The Sun-Herald

'the Joneses did it to Abba, Wings and Elton John. That alone is enough to establish their mindset as different from their older siblings.' Finally, someone who really understands the true foundations of my generation! Thanks TM.

• by rufus on May 30, 2009 at 09:02 AM

Sex to "ABBA, Wings and Elton John"?!!
Yikes!! No wonder my generation is so screwed!
Wild Cherry, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, AC/DC, Rose Tattoo... were more what I remember as fornication lubricators. Stuff that was "funk laden" AND HARD.
Even the girls liked it that way back then... Funk laden and hard - not mayonnaise coated and limp wristed.
"Rudbull" eh? A contracted play upon Rudd and Bull I take it... Shouldn't the term be more correctly preceded by a capital C, so that the final form (with a little modification) would be: Crud-n-Bull...
In the revised form I've suggested, the term summarizes the sort of entertainment, pronouncements regarding taste, assumptions, generalisations and mind numbing drivel that is shovelled out in an effort to make money by folks who fit any age group that likes to big note itself.

• by Steve C on May 30, 2009 at 11:20 AM

Round about now ought to be that generation or sub-generation's moment in the sun.
Oddly enough, I don't feel it myself....

• by marcellous on May 30, 2009 at 08:26 PM

Yawn. So, you've finally caught up, David? Generation Jones has been around forever - it used to be called the Lost Generation (and a lot narrower; 1960-64), sandwiched in between the Boomers and Gen X. Hadn't realised someone had named it (and no doubt thereby claimed it).
Yeah, generically speaking, we're different from the Boomers and X'ers, but like all of these clever labels, it's a matter of degree. People are about as likely to recognise themselves in them as they are to recognise themselves in the description of their star sign - and for much the same reasons.
In the end, the generation wars aren't about social analysis, they are about shifting product.

• by Godot on May 31, 2009 at 12:58 PM

I believe Wendy Harmer described our generation years ago as the Dag generation, as we were responsible for making Abba, Sherbert and the Bay City Rollers famous; all things the Boomers seemed to detest. We grew up with Astro Boy, Gilligan and the Flying Nun and in Australia Adventure Island, Owly School the original Cartoon Corner with Skeeter and the Super Flying Fun Show. We were there for the original Hey Hey it's Saturday! and read "Spunky" while our older sibling read Rolling Stone. Perhaps we deserve to be called the Dag generation. I'd prefer that than to hitch our star to a politician, no matter what my personal political proclivities may be.

• by Beatie on May 31, 2009 at 03:41 PM

I have the sense that Generation Jones is going to start getting major attention in Australia like its been getting in the U.S. Both Rudd and Obama are GenJonesers.
Google Generation Jones, and you�ll see it�s gotten a ton of media attention in the States, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, The Associated Press' annual Trend Report chose the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009.
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Here is an op-ed in the biggest U.S. newspaper--USA TODAY--about GenJones as the new generation of leadership:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm
Here's a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones:
http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
And here's a five minute video featuring dozens of America's top political commentators discussing the importance of Generation Jones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ta_Du5K0jk

• by TrendSpotting on June 04, 2009 at 03:17 AM

I don't think it was me who originally called my tribe as "the generation that taste forgot" - but I have always loved that description. We were the first generation to suck up mass marketing - pet rocks, anyone?
It's true that we were never Boomers - we were too young for the Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop and only got the last cartoon days of the Beatles. The "Magical Mystery Tour" had become the "Patrtidge Family Bus" by the time we Jonesers came along. I loved the Monkees,smiley badges ( without the LSD), I had a Mao Tse Tung watch and a Che Guevara t-towel!
We may be thought to be shallow , but I like to think we GenJonsers laughed the most - the Comic Strip,Not the Nine O'Clock News, The Big Gig, Comedy Company, Fast Forward etc. We took the mickey ( Dolenz) out of the boomers who were our big brothers and sisters and, i like to think, have never become cynical or disillusioned. We still see the funny side of life, I reckon. We remain flexible and endlessly amused as we all hit the 50's. And, more importantly, as blessed children of peace time before herpes, aids or global warming, remain optomistic and involved. I hope we stay that way.Here's to us- although we are most likely to have a laugh at the idea that anyone can classify attitudes by the calendar.

• by wendy harmer on September 03, 2009 at 07:43 PM