The Bob Marley Stage

Stuff White People Like tells us about one of the phases “that all white people are required to go through before they can obtain their bachelor’s degree.” This stage is known as “Bob Marley.”

Depending on the coolness of the white person, they can experience this stage anywhere between the sixth grade and their last year of college.  Regardless of when they went through this phase, every white person can tell you about the time when they had Legend on repeat. If you wish to test this theory, go to any floor in a College Dorm and there is a 100% chance you will find at least one Bob Marley poster.

There’s more.

Personally I prefer Marley’s Natty Dread album.

11 thoughts on “The Bob Marley Stage”

  1. Sorry, since I outgrew early rock I’ve had little tolerance for slacker, stoner anything. I’d a been way happier if I never listened to lyrics at all.

    Never liked the Dead, either. Or rap; come to think of it I am happiest with instrumentals, jazz and classical. And don’t really like the “Gee I’m drunk” flavors of country.

    Ahhh, cranky old fart seems to have descended upon me at last.
    And You kids get outta my yard! Damn kids.

  2. I have a large recorded music library. Roughly 38% of it is rock — a vast genre spanning from Bill Haley to Coldplay. Another 16% is rhythm and blues, hip hop, or just plain blues. 15% is country and bluegrass; 20% if you add in folk music. Pop, vocal (including jazz vocal) and what is called easy listening add up to about 11%. Classical and opera are another 10%. Jazz and the little bit of new age about 10%. (I didn’t include Christmas, kids music, world music and other.)

    No point to this. Emmett’s comment just made me curious.

  3. If you like (or liked) Marley, you might want to check out Alpha Blondie.

    Nigerian Reggae is a somewhat different take on the genre.

    BTW: I never went through the Marley phase, having been swallowed up by Chicago-style blues when I went to college there. I made up for it by collecting Carribean folk music later.

  4. No point to this. Emmett’s comment just made me curious.

    I would point out that unless you are more vigorous about pruning than I, possession isn’t that great an indicator.

    I still have in vinyl the original Butthole Surfers album my brother gave me years ago – which I don’t care for, and John Mayall’s Banquet of Blues from the same period that I do care for.

  5. I have no vinyl and no cassettes. All my music consists of 1s and 0s. It’s somewhat like my books, in that I part with few, but the acquisition is somewhat focused. I have managed to collect all of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and all but seven of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. I also have some magazine’s top 100 country.

    Lately I’ve been more interested in music to listen to — very recent acquisitions include Jack Johnson, Paul Desmond, James McMurtry, Leonard Cohen’s Live in London, Neko Case, Madeleine Peyroux’s newest, Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew. Oh, and more Loretta Lynn because you can never have too much Loretta Lynn.

    (But I could get by just listening to Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song” all day.)

  6. You listen to Jack Johnson? Hmm…

    I never went through the Bob Marley stage. I guess that makes sense since I’m not white.

  7. Ephraim, my man! Welcome back. It might — or might not — please you to know how many people told me they missed my blog and that they even missed Ephraim F. Moya.

    Well just three actually, but that’s a significant percentage. 🙂

  8. Yes, Annette, I like Jack Johnson a lot. I might even need to get Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George.

  9. I’ll echo Ken’s welcome, Ephraim, and thanks for the link: interesting stuff, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually handled or played a 78.

    I miss a number of things about vinyl:
    – the anticipation when you first drop the needle and listen through the pops and noise for the beginning of the song
    – slowing the turntable down to 16 RPM so you can learn the song
    – the album art, and all that space for liner notes

    I love the iPod for having a device I can stick in my pocket which can play music for a week straight, but it requires less of a commitment to the music.

    Like everything new: some gain, some loss.

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