And the best part of this is I just saw them perform in May and October 2009. They still perform kick-a** rock ‘n roll. They’re still a force in the music business and still attracting new fans. We’re not growing older; we’re growing better ….

My favorite quote from Bruce is not from a song. It’s from an interview in 1980: “Illusions make you weak. Dreams and possibilities make you strong.”

Some other favorites: U2, John Eddie, John Cafferty and Beaver Brown Band, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder — the list goes on and on.

How about we ask around and update this top 25 list.

David

So, looks like maybe you were right after all. How ‘bout that!

When you wrote in your piece that you probably sound like our parents when we were teens, I wonder if you were aware just how much. Ha ha (sorry, still chuckling). As you may already know, I’ve kept a journal since I was a teen. Here’s an excerpt I wrote way back in 1967: “According to my dad, none of today’s bands will still be around in five years and nobody will even remember the Rolling Stones or the Beatles. ‘None of them can hold a candle to Dino Martin or Frank Sinatra,’ he says, often adding, ‘This generation of long-haired freaks play in groups of four because they just don’t have the talent to make it as solo performers.’

See what I mean? Like De ja vu all over again. LOL.

The way I see it, each generation has it’s own great music. To my father it was Sinatra. That music certainly has endured – Sinatra songs still sound great. He was a very cool cat. The 50s generation had Do-Wop and Elvis. No one can dispute the enduring qualities of that era. And, we Baby Boomers had the Beatles and Stones. Time has clearly proven my dad to be wrong.

I guess you and I will just have to disagree about contemporary Rock music. I will concede that today’s music does not seem to be quite as important to today’s kids as our music was to us. It was one of the great unifiers of our generation. For that reason alone it will endure as long as Boomers exist, and, perhaps, even beyond our lifetimes. But musically, and speaking as a former musician myself (having played in Rock bands from the late 1960s thru the early 1980s), I think today’s music will be able to hold its own just fine. Time will tell.

But this Big Chill piece was fun. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks.

You are so correct about Dion. My mistake. But I do not fully agree about ALL contemporary music. Sorry but for me it does not have the enduring qualities of the older stuff.

David

Some artists I would add to my own personal growing up Boomer “soundtrack” are – from the 1960s: Joan Baez; Leonard Cohen, The Band, Janis Joplin, The Kinks, Byrds, Cream, Fuggs, Credence Clearwater, The Who, Donovan, The Doors, Dylan, Marianne Faithfull, Stevie Wonder, Yardbirds, Simon & Garfunkel, Beach Boys, Arlo Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Ian, Beatles, Steppenwolf, and Shadows of Knight (they did the best version of Gloria ever!)

– And from the 1970s: America , John Denver, Idle Threat, Doobie Brothers, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Grateful Dead, Heart, Elton John, GordonLlightfoot, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, Steve Miller, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor . . .

– and the oldies from my youth who I still listen to regularly today and will forever: Jimmy Buffet, Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, et al.

BUT . . . You’re right . . . you DO sound like our parents did back when we were teens! There’s plenty of great new music out there that should be compatible with a Boomer’s musical sensibilities. Try adding a few of these current artists to your playlist: Rilo Kiley, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Eddie Vedder, Joan Osborne, Jason Mraz, Donavan Frankenreiter, Gin Blossoms, Jewel, K T Tunstall, Shawn Colvin, Ziggy Marley, Barenaked Ladies, Spin Doctors, Los Lonely Boys, John Mayer, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Matchbox 20, Smashing Pumpkins, Death Cab for Cutie, Amy Winehouse, Paolo Nutini . . .

PLENTY of great new music today . . . not to mention the old bands with new music like Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, or the new album Long Road Out Of Eden from the Eagles.

David