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Daily Maverick
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
In the Walkman revolution we lost shared listening in an ever-narrowing world
I catch up to things late, always have done. I went, by way of example, from my transistor radio and those finickity cassettes that needed cumbersome cassette recorders to the smartphone with its ability to play music. I skipped over that breakthrough era of the Walkman and evaded the time of the Discman and the portable CD player. I even missed out on MP3 players. I still shake my head: what was I thinking? Why did I never acquaint myself with the latest technology and get myself a device that would have allowed me to hear music inside my head through those spindly, non-earpod but serviceable headphones? Probably the most important thing about the Walkman was that it revolutionised how we listened to music, changing the consumption of music – and all things auditory, such as audiobooks and podcasts. How? By giving us the chance to have a private listening experience, laying down the pathway for individual listening choice. It was a heady breakaway from the 'before' listening times, and took away the constant carping and complaining about whose turn it was. My teen years were hell, an endless negotiation around the inexplicable (to a truculent pre-adult) concept of sharing. I grew up in a family of six, all with particular musical tastes, all needing airtime. My mother liked classical music with religious themes: hymns, Gregorian chants, Handel's Easter music; the Ave Marias (the Bach and Schubert versions). 'Cross yourself music,' my brothers called it, mostly because my God-fearing mother often made the sign of the cross when she heard a particularly stirring liturgical piece. My father liked Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, Buddy Holly, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald… played loudly (which annoyed my mother) so he could hear it while he cooked. There was only one turntable built into a cabinet with an open rack that held the long-playing records, or vinyl as they were known, and a radio with a fabric or mesh-fronted speaker and a large knob for a tuning dial. This was in a pride-of-place position in the lounge. Remember, there was no television set, so it was where we sat to listen to whatever was being played – record or radio. Antonette, my six-years-younger baby sister, listened to David Frost narrating fairy tales, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella. She'd happily sing along with the complaining Hamelin rats, resentful about being unloved, bitter about their treatment from humans. Anton came home from boarding school, superior in his new knowledge of the hip music scene, bringing with him the music of Jethro Tull, Shawn Phillips, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath… all the colours, my mother used to say. My musical choices included Elton John, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, the Bee Gees… And, embarrassing to the Naidoos, a deep love of country music: Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, John Denver. My brother Shaun, learning how to play the piano in those years, listened to everything – it is necessary, he'd say, to hear it all. Necessary, it seems, for the brilliant composer he would become before his untimely death at 49. Everyone had to have a turn. We had to listen to each other's choices – we had no choice. It was communal listening. My hero, John Denver, wrote a song about his grandma's feather bed that could 'hold eight kids and four hound dogs, And a piggy we stole from the shed' on which they 'didn't get much sleep but had a lot of fun'. It was a bit like that in the Naidoo family master bedroom. After dinner, when our teeth were brushed, our faces scrubbed and pyjamas donned, we – along with Timmy, the dog – climbed into my parents' bed to listen to the radio on my dad's bedside table. As the Lost Orchid from a print of Tretchikoff's famous weeping painting looked down on us, we feasted on programmes like Squad Cars, in which the police prowled the empty streets at night, waiting in fast cars and on foot…; The Creaking Door; Test the Team; Inspector Carr Investigates; No Place to Hide with Mark Saxon and Sergei Gromulko; The Mind of Tracy Dark. Family time, a sharing time. Happy squabbling time. And then came the Walkman and everything changed. We no longer had to share. We could plug in our music and listen to whatever we chose. It was always our turn. Over the past 50 years, individual choice has replaced things communal. On a visit to my family in Los Angeles I got sick enough to spend the day in bed. To make sure we still had family time, my sister-in-law, Ann, and nephew, Joe, piled onto my bed. Only each of us had our laptops, each our Airpods, each watched a television series (me), documentary (Ann) or music video (Joe) of our own choosing. In the end, nobody shared what they'd been watching or listening to, I think because we each had such specific personal taste that nobody thought our choice would interest the others. It struck me that because it's always our turn, the algorithm can track us and give us more and more of what it thinks we like or want to see or listen to. And so our world gets narrower and narrower, as do the chances of getting to know arcane religious tracts or becoming familiar with the songs of Bing Crosby or being able to sing along with the rats of Hamelin. You are left with a repertoire of only what you like. As I said, I come late to things and seem to catch on and catch up only when the trend is deeply entrenched. Embarrassingly, I have just discovered podcasts and am listening to a host of views and opinions with which I agree, to which I nod along. A case in point is The Rest Is Politics, hosted by former journalist-turned-strategist and spokesperson for Tony Blair and New Labour Alastair Campbell and British academic, broadcaster, writer and former diplomat and politician Rory Stewart. In a determined attempt to confuse the algorithm, I have resorted to forcing myself to listen to the extremely right-wing views of Donald Trump-supporting Joe Rogan, whose ravings are liberally interspersed with racist epithets. It's a grim business and I find myself vacillating between rage and despair at some of the things people (such as Kash Patel, Trump's director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation) say. But I genuinely believe that the only way to form opinions is to have the views of all sides. DM This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
Buzz Feed
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Gen X'ers Share What They Loved About High School In The '90s
Before smartphones, Snapchat, and being tracked by your parents on Life360, high school in the '90s was pure unfiltered chaos (or so I'm told). Recently, u/Extreme_Raccoon_8736 came across a Facebook post that perfectly captured what it was like being a teenager in that golden era. The post resonated so much that they shared it on Reddit, saying it 'rang true,' and asked other Gen X'ers to share their own '90s high school memories. The response was a nostalgic goldmine. Before getting into the responses, however, here's the Facebook post that started it all: "If you were a high schooler in the 1990s, you know we lived in a golden window of time: right between rotary phones and social media, landlines and iPhones, mix tapes and Spotify playlists. And man, was it fun. We didn't have smartphones glued to our hands. We had to memorize phone numbers, call our friends' houses, and actually talk to their parents first before we could even think about making plans. Friday night plans? You made them at school or hoped your friend called your house before your dad picked up the phone and said, 'Who is this?' Music was everything. We had real variety — grunge, gangsta rap, pop, R&B slow jams and skater punk all living together in perfect harmony. You recorded your favorite songs off the radio on a cassette tape and prayed the DJ wouldn't talk over the intro. If you had a CD, it was a prized possession. If you had a Discman with skip protection, you were high-tech royalty. Fashion? It was chaotic in the best way. Baggy jeans, flannel shirts, chokers, Starter jackets and Airwalks. We dressed like we were either going to a Pearl Jam concert or about to skateboard through a Mountain Dew commercial. And those who dared wore JNCOs so wide you could smuggle an entire boombox in one pant leg. We passed notes in class, folded like origami masterpieces, and absolutely no one texted. If someone liked you, they had to tell you. In person. Or they'd ask their friend to do it and circle 'yes,' 'no,' or 'maybe.' School dances were full of awkward slow dances to Boyz II Men and No Doubt, with sweaty palms and butterflies. There was no filming it for TikTok, just living it in the moment. Half the photos were blurry because your disposable camera only gave you 24 chances. We watched TRL after school, recorded our favorite episodes of Friends or Fresh Prince on VHS and stayed up late to watch Unsolved Mysteries even though it gave us nightmares. If you missed an episode, you just missed it. No streaming. No spoilers. We drove around with no GPS, just vague directions like 'Turn left after the old gas station,' and nobody ever knew exactly where they were going, but somehow we always found our way. Being a teen in the '90s meant real freedom. It meant making mistakes without everyone seeing it online. It meant being present, laughing until your stomach hurt and making memories that weren't for content, but for life. We were the last generation to grow up just before the world changed forever. And honestly? We got the best of both worlds. So here's to the teens of the '90s. We didn't have it all, but somehow, we had everything." Given that, here's what other Gen X'ers had to say about their teenage years: "I often think how we are the last generation with no real digital evidence of our teen years. As far as the internet and any searches anyone could do, there's really no evidence of me existing prior to about 2001–2002ish. Even non-digital evidence is scarce. There are probably a few dozen old photographs of my childhood in an album at my mom's place. I still have three of my four high school yearbooks. Other than that, there is very little record of my existence." "I would hate growing up as a teen today. We didn't know how good we had it." "Ah, the '90s — cigarettes, beer, and drugs for all. Damn, it feels good to be a gangster." "I had a Discman with skip protection, and I remember telling my friend that. We were in a Suzuki Samurai with an open top at the time, so he decided to jump the Suzuki with said Discman playing on the stereo using a tape adapter. He got some pretty good air, and we almost flew out of the vehicle, but the Discman did not skip." "I love the fact that there were only so many shows on TV. We all watched 90210 episodes at the same time. We would watch the MTV Video Music Awards and then talk about it in school the next day. Now, with streaming and so many ways to see stuff, we don't have that general bond. Even if the Saturday morning cartoon selection was limited, we ALL watched them. I miss that for my kids." "The '90s still had that total sense of shared culture — still 100 percent human-scale times. I wonder how weird it feels to be in high school, say, starting maybe early mid-2010s or later. High school, in particular (or anything pre-college and especially pre-post-college), always had such a tight-knit feel, everyone together the next day sharing the same stuff. But with so much fragmentation now, I wonder if it still feels quite as cohesive and shared." "The JNCO jeans! My then-boyfriend (now-husband) stole cartons of cigarettes and a ferret with the giant back pocket on those! Separate occasions — you don't want a ferret hooked on nicotine." "I am 50 years old with teenage children. I recently had to deliver my daughter's Chromebook to her school because she forgot it. This was my first time at a high school during work hours. The last time I was in high school was '94. As I got out of the car, it was very weird. Students were not hanging out in their cars or in the parking lot. They would go straight to class. There was no loud music in the parking lot. Some students had headphones on. When I dropped off my daughter's Chromebook, I saw the vice principal. I told her all about what I witnessed. She laughed and said, 'Students have not blasted music in the parking lot in 15 years.' The whole situation still throws me off. Almost every car on campus was blasting grunge. We had open campuses. We could go as we pleased. We had no curfew." "The most terrifying thing you could do was ask someone out, then call them on the phone. You prayed to EVERY god in the sky that they would pick up and not their mom or, worse, their dad." "Remember coded rings? Ring once, hang up. Ring again and hang up. I'll know it's you, and I'll call you back." "Directions were fun. I'll never forget the time I was told, trying to find a field party, 'If you pass the rooster mailbox, you've gone too far.' Seven quarters to get me a pack of Marlboro Reds out of a vending machine, buying weed from a dude on a skateboard with a 1-foot mohawk and a penis pump tattoo. Party crashing, keg stands, and finding your friends by riding your bike past every hang spot. Wu-Tang forever..." "I feel bad for kids now because there are just so many ways to bully or otherwise mess with people. At least when I was a teen, the worst that could happen was someone three-way calling you but not telling you the third person was on the call." "I got an intern the other day who is 20 years old, and he was picking my brain about stuff from the 1900s. The idea of memorizing dozens of phone numbers freaked him out — the idea of hearing a phone number and repeating it a couple of times so you didn't forget it. He couldn't fathom it." "I was trying to explain to a 22-year-old how back then you bought an album or tape and would listen to it over and over again until they released the next album or tape a few years later. He didn't like the idea of doing that." "I don't want to be nostalgic (yet I am), but I think growing up in the '80s and '90s, we had more freedom than today's youth. Imagine, we were driving across Europe in a beat-up Volkswagen without phones and navigation systems. If we were lucky, we had a printed map and somebody who could read it. Also, we had no contact with anyone at home other than the occasional postcard. We were on some Greek island for two months, completely off the grid." "I graduated high school in '85, but a lot of this still checks out. Except the fashion. We loved our colors in the '80s. I had so many different pairs of colored socks along with matching colors in bracelets, necklaces, and big, dangly earrings. Sighing wistfully..." "Clove cigarettes and Zima. Can't forget those." "Sometimes I leave the house without my a quiet act of defiance." "Graduated in '94, definitely was a different time. Hair metal and '80s pop was dead, grunge was dying and the newer wave was coming in (Green Day, Ace of Base). I miss driving my rusted '60s muscle car I paid $700 for (that's worth $60,000 now) with windows rolled down and not a care in the world. Parties and hangouts were spread by word, starting at 2 p.m., by 5 p.m., everyone knew where to be." "I remember going to a photo shack or pharmacy to get the disposable camera film developed from the kegger the previous weekend. Got dirty looks from the old lady behind the counter when I went to pick them up." "Popular kids watched Friends or The Fresh Prince. I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Back then, watching Star Trek meant you were a nerd, but it wasn't the only way to be a nerd. In the 1990s, we had computers, but they were in classrooms. If you used one outside of computer class, you were a nerd. People didn't understand their potential. They were strictly for school work, in the eyes of most people. I had a computer in my bedroom. My mother did not like it, so we didn't have it in the living room. She didn't want to see the thing. So I had a desk in my bedroom, and the computer sat on it. And it wasn't an IBM/Compatible, nor was it a Mac. It was a Commodore Amiga 1000, and it was awesome." Whether you were memorizing phone numbers or living for TGIF lineup nights, high school in the '90s really was its own kind of magic. Got your own nostalgic memory from your teen years? Drop it in the comments below!
Buzz Feed
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
27 Normal Things From The '90s That Nobody Does Anymore
Believe it or not, the '90s ended 25 years ago. (Yep, that's a fact that never fails to amaze and disgust me.) And of course, everyday life has TOTALLY changed in those in ways we wouldn't even realize. So recently, millennials on Reddit have been answering the question: "What's something that felt normal growing up as a millennial but now seems really strange?" and oh wow, it's really unlocking some memories. So here's what people said: "Calling a girl's house to speak with her and not knowing who would answer. That was a fun one." "No phones for photos. Just actual cameras." "Cash and cheques everywhere (card wasn't accepted in so many places)." "Using school encyclopedias to obtain information." "Tape recording music off the radio..." "Flipping through the channels and waiting all morning on Saturday for the four shows you actually like, only for two of them to play simultaneously on opposing networks with a limited chance for reruns." "Going to the mall with friends to get pictures taken with angelic backgrounds and blurry bad Photoshop on our faces, with over-plucked, over-arched eyebrows and fried straight hair. You know what I'm talking about." "Printing out directions. Also, printing out cheat codes for video games. Growing up we had a binder for all the games we wanted to have cheats for." "Hanging out with 20-year-old guys when we were 15 and 16." "All the shit you had to carry around. Cell phone for calls and texts, Discman (and later MP3 or iPod) for music, and digital camera just for photos." "Knocking on someone's door to see if they can hang out." "Wandering around the mall on a Friday night. Probably seeing a movie." "The music on CD players skipping if the player was bumped." "Never calling adults by their first name." "$5 footlongs. They're up there with the Pyramids, the Moon landing, works of Shakespeare, and the Sistine Chapel. One of humanity's finest achievements." "Going to people's doors so often. I knocked on strangers' doors for fundraising all the time and I can't believe that was allowed, let alone encouraged. Once for a friends birthday, we split in groups and went to strangers' doors for a scavenger hunt ('We're looking for a penny from these years or a non-yellow post-it; can you give us one?'). Now I sometimes knock on doors for political campaign volunteering, but even that makes me nervous and I would not want any child doing that." "'It is now safe to turn off your computer.'" "Just not knowing something. It's hard to explain to my 15-year-old that when I was growing up, if we wondered something, we had to just not know the real answer because we couldn't Google it." "Before YouTube, there was 'call your school friend that had the same game as you and ask how the hell to beat the boss in Super Mario Bros 2.' Those were the days." "Getting home after a long day and seeing, like, five new messages on the answering machine. Then listening to them as you got around the house. I remember this one kid left a rude-toned one saying he was mad at my little brother for not answering the phone that day, LOL." "Phone books are such an alien concept now. I saw a video recently where a bodybuilder ripped a phone book in half. I was more impressed that he somehow had access to a phone book." "Playing outside as kids with no parental supervision. I still think it's so weird you can't do that anymore." "I swear school photos look so different now. For mine, I sat in front of a background and the photographer would keep telling me to move my neck. By the time my brother (Gen Z) started school, it was him standing against a background. The photos I get from my friends who are parents as well are the same, standing against a background." "Buying cigarettes for my mom as a kid like it was no big deal." "A cultural zeitgeist where everyone was watching and listening to the same thing. These days, everyone is either listening to a large mix of everything, or they are all watching different shows at different times. It makes it feel like there is little shared culture anymore." "Just the amount of places you had to go for everything. I got dragged along by my mom to tons of places to do little things that can all be done on an app or through the internet. Like going to the bank to get a money order to take to the cable office to pay for the phone." "Calling your parents collect but then cramming 'heyitsmecomepickmeup' in when it asks for your name so they don't have to pay for the call." Now, on a similar note, tell me: what's something everyone did in the '90s that would totally get you cancelled today? Tell me in this anonymous form, or in the comments below! And for more nostalgic posts like this, follow BuzzFeed Canada on Instagram and TikTok!
Buzz Feed
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
38 Nostalgic Pictures For Adults
Let's just get down to it: If you're an adult, there's nothing like the good old days. The kiddos now just don't understand the marvelous things you experienced from your childhood, and are probably too young to even recognize them. To you, nostalgia is everything, and you love nothing more than going down memory lane (even if it makes you feel ancient from time to time). So, here are some pics that'll make every adult go, "Can we just go back in time for one second, pretty please with sugar on top???" "Remember when Pizza Hut had a buffet? Those were some good times." "They really put a Discman with the anti-skip system in a museum already. I'm not sure I've ever felt older in my life 😖😩." "If you are a '90s kid, you will remember this iconic Pinball game." "The epitome of a school pizza day." "The memorable clock that was at every grandparent's house." "Look at this old Disney store!!!" "Who else remembers the iconic Gold-Plated Pokémon Cards from Burger King in 1999?" I mean, all I wanted to do was catch 'em all. "Who remembers when chocolate candy bars were wrapped in aluminum foil?!" "My uncle recently passed away, and while going through his things, we found a brand new, never-used iMac G3." Like...I'd use this in a heartbeat!! What even is a laptop? "You're a kid again, and you see these Otter Pops. Which color are you choosing?!" "Look at these beautiful glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. We all had 'em." "The PE teacher gives you the keys to unlock the storage room, AKA the treasure trove. What are you taking??" "The Beanie Baby Handbook (1998 guide) and with their estimated values in 2008." Where was I in 2008?! Seriously: Where was I?! "Who remembers when you could gamble for food at Taco Bell? I sure do!" "A Flintstones push-up pop. Yum." "I remember when laser pointers were all the rage in the late-'90s and you couldn't go to a movie or concert without seeing a hundred red dots." "The bathtub boat from my childhood that I somehow remember." "Millennials: Who remembers getting a three-piece stereo?" "Who remembers bath beads?! They were all the rage!" "My mom showed up to our Halloween party with Munsters plates and napkins from 1993. My mom found them in the basement!" "My childhood in a nutshell: Holographic Pog Slammers." "Who else had this tall lamp in the '90s?" "I'm a '90s kid here — this was the most iconic bowl ever!" "The best meal in the world: The McDonald's Big Breakfast." "Nobody talks about Hollywood Video enough!" "This Super Soaker was the best water gun — period!" "I showed my seven-year-old how to make orange juice from the freezer. I'm glad that some things never change." "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the greatest bedspread in the '90s, hands-down." "Look at this old school soda machine buttons!" "There was nothing better than going to the arcade with a stack of quarters." "It's bananas how much Silly Putty actually entertained us." "The Nickelodeon alarm clock that still wakes me up every morning..." "An old McDonald's toy. A personal favorite from the past." "Who remembers Shark Bites fruit snacks from the '90s?" "The 'baby alive cherry food.' You can practically smell the photo!!" "Tupperware filed for bankruptcy. RIP to that set of bowls all our grandma's had." "The unholy fusion that was the KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. A dynamic trio." And finally, "Does anyone have any memories of this iconic overhead projector from school?"
Scotsman
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Discogs Most Wanted: 17 compact disc releases users are after in May 2025
So, if vinyl collecting is a little on the expensive side (and I'll be the first to admit it – roll on payday), then what about dabbling in the somewhat overlooked world of CD collecting? Though perhaps not as 'on trend' as the vinyl format in recent years, there is a renewed interest in the format, with younger generations now rediscovering the ubiquitous disc that can be played almost anywhere. Be it a DVD player, a Discman , or the car stereo, the format is undergoing a bit of a resurgence this year, with Gen Z sharing their latest CD finds on TikTok or Instagram . And with charity shops across the United Kingdom often offering a wide selection of CDs for very little, perhaps now is as good a time as any to hop aboard the bandwagon while it's gaining momentum? We've consulted Discogs – any excuse for this writer to visit – to find out what CD releases are currently on the most Wantlists on the online marketplace. But before you think you've scored something valuable, remember to check the pressing date using matrix codes or catalogue numbers, verify the pressing location, and, above all, assess the CD's condition. A CD resembling a drinks coaster won't elicit the response you're hoping for… So, what 17 CD releases are Discogs users looking for in May 2025? Read on to find out! 1 . The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987 Europe Original Pressing) A sprawling and diverse album that cemented The Cure's status as a major alternative rock band. Original European Fiction Records pressings are valued by fans for their sonic qualities and as a key release in the band's extensive catalogue. 🔎 62908 Wants | Getty Images Photo Sales 2 . Tool - Ænima (1996 US Original Pressing) Tool's second album is a complex and highly regarded work with a dedicated fanbase. Original US Zoo Entertainment pressings, often with specific packaging elements, are sought after by collectors. 🔎 65378 Wants | Getty Images Photo Sales 3 . The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (1993 US Original Pressing) The band's breakthrough album, showcasing their unique blend of alternative rock and heavy sounds. Original US Virgin pressings are valued as the initial release of a hugely influential and critically acclaimed work. 🔎 65518 Want2 | Getty Images Photo Sales 4 . Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999 US Original Pressing) This album marked a significant comeback for the band with the return of John Frusciante. Original US Warner Bros. pressings are valued as the initial release of a hugely popular album that signified a key moment in the band's history. 🔎 67615 Wants | Getty Images Photo Sales
