Are "Friends" Electric?

The last couple of Saturdays we've been having Lunch at Elmo on 8th Avenue where there is a lively afternoon bar crowd singing along to a great '80's soundtrack.

The music has prompted lots of discussions about where and when we were when the songs came out, my friend's experience of being a little kid or teenager and seeing these videos on MTV and me, of course, pontificating on the importance of Dexy's Midnight Runners or Gary Numan.

It's amazing, this connecting thread of music, a history that we personalize. Is pop music the most important thing in the world? Yes and no...it really isn't. It's just that for me , and many others, it's the reference point for the events that have shaped who I am. Quite possibly I've learned more from the lyrics of David Bowie, than from any of my professors at Columbia.