Brian Lehrer: What music of your parents that you heard growing up made you cringe as you came of age? What music did you adopt for yourself as some of your tunes too? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. What did your parents listen to that you heard growing up that made you cringe as you came of age? Maybe you've come to appreciate it since as you've gotten older. You can be of any generation for this call-in, what music of your parents did you grow up liking and you adopted it as part of your playlist in the modern world as well? 212-433-WNYC.

We just have about 10 minutes left in the show for this call-in. Call right up, you'll pretty much get right on. How about your parents' music, and whether you throw it overboard or your parents' music and whether you like, Yes, I like that. I'll listen to that. 212-433-9692. There's a theory about how cultural tastes swing back and forth with the generations. Music that one generation sees as stuffy suddenly becomes cool to the generation next, after skipping a generation.

It was interesting to me for example, to see how, I would say, boomers thought Tony Bennett was square. Then he got cool again with Lady Gaga. Anybody else have an example like that, or what music that you grew up listening to because your parents played it, made you cringe and you wanted nothing to do with it? What music that you grew up with your parents playing in the house? Did you adopt some of your own and you can be from any generation for this call-in. 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692, or tweet it @BrianLehrer and we'll take your calls and tweets right after this.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Before we go to the phones, I'll give you one more example of how sometimes music skips a generation by producer Zach that tells me that their grandpa love swing music and big band arrangements from the '30s through the '50s. Zach has inherited that affinity for brass and crooning, but that same music makes their parents, the middle generation, they want to jump out of their skin being more inclined toward classic rock. How about for you and the music of your parents or for that matter, your grandparents? Jeff in Short Hills, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jeff.

Jeff: Morning, Brian. Growing up, my parents when we went on trips would always play Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé and I would cringe, I wanted to be anywhere but in the car. Fast forward, now I can't get enough of that stuff. Even my kids appreciate it. It went from cringing to loving.

Brian Lehrer: Jeff, thank you very much. We're going to go next to Louise in Brooklyn whose story I think is very similar. Hi Louise, you're on WNYC.

Louise: Good morning, Brian. Yes, the same thing. I grew up listening to Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and big band music. My husband and I are in our 60s and we both agree that we think we were born in the wrong generation when it comes to music because we love that era so much.

Brian Lehrer: What did you listen to when you were 15?

Louise: Oh, the Beatles and all of the great music of my generation. When I was in college, that's when we really got into the jazz music and the big band music. I was in college and my friends and I would listen-- Oh, love The Andrews Sisters too, I love the harmony. Really [inaudible 00:04:16]

Brian Lehrer: College student in the '70s and you love The Andrews Sisters. Louise in Brooklyn, thank you very much. Kim in Vernon, New Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kim.

Kim: Hi, thanks so much for taking my call. I am a child of a baby boomer. I'm in my mid-30s now. Growing up, we listened to a lot of classic folk music, I would say, like Simon & Garfunkel, the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary. Now I have my own children and we still listen to that same music. Even more modern folk like Stick Season and some of the more younger folk music.

Brian Lehrer: How old are your kids?

Kim: My kids are two and four.

Brian Lehrer: That's pretty digestible music for a two and four-year-old. If you were listening to metal and stuff, it might be a different scene, right?

Kim: Absolutely. For a while, in between, I did listen to more punk music and a lot of other things but I come back to it all the time.

Brian Lehrer: Kim, thank you very much. Well, that going back to your roots, if not skipping a generation seems to be a theme here. How about Peter in Huntington? You're on WNYC. Hi, Peter.

Peter: Good morning, Brian. For me, it was opera, which my parents were Eastern European immigrants, drove me crazy. Now sitting in my truck as loud as possible with Pavarotti or Plácido Domingo, can't do it without a tear to your eye. I'll go one step further. Sunday mornings were also Hungarian talk radio, and that drove me nuts. Now, obviously, I'm a talk radio junkie. Go figure.

Brian Lehrer: Peter, thank you very much. We'll definitely take that last part. The opera, I don't know. Lacey in Bed-Stuy, you're on WNYC. Hi, Lacey.

Lacey: Hey, how are you? Longtime listener, third-time caller.

Brian Lehrer: All right.

Lacey: I grew up listening to CCR on my dad's side, Dylan on my mom's side like Carly Simon, Katie Lange, the Moody Blues, Indigo Girls, which I totally thought was so lame back then. Now all of those artists are on regular rotation and I just love them.

Brian Lehrer: When do you think it flipped for you after a while?

Lacey: I think back then, I thought it was [unintelligible 00:06:39] and these female-driven vocals were a little cheesy, but now going back with some age, listening to the lyrics that really resonate.

Brian Lehrer: Lacey, thank you so much. Some of the tweets that are coming in. Listener writes, "Dad played 1050 WHN, the AM station WHN out of New York City in the mid-'70s, good old country music. It grew on me later in life." Another listener tweets, "My father listened exclusively to Klezmer and I detested it. As an adult, I've realized its links to American jazz and many kinds of other cultural folk music."

Another one listener writes, "My dad played a lot of classical music and I still like it. Hard to pass on the [unintelligible 00:07:28] and Ray Conniff." What? That's not classical, that's easier listening. We call that music, didn't we? All right, Jen in Montclair, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jen.

Jen: Oh, hey, you are the best, Brian. I love you so much.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you.

Jen: [chuckles] Truly. When I was little, my parents listen to Neil Diamond all the time. His voice was so deep that it was physically uncomfortable for me. I could feel it in my sternum. My mom would sing along and her voice was really deep as well. It took me till I was quite a bit older to realize he's just the greatest and I could listen to him anytime.

Brian Lehrer: Wow, even Neil Diamond. You could've grown up from the story you just told with Neil Diamond PTSD, but you didn't.

Jen: Yes, I know, the opposite. 100% the opposite.

Brian Lehrer: Do you listen to anything contemporary these days?

Jen: Me? That he record?

Brian Lehrer: No, well, anybody.

Jen: Oh well, [inaudible 00:08:33] an incredible album with Rick Rubin a few years ago, that was beautiful. I listened to tons of music. I'm a big Waxahatchee fan right now, which means he is in the same bank of songwritery beautiful gift.

Brian Lehrer: Jen, thank you very much. Mary in Point Pleasant. You're on WNYC. Hi, Mary.

Mary: Hi, good morning. When I was young my mother used to play the scores to Oklahoma and the Sound Of Music relentlessly, which drove us all insane. She also turned us on to Elvis Presley. That was that, that was a good. I have two daughters and we've been [inaudible 00:09:09] five times in the last 10 years because both of my girls are interested about Elvis Presley now.

Brian Lehrer: Wow. She talks about skipping generations. Mary, thank you very much. We're just about out of time. We're going to let Deb have the last word because I mentioned Muzak before and that's what Deb in Denville was calling about. Deborah, you got 15 seconds for you.

Deb: Okay, thanks, Brian. I'm a baby boomer. I'm the child of the greatest generation. My parents liked Moon River, which I cringe at. They also the Muzak was their thing. They also had a copy of Carmen the opera, and I have a fond memory of being a teenager listening to that, looking at the record cover, and I loved it. I've had a lifelong love of opera-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, thank you very much.

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