The other night, I was having dinner and few libations at a local seafood restaurant. One of the employees decided to conduct an impromptu survey. It consisted of showing photos of iconic musicians to a specific group of customers. The "specificity" included anyone under 30 years of age.
The photo selection included well known performers like Elton John, Billy Joel. Prince and Bruce Springsteen. After showing these photos around the bar, he informed us that only one out of ten people could identify these celebrities. Several people thought that the Prince photo was Michael Jackson. Most of them had no idea who the other three were. And these weren't ambiguous photos designed to trick anyone. They were all photos that most of us have seen before...
I understand that young people might not have Billy Joel and Elton John on their regular play lists. But how can they not know who these people are? As a teenager, I wasn't exactly blasting Elvis or Buddy Holly through the speakers of my '74 Duster. But I could certainly identify them.
Right on the heels of this, I was just reading a story about Mick Jagger walking into a North Carolina bar and to have a beer. Yes, it's kind of strange to hear that the Stones' iconic front man casually walked into a bar. But what's even more strange is that no one seemed to notice him. In the photo below, you can see Mick sipping on a beer at the Thirsty Beaver bar. It turns out that several of the people in the photo actually had tickets to the Rolling Stones show in Charlotte the following night. How do you not notice Mick Jagger knocking back a beer next to you?? Especially after you just spent $500 to see his band the following night??
This all takes me back a few years ago when I was in Florida for a big 3-day country music concert. The final night of the event was headlined by Toby Keith. After the show, Tina and I, along with our friends Kevin and Lorri, decided to stop off at a local oyster bar for a night cap. At some point, a small group of guys came in and sat at a nearby table. We didn't really pay them much attention. A short time later, I bumped into one of the them as I was entering the men's room (As Bruce Springsteen might say, I was walking in, he was walking out). Anyway, I said something like, "Sorry, bud. My fault."
With his head down, the guy replied, "No problem."
So, I return to my table and take a sip of my beer. Before long, Kevin asks, "Do you think you would recognize Toby Keith if he was in this bar?"
I said, "Of course. We just came from his show!"
"Well, be subtle. But look at that table across from you," Kevin said quietly as he motioned to the nearby table with his eyes.
Not doubt, it was Toby Keith. And even more surprising, it was the same guy that I literally bumped into earlier. It was pretty cool to be sitting across from the "rock star" who just closed down a three-day music festival. And as much as we wanted to say hello, we realized that this was his personal time and we didn't want to intrude. But eventually, when he passed our table again, Lorri asked him if we could take a quick photo with him. Similar to the bathroom interchange, he smiled and replied, "No problem."
We took a quick photo and thanked him. And that was that....
So when I think about all of this, I guess I can understand how someone might not recognize a celebrity right away. But Mick Jagger? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I would recognize him....
kw
