The SFB

Random musings from a Gen X life lived on the edge… of nothing except Lake Erie. 70s and 80s pop culture and music.

Gen X

  • The Cars Live at the El Mocambo

    WHAT A SHOW! It captured a moment in time and the fun this band was having at the start of their amazing run. I just re-read for the second time the 1997 Goldmine article The Cars: Shake it  Up, Drive It Out by Steve Roeser.  I had read parts of it several months ago but Read more

  • It’s a Clash Kind of Sunday

    On the anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer. Raise your hand if you pogo’d to Train in Vain.  Or bounced your head and shoulders when you heard the opening riff of Should I Stay or Should I Go. Or got that thrilling feeling when you heard the sirens at the beginning of Police on Read more

  • Things I Miss- Christmas Edition

    Reading a really good newspaper K-Mart and Sears Malls  Coffee shops and diners at those malls, where you could get a fantastic grilled cheese and a pickle. Good old-fashioned department stores like Lord and Taylor, Kaufmanns, etc. Shopping in general. The original Pizza Hut with the original pan pizza and jukeboxes, those textured red plastic Read more

  • Where are all the kids today: The winter version

    I know it’s cold outside but the lake effect never paralyzed us. Except for that one time in 1977. I took a walk yesterday.  Needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air and some perspective even though it was cold and a bit windy. I’d been feeling claustrophobic since we had Read more

  • Is Panorama the most Cars Cars album?

    What I want to discuss is the brilliance of the album Panorama. I though I loved The Cars’ first album the best. And then I though I loved Candy-O the best. And then I gave Panorama a serious listen. For a record that wasn’t particularly important to me over forty years ago, it has become Read more

  • Were The Cars too pop to be truly New Wave?

    I don’t think so but… I’ve been working on a post for quite a while about what I think may be the not-so-hidden gem of all The Cars albums but it’s not quite where I want it yet. So because I haven’t posted in a while, I’m writing this as a sort of preface to Read more

  • Driving with The Cars

    Anyone else out there just get in their car and drive with no particular destination in mind? The fall weather has been spectacular this year and the conditions are perfect for long drives.  Four days past Halloween and there is still a lot of color on the trees. We’ve had gorgeous sunsets and very few Read more

  • OK Universe…

    Help me to get unstuck. Have you ever gotten to a point in your life where you think/feel/know you don’t want to do this anymore? Whatever this is for you?  This of course is different for different people. I’ve been increasingly feeling this way for the better part of this past year.  And I feel Read more

  • 1984-What a year for music!

    And the year I graduated from high school. I followed a thread on Twitter (I still can’t call it X) started by @PreetBharara in which he posed the question “What was the best song of 1984?”. Impossible to choose.  I have been meaning to write about the music of 1984 for a while now in Read more

  • Where Are All the Kids Today and What Are They Doing?

    I frequently take walks around the village, through the neighborhood where I grew up, past houses where my friends lived, on streets where I hung out when I was a teenager, and most of the time the streets and sidewalks are empty. I wonder; where are all the kids?  What are they doing and where Read more