Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast

Who doesn’t love a comeback, Slackers? Many huge stars of the 80's & 90's had their careers stalled at some point. Some due to substance abuse. Some had legal issues. Others just made poor business decisions. While for many, Hollywood just no longer viewed them as bankable stars. One example is Winona Ryder. Ms. Ryder was one of the most popular and successful stars of the late 80’s and early...

All it takes is one, Slackers. One hit is all a band really needs to leave a lasting impact on music history. More importantly, one hit song can sustain a band for many, many years.  The so-called “one hit wonders”, have often found lasting success, just from fans wanting to hear “the big one”. Now the main source for this episode didn’t exactly vet their information - shame on me for not vetting...

Where did you fit in, Slackers? Were you a jock? A nerd? A theater kid? Or did you just kind of blend in? Some of us were definitely rockers, with a side of dragger, and some geek mixed in. Maybe you were a drifter? Or maybe, just maybe, you were a punk/goth? It’s strange to think how little of this was in our control. We liked what we liked, wore what we wore, and hung out with the people that ma...

Howdy, Slackers! The Whatever Wednesday has returned. What does that mean, you ask? It means a muddled mass of disparate - but still Gen X related - topics. We have some less than stellar health news, both my own and of our whole generation, a little retirement talk, a Gen X icon continues being both inspiring and cringey at the same time, we discover which demo rules the box office, and some of t...

USA! USA! USA! One thing about getting older that kind of sucks is not being as excited about things as we did as kids and young adults. I’ll admit, I haven’t watched any of the 2024 Olympics - but as a kid, the 1984 games in Los Angeles was a major event. I can remember where I was that summer and some moments are forever etched in my memory. I clearly remember the amazing Carl Lewis dominating,...

Heeere's, Johnny! Everyone knows author Stephen King. And while I have read many of his books, purely based on my age, I saw the movies adaptations long before I started reading his novels. It is crazy how quickly Hollywood caught on to his work. His first novel was Carrie , published in 1974 - resulting in his first movie treatment just two years later - followed by the TV mini-series  Salem's Lo...

It's been a somber week, Slackers. The world has seemingly gone crazy, and we lost a true Gen X Icon - Shannen Doherty. Her career is filled with movies and TV shows that were a part of our childhood into young adulthood - from her early role in Little House on the Prairie,  the family drama  Our House,  the cult classic (and one of my favorites) Heathers , the Gen X primetime soap opera, Beverly...

What's in a band name, Slackers? Isn't amazing how some bands can have the absolutely stupidest name and go on to sell millions of records? I mean, who thought FOO FIGHTERS was a good name? Certainly not Dave Grohl, who once said it's "a stupid f'n name"! On this week's episode I'll break down some of the oddest names for bands that had some measure of success, in spite of - or is it because of -...

The past can be a difficult thing to face, and in the documentary “BRATS”, Andrew McCarthy tackles his past head on. Through interviews with other members of the “Brat Pack”, McCarthy explores the impact that being part of this group of super famous, but very young, movie stars had on their lives. While some viewed being labeled part of the “Brat Pack” as a negative influence on their careers, oth...

It’s been 30 years, Slackers!  After watching a studio performance by WEEZER, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their amazing debut record, I looked into what other music dropped in 1994. Holy cow, that was a pretty good year for music!  Records from RANCID, THE OFFSPRING, and GREEN DAY all came out in 1994, moving past the “grunge/punk” aesthetic into the pop-punk era that would drive the later...

Time to adjust the old rabbit ears, Slackers! This week is dedicated to the old ultra high frequency television channels of our youth. Kids these days have no idea what VHF or UHF even mean, because even broadcast TV went digital in 2009! But we had two dials, one on top and one on the bottom. The cool stuff was always on the lower dial and in New England we had channels like 25, 38, and 56. Some...

Here’s Johnny, Slackers! Starting all the way back in 1954 with the Steve Allen led “The Tonight Show”, there has been a steady succession of late night talk shows - and hosts. What is so surprising is how much behind the scenes drama occurred, particularly when it comes to that “Tonight Show” gig. Starting with the retirement of Johnny Carson, much has been said about the internal struggles at NB...

Hey, Slackers! This is one of those, “I couldn’t decide on a topic” episodes - so why not take a look at the latest posts on r/GenX? If there is a social media platform that feels both morbidly right and intuitively wrong for Gen X, Reddit is the one! I tried to keep it light - because you can go down some dark paths on that site - and it was mission accomplished.  Some nostalgia, personal anecdot...

Raise your hands, Slackers! After being prompted by a listener to check out Thank you, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, this week I give my thoughts on this legendary band and try to answer the question, “were they a hair band or just lumped in with them”? This is actually a really good question, and to be honest, it’s hard to ignore the time in which they broke through, the sound of albums like Sli...

I don't wanna grow up, Slackers! This week is dedicated to the some of the best jingles from the 70s & 80s. I don't know about you, but I consider jingle writing to be an art form. Some of these are instantly recognizable and many actually occupy a place in my jaded little heart.  From the Toys R Us theme to the the classic "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke", many of these jingles have stood t...

Witness me, Slackers! This week is a petal to the metal episode. No chit chat, no personal anecdotes from the week, nada - just straight out the gate just like the opening of every Mad Max movie. George Miller knows to keep all that pesky dialogue to a minimum and let the story unfold visually. From the very first installment, Max Rockatansky has been one of the most interesting cinematic characte...

Is technology out to get us, Slackers? With the looming threat of AI, I wanted to take a look at all of the technological advancements that have happened just in our lifetime. Remember your first computer? Or your first cell phone? With the 1971 introduction of the Intel 4004 microprocessor, the pace in which tech has moved is terrifying. Even something that now seems so quaint, like the Sony Walk...

Rock & Roll, Slackers! After seeing some clips online of the band everyone loves to hate, Creed, I took a look at the full slate of 90’s nostalgia acts on the 2024 tour circuit. While the perennial big hitters like Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Green Day are once again hitting the road, a number of late 80’s/early 90’s acts are banding together for shows this summer. But it’s not ju...

This week’s episode is all about fandom. It seems that by the time the mid to late 80’s arrived, being a fan of something - let’s say a genre of music - also lent itself to fashion choices & even the friends we made. If someone was wearing the shirt of your favorite band, there was a pretty good chance you could end up friends. But there is also the kind of fandom that leads to changes (tempor...

Warning, Parental Advisory, Slackers! Back in 1985, a group of politically connected women banded together to create the “Parent’s Music Resource Center”. Led by Tipper Gore, wife of future Vice President Al Gore, and Susan Baker, wife of then Treasury Secretary James Baker, the group sought to clamp down on what it perceived to be an increase of disturbing lyrical content in popular music.    The...

Going old school, Slackers! It’s been a while since I did a single year chart recap. This week I chose 1987 - and it is an interesting time for music, and when sitcoms ruled the Nielsen ratings. The Billboard Hot 100 for 1987 was a big year for a number of artists that we now think of as legendary. Bon Jovi & Whitesnake both had breakout hits after years of plugging away. George Michael had hi...

It's baaaack, Slackers! This is a "Whatever Wednesday". Basically, I couldn't decide on a single topic, so I'm going to cover whatever has popped into my head over the past 24 hours! Don't worry, all the key elements are still there: Gen X topics (uh, I got a little click-baited), music hits, movies releases, some TV charts, & a famous Gen Xer getting arrested (for some REALLY bad allegations)...

Love it or hate, reality television is here to say.  It’s been said that reality tv as we know it started with MTV’s “ The Real World ”, making this type of program a uniquely Gen X phenomenon. I do agree that we as a generation led the charge for reality tv, but it is probably because we have always been exposed to it - just in a slightly different format.  From the legendary “ Wide World of Spor...

The 90's was an interesting decade for music. Sure there was the grunge explosion, and with it the re-emergence of punk, but there were so many bands that occupied their own unique space in the music scene. On this week’s episode I’ll review my three favorite underrated bands, one of whom wasn’t just underrated, but entirely overlooked.  From a California band that basically created the emo “pop p...

I’m back, Slackers! Ever wonder what this whole AI thing is all about? And this ChatGPT - what does it know about our generation? I ask those questions in the default ChatGPT settings, but I also ask “Marv - the sarcastic chatbot” - and “he” sounds like a Gen X programmed AI model! I also share the heartbreaking story of the Myjak family - the matriarch of the family is a friend of mine from high...