did the baby boomers contribute anything

[oldblue]

artistically or culturally beyond providing a market?

I say no

[usedtobebabson]

Well they did change the way Puppet Government Wars are fought today.

They changed what is acceptable behavior and appearance in Society.

Lifted the American attitude about sex out of the dark ages. Examples in current movies and magazines.

Some credit them for the Personal Computer, as Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak were all members of the counter-culture.

Ended an unjust War and military draft.

Gave us some of the best Music in history.

They established neighborhood peace for a few years, and that movement will never die or be forgotten. It now has a life of its own.

There's more, I'm sure

[nicktecky]

And I say yes

[PsychedelicRabbit]

Think of life in the 50s and then try to imagine a world without any 60s counterculture.
Our world would be so different.

In my opinion, the hippies broke down [or started to] a lot of barriers for future generations.

[oldblue]

baby boomers are those people born between 1946-63 by most accounts.

check the birthdates of the prominent musicians of the 60s and you'll find there aren't many boomers. they were born before or during the war

[PsychedelicRabbit]

I wasn't talking about musicians. I mean the counterculture as a whole. Everyone involved or who believed in it.

[oldblue]

I wasn't talking about musicians. I mean the counterculture as a whole. Everyone involved or who believed in it.

the original statement was about the arts and culture

[Susan Butcher]

Syd Barrett was born in 1946, but he wasn't American so maybe that's not relevant.

I've just remembered that Skip Spence was born that year, too.

[PsychedelicRabbit]

Okay, but that still rings true for someone born in 1946, doesn't it? They would have grown up in the 50s. I think that generation contributed a lot to society, personally. I think every generation does...like a domino effect.

[redrabid]

The foundations of modern art were laid down roughly, between 1880 and 1940, so you have a point, oldblue. Even pop/rock music has its roots in pre-war music. Does anyone of you listen to early Blues music (not the white surrogate) at all?

[Susan Butcher]

No, but I listen to prewar jazz sometimes.

I think the early to mid-twentieth century was an amazingly creative time. (As well as a very destructive one.) By the Seventies the impetus had gone. Since then, we've been flogging a dead horse as far as popular music is concerned.

On the other hand, if you were talking about American comic books rather than pop, the Nineties were one of the creative peaks, and the artists concerned were generally born between 1955 and 1970.

[okeedoe]

The punk and new wave gave a new impetus to the music in the70,s.The horse still wasn't dead ,it was seriuosly ill,weary and tired but not dead.When it died in the 80's a new degeneric creature emerged out from the carcass.

[nicktecky]

Oldblue, you are a cheeky chappy! Such a simple question, but what a complex answer!
You remark about boomers providing a market, as if consuming culture was somehow equivalent to consuming frozen peas. I know you don't say it, but it is implied.

For me the whole point of the boomers contribution is that the audience replaced the patron, it is fundamental to the 60s explosion that access to music was democratised. The musicians responded to the demands of the boomers in the same way that artists have 'served' patrons down the centuries.
How this happened is a product of a singular conjunction of historical economic and technological change. Booming transatlantic industries operating in a recovering world economy produced an economic boom to match the baby boom. Jet flight gave unique impetus to transatlantic cultural exchanges. Vinyl pressings gave cheap access to musical performance for the first time. The transistor radio pretty much defined the teenager who had their own music for the first time.

To single out any historical period as leading up to any other is in my opinion flawed when looking at the influences on music from the 60s to today. There has been a continuum since then of retrospection, technological development, experimentation and rebellion. And long may it remain so! (Check out Muse, my current fave). The Blues incorporates European folk music dating back into the 1st millenium. African rhythms are also timeless. As Isaac Newton said "We stand on the shoulders of giants".

If you want a specific contribution that the boomers en masse made I would defer to Martin Luther King. He acknowledged the contribution of English musicians 'bringing back' the Blues to enlightened and receptive US youngsters. This drove a demand for desegregated musical performances which was unstoppable, this in turn fed back into the overall political process. That will do for me.

If you want cultural contributions from individuals, I'm sure we can all Wiki all day and produce lists thousands long, but what would be the point?
That reminds me...
...who invented Wikipedia? Ah, Rick Gates (b. October 18, 1956)

(Do you know OB, I think you might have posted this just for a bit of devilment, still it's been fun! ;-})

[redrabid]

One big contribution: Internet (Tim Berners-Lee, 1955).
It changes all aspects of our lives. Fast, faster than any other invention or movement in history.
Muse: "Love Is Our Resistance". Shamefully romantic but so good.

[PsychedelicRabbit]

The foundations of modern art were laid down roughly, between 1880 and 1940, so you have a point, oldblue. Even pop/rock music has its roots in pre-war music. Does anyone of you listen to early Blues music (not the white surrogate) at all?

I do, definitely. Bessie Smith is one of my favorites. I think I mentioned this somewhere else before, but I also listen to songs that came out of slavery times: "Follow The Drinking Gourd," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," among many, many others.

Music was good from the early 1900s up until the 70s, as Susan Butcher said. I do listen to some 80s-00s songs, but I more or less love pre-80s music.