Category: Music

Generation X Deep South

tidbits, fragments, and ephemera 30

Posted on by Foster Dickson in 1970s, 1980s, Deep South, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Music, North Carolina, Sports

tidbits, fragments, and ephemera is a sometimes substantial but not making any promises glimpse at some information and news related to Generation X in the Deep South.

The Superdome in New Orleans, opened 1975

excerpt: “After reaching an agreement to build a stadium, the NFL awarded the area a team, the New Orleans Saints. Construction began in August 1971 and was completed by August 1975. Due to its massive size, the dome stadium was named the Louisiana Superdome. The Superdome covers 13 acres and is 27 stories tall. From the outside it looks like a massive spaceship.”

Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler album, released 1978

Sung by Texan Kenny Rogers and written by North Carolina-born Don Schlitz, this album’s title song garnered the two men tremendous attention. It got radio play on country and pop stations, and resulted in a TV movie with Rogers playing the lead. The only other hit on the album was “She Believes in Me.”

The Indigo Girls play their first gig, 1981

According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, “Emily Saliers was born July 22, 1963, in New Haven, Connecticut, and moved with her family to Decatur when she was in the sixth grade. At Laurel Ridge Elementary School she met Amy Ray, who was born April 12, 1964, in Atlanta, and was then in the fifth grade. The two formed a friendship, and they later discovered their complementary musical talents—Ray’s brooding voice and edgier style balanced Saliers’s vocals and folkier leanings. In 1981 they played for their first live audience: their high school English class.”

The deadline on the Equal Rights Amendment expires, June 1982

When the deadline for ratification of the 1972 ERA passed in the summer of 1982, the amendment basically died on the vine. The ERA would have guaranteed protections against discrimination based on sex or gender, but it did not become law. Almost all of states that did not ratify the ERA were in the Deep South.

 

level:deepsouth is an online anthology about growing up Generation X in the Deep South during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. The anthology is open to submissions of creative nonfiction (essays, memoirs, and reviews) and images (photos and flyers), as well as to contributions for the lists.

Seeking submissions of… (music)

Posted on by Foster Dickson in 1990s, Deep South, Mississippi, Music, North Carolina, South Carolina, Youth

The editor of level:deepsouth is seeking submissions on the following subjects, or on similar subjects:

Hattiesburg, Mississippi band Buffalo Nickel

Starkville, Mississippi-based musician Del Rendon

Oxford, Mississippi-based band Beanland

Atlanta, Georgia-based band Drivin’ N Cryin’

the band Hairy Buzzard Gizzards

South Carolina-based bands Crazy Ethel, Two Pound Planet, Homeboy Madhouse

the North Carolina-based band Jupiter Coyote

the song “Drowning” by Hootie & the Blowfish

the song “Take Down the Rebel Flag” by Buffalo Nickel

the Mississippi music venue Musiquarium

the Spartanburg, South Carolina music venue Dawg Gone

Greenville, South Carolina studio Cafe Pleasurematic

If you have a firsthand story to tell or photos to share, check out the submission guidelines for how to go about sending them in.

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Generation X Deep South

tidbits, fragments, and ephemera 24

Posted on by Foster Dickson in 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, Deep South, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Music, Tennessee, Youth

tidbits, fragments, and ephemera is a usually weekly but not always, sometimes substantial but not making any promises glimpse at some information and news related to Generation X in the Deep South.

A teachers strike in Mississippi, 1985

excerpt: “Walkouts of teachers closed all schools in Petal and Purvis Counties and many schools in Covington County, all in rural areas of south Mississippi. Some 250 of 370 teachers in the Hattiesburg Municipal School District also picketed schools, but classrooms were kept open by use of substitutes and even bus drivers.”

SR-71 plane towed down the highway in Warner Robins, Georgia, 1990

excerpt: “According to HABU.org, the SR-71 seen in the photo - serial number 17958 - was retired in early 1990 and flown to Robins Air Force Base to be decommissioned and placed in the base’s Museum of Aviation. To get it from the hangar to the museum, however, it had to be towed, apparently down U.S. 129, the only four-lane highway we see in the area.”

Deep South Wrestling, 1987

Monsters of Rock in Memphis, Tennessee, 1988

In the summer of 1988, Metallica, Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken, and Kingdom Come came to play in Memphis.

Sid Vicious in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1978

When you think of Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the late ’70s, I seriously doubt if you picture Sid Vicious, bassist for the Sex Pistols, reading a MAD magazine. But here it is.

level:deepsouth is an online anthology about growing up Generation X in the Deep South during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. The anthology is open to submissions of creative nonfiction (essays, memoirs, and reviews) and images (photos and flyers), as well as to contributions for the lists.