April 20, 2013

Fill in the blank, Baby Boomer.

1. Kind of a ______________
2. 96 _____________
3. Tears of a ____________
4. Everybody loves a ____________
5. Everything is ___________
6. Jeremiah was ____________
7. You're my pride and joy ______________
8. All the sweet, green ______________
9. It's magic, when the music is ______________
10. His clothes are loud, but never ______________

(Fill in the blank, Baby Boomer. It's a 10-point quiz that's super-easy for Baby Boomers.)

96 comments:

Original Mike said...

I only got 5. I spent my youth in the library.

Carol said...

Only know half, but I sure as hell was there. Most pop music is dreck written by dirty old men for tweenage girls.

Meade said...

The ________.
(Hint: Richard Nixon ended it; Jimmy Carter reinstated it.)

Jason (the commenter) said...

I know maybe 1, 3, and 6.

I'm guessing the answer to 2 isn't "red balloons".

Ann Althouse said...

Very funny, Meadesy, but let's keep to the format. No clues. Has to be words and a blank.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

8. All the sweet, green non-GMO produce you can eat

No?

edutcher said...

Got 1 - 6, and a little shaky on 7 and 8.

(you will post answers, eventually, won't you?)

Meade, Nixon end the draft, Bucketmouth only instated registration.

Remember that real well.

Rabel said...

drag
teardrops
clown
lover
groovy
a bullfrog
come tempt me
icing flowing down
if the music is groovy
square

C R Krieger said...

I am pre-Boomer, and only got one, "A Bullfrog".

Regards  —  Cliff

Original Mike said...

I think #5 is "beautiful".

Rabel said...

"come tempt me" should be "et cetera"

Kenneth Burns said...

Everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey.

AllenS said...

1. drag
2. tears
3. clown
4. clown (not sure on this one)
5. grovey
6. bullfrog
7. and I love you
8. icing flowing (dumbest song ever)
9. is grovey (not sure again)
10. square

Boomer extraordinaire

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Except for Tears of a Clown (which, with a few 'shrooms and good headphones, is almost unbearably great) all those songs suck more than Titus.

J2 said...

Allen S I'm with you

"Everybody loves a clown, so why don't you" - Gary(?) Lewis and the Playboys.

"Everybody loves a lover" pre-boom.

campy said...

I got a 3, because virtually all my music listening is (so-called) classical.

AllenS said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
J2 said...

Original Mike - Right. "EVerything is beautiful in its own way"

Sydney said...

I only got four, but I was born at the tail end of the boomer age.

AllenS said...

I listen to WEVR out of River Falls, WI and they play adult contemporary and KOOL 108 from the Twin Cities and they play classic hits.

I hear this stuff all the time. On my radio station you wouldn't hear "MacArthur Park". Yuck.

Meade said...

1. Kind of a _like, wow, man._____________
2. 96 _bottles of beer on the wall____________
3. Tears of a _pair of faded patched bell bottoms___________
4. Everybody loves a _drugs, sex, and rock ' roll___________
5. Everything is _trippy__________
6. Jeremiah was _Johnson___________
7. You're my pride and joy __my soul inspiration____________
8. All the sweet, green __grass of home____________
9. It's magic, when the music is __trippy____________
10. His clothes are loud, but never __not mod and groovy____________

Paddy O said...

It makes for a fun madlib about Baby Boomers too.

Original Mike said...

" 96 _bottles of beer on the wall"

Ohhhh, yeah.

Rabel said...

" Most pop music is dreck written by dirty old men for tweenage girls."

"all those songs suck more than Titus."

Let he or she who did not sing along with top 40 on the radio cast the first stone. You could use the one that passes for your heart.

Ann Althouse said...

""Everybody loves a lover" pre-boom."

Oh, yeah. My mother would have liked that one.

From the Boomer era, but really for the previous generation, was "Everybody loves somebody sometime." But that would not be an answer on this quiz, because I put in the "a."

Original Mike said...

Perhaps those who are thinking "Everything is groovy" are thinking of The 59th Street Bridge Song. I love that song, but "All is groovy".

Palladian said...

I'm not a "Boomer", but I'll try:

1. Kind of a cunt.
2. 96 red balloons after 3 popped.
3. Tears of a protestor hit with a CS canister.
4. Everybody loves a blowjob.
5. Everything is shitty.
6. Jeremiah was Obama's racist pastor.
7. You're my pride and joy, penis.
8. All the sweet, green money.
9. It's magic, when the music is off.
10. His clothes are loud, but never worn.

AllenS said...

By the way, when I listen to WEVR they never say who sings the song after it's over. They never lead into a song and tell you the name of the song or who sings it. The most anonying thing about the station is that they never look to see how much time to the top of the hour news break, so they play a song anyway. You might hear a minute or two of the song, or sometimes you'll hear the first chord and that's it.

bagoh20 said...

"(Hint: Richard Nixon ended it; Jimmy Carter reinstated it.)"

The popularity of the GOP.

Anonymous said...

When I first saw this, I thought we were supposed to fill in the blanks with the first "boomer" thoughts that came to mind. I came up with.


1. Kind of a spoiled pack of brats.
2. 96 is the new 25
3. Tears of a country following boomer control
4. Everybody loves a boomer
5. Everything is mine
6. Jeremiah was some dead white guy in the bible
7. You're my pride and joy, oh reflection in the mirror
8. All the sweet, green money is ours now.
9. It's magic, when the music is nostalgic for the 60's
10. His clothes are loud, but never uncomfortable

Anonymous said...

9 out of 10, I'm a bouncing baby boomer.

Original Mike said...

"9 out of 10, I'm a bouncing baby boomer."

MSNBC. Figures.

Robert G. said...

Is this that fortune cookie game where you add "In Bed" to the end of the statement?

Meade said...

Okay, I'll try again:

1. Kind of a _ drag if you want to engage in free love but your baby don't want to take the pill.
2. 96 _ abortions? Wow, wouldn't it have been easier to just get on the pill?
3. Tears of a _ hippy chick who can't get on the pill.
4. Everybody loves a _ hippy chick who's on the pill.
5. Everything is _ groovy, man, she's on the pill.
6. Jeremiah was _ bullfrog whose girlfriend was on the pill.
7. You're my pride and joy _ as long as you're on the pill.
8. All the sweet, green _ tambourines. And pills.
9. It's magic, when the music is _ on my transistor radio and my girlfriend is on the pill.
10. His clothes are loud, but never _ does he worry - his girlfriend is on the pill.

ErnieG said...

1. Kind of with no pants on.
2. 96 with no pants on.
3. Tears with no pants on.
4. Everybody loves with no pants on.
5. Everything is with no pants on.
6. Jeremiah was with no pants on.
7. You're my pride and joy with no pants on.
8. All the sweet, green with no pants on.
9. It's magic, when the music is with no pants on.
10. His clothes are loud, but never with no pants on.

Synova said...

I'm on the extreme tail-end of what is considered "baby boomers" and I only knew #3 and #6.

Ann Althouse said...

Do pants wear pants?

Sure, why else would we call them pant_s_?

Dante said...

Jeremiah was a bullfrog. I'm in between generations.

bagoh20 said...

In light of recent events, I find the term "Baby Boomer" very insensitive, and I don't think it's use here is an accident, but rather a form of terrorism, to keep the fear going. I can only ask that for the sake of public safety we all lockdown the Althouse blog until we find the culprit that thought up that term.

McTriumph said...

2

coketown said...

I'm only partly confident I know one. He was a bullfrog, no?

Are these all songs? Why are they all songs?

Is the scope of all boomers' affinity for the past limited to music? Will future anthropologists write volumes titled, "The Encyclopedia of Boomers from Music to Muzak."

It's weird. Like watching old television and thinking the whole world was black and white. Listening to boomers reminisce makes one think the world was like a Cameron Crowe film. All that music. It's life!--accentuated and punctuated with music.

A quiz for my generation might have one or two music references. The rest would be television. Maybe a movie or two so we don't feel narrow-minded.

Thanks for reading.

Robert Cook said...

Yeah, I only got 5 of the 10.

McTriumph said...

The Buckinghams
Question Mark & The Mysterians
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Gary lewis & The Playboys
Don McClean
Three Dog Night
Marvin Gay
Richard Harris
Lovin Spoonful
The Kinks

My fav from the list: Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart. How the music can free her, whenever it starts. And it's magic




Chip Ahoy said...

1 It's a kind of a cyrstal clear blue situation maybe satisfaction

2 96 bottles of beer on the wall, I don't fucking know. Oh! TEARS. Just yell it. NInety-SIX TEARS, Like he's mad not sad.That's how much I'm crying, got to 96 and then stopped, and now they're a glob, and now they're a smear.

3 tears of a clow-ow-nnn when there's noone arrow-ow-nd

4 everybody loves a ? ¿ LOVER that's a guess

5 Everything is beautiful in its own way. That one just came to me.

6 Jeramiah was a bullfrog, everybody know that. which tells you right off it's an acid song.

7 you're my pride and joy my everything and I don't know what comes after that.

8 all the sweet, green xxxxx satisfaction?

9 It magic when the music is ? playing? I have no idea xxxxxx xxx matches what I'm thinking??

10 his clothes were loud but never did he shiver waddle wah wah waaaaaah diddlediddle waaaah he's live'n for the cita-a-a-a-a-ay.


I know this well because my brother is a boomer. You see, it went like this: There was a Korean War and then the men came home from that war and th the pent up sexual frustration found release on a national scale and BLAM a bunch of babies were born 9 months later which created a demographic bulge (ha ha ha that guy in the Dove video said "bulge") which is spoken of today, oddly enough, as a boomers and not as blamers, such was the state of nomenclature at the time.

traditionalguy said...

I got all but 96. My brain cells must be short by 96 trillion or so.

Diane Wilson said...

If you remember the 60s, you weren't there.

Unknown said...

Missed 2.
Feel ashamed.

Ann Althouse said...

"7. You're my pride and joy ______________"

Actually has 2 answers. If you pick the Marvin Gaye answer you have to fill in the blank by repeating the phrase "pride and joy." That wasn't the one I intended.

Did anyone get the one I intended?

Ann Althouse said...

11. Am I here all _____________?

edutcher said...

Think 7 is "et cetera", from the Turtles' song, "Eleanor".

Glad to see somebody else had "grass of home" for 8.

no clue on 9 and 10.

As for 4, if it's "lover", it's still Boomer era, early to mid-50s. I remember it, but also remember "somebody",as it was Dino's big comeback record in '64.

Bob Ellison said...

1. clown
2. clowns
3. clown
4. clown
5. clownish
6. a clown
7. , you clown
8. clowns need to wash up now that the circus is over
9. circus music
10. clown clothes

ad hoc said...

I'm also at the tail end of the baby boom and I only got #3 and #6. Maybe those 2 songs had a popularity beyond the boomers. Tears of a Clown is a great song. Jeremiah was a bullfrog not so much.

bagoh20 said...

"11. Am I here all _____________?"

...covered in oil for nothing?

How about this one?

"Tiptoe through ______________."

bagoh20 said...

I got 12 out 10.

Rabel said...

Mister Jones is here all alone according to Bobby D.

CraftD said...

1. racist
2. racists
3. racist
4. bj
5. racist
6. racist
7. , racist
8. racists
9. racist
10. racist

CraftD said...

I didn't see Palladian's answer to #4 before I put my list together. My apologies.

JohnG said...

5. ... alright, uptight, clean out of sight!

edutcher said...

Thought 10 might be from "Well-Respected Man (About Town)", but nope.

You are going to give the answers?

Aren't you?

1. Drag

2. Tears

3. Clown

4. Lover

5. Beautiful

6. a bullfrog

7. et cetera

8 grass of home (?)

9.

10.

edutcher said...

There ought to be a couple from the earlier days, which are also Boomer:

I smell smoke in the ________

That'll be the day when I ______

The teacher is teachin' ______

Conserve Liberty said...

I was born literally the middle month of the Baby Boom and I got squat because I really only listened to Bluegrass.

Darrell said...

You're my pride and joy et cetera (Elenore).

If that is correct, I got them all.

I know the Marvin Gaye " And I just love you, little darlin'" line, too.

Unknown said...


helicopter
drugs
mailman
hooker
closed
an Old Testament prophet credited with writing several books of the Bible
Mom
frogs
turned off
dry-cleaned

How many did I miss?

J2 said...

# 11 - alone

Nomennovum said...

Two outta ten: FAIL

Emil Blatz said...

3. Tears of a _Chicago contractor who has a thing for boys in his crawl space.

Darrell said...

1. Kind of a drag______________
2. 96 tears____________
3. Tears of a _clown___________
4. Everybody loves somebody sometime (Dean Martin) or a winner (Barbara Streisand)___________
5. Everything is beautiful___________
6. Jeremiah was bullfrog____________
7. You're my pride and joy __et cetera____________
8. All the sweet, green __icing flowing down____________
9. It's magic, when the music is __groovy____________
10. His clothes are loud, but never square______________

eddie willers said...

"bagoh20 said...

"(Hint: Richard Nixon ended it; Jimmy Carter reinstated it.)"

The popularity of the GOP."

*********************************

Its not often I really and truly LOL.

This time I did. (and I'm a tough audience...but I must admit "Kind of a Cunt" tickled the funny-bone too)

Phil 314 said...

Ask me again in 30 years, then I'll have a better reason for forgetting.

Kensington said...

I'm not a baby boomer. I'm Generation X, but I listened to a lot of classic rock in the pre-iPod era. I got six, maybe seven.

1. Kind of a DRAG
2. 96 TEARS
3. Tears of a CLOWN
4. Everybody loves a ???
5. Everything is BEAUTIFUL
6. Jeremiah was A BULLFROG
7. You're my pride and joy BABY BOY?
8. All the sweet, green ???
9. It's magic, when the music is ???
10. His clothes are loud, but never ???

Palladian's answers cracked me up!

madAsHell said...

'Someone left the cake out in the rain'

What was that all about ?

Jupiter said...

It's Ellen O'Grady.

"Ellen O'G. I think you're swell...".

See what they did there?

Ann Althouse said...

The correct answers are:


1. Kind of a drag
2. 96 tears
3. Tears of a clown
4. Everybody loves a clown
5. Everything is beautiful
6. Jeremiah was a bullfrog (easiest one!)
7. You're my pride and joy et cetera
8. All the sweet, green icing
9. It's magic, when the music is groovy
10. His clothes are loud, but never square

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks for playing!

I love the non-Boomer hijinks.

Ann Althouse said...

By the way, there was a Shirelles version of "Everybody Loves a Lover" in 1963, so that is an acceptable answer. The more famous version is Doris Day, which is pre-Boomer.

And I accept the alternate pride and joy answer, referring to the Marvin Gaye song, but only if you fill in the blank by repeating "pride and joy."

Ann Althouse said...

The reason why "You're my pride and joy BABY BOY" is incorrect is that Gaye sings "You're my pride and joy pride and joy baby boy."

Bob_R said...

I only got 8 of 10. I still don't remember 4. I have to admit that I blanked on 7. (I'll use the excuse that I was distracted by Stevie Ray Vaughn.) But I really like the song Elenore, so I'm sad that it didn't pop into my mind.

Kensington said...

Bah! Where's my participation trophy? My self-esteem is wilting over here!

edutcher said...

Ann Althouse said...

By the way, there was a Shirelles version of "Everybody Loves a Lover" in 1963, so that is an acceptable answer. The more famous version is Doris Day, which is pre-Boomer.

The Doris version was mid 50s or so, so it's Boomer, unless you measure Boomer a different way than I do (anything any Boomers remember as part of their culture or upbringing).

And what was 8 from?

If it's "MacArthur Park", I thought the lyric was, all the sweet cream icing, which would make a little more sense next to the "someone left the cake out in the rain" line.

azbadger said...

etc.

sean said...

There's also a song covered by Linda Rondstadt (I don't remember the original singer), "Everybody Loves a Winner." That should could too, although it may be a little post-boomer, plus maybe a little too country for Prof. Althouse.

Known Unknown said...

I got 7 of 10. I was born in 1972.

Known Unknown said...

Who doesn't remember ? and the Mysterians?

Scott M said...

They forgot to include, "Ruin__________________"

The answer is "most things for most of the rest of us."

Palladian said...

8. All the sweet, green icing

OMG.

MacArthur Park!

A number of years ago, I decided to assemble, as a christmas gift for friends, as many versions of that song as I could find, then produce a set of CDs, complete with album art & an inlay, that contained all of them, one after another, in alphabetical order by performer's name.

I still plan to do it. I currently have 72 versions of the song.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

This was easy for a Gen Xer, because we've had to listen to this crap our whole lives.

Boomers didn't die before they got old.

Ralph L said...

Very little of this gets radio play anymore. Until recently, around here, you couldn't avoid Fleetwood Mac and the 70's, but now it's the 80's or newer.

Had to google the Kinks song. It's the only one I'd never heard.
"They seek him here,
they seek him there"
Those demmed Frenchies seek him everywhere.

edutcher said...

I heard "MacArthur Park" on XM a couple of weeks ago, but most of this stuff is just as well forgotten.

Clyde said...

I got 1,2,3,5 & 6, and did a face palm after I read what 8 was, since I do remember the song. I might have heard the others at some point but they didn't register. I'm a tail-end boomer (1960).

Clyde said...

It should also be noted that the reason that most Boomers recognize most of the songs is that the culture was much less fragmented back then. There are so many more cultural niches now; compare broadcast TV with three networks, PBS and maybe a local independent channel then with hundreds of channels of content on cable or satellite now, with new methods of accessing it away arriving seemingly every day. Before, it was broadcasting and everyone got it, now it's narrowcasting and we only get the slice of the huge cake of content that we choose to take.

kentuckyliz said...

I knew most...a couple were on the edge of memory more suitable for recognition than recall, and one was just not there at all. And I'm not a Boomer, I'm an X.

kentuckyliz said...

I answered, then read y'all's answers...y'all crack me up.

mark said...

...... i get less than a passing grade on Ann's list of bubblegum boomer music, oh well
.... i guess i started paying more attention after FM took over
..... here's another quick 10


we all live __________
I’d love to change the world, __________
Teach your _______
Four dead in _________
Up against the wall ___________
I thought love was __________
Talkin’ ‘bout my _______________
And it taste’s just like __________
The Colorado Rocky ___________
I turned 21 in prison ___________

Claude Forthomme said...

Great post! I managed less than five, sigh!

eddie willers said...

we all live __________ in a yellow submarine.

I’d love to change the world, __________ but I don't know what to do.

Teach your _______ children well.

Four dead in _________ Ohio.

Up against the wall ___________ you redneck mothers.

I thought love was __________ only true in fairy tales.

Talkin’ ‘bout my _______________ g, g, generation.

And it taste’s just like __________ cherry cola

The Colorado Rocky ___________ Mountain high.

I turned 21 in prison ___________ doing life without parole.

AlanKH said...

1. Drag
2. Tears
3. Clown
4.
5. Beautiful
6. A bullfrog
7.
8. Icing flowing down
9.
10.