Think back to your childhood. Do you remember the first record or tape or compact disc you ever owned? You know, back when music was a physical product that you purchased, not just a virtual one on your phone.
For me, it was a cassette tape of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” bought with my own money in 1983 and a tape I still own to this day. A fact I call “nostalgic” and my wife calls “hoarding,” but no need to dwell.
Like most people’s musical tastes, mine evolved greatly from that first-time purchase of commercial pop. If I recall correctly, Culture Club, Billy Joel, The Police and Lionel Richie soon followed before I eventually found my way to the true music of my teenage years – Motley Crue and an assortment of similar, interchangeable hair rock/glam rock bands. What can I say? It was the ’80s.
With our children now around the same age as I was in those days, I find myself studying their emerging musical tastes and wondering how they will evolve in the years and decades ahead.
Of course, as every generation does, they bristle at that “old stuff” I listen to when it comes on, just as I did (and sometimes still do) when hearing much of my parents’ or in-laws’ preferred music of the ’50s and ’60s. Notice I said “much,” but not all.
As my musical tastes grew from my teens to now and continue to, so came deeper appreciations of bands like The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones and more. Classic acts who belong in any real rock fan’s iTunes library, sure. But they wouldn’t have been there 30 years ago when I was my children’s age, because I hadn’t given their music a chance at that point. And because Steve Jobs hadn’t yet invented the iPod.
I’m reminded of this now as our children’s own musical tastes are developing. I’ve known for some time that the oldest enjoys a little Guns ‘N’ Roses (“Welcome to the Jungle”), Motley Crue (“Kickstart My Heart”), Metallica (“Enter Sandman”) and AC/DC (“Thunderstruck,” “Back in Black”) as pregame pump-up music before sporting events. But outside of those, our playlists don’t often overlap. Not yet anyway.
This was evident when we took the family to Ribfest last year to see Sammy Hagar. Playing a nostalgia-laden set that included not just his solo hits, but also a little Van Halen and Led Zeppelin, there were a lot of songs for me, my wife and other adults in attendance to appreciate. Our kids? They were just there for the hot dogs and ribs.
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But the tide may be starting to turn. The 12-year-old did try to negotiate his way into using one of our tickets for AC/DC and GNR shows this year (no dice), and the youngest is no longer insistent that I turn off Sirius/XM’s Pearl Jam channel in favor of his more familiar Radio Disney. Not that I expect the boy to dwell on the meaning of “Even Flow” or “Alive” any time soon, but I can see one of my favorite bands starting to pique his interest a little, which I’m learning will be another connection I hope to have with our children as they grow into adulthood.
My wife and I were fortunate enough to have attended one of Pearl Jam’s two weekend concerts at Wrigley Field – again, without the kids. But the quality of the show and the instant-documentary treatment on the band’s big screens flanking the stage convinced me to buy a DVD of the concert later when it becomes available. Also drenched in frontman Eddie Vedder’s love for the hometown Cubs, there will no doubt be enough there to get the kids’ attention, if not the music alone. In the years to come, I’ll pop that DVD in the player and be instantly transported back to that night at Wrigley Field. Much like music itself does for us, taking us back to the place and time where we first and best experienced it.
Make no mistake, I know that our children’s all-time favorite bands are probably still off in the future, music they will come to appreciate in their high school and college years. That seems to be the stuff that sticks with us the most as we age. I suspect there may be some overlap in their tastes and mine, and hopefully there will be. Even better, I don’t doubt for a second that they one day will come to truly appreciate seminal acts like Pearl Jam just as our generation developed a similar affinity for the Stones.
For now, maybe we’ll look for other opportunities to share the music we knew from our youth, like the quadruple bill of Sponge, Lit, Everclear and Sugar Ray next month at the Naperville Jaycees Last Fling, all bands of the ’90s when my wife and I were in college and all with catchy tunes we remember from that time. But with all due respect, I don’t see any of them joining our kids’ playlists any time soon.
We might just let the oldest tag along the next time GNR or Pearl Jam comes to town though. And I’m sure it will be a memorable experience. For all of us.
Rob Manker is a freelance writer who lives and parents in Naperville.
Twitter: @RobManker