What was the best year to be born?

Jgeek

1953, yes that’s it, old enough to see The Beatles and The Kinks, The Doors, Hendrix and later The Smiths in their prime and the pirate radio movement, no wait, you’d be a bit past it for Gun ‘n’ Roses and Bowie so maybe 1972 but then to catch grunge in 90's would be cool  so maybe 1982. 

We can always argue about the best years to be born to allow us to be old enough to appreciate things of that time, for me, I believe I missed great music eras and am jealous of what my parents grew up with.

Yet having Cerebral Palsy, I’m glad I was a late 80's baby

When I started school, computers were just coming into the mainstream and assistive technology was very basic but allowed the wobbly girl with pig tails to express herself. I had a BBC PC to start, with two ‘buddie’ buttons because I didn’t have the control for a keyboard, it was very slow but I loved the freedom.

I remember my first home PC, mum hated how big it was in the dining room, but again tech grew with me and now I could do homework on my own. CD- ROMs then the birth of the web meant no more ripped books where turning pages was a bitter fight. I was no longer rushing work, intimidated by the poised pen waiting for dictation. Email and, it pains me to say, social media helped me to communicate with people before meeting in the flesh so they knew me before the wheelchair.

I have this vivid memory of being 8 years old in the bath singing ‘ I just can’t wait to get my wheelchair’ to the tune of The Lion King, it was like Christmas and my birthday put together, an electric wheelchair meant I could go where I wanted in the playground and friends would be more natural knowing a grown-up wasn’t always with me.

Jump forward twenty years 

My job is made possible by the technological climate, I am able to work from home on a laptop, my keyboard has a guard so I only push a single key at a time. 

However I think there’s two aspects at play here, yes, assistive technology has come on and peoples’ attitudes have had to improve, but with the computer and internet age, companies need more coders, programmers and researchers who don’t need to talk to clients or make, build or fix in the physical world.

So yes, I have to admit I just don’t understand the appeal of Beyonce, Lady Gaga or indeed much music post ’94, but I lead an extremely full life primarily thanks to the technology of the last 30 years, and hey, Foo Fighters keeps the spirit of Nirvana alive and Guns ‘n’ Roses have reformed. 

What is the best year to be born in? Do you feel your health has been affected by the generation you were born in? What changes have occurred in treatment, assistive technology and medication in your lifetime?

rachelcl

I was born in 1974 (in fact I was born on New Year's Day that year) so my teenage years were a great time for music - Pop Will Eat Itself, The Wonder Stuff, Ned's Atomic Dustbin (I had loads of Neds posters on my wall - I had a crush on one of their two bass players - plus quite a few Stuffies posters), Kingmaker, Jane's Addiction, Beastie Boys. Unfortunately however, my teenage years were also a time when I often got called a certain word beginning with S that rhymes with "plastic" (the word that was in Scope's old name - Scope became Scope when I was 20).

Chris_Alumni

Thanks for an awesome post @jgeek, it's great to hear how technology has been a positive force in your life, particularly when there's often negativity associated with tech development these days.

As for musical eras, I still have very fond memories of early-nineties dance music (Rozalla, 2 unlimited, that kind of thing) accompanied by lemonades and crisps at the local scout hut disco, but it would've been interesting to have grown up in the late seventies punk era!

Sam_Alumni

Musically I am happy to be born in the early 80s as I am still an indie kid at heart, I love Stone Roses, Charlatans, Oasis etc..

Medically, when I see old fashioned ostomy bags, I am shocked at how basic they are!! My ostomy bags now are soft, discreet and well fitted, though I suppose that is also because Im lucky enough to live in the UK and get free, top rated, well designed ostomy bags, there are people in other countries who dont have that privilidge and use old plastic bags and tape! 

bendigedig

Its great looking back. (Born ,73). I remeber Neds Atomic Dustbin, Shed 7 etc I remember loads and loads of really great music (and some really **** stuff too that im strangely just as nostalgic about) moments in History both my own and societal.

I remember being a pre-teen and discovering the Beatles and thinking that was old music!  Ha ha, people still discovering the Beatles today.

later just before that terrible Val kilmer Film came out I remember discovering the Doors.  I felt like a treasure hunter that had stumbled upon King Solomons Mines!  The rich tapestry of poetry , blues and rock and roll blew my mind.

Often  I think to myself (as Ive been a Dad for 11 yrs now). What it was like for my own Father to witness the changes that he had lived through (Dad Born 1935).

He never had any time for music. Too busy paying the mortgage off or doing the crossword in the paper.  I miss my Dad.   Im not sure what he would have made of the way things have now gone.

I see Questions in Magazines and on telly (not mainstream, i refuse to pay my TV licence) asking "was it really better in the 1970s?"....... Then i really think hard.....  I was a child then so I had a different peception of everything.  Having said that, i have to say unless I consider @Jgeek s experience with technology and some other isolated examples relating to the furthering of "good" in our society, i really do see technology as our worst enemy. 

 We are just so reliant on it that most of us, particularly those that do not know or remember a society before there was a telephone in everybodies house (never mind mobile phones or computers). Can not imagine what it is to live without the digital information age.   Many truths about life are fuzzy when seen through the fog of the information age.

One thing is for certain, if we dont "carefully" maintain the freedom of the worldwide web and ensure that our whole lives dont become monitored and censored then the destruction of the popular music industry due to Simon Cowell and all his evil minions will be the least of our worries.

I think that its time for a new "PUNK" movement.  It would be great to hear bands practicing in Garages again, large groups of youths mouthing off at their supposed betters in the establishment. Lol.  

Very soon we will all witness the passing of Queen Elizabeth the Second!  Hopefully we will all be given a day off....  We will certainly be subjected to a massive telethon of pro establishment propaganda about how great she was and all about what life was like in her reign .... Dear God! ...... Then we will get all he God save the King stuff until its making us vomit urrrrggghhhh...

Well unless David Ike is right and her Madje is a shape shifting alien she will soon part from the mortal coil....

"God save the Queen, her Fascist Regime.  It made you a ****, a potential H bomb" (sex pistols circa 70s)

I wonder what will happen to her Fascist Regime?

Ive got one thing to say to all of you young uns out there.

in the words of the Damned.....

SMASH IT UP, SMASH IT UP!

Anonymous123

I like music of all different eras and times, so I think it doesn't matter what time you are born in, as you can still enjoy any music from anytime.  Unless its future ofcourse, but you wouldn't be alive to know any better anyway.
I think the early 60's/50's would have been good though as people had a lot more morals then.  I like the idea of people getting married rather than just living together, but that's just my opinion.  Also being with someone who is only yours and you are only there's is special.
I think late 60's was when that 'norm' started to change.
However I have Aspergers and that time would never have helped me win that, I would just be thought of as a weirdo probably and a horrible person because of how truthful I am.
I was born in 1990, which wasn't a great time to be born in for Aspergers either, but I certainly wouldn't want to have been born after 1998!
I never liked the music of my era growing up, I listened to Cher, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Guns n Roses, Kiss, The Who, Andrea Bocceli, Dean Martin, Nirvana, Foo fighters, Duran Duran, Johnny Cash, Queen - all different music from all different eras from the age of 6 upwards.
I did however at 6 years old also listen to the spice girls and at 9 years old when Britney Spears brought out 'hit me baby one more time', I thought the video for it was so cool! Lol But you have to forgive me as I was just a child ☺️
I still like some modern music as well as old stuff, but it's all individual songs I like rather than an artist as or a band as a whole.  No one really catches my attention that way like older singers and bands do.
I was diagnosed with Aspergers when I was 21 years old, which is normal, especially with girls, as it's usually not noticed until you reach adulthood.
I don't think we have reached a time where there's enough help for those with Aspergers yet, for children there is loads, or for people with Autism, but for adults with Aspergers, not really much.
Theres books and forums like these which help now though, as you realise you are not the only one who has the struggles you do and people who have been through your situation can offer good advice.
I still feel though we could do with a lot more help from doctors and other health proffessionals.

Anonymous123

@bendigedig I agree with getting rid of Simon Cowell's minions, but I guiltily find Simon with his new beard quite handsome lol

bendigedig

@Anonymous123
cowell has been groomed as an establishment pawn since his media debut on "the sale of the century"

I think that Cowell was "invented" to bring ruination to popular music.

The timely dissolution of the mass interface that was "top of the pops" tandemed with the development of itunes etc has been instrumental in non-mainstreaming music and creating a totally different landscape for aspiring talent to flounder in.

I went to see Lloyd Cole recently. That was nice.  It was nice and a bit weird too seeing him on stage with his son supporting his act.  It was kind of nice seeing a Dad introducing his son to the business....  i spoke to his son, William, after the gig.  Lloyd wasnt doing chats etc.  william impressed me.  He was a very genuine, intelligent and friendly young man.  He took my sons Guitar and both he and his dad signed it.

I cant imagine anybody finding Simon Cowell Atractive?  He comes across as being a p*** take of himself on "Star Stories" all of the time.

I dont know the bloke.  Im afraid though from what Ive seen, I dont ever think I would wNt to know the bloke...  I think the Entertainment industry would be much better off without him.