(October 29, 2004) — You stir from your eternal-like slumber and try to pry open your glued eyelids. When finally they are ajar, the sun’s devilish morning rays pierce through the glass of your window and charge right into your face. Howling and shrieking in pain, you throw yourself back into your pillow and curse the reason why you had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 11 a.m.! Then you hear it. That heathen melody! The oogy-boogying beats of disco and the cawing of your mother as she sings and dances with her imaginary John Travolta. Stuffing your ears with your pillow, you whimper, “Mom! Please turn that stuff from back in the day off! You are so not COOL!” So not cool, eh? What is happening to the younger generation? Alert! Ahwooga! They are forgetting the oldies! When was the last time you ever saw some teenager proudly riding around in their automobile, humming along to Marvin Gaye or blasting out Luther Vandross? Teenagers fail to recognize the fact that if it weren’t for those groovy oldies, they wouldn’t have any of that good head banging or booty-shaking music that they listen to now. How do you think these new singers and musicians got inspired? I’m sure once you’ve heard the number of oldies that they praise and adore you will slink away to your computers, quietly download those few antique albums, play them and then finally appreciate them. You’ll become a hypocrite, yes, but at least you will keep the oldies alive! And then maybe those that idolize you shall follow in suit. Teenagers get so worked up in that one genre of music that they have situated themselves in like sticks in mud that they then become ignorant and indifferent to all the other types of music, incessantly disdain other people’s music if it’s not “emo,” “scremo” or hip-hop. Turning down the volume, waving rude gestures or branding them as “so not cool!” It is sad. Any band or musician nowadays with names like “1 Penny” or “Giving Back Monday” can rise up in the charts with the single most pointless song about some incredibly, ridiculously good-looking girl who either A, broke their heart; B, love them; or C, they just feel like whining about them. And then, of course, they disappear from sight and some other flashy singer pops into the picture. But do they ever look at the charts that do not fluctuate that much? The charts concerning the greatest hits of our time? No sirree Bob. Rather than just being ignorant, take that pillow off your head and spare a bit of your hearing for the music of the past years. Stop trying to please your friends or trying to sustain a respectable position amongst your crew. Be open and grateful. Come on friend and sing along to “Ain’t No Mountain High” or if you’re in a romantic mood, soak in some Teddy Pendergrass. Just get up off of that thing and turn the beat around! Ow!