In a 2011 New York Times op-ed article marking Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday, David Hajdu wrote that 14 is a “formative age” when it comes to musical taste: “You’re in the ninth grade, confronting the tyrannies of sex and adulthood, struggling to figure out what kind of adult you’d like to be, and you turn to the cultural products most important in your day as sources of cool — the capital of young life.” He spoke to Daniel J. Levitin, a professor of psychology and the director of the Laboratory for Music Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University, who explained the physiological element of the phenomenon:
“Pubertal growth hormones make everything we’re experiencing, including music, seem very important. We’re just reaching a point in our cognitive development when we’re developing our own tastes. And musical tastes become a badge of identity.”
I was actually 13 at the start of 9th grade — my December birthday meant I turned 14 right in the middle of the school year — so maybe I was running six months ahead of schedule age-wise, but I feel like Hajdu’s theory definitely applies to me. The year was 1981, and it was a momentous one for music: Just weeks before school started, MTV launched with a space shuttle countdown, a rocket blast-off, a moon landing and the Buggles doing “Video Killed the Radio Star.”
One of the earliest MTV videos was Devo’s “Whip It.” I was going to say the video was one of MTV’s most frequently played but in the early days there were so few videos that all of them were frequently played. The geeky guys in black sleeveless turtlenecks and red “flowerpot” hats whipping the clothes off a woman made an indelible impression on me.
You know how every Halloween costume is sexy now? Sexy cats, sexy witches, sexy corn-on-the-cob?
Click for a story on the maker of the sexy corn costume.
If you want to buck that trend, go as Devo, because there is no way to be sexy in a Devo outfit. Oh well. At least we looked glamorous the night before.
The ’80s-themed Culture Club was the obvious place to go. We felt right at home there, especially next to this mural.
It was nice to bump into the guys from Wham!
The real Wham! wore those “Choose Life” slogan t-shirts by designer Katharine Hamnett in their 1984 “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” video. (The shirts were inspired by a Buddhism exhibit and had nothing to do with anti-abortion protestors. Hamnett isn’t pleased by the co-opting of her slogan for the latter purpose.) I could kick myself for getting rid of the t-shirt I got at Wham!’s Beacon Theatre concert. I made a similar mistake with my Frankie Say Relax concert t-shirt. NEVER GET RID OF YOUR CONCERT T-SHIRTS, PEOPLE!
Rocky was soooo happy when “Eye of the Tiger” was played. He draped himself in his American flag and ran all over the place.
This Halloween was a big day for Devo — the very hot band Arcade Fire covered Devo’s “Uncontrollable Urge” during a show in Los Angeles.
UPDATED TO ADD: Here’s Stacy’s blog post.
oh man, I miss the 80’s. you two look fantastic! and thanks for sharing the joy with Visible Monday.
Those were the days!
14 huh? Well, that sounds about right. That’s when I started to differentiate myself and develop my musical taste. Interesting.
What a fun night. We are awesome. We are DEVO.
I really like the 14 theory.
Ooooh. The 14-year-old me? 1964 and, Baby, it was John, Paul, George and Ringo. And Stones. And Dave Clark.
Those were the days. But as a late bloomer, I did the 80’s in art school. MTV was, indeed, very cutting edge, and video a coming art form. Sounds really dated, yes? Never mind. It was cool, and Wendy, you are right. Never get rid of the concert shirts.
You know Paul McCartney is my almost-husband, right?
The Beatles were also a part of my 14 year old life. All the ’60s bands were very big while I was in high school — the Beatles, Stones, Who and of course the Doors due to that biography of Jim Morrison with the hot photo on the cover.
’80s would have been an awesome time to be in art school.
Okay the 14 theory doesn’t work with me or Gwensday (not surprisingly having grown up listening to the crazy stuff I do). I formed my musical tastes a bit younger around 11 (G’s even younger, she was listening to cool stuff all along, but really formed her loves by 9 or 10), but I always had a nose for what was was different, as I always felt “different” so it kind of makes sense. My older cousin turned me on to some cool stuff, but a lot of what he loved, later termed “prog rock” I hated. It was the wild rebellious stuff I loved. I guess that’s the clue, I was always rebellious!
Absolutely love that you guys went as Devo! The pics are perfect, especially the first one (of you and Stacy, not the sexy ear of corn WTF??? And wouldn’t you need a “Jolly Green Giant” to go with that to complete it? OY!) and the one by the mural! So sad that Alan Meyers is gone, they were so great & such good fun, nice guys too. And it was so cute when later they had their kids join in! Looks like you guys had a fun time, YAY! XXX
LOL at the Jolly Green Giant and the corn. Now I kinda want to to do that!
Uh-oh there I go stirring up trouble again! XXX
Your hats are marvelous!