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Sad fads…
- Thread starter Michedelic
- Start date
Yes, there are currently a lot of people walking around looking like the result of some bizarre kindergarten art project.
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I think this nails the dynamic behind them.
Pet rocks, hula hoops, food fads,
But sometimes we're talking fads here, and sometimes styles, mostly personal style.
What I think is interesting is style, a reflection of personal statement, for those who both want to be a part of something, and yet also see it as a statement that puts them genuinely outside of the norm.
Or else they already are, and they find something that suits them.
The archetypes ones came along with the social creation of adolescence, a stage of life that wasn't recognized prior to the 20th century.
Before that, you were a child, and then you worked.
Or in the early industrial age, you worked as a child.
These styles, movements, both want to be a part, and yet also reject it at the same time.
Sometimes it wasn't just fashion.
They had to hold it genuinely, because there were social repercussions.
Now anything goes.
I wonder what that says about any true stance against the norm.
Seems there no real correlation with any style and being alternative.
Maybe there is no real alternative anymore, everything is co-opted and made a commodity.
Regarding the above, examples would be Teddy boys and girls, early punks, Zoot suiters, even having long hair at points in the 60s, where in my working class town it could get you assaulted.
There was that old way of phrasing, "it is not something you would do in polite society".
Maybe it's not even so much that there is no alternative, but there is no longer polite society.
What we have now is market singularity - everything is part of the market - (personal "brands" etc.)
Trade, barter, commerce have long existed. But the market now subsumes everything - and we are so deep that we don't even see it.
www.theguardian.com
There was that old way of phrasing, "it is not something you would do in polite society".
Maybe it's not even so much that there is no alternative, but there is no longer polite society.
What we have now is market singularity - everything is part of the market - (personal "brands" etc.)
Trade, barter, commerce have long existed. But the market now subsumes everything - and we are so deep that we don't even see it.
How to deal with Teddy boys and girls – archive, 21 February 1961
21 February 1961: Report calls for special “street walkers” to engage with gangs of troublesome youth
The Tedy Boys: Britain's First Countercultural Movement
The Tedy Boys: Britain's First Countercultural Movement
www.academia.edu
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I'm think that TB needs to add another sub-forum.
"Old Men Yelling at Clouds"
We could talk (b****) about such things as Kids These Days, Back in My Day, and all things Rick Beato.
"Old Men Yelling at Clouds"
We could talk (b****) about such things as Kids These Days, Back in My Day, and all things Rick Beato.
Sadly, Disco was more than a fad.
It was a catastrophic, collective, tragic aberration.
Social historians now classify it with other instances of collective madness, along with similar manias.
Dancing mania - Wikipedia
The supporting evidence of it's horrible nature is clear, and is not a pretty sight.
Viewer Advisory. Many viewers may find the following scene disturbing.
Researchers are divided over whether the disease was psychogenic in origin, or organic, perhaps caused by a type of allergic reaction as a consequence of exposure to the acetates used in the bizarre fashions of the times.
Yoga.
The variants with animals are just one of the many unfortunate forms.
The variants with animals are just one of the many unfortunate forms.
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It's pretty much a given that ANY dance craze is not just sad but painful.
I think there are PTSD help groups still active for victims of The Macarena.
I think there are PTSD help groups still active for victims of The Macarena.
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Sadly, Disco was more than a fad.
It was a catastrophic, collective, tragic aberration.
Social historians now classify it with other instances of collective madness, along with similar manias.
Dancing mania - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
View attachment 7303473
The supporting evidence of it's horrible nature is clear, and is not a pretty sight.
Viewer Advisory. Many viewers may find the following scene disturbing.
Researchers are divided over whether the disease was psychogenic in origin, or organic, perhaps caused by a type of allergic reaction as a consequence of exposure to the acetates used in the bizarre fashions of the times.
Even Frank Zappa appeared on SNL to talk about the serious social problem.
It had to be the out gassing from the clothing fabrics. There was no logical cause.
Sadly, Disco was more than a fad.
It was a catastrophic, collective, tragic aberration.
Social historians now classify it with other instances of collective madness, along with similar manias.
Dancing mania - Wikipedia
View attachment 7303473
The supporting evidence of it's horrible nature is clear, and is not a pretty sight.
Viewer Advisory. Many viewers may find the following scene disturbing.
Researchers are divided over whether the disease was psychogenic in origin, or organic, perhaps caused by a type of allergic reaction as a consequence of exposure to the acetates used in the bizarre fashions of the times.
It must be admitted that this mania was good for our instrument. The ubiquitous disco 'Octave Jump' made even the clumsier bassists like me seem competent. "Octave jumps are a common and characteristic element of disco basslines, contributing to their characteristic rhythmic and melodic texture".
I have to admit that I liked some of the music that fell sometimes fell into the broad era/category of disco at the time.
Brick, Ohio Players, Kool & The Gang, stuff like George McCrea's "Rock Your Baby", The Isley's work at that point....
This one....still sounds good.
The bass line!
Zappa...catchy as heck. A pretty normal rock song for him.
No wait, that isn't possible.
.......
And to be honest, I have to admit, I kind of liked that song on the other end of the spectrum, Cotton Eyed Joe.
Yeah....what can I say.
...........
This whole thing made me remember something: in '76, I was sitting with my friend Kenny at a wedding reception. All the girls and maybe three of the guys were dancing to K.C. and The Sunshine Band, Earth Wind and Fire, or something. We had gotten acetate shirts and those weird big clunky shoes (cap toe, big heel) because...well.... all the girls were dancing to disco back then. Kenny turned to me and said..."Jesus, man, look at us, look at what we're wearing...these shirts, these shoes." He shook his head and said, "Years from now people are going to look back at us and laugh."
Kenny died in a plane crash a little after that. A great guy. And he was dead right about that.
Brick, Ohio Players, Kool & The Gang, stuff like George McCrea's "Rock Your Baby", The Isley's work at that point....
This one....still sounds good.
The bass line!
Zappa...catchy as heck. A pretty normal rock song for him.
No wait, that isn't possible.
.......
And to be honest, I have to admit, I kind of liked that song on the other end of the spectrum, Cotton Eyed Joe.
Yeah....what can I say.
...........
This whole thing made me remember something: in '76, I was sitting with my friend Kenny at a wedding reception. All the girls and maybe three of the guys were dancing to K.C. and The Sunshine Band, Earth Wind and Fire, or something. We had gotten acetate shirts and those weird big clunky shoes (cap toe, big heel) because...well.... all the girls were dancing to disco back then. Kenny turned to me and said..."Jesus, man, look at us, look at what we're wearing...these shirts, these shoes." He shook his head and said, "Years from now people are going to look back at us and laugh."
Kenny died in a plane crash a little after that. A great guy. And he was dead right about that.
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I find myself somewhat appreciating this type of music…when it’s done well. I’m especially fond of Deodato’s work from that time and even some of Boney M. At least they were using real basses then before the whole keyboard thing of the 80’s
If you have leg hair those cleaner fish can shag right off. There is no way they'll ever be therapeutic. Got certified in the Maldives and those buggers would yoink hairs out until we dropped off the atoll. They never went deep but oh the hate I still have for them.
Also: Pogs, rollerblades, eh... beanie babies. Had a family friend "invest" heavily in those. The neon color wheel. That thing had a good run through the early/mid 90's.
Also: Pogs, rollerblades, eh... beanie babies. Had a family friend "invest" heavily in those. The neon color wheel. That thing had a good run through the early/mid 90's.
I've been growing my hair long since I was 13 years old and only cut it short when I was married because my wife liked it short. I will never apologize for making basically trivial or cosmetic concessions to your wife to make her happy. .
But I started growing it long again after we divorced, and I kept growing it well below my shoulders until I had an accident and was in ICU for several weeks when I was 45 years old.
When I got out of the hospital, my hair was so completely knotted up and tangled that I had no choice but to shave it off and start over. That's when I decided to try to grow the beard.
That worked for awhile because my face shape a hair pattern are fairly well suited to the beard I was cultivating.
Then covid hit, and all of a sudden, the "covid beard" fad was everywhere.
The last thing I want to be perceived as is someone who jumps on the latest bandwagon, so the chin shrubbery had to go.
It seems to me that fads now have a different dynamic in the internet age than they had in the past.
Until very recently, fads started as an isolated social phenomenon that just happened to propagate and grow in a steady, progressive way throughout a wider society, until it eventually achieved some amount of universal recognition. Throughout most of the 20th century, much of that effect happened via radio and television, often helped along by commercial advertising.
Now, things are fundamentally different, where even a single, trivial event can trigger a massive internet meme, and within a few days, half the world is marveling at what has suddenly become the latest fad.
Until very recently, fads started as an isolated social phenomenon that just happened to propagate and grow in a steady, progressive way throughout a wider society, until it eventually achieved some amount of universal recognition. Throughout most of the 20th century, much of that effect happened via radio and television, often helped along by commercial advertising.
Now, things are fundamentally different, where even a single, trivial event can trigger a massive internet meme, and within a few days, half the world is marveling at what has suddenly become the latest fad.
"The only thing faster than the speed of light is the speed of stupid."
When I was a kid, only service vets, longshoremen, and Merchant Marine sailors had tattoos. People get these things then wonder why they can't get hired. Happily, I'm old enough to where nothing needs to make sense any more, but I gotta say, if I'd have thought years ago that really beautiful women would today be covered in tattoos and wear Doc Martens and be considered beautiful, I'd have killed myself back then.
What a CFW.
