I heard a discussion about the first Van Halen album on the radio today. It reminded me a lot about the past. A past that few people of today know about or realize.
 
When I got home, I listened to that album.  And yes, I listened to it on vinyl. I remember when it first came out, what a great album! It remains a great collection of music.
 
Few people understand this, unless you were there. But, most people view Punk Rock as what it became. The spiked hair and the Slam Dancing. They do not know about its inception. The fact was, some people considered early Van Halen to be Punk. There’s even a song on the album, Atomic Punk. Eddy Van Halen has even discussed how he tried to make the guitar part for, Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love, a punk riff. Though it became one of the greatest Rock anthems ever. And, the band and their first album was championed by people like Rodney Bingenheimer. He was a very influential DJ here in L.A. at the time and really brought Punk to the radio. In fact, he is thanked in the credits on that album.
 
It was really a different era back. …Back when Punk was in its formative stages. Most people still had long hair, like the Ramones or the men of the Patti Smith Group. People would wear clothing and do things like put a tear in the polyester Disco shirts that were popular in the previous wave of music. There was really a combining of the previous and the new. It wasn’t really until a few years later when bands like the Sex Pistols grew out of the London scene where Punk really took on its new image.
 
And, that’s the thing, people who did not live during a certain time and/or did not personally experience a specific era, many times, idealize that period of time. Of course, that goes on to this day with the Hippie era of the 1960s, the Greasers of the 1950s, or among the Latino crowd for the Zoot Suit era of the 1940s. And, so on… 
 
It’s kind of like I recently watched the movie, The Long Walk, which is based on a Stephen King novel of the same name. Not a great movie. But, it does show how if you want to make a dialogue driven film, you can do it in a very movement orientated, non-stop format.
 
The point being is that, in the film, they have one of the characters referencing, Candid Camera. Do you even know what Candid Camera is or was? Most people of this generation do not. Certainly, the young people who portray the character in the film would not have known what it is.
 
For the reference, Candid Camera was a TV series that was very popular when I was a child in the 1960s. It went through various later incarnations, but its heyday was the ‘60s. Basically, what the show did was to set up cameras and do goofs on people. Now, everyone has their phone, and everything is filmed. But, back then, life was very different. But, the kids in the film would not have even known what that show was. Stephen King would know. He was there. He lived it. He probably watched it. But, if you weren’t there, you weren’t there.
 
In the film, they also reference Orange Julius. Do you know what Orange Julius is/was? Probably not. The characters in the film certainly would not have known about it.
 
Again, for the reference, Orange Julius locations were all over the place in the 1960s. At least here in L.A. and maybe elsewhere. What they were/are is place where you got these very sugary orange flavored drinks and other such unhealthy stuff. They were really popular. Now, I think, there’s like one left in the whole L.A. area.
 
Why the screenwriter left those items, and others, that were obviously taken from the novel in the script, I do not know? As they have very little reference to the times of today. Yet, he did.
 
The point being, you have to be there. Just like right here in the right now, you and I are living a very specific point in history. In this time period, there are things taking place. Things that others, in future times, may wish to know about or even imitate. But, the truth of the truth of life is, if you were not there, if you did not live what was alive in the moment, all you are doing is pretending to know about something that you can never truly understand.
 
Remember that.