Everyone has a beat in their feet and a song thumping away on their eardrums once in a while; I’m talking music, man.

First of all, I don’t prescribe to just one genre of music; I’ve listened to a little of this, a little of that, and it all mixes together. On my custom playlist, Tina Turner plays right before Johnny Cash, just as Devo leads into Dean Martin. There is only one central theme in this, 99% of the music I listen to can be categorized as “oldies.”

Ya see, what I listen to has always struck people as odd because, in the current sea of twenty-somethings in which I swim, modern artists enjoy all of the popularity. I know it would be hard to find another person my age that listens regularly to Otis Redding or Captain Hook and The Medicine Show. My Ma has said this is a part of the curse of having old parents.

When RAGBRAI came to town, so did Foghat. When this happened, I had the wonderful opportunity to interview the band. Roger Earl, the founding member of the group, I was able to interview one on one. Well, my sister was there, but she was just taking pictures. Anyways, during the interview, Mr. Earl told a story, in this telling, he casually referenced Mungo Jerry. I knew immediately who he was talking about; I knew for a fact my sister did not. It wasn’t until he mentioned the title of their famous song that something clicked with her. I am sorry to say that my sister is a listener of “today’s” music.

Later when I went back for the rest of the band’s interview, I tagged along with my editor Rob and fellow Chronicle reporter Jonny. When we were heading in, I told Johnny it was better he not say anything. The reason for this is he just turned 19 years old, and he first heard of the band Foghat when it was announced they were playing Tama-Toledo.

I jokingly said that with our luck, you’ll say something like I love your song “Hound Dog” or something. This comment was made worse when later in the day, I told this to my Ma and Sister, and my sister said, “Well, that’s Elvis, right? Isn’t it?”

Her insecure answer made me shake my head and weep for the King.