The Boomers' Wild West Show

In a recent interview with Amy Arkwy of Blog Talk Radio singer-songwriter Jerry Strull commented on the state of the music business today as being top heavy with people wanting to be musicians and not enough people to be fans. It's the old too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

He's right. The Baby Boomers, which I call the Fan Generation (1946 - 1964), numbered 78 million. The War Babies (1940 - 1945) were given a huge potential fan base with which to create the Classic Rock Era. When it became the Boomers' turn in the Eighties, they had each other but very few fans from the next generation since their total numbers just weren't there.

Now the Boomers are still rockin' but they haven't any fans as their peers are either their competition or are happy still being fans of the War Babies and the next generation, their children, are also FANS OF THE WAR BABIES! As a generation of stars we're being bypassed altogether.

Our only hope is that our grandchildren will appreciate what we Boomers have to offer as artists. At the very least we may be appreciated for being the last generation to have known the artists of the War Babies firsthand and therefore the only ones with any authenticity when it comes to keeping their legacy alive. We will be to Rock & Roll what Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show was to the Old West. That would be better than nothing but it better happen soon.

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