older band, though.

As for the video games thing, I think that my husband and I are straddling that exact age line. I’m 39 and he’s 34. Video games were a part of his “growing up experience” whereas they weren’t for me. When I was growing up we had Pong and then Pac Man and things like that. The stuff he grew up with was totally different and bred a “culture of gaming” sort of thing where people kept playing video games into adulthood. About the only video game I play as an adult is Rock Band [insert version number here]. Unless you count Solitaire on my cell phone.

68

I’m 63 and have knowledge of the work and public personalities of most of the people and acts listed.

Gwen Stephanie - Known of her since her No Doubt days. Was cuter then.

P Diddy - Known of him since Puff Daddy/Lopez in the green dress/I’ll Be Missing You days. I think most people would be surprised to learn I think he’s a pretty cool guy, though not without his faults. Has shown some acting talent and screen presence. Hope to see more of him on screen.

Maroon 5 - Known of and liked them since Harder to Breathe but don’t know much about the members personally.

Christina Aguilera - Known of her since her breakout following Disney and Lady Marmalade video. Had me but lost me by tarting up as a career move and, even worse, miasma-ing all over the place.

Katy Perry - Known of her since I Kissed A Girl. Like her more and more all the time. Gorgeous. Seems good-hearted and fun. Married to Russell Brand, who was fun in Get Him To the Greek.

Justin Timberlake - Known of him since his breakout from 'N Sync and the Britney romance. Good looking kid, multi-talented. Looks to have a career in acting if he wants. Was great on SNL. Would like him more if he hadn’t (reportedly) boinked Kylie Minogue after BAFTA rehearsal/performance. :dubious: :smiley:

Beyonce - Seems like a good person but in my opinion overrated. Inexplicable taste in men.

Justin Bieber - Cute kid. Bubble gum flavor of the day. Thin voice, don’t see a lengthy career as a singer.

Nikki Minaj - (shudder)

Snoop - Aware of him since the release of Doggystyle. It’s been said he’s an old man in a young man’s body. Seems accurate. Like him in spite of myself.

Jay Z - Known of him since Can I Get a… Low life dipshit with some business ability. Yeah, Z, you’re the new Sinatra all right. :rolleyes:

Black Keys - Never heard of 'em.

Adele - Great singer; plagued by health problems.

Glee - TV show I’ve never watched.

Florence and the Machine - Talented group, great singer.

69

Good for you, SA.

BTW it’s Gwen Stefani everybody. And she went solo seven years ago, which is way old.

(While we’re on the subject of old hat and spelling errors, it’s Britney Spears. Not Brittany. No idea why so many people screw that up.)

70

Thanks. I thought that looked odd in my post when I previewed it.

71

Ditto, excepting that I’m 35.

I’m surprised both at how aged this list is and how few posters have heard of the Black Keys. Not that I’m a paragon of hipness–the most recent bands I can think of are Fallout Boy, My Chemical Romance, Avenged7Fold, and the Killers–and those only because I have two teenage daughters. I am absolutely certain that all of them are so three years ago.

To answer the OP, I’m certain my daughters would roll their eyes at you for not having heard of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, also known as Odd Future or OFWGKTA.

YMMV

72

Oh oh! Can we toss in Banksy> I’m seriously sick of that guy.

But, yes, you must KNOW him.

73

WTH? I’m 38 and video games were a part of my growing up experience. Arcades were huge when I was just 7. I’ve never stopped playing video games (except that I mostly play them on the PC rather than in arcades or consoles.)

74

I remember when Pong came out–my friend down the street had it on his Atari. When I was in elementary school there were arcades around, but they were filled with pinball machines and games like PacMan and DigDug, not really the kind of thing that would instill a life-long, adult habit of playing video games. When I was in HS I did play some of the early RPG games on my C64, and as an adult have played things like Everquest and EQ2, but I always eventually get bored with them and give up. I think in his time the games were much more advanced and much more likely to foster a longer-lived hobby rather than just a “thing kids do” attitude.

75

You probably don’t. Pong was released as a standalone home console in 1974/1975. You were 2 years old.

There is only five years separating the two of you. The games you played, he played. And the games he played, you could have played if you wanted to. There was no great leap in gaming between 1980 and 1985. In fact, getting games like Pac-Man and Dig Dug to be “arcade perfect” on home machines was the goal.

76

I played arcade games as a teenager. I’m making a distinction between them and something you’d play on your home computer or an Xbox. That’s what I’ve never done and know practically nothing about, and I suspect that’s what Opalcat was talking about, too.

77

Again, back in the early 80s, there was no difference in the games. What you’d play at home was just a graphically inferior version of the exact same game you’d play at the arcade.

78

Yes, I was primarily thinking of playing games at home when I made my original statements.

And you’re right, I guess Pong hadn’t just come out when I played it. I was about 4 or 5 when I would play it, which would have been 1976-1977. But I only knew one person who had it!

79

I’m 45 and I’m proud to say that, unlike all of these other hopelessly-out-of-touch posters, I’ve definitely heard of Nikki Minaj. Geez, you people need to get up to speed.
I first heard of her yesterday in an article at Cracked.com.

80

I’m 42 and remember Christmas 1977 vividly! That was the year we got APF TV Fun! The first in a succession of consoles hooked to the TV. Culminating currently with a Wii. What phenomenal fun!