Dewey Martin died.

Hopefully that rings a bell if you’re a baby boomer.  He was the drummer for Buffalo Springfield, a band whose true greatness wasn’t recognized until Crosby, Stills & Nash broke through and the masses, wanting more of this incredible sound, went to the store and bought "Retrospective", Buffalo Springfield’s greatest hits.  That’s how many discovered Neil Young.  Via "Broken Arrow" on that album.  Don’t forget, Stephen Stills sang the hit,  "For What It’s Worth", conventional wisdom was Buffalo Springfield was a one hit wonder.  But it wasn’t.

But Dewey Martin is not the only one.  Sixties stars have been dropping like flies.  Maybe before their time, but not by much.  They’re all sexagenarians now.

The sixties were forty years ago.  But you can still hear Cousin Brucie on Sirius.  His voice a bit hoarser, but he does bring you back to way back when, when we were addicted to the transistor, when we lived for the Tuesday night countdown.

And the stars are not the only ones on the way out.  The baby boomers themselves are reaching their sunset years.  They thought they were going to rule forever, Gen-X was pissed they stole their thunder, but ironically it’s the boomers’ kids who are rejecting them, who are making them irrelevant.  If you find a boomer who’s computer literate, he’s the exception.  We could never understand our parents living through the birth of television.  But now we’ve lived through not only big screen HD, but cell phones and the Internet.  Boomers may text, but kids did first.  And kids don’t even send e-mail anymore.

But we’ve still got our memories.

Will the Doors live on forever?

Maybe.

How about Jay & the Americans?

Doubtful.

I heard "This Magic Moment" the other day.  And then "Come A Little Bit Closer".  And the Four Seasons’ "Sherry".  They’re in my DNA, they made me feel good.  But when the fifties channel spun the Coasters, I was flummoxed.  I didn’t know this.  This music was for oldsters.  But "Searchin’" was pretty good.  Do our kids think our music is pretty good?

The media says no, but iTunes libraries and concert ticket sales say otherwise.  Still, so many of the old acts are on their last legs.  Like the Ad Libs.

Is there even an original Coaster left?  Weren’t they suing over bogus Coasters back in the seventies?  Were there even any original Ad Libs?  Was it a studio concoction?

I hated "The Boy From New York City".  But I know every lick, I had to listen to it in order to get to the latest hit by those British Invasion acts.  Like Gerry & the Pacemakers.  I heard "I Like It" the other day.  But I know now it’s not as good as "The Boy From New York City"…

Maybe I was too young to understand.  The derivation from doo-wop.  Maybe Cousin Brucie and Murray the K talked over the deep vocal intro.  But when I just heard that solo vocal akin to a kid blowing into a Coke bottle, I was enraptured.

And when I used to listen to the song, I focused on the boy.  But all these years later, what caught my ear was the boys singing about COOL COOL KITTY!

Is that where the Boss got the name for one of his best songs?

She’s strutting down the avenue, parading for the neighborhood, telling her story.  She may not have much money, but she’s got something better.  She’s got LOVE!

They call them oldies for a reason.  Because not only are they not current, they come from a time way back when.  Which is now a LONG time ago.

This is our music.  So much the younger generation understands. But so much will be lost to the sands of time.  Like our parents’ music before us.  The doors are closing, we boomers are entering our time capsule.  Do we fight it, or own it.  Do we get up and dance in the retirement home when "The Boy From New York City" comes through the speakers or do we spin the latest hip-hop record in our painted-on jeans, just in case the younger generation takes a peek inside.

Actually, nobody’s looking.  Everybody’s living his own life.

Which is hard for baby boomers to understand.  We’re used to the attention.