It’s a big month for baby boomers, with Dubya turning 60 and “feeling great,” so Newsweek‘s asked some old folks to expound upon the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll.

“When I first heard Bob Dylan,” David Gates recalls, “I thought he was a bad joke … the Beatles’ cozy-cute aspect eventually ruined them for me … Six months ago, a friend played U2 for me for the first time. It was OK.” Wha? At least his honest.

There’s a Boomer Music Quiz you should try.

e.g.
Name the noncommital male character in The Fifth Dimension’s “Wedding Bell Blues.”
a. Phil
b. Bill
c. Gil
d. Will

I got that one wrong three times. Do I get bonus points for listening to U2 before “Vertigo”?

Comments (11)
  1. Rip Tatermen  |   Posted on Jul 11th, 2006

    Hey! They marked me wrong for saying Ray Charles is sampled in Golddigger when it’s clearly Jamie Foxx singing a cappella at the beginning, and then a Charles sample throughout the rest of the song. They’re in different keys and everything. Damn you Newsweek! Where’s my extra 4% correct?

  2. booboo  |   Posted on Jul 11th, 2006

    i found an error, too…they claim stevie ray vaughn did NOT die in a plane crash…

    you can go back and change your answers too, but that’s cheating and we all know cheating is wrong…eff it, i’m a gen x’er…the boomers are hippies

  3. Laflin  |   Posted on Jul 11th, 2006

    “I turned off the radio (not for the last time) around 1960. Little Richard got religion, Elvis got drafted, Jerry Lee Lewis got ostracized (for marrying a 13-year-old cousin) and Chuck Berry got busted (for a Mann Act violation). When these unreconstructed characters gave way to the Frankie Avalons and the Connie Francises, I turned to Flatt and Scruggs, the New Lost City Ramblers, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis.”

    Uhhh, yeah, right. Someone’s been reading some rock history books and transposed the standard account to his own personal experience.

    There are some things I like about boomers, but their overwhelming urge to self-mythologize (and not shut the fuck up about it for *decades*) is truly nauseating.

  4. scott  |   Posted on Jul 11th, 2006

    Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash.

  5. isnt that jamie foxx doing a ray charles impression throughout the entire song? that was my impression.

  6. Yes, but you lose points for listening to them after “vertigo.”

  7. I got a 72% score and I’m 26…Does this mean that I’m an adequate to below average 60 year old?

  8. Clashed  |   Posted on Jul 11th, 2006

    Jim Carrey apparently used to date Linda Ronstadt … woah

  9. Foley  |   Posted on Jul 11th, 2006

    i got 4 correct, which i’m ecstatic about.

  10. I got 64% without cheating, and I’m an 18 year old. WOO I RULE.

  11. Newsweek, if you’re going to be so uptight about printing the word “motherfucker,” maybe you should ask different motherfucking questions!

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