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7/27/2010 9:42 AM 

A few weeks ago I saw a blog by Tucson, Arizona’s Hugh Holub proposing that Green Valley, Arizona—apparently a haven of 60-somethings—offer America’s first rock ‘n’ roll retirement home. Among other things it would offer a steady diet of rock ‘n’ roll music programming. People entering their 60s these days don’t respond well to Lawrence Welk and others of that musical genre, Holub said, having cut their teeth on rock ‘n’ roll.

Funny, I had similar worries myself about six years ago when I penned an editorial for Nursing Homes Magazine entitled “The Rock ‘n’ Roll Conundrum.”

It was prompted by a story we planned to publish on a Cincinnati, Ohio retirement community’s new radio station featuring the music of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and other stars of the ‘30s, ‘40s and early ‘50s. This music was more appropriate, it was thought, for people who had grown up during the Jazz Age and the Swing Era, much more so than, say, “Wait ‘Till the Sun Shines, Nellie.” Point well taken but it occurred to me as I reviewed the piece that something of world-changing significance had happened in 1955, when many of us 60-somethings were first entering our teens: it was called “rock ‘n’ roll.”

At age 68, I’m of the generation that was “present at the creation.” It seemed that one year we were listening to “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” and the next “You Ain’t Nuthin’ But a Hound Dog.” I was among those witnessing the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll when, as an impressionable 13-year-old, I went to see the movie “Blackboard Jungle” and stared in amazement as the entire audience leapt to its feet, danced in the aisles and in general carried on as Bill Haley & His Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” blasted into the hall. Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” soon followed, and things would never be the same.

So, Mr. Holub, you’re right: what happens when we oldsters start finding our way into assisted living and other senior communities? Will Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, and Elvis be heard throughout the day? What about the Beach Boys, the Stones, the Beatles? Lynyrd Skynyrd? Oh my God, what about us Metallica fanatics?

Put it this way. The next time you hear “Down by the Old Mill Stream” while visiting a long-term care facility, you may be hearing the end of an era. We 60-somethings are on our way, and you know what they say: “Rock ‘n’ roll is here to stay!”

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Location: Blogs Caregiving by Richard Peck

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