Why People Born 1955–1964 Aren’t Baby Boomers, but Generation Jones. By Nicola Scurry.
They’re officially classified as Baby Boomers, yet coming of age during “Anarchy in the UK” must have given them a totally different life experience from those who came of age during “Give Peace a Chance”.
The 1980s yuppies of the Reganomics era were also Generation Jones.
I’m Generation X and Generation Jones was the cool older sibling I looked up to and relied on for music suggestions. I had way more in common with Generation Jones than I did with my traditional Baby Boomer parents who listened to British Invasion music before growing their hair long.
“Between Woodstock and Lollapalooza, between ‘Turn on, tune in, drop out’ and ‘Just Say No,’ and between Dylan going electric and Nirvana going unplugged, an invisible generation has been silent.” — GenerationJones.com …
Who is Generation Jones?
Roughly speaking, Generation Jones are born between the mid-50s and the mid-60s. Like the older Boomers, they were born during a period of high birth rates and economic boom. …
Other members of Generation Jones include early computer pioneers such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Tim Berners Lee.
Most of the musicians who pioneered the punk and new wave sounds of the late 70s and early 80s are Generation Jones. As are the 1980s MTV popstars. And from the movies, most of the Brat Pack, pin-up idols of my generation, Gen X, are members of Generation Jones.
Coming from such high birth rate years, it’s impossible to list all the Generation Jones celebrities. But just think about anyone famous now aged 58–67. …
Not baby boomers:
While I see older Boomers struggling to send a text message that isn’t all in capital letters, Generation Jones are as quick and confident with technology as a Gen X or Millennial. …
While usually lumped in with the Baby Boomers, research shows that members of Generation Jones have altogether different collective personality traits. Sociologists now regard them as a distinct generation. …
Unlike the older Boomers, Generation Jones were not born immediately after the Second World War. They were not born during those early years of heady, post-war optimism and prosperity. …
Generation Jones have never lived without a television, and it was most likely a colour television.
They were too young to be civil rights protestors or to take part in 1960s counterculture. They can hardly remember the Kennedy assassination and they didn’t go to Woodstock or Vietnam.
By the time Generation Jones came of age, it was no longer possible to “make love, not war”. The sexual revolution was over and the AIDS endemic was looming. …
Today most older Boomers are enjoying their retirement and their grandchildren, but many members of Generation Jones are still working, and some still have college-age kids to support.
Generation Jones and popular cultureBetween the Beatles and Nirvana, lies the popular culture of Generation Jones. …
It was the Generation Jones music scene that saw the advent of punk, new wave, post-punk, disco, electronic music and rap.
Ian Curtis, John Lydon, Sid Vicious, Jello Biafra, Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins, Morrissey, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaata are all members of Generation Jones. In the 1980s members of Generation Jones became some of the most well-known pop stars played on MTV and beyond — Madonna, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Prince, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, INXS, Whitney Houston, Duran Duran, U2, George Michael, the Bangles, Paula Abdul. …
It makes sense that Generation Jones are swinging votes. They swung from a prosperous childhood to an austere adolescence, from punk to yuppie. This is a group of people who’ve had to adapt and reinvent their entire lives.
I regard Generation Jones as the cool older sibling I always wanted. I devoured the music and films they gave me. Without the indie music of the 70s and 80s, they’d be no 90s indie music. Meaning I, a Gen X, would have no music.
This make much more sense. Being lumped in as a baby boomer never made any sense to me.
