The Greatest Year

Happy 30th birthday to Beth. With so many people turning 30 this year, I think it really brings to light the fact that 1977 is a watershed moment in world history, producing perhaps the greatest crop of people in one year since 4 BC. This feat is even more extraordinary when you consider the unbelievable tragedy that permeated 1977: The music world loses Elvis, half of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Marc Bolan; Steve Biko is murdered; Freddie Prinze kills himself; Charlie Chaplin and Bing Crosby also die; two 747s collide over the Canary Islands, producing what is still the worst air disaster in history; the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Kentucky kills 165 rednecks; Roy Sullivan is struck by lightning for the 7th time; New York City has its famed blackout while the Son of Sam holds the city hostage with his hilarious brand of murder-based fear; Saturday Night Fever is released; and the Yankees win the World Series. Using these horrible and atrocious events, not as discouragement, but as motivation -- for a better life and for a better world -- those born the greatest year of what will one day be recognized as the true "Greatest Generation" (fuck you Brokaw) have forged ahead with vigor and tenacity, taking their collective attitude from the punk explosion that graced the year of their birth, explaining to the world, "I don't know what I want, but I know how to get it." And they have.