Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast

Every wonder why we are the way that we are, Slackers? Each generation is shaped by the "big events" that impact the culture of the time. In this episode, I give my top 5 most significant events that I think have caused us to have a certain sense of cynicism, mixed in with this weirdly optimistic outlook on life. I can't really put my finger on it, other than to say it makes perfect sense why we h...

It's the Prince of Darkness, Slackers! Ozzy Osbourne is undoubtedly a legend. From Sabbath, to solo superstar, to a reality TV star, he has done it all. Unfortunately, due to nagging injuries to his spine, Ozzy recently announced that his touring days are over. As someone who always wanted to see Ozzy live but never did, I wanted to take a look back on his career. While my knowledge of deep cuts f...

Are you ready for some football, Slackers?! Or should I say, are you ready for some halftime shows!? This week’s episode is hot on the heels of Super Bowl LVIII, where the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles. The halftime show this year was none other than Rihanna. This got me thinking about some of my favorite (and least favorite) halftime shows of all time. The early years of the...

The nominations are in, Slackers! This week I discuss the nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2023. The HOF has refined their criteria to explain some of the less "rockin'" inductees from recent years. Perhaps it is time to change the name from the Rock and Roll to the Music Hall of Fame? This year's list draws from hip hop, R&B, rock, metal, country and pop. All can legitim...

What'chu talkin' 'bout, Slackers?! Some of my earliest memories of prime time TV are of the good old American sitcom. But there were some classic sitcoms that had long enough runs to cross over the decade line - from the 70s into the 80s. All in the Family. The Jeffersons. Three's Company. Diff'rent Strokes. And so many more. Happy Days first hit the air the year was I was born, yet Richie and Fon...

Rock & Roll, Slackers! We all know that rock music changed in 1991 - 1992. Grunge was this weird mix of rock, punk, and alternative music. So what was happening in mainstream rock and alternative music before the Grunge explosion? I pulled up the rock and alternative charts of 1990. I don't what I was expecting...maybe lots of hair bands on one and weirdo underground stuff on the other? Surpri...

Are you ready to rumble, Slackers?! What happens when you take two classic albums from a legendary band and pit them against each other in a duel for the ages? The only way to find out was for me to bring on one of my oldest and dearest friends, Nicole Parente-Lopez, for the second “ Record Rumble ”! Nicole is one of the biggest Faith No More fans I know (other than me!), and we have seen them liv...

Hey, Slackers! A seemingly forgotten medium is the good old magazine. Sure, you can still find them on shelves, but what about those rock and metal mags of the 80’s and 90’s?! While everyone knows Rolling Stone, that was far from the only game in town. For the metal heads there was Metal Edge or RIP. There were the general music mags like SPIN and CREEM. What they all had in common was an unabashe...

By the Power of Grayskull, Slackers! From “Masters of the Universe” to “G.I. Joe”, after school cartoons were as important to our childhood experience as the Saturday morning ones. The main difference is the after school cartoons were essentially commercials for the associated toy lines. “Transformers”, “Thundercats”, and many others, followed a simple but effective formula: release the cartoons,...

Happy (almost) New Year, Slackers! For much of our lives, "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" was THE show to watch on New Year's Eve. As we are 10 years removed from his passing, I wanted to take some time to remember Dick Clark. From 1945 through 2007, Dick Clark was on the air - first on radio, then on television for almost 50 years! With notable shows like "$100,000 Pyramid", "TV's Bloopers...

Mele Kalikimaka, Slackers! This week is all about Christmas music. Not "carols" or hymns, honest to goodness rock, pop, metal and even some big band Christmas music! I give my top 10 Christmas albums and the standout tracks on each record. While some songs are decades old classics, others are new or soon to be classics. What are some of your favorite Christmas albums? I will post a new Christmas P...

Yippee-Ki-Yay, Slackers! Is it or isn't it? That's the million dollar question. In my humble opinion, "Die Hard" is absolutely a Christmas movie! The setting, themes, and overall story arc...all the ingredients are there for a Christmas movie. It's a little Hallmark, a little "Home Alone", with lots and lots of explosions and generally chaotic action fare. What's not to love? But "Die Hard" isn't...

Ho, ho, ho, Slackers! As the Christmas season is upon us, I harken back to days of old and the Sears Wish Book. Perhaps it was the JC Penney Christmas Catalog. Remember taking hours to carefully consider those items that you wished would end up under the tree? Cabbage Patch Kids, Transformers, Big Wheels...at one point or another those were THE hot gifts of the year. What did you circle in those c...

From Looney Tunes to the Super Friends, who didn’t love the weekly ritual of getting up early on Saturday mornings for a few hours of animated goodness?! Perhaps paired with a bowl of sugary cereal, or maybe even a full breakfast over at Grandma’s? On this episode I share some of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons from childhood, as well as some related memories, like remembering exactly where...

It's Turkey Time, Slackers! There is a band that gets tons of negative reactions from the so-called purists of power pop, pop-punk, alternative pop, whatever term you want to use…but I'm talking about Weezer! They are frequently used as an example of either “selling out” or just being too “polished and commercial”. My experience with Weezer is a little different because I spent some time in the Bo...

It’s “Whatever Wednesday”, Slackers! What is “Whatever Wednesday”, you ask? It’s an episode dedicated to whatever I am thinking about this week and wherever that my lead. Some topics that I touch on this week: Billy Corgan, the National Wrestling Alliance, Butch Vig, Steve Albini, grunge, indie record labels, Jawbreaker, Sam Black Church, the Afghan Whigs, and other nonsensical ramblings. - [ ] Su...

It’s what we all wanted, Slackers! We wanted our MTV! And from the 80s through the early 90s, the M stood for music. My favorite era of MTV was the “Dial MTV” era. From 1986 through 1991, this was our chance to vote for our favorite music videos of the day. This was appointment viewing, with the iconic, head banging VJ, Adam Curry as our host. There were so many bands that would become my favorite...

What is up, Slackers?! While it has often been said that rock music has been a male dominated industry, there have been so many amazing women who have broken through the glass (rock?) ceiling. On this episode I discuss some of my favorites, with the simple parameters of: 1. The music needed to have been composed in my lifetime OR 2. Created by actual Gen X artists. As it turns out, some of the GRE...

Happy Halloween, Slackers! For the first Halloween episode of the pod, I make my case for Gen X being the first real slasher movie generation and delve into the motivations of the great slasher movie villains of the 80s & 90s. I mean, they can’t all be purely evil, right? Right? Plus, I shout out all of the great horror movies of the 90s, where many of the writers and cast members were firmly Gen...

Cause this is Thriller, Slackers! I was thinking about MTV and classic videos, plus it being so close to Halloween, and "Thriller" came to mind. But I realized that as much as the video for "Thriller" is legendary, the man behind the music was beyond being a legend...he was an icon. He was the "King of Pop". While he was a troubled (possibly dangerous) man and artist, Michael Jackson left a major...

Whatever, Slackers, whatever...according to the inter webs, and even some Gen Xers, we can be distilled down to the word "whatever". Using a good old Google search, I checked out some websites that claimed to have the definitive list of what characteristics, traits, and cultural markers make up Gen X. Some of these lists are just cliches that don't exactly line up with my own experiences growing u...

Yo! Listen up, Slackers! Rap. Rock. Rock. Rap. These are two distinct genres of music that have been intertwined since the earliest days of the NY rap scene. With groups like Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy embracing and working with rock and metal artists like Aerosmith, Slayer, and Anthrax, these seemingly disparate collection of artists paved the way for what would eventually become...

Game time, Slackers! In this week's episode I share my favorite video games from 1986 - 2001, back when I was a regular gamer. But I was never a particularly good gamer. In fact, I might actually be the worst gamer ever! Now with my recent purchase of the Steam Deck, I have rediscovered some long lost gems, and that got me thinking about all the games that really grabbed my attention throughout th...

Fall is in the air, Slackers! And that can only mean one thing - Halloween is fast approaching! This time of year is prime time for new horror movie releases, but what about the classics from our childhood? And I do mean childhood! In this episode I recount some of the movies and horror characters that left an impression on me, particularly the moments that I was way too young to see. I'm looking...

This week’s episode is all about a band I had planned covering from the very beginning of the podcast - The Foo Fighters! With this past weekend’s Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, I thought now was the right time for this episode. As much as I appreciated Dave Grohl’s work with Nirvana, the Foo Fighters music was much more interesting and captivating to me. Really from the first...