Edwin, 1970s Music, & Retro Math

I’ve been listening to a lot—and I mean, a lot!—of Sirius XM ‘7'0s on 7 lately. (Listening right now.) It’s reminded me of my high school days because back then (mid-‘90s), I used to wish I grew up in the ‘70s. I think this was mainly a function of the music I was listening to then—the cool (Pink Floyd, The Who, The Stones), the borderline (Fleetwood Mac, Styx, Boston), and the not so cool (Saturday Night Fever soundtrack)—plus watching Dazed and Confused a few (dozen?) times. It just seemed like a simpler and hipper time to be a teenager.

Well, since the channel’s been on pretty much exclusively for the last week and a half in the car and at home, Edwin’s got his fair share of Todd Rundgren, Seals and Crofts, and Carole King. It got me wondering if I continuously play ‘70s pop and rock throughout his childhood, would he end up a fan just like his dad? But then, I started with (what I’ll call) the retro math…

Retro math is something I do in my head anywhere from once to a dozen times a day. Say I’m grocery shopping at Kroger and “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand” by Primitive Radio Gods comes on. I’m immediately like cool, haven’t heard this in a while…it’s not that old, right? Then I do the math.

OK, this song was out in the summer between junior and senior year of high school (don’t ask), so 1996. 13 years ago, wow. But kids today wouldn’t think it’s old, right? OK, do the math. Hearing a 13-year old song then would’ve meant the 17-year old me listening to a song from 1983. Think, quick example: “Africa” by Toto (again, don’t ask). So a 17-year old listening to “Broken Phone Booth” today is like me listening to “Africa” in 1996. Uh…OK, the song’s old, and I’m old.

I was born in 1979, Edwin 2008, so doing the retro math on me, Edwin and ‘70s music is staggering:

• Edwin listening to ‘70s music is like me listening to ‘40s music (so Curtis Mayfield is to Edwin as Dizzie Gillespie is to me?).
• The ‘70s for me is like the ‘00s for Edwin (Led Zeppelin is to me as The White Stripes are to Edwin?).
• And probably the most unfathomable calculation from all of this: since I got into ‘70s rock in high school (during the ‘90s), I associate Edwin’s taste in music to his high school years—which will be in the 2020s. Whoa.