"Okay, class! Today's playlist is classic soul!" Jan shouted out. Super, I thought. Maybe some Sam Cooke ... Otis Redding ... Marvin Gaye ... early Stevie Wonder thrown in.
Then it started. "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince. Really? Don't get me wrong ... Prince and the music of the 80s is my music, no doubt about it. But when did my music become classic?
I belong to a Facebook group that shares memories about Classic TV. The moderators of the board have drawn their line in the sand at the 1979 television season. So post about "Cheers" at your peril! 1979 was almost 40 years ago. A car aficianado will tell you that a car becomes a classic at 25. If we were to use 25 years as the definition of classic, my Facebook group REALLY should be supportive of folks posting about "Roc," or "Saved by the Bell: the College Years" ... yes, it really HAS been 25 years since those classics, my friends!
As I do my underwater jumping jacks, the classic soul sound of Rick James' "Super Freak" begins. Wow.
When I host trivia, categories like Retro TV pop up with questions about "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!" That's right, a television show with a rap theme song is now Retro. Our radio station, Lake 94.5, runs "classic music" from the 80s, 90s and today. When did the 60s and 70s stop being classic?
During my high school years, I spent summer vacations working at a gas station on the Pennsylvania turnpike. One of my favorite co-workers was a man in his early 80s, Tony Bontempi. I'm not sure how long Tony had been there before I'd started working, but unlike the rest of us, Tony had clout. He worked the same shift, Monday thru Friday ... banker's hours pumping gas in the days before self-serve (by the way, gas on the TURNPIKE in those days was still under a dollar a gallon). And Tony had control of the little AM/FM transistor radio, which played HIS variety of classic music. It was jazz of the late 30s and early 40s. AM, if I'm not mistaken. I realized even then that his format was dying out, and few would ever remember tapping their feet to Benny Goodman or Glenn Miller. I remember hoping that this station would outlive Tony, so that he'd always have the ability to hear his music when he wanted.
Aquatic leg lifts have begun now, to the beat of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration." Oh my!
Now of course, we don't really need to sweat out the ability to hear our music. Heck, we don't even have to OWN it anymore. With the variety of online subscription services out there, it's possible now to just tell Alexa to play the Lovin' Spoonful and get a mix of their music that will last better than an hour. And yes, Glenn and Benny too.
Then there's the OTHER definition of "classic." Sometimes when we say something is "classic," that means that it stands the test of time. How much time? Who knows? Is it really too early to consider "Everybody Loves Raymond" a classic? It's not THAT much younger than "Seinfeld," which is indeed heralded with the "C" word. And is "Gilligan's Island" a classic too? Its three hour tour has lasted half a century now, even though most of our castaways have long left the island.
There's a wonderful scene in the most recent "Star Trek" film in which the intrepid crew does in some nasty marauding aliens with classical music. No, it's not Bach, Beethoven or Brahms. It's the Beastie Boys. What WILL the 23rd century citizens deem to be classical music, when you think about it?
I'm 53. So if I were an automobile, I'd be in my 28th year of being a classic. I kind of like the sound of that.
Now we're down to the stretching part of my workout, and Bobby Brown is singing about "My Prerogative." With that, our hour of "classic soul music" draws to a close. I think I'll recover from this morning's workout with some classical music. Maybe the Beatles.
