Plaids versus Woodstocks The Last Battle for the Soul of the Sixties...

Calfornia Republic.org ^ | 27 Feb 04 | John Mark Reynolds

[mlmr]

This truly deserves a bump

[Petronski]

Good stuff. Big plaid bump.

[mlmr]

Bump and a tagline change.

[x]

That's an interesting reading of the Sixties, but a little too polarized. Some of the "Plaid" entertainment heroes and idols of the late '60s had been pretty wild in their younger years -- at least by the standards of their day. Woodstock made fifties hipsters and ratpackers look "square" and more modest and traditional than they really were. And -- if they hadn't been so determined to paint themselves as radical innovators -- the Woodstock generation could have pointed to some prominent precursors in the older generation.

[Spruce]

All my teachers in school were hippies. I hate hippies.

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1982) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details.  

[rogueleader]

Somewhat ironically, Generation X took up plaid as one of its fashion statements in the slacker era.

We of Gen-X are now in the post-slacker era, BTW.

[Clemenza]

Interesting article. My boomer dad told me that the big divide in his neighborhood was between those who listened to the Four Seasons (who hailed from my dad's nabe) and those who listened to the Beatles. According to my dad, the Beatles were considered a "girls group" and any guy caught listening to the Beatles was considered a "fag."

The golden age of soft music that the authour speaks ofwas in the early 60s and only last from about the time Elvis got out of the army (1960) and the assasination of JFK in late 1963. It was brief breathing period between the early Rock N Roll of 1956-1960 and the British Invasion of 1964.

[dk88]

But, the best dirty, garage, punk and surf music was made in this 'plaid era' pre fab four. Link Wray, The Sonics, The Trashmen ... and so on.
Ping me for this X_er list please, thanks.

[alwaysconservative]

True to the "Code of Plaid", this deserves a "Scotland the Brave" bump. Frankie, Smudge, Sparky, and Jinx would love the tribute!

[Little Bill]

Your dad was correct, the Beatles were a girls group, the Stones were the Guy's group, me, I liked MoTown, music was better.</p.

[lainde]

Bump for plaid!

[qam1]

Somewhat ironically, Generation X took up plaid as one of its fashion statements in the slacker era.

Gen-X are now in the post-slacker era, BTW.

However the plaid/slacker fashion statement was killed when the Woodstock Baby Boomers commericalized it, When Grunge clothing became available at JcPennys that pretty much was the end of that fad.

[BroncosFan]

In my past life as an attorney, I had the pleasure of talking with Bart Starr on a few occasions. He had been a token "celebrity director" in a company that was named in a securities class action. Although I am too young to have seen him play, I was familiar with his exploits. A nicer man you could never meet. We chatted several times about anything and everything . . . politics, whether Elway was better than Marino, Vince Lombardi. What a truly quality human being. I was almost -- ALMOST -- sad to see the case end. He was the only "client" who ever treated me (an irrelevant junior associate) like a human being . . . which is especially remarkable since he was the only one who could've pulled an ego trip and gotten away with it.

[Objective Reality]

I personally believe that all modern "rock and roll" music was actually created-from-nothing by Jimmy Hendrix, rather than the Beatles. I don't see anything else from the era whose influence clearly reaches down all the way to today.

[Little Bill]

Zappa was the man, Jimmy was an apprentice.

[KangarooJacqui]

All my teachers in school were hippies. I hate hippies.

I don't know why, but I as I read that I heard the voice of Cartman, from the tv show "South Park"... :-)

[KantianBurke]

Poor article. Way to much generalization going on. Case in point is the reference to GW Bush. He gets a pass on his youthful indulgences and yet that's precisely what the author condemns many of the "hippies" for.

[Miss Marple]

Drinking beer at a frat party and getting blown away is Plaid. Sitting in a ramshackle apartment and getting stoned while listening to Pink Floyd is Woodstock.

I think you are missing the point of this article. Both sides did stuff when they were young. It's what KIND of stuff they did.

There is also the matter of who has grown up, and who has not. I think a higher percentage of Plaids have grown up.