Jones? -- A Faceless Generation Finds And Identity

They grew up watching "The Brady Bunch," not "Leave It to Beaver."

Their attitudes were shaped more by Watergate than JFK.

They remember gas lines, not Mustangs.

So can you really call 34- to 45-year-olds baby boomers?

Jonathan Pontell says no.

The 41-year-old, a popular-culture expert from Los Angeles, has coined a name for this group, which represents a quarter of all U.S adults: Generation Jones.

Is he kidding? Generation Jones? Isn't there something a little catchier to go with the boomers and the Gen Xers and the Gen Yers and the Gen Preschoolers and whatever other demographic is insisting on its own identity these days?

But that would be missing the point. Generation Jones is not a zippy generation, not one that's clearly distinct from the others - at least at first glance. After all, it took this long for somebody to name it, right? The name embodies the idea of a large, unknown, invisible generation. And, Pontell says, this generation has a "jones," or longing, for its own identity and for the world it was promised as children but never received.

"We were given huge expectations during the '60s and confronted with a different reality in the '70s," says Pontell, whose book, "Generation Jones" (Vanguard Press; $19.95) is due in January. "The generation came of age watching the slow sellout between the love fest of the '60s and the money grab of the '80s."

Now, this in-between generation is beginning to find its voice, Pontell says. Its awakening is fueling a '70s nostalgia reflected by television shows such as "Freaks & Geeks" and "That '70s Show"; movies such as "The Ice Storm" and "Boogie Nights"; and retro fashions such as clogs and bell-bottoms.

"Nostalgia is kind of the glue that holds people together," Pontell says.

It's also the stuff of marketing campaigns. This may be the first time anybody's coined a name for Generation Jones, but it's clear that advertisers and filmmakers are definitely trying to cash in on the memories of the jonesers.

The Guess Who's "American Woman" showed up in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and then "American Beauty." The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" played over the violent climax of Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam" before reappearing as the opening-title music of "Outside Providence." Ironically, you can look at the Who as the poster band of Generation Jones. While their original music personified teenage alienation and disaffection, now it's taken on an added dimension: nostalgia about alienation. And the band isn't shy about spreading the music through movies and commercials.

The Who used to just say no to everything until a few years ago, when the band's radio presence was diminishing, and no tours or albums were planned, said Robert Rosenberg, director of the Who's management company. They decided that placing songs in films and ads could attract new listeners.

"We thought it would be a great way of getting the music out to people and getting people to ask, `What's that music?,' " Rosenberg said.

People have had plenty of opportunity to do just that. "Won't Get Fooled Again" is also the theme of Nissan Maxima ads, and "Baba O'Riley" was played in "Summer of Sam" and in the trailers for "A Bug's Life" and "American Beauty."

"Rushmore" and the "Austin Powers" sequel featured "A Quick One While He's Away" and "My Generation," respectively, and "Bellboy" is in Martin Scorsese's latest film, "Bringing Out the Dead." Then there are the dueling computer ads, Dell with "Magic Bus" versus Gateway with "Who Are You." Ford used "Can't Explain" for a Taurus campaign.

The Who isn't the only classic rock band finding resurrection in ad campaigns. Many jonesers were shocked into painful recognition by a recent Volkswagen commercial, which showed a 30-ish pair of guys happily lip-syncing to Styx's "Mr. Roboto."

Toys that had faded into the dark recesses of joneser memories are finding their way back, spurred on by the likes of "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2," the sequel that comes out this fall. (If you're looking for somebody to blame, those movies are almost single-handedly responsible for the return of Mr. Potato Head.) Joneser toys like Barrel of Monkeys, Operation and Twister are all back in the toy stores, and some are even available in keychain size.

The power of group identity

Generational identity goes deeper than popular culture; it touches on shared experiences, expectations and attitudes. In a general way, it helps people define themselves.

"I don't think it's been as important as racial or ethnic identity, but there's a consciousness of this type of thing," says Gordon DiRenzo, a sociology professor at the University of Delaware, who studies generational identity.

But the baby-boom generation has been too big to offer an identity to its younger members, DiRenzo and other experts say. Boomers traditionally include everyone born in the years from 1946 to 1964.

"We generally think, demographically, that generations span a 10-year period," DiRenzo says. "People at the tail end are different than those in the beginning."

Older baby boomers, offspring of the World War II generation, were shaped by a robust economy that had only begun to wane by the time they entered the work force, a climate in which many were still able to realize their childhood dreams.

Boomers shared the idealism of John F. Kennedy. Although they lost some innocence when he was assassinated, they still had hope that they could change the world. They were the Vietnam soldiers and the flower children who stuck daisies in gun barrels. They dropped acid at Woodstock and experienced the Summer of Love.

Basically, jonesers grew up along with America. They were children in the idealistic, childlike '60s, Pontell says, lost their innocence as they searched for identity in the '70s with Watergate, and "in early adulthood scrambled for the cash with everyone else in the '80s."

Like the older boomers, jonesers inherited a good economy. But as they grew, that economy soured, spawning gas lines and a recession, and dashing hopes.

"Their expectations were very high," says Diane Macunovich, professor of economics at Columbia University's Barnard College. "So in the sense of relative income, they felt even more cheated."

Meanwhile, divorce and nontraditional families (Think "The Brady Bunch" and "The Partridge Family") became more prevalent.

The women's and civil-rights movements quietly transformed the culture as the jonesers grew. Although the older boomers set the changes in motion, the jonesers felt the true impact.

One hallmark trait: balance

Balance, especially the balance between idealism and cynicism, is a hallmark trait of Generation Jones, Pontell says.

After an idealistic start, cynicism set in as jonesers watched their elders sell out and toss aside commitments, to marriage and social change, for example. (Gen Xers were cynical from the start, because they were never promised much of anything.)

Although jonesers have grown into a practical bunch, Pontell says they long for the love and the better world they were once promised.

These themes reverberate in joneser songs, often about craving, unrequited love and perseverance: Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver," Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart," U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The generation's movies also share that restlessness. Consider "Fame" and "St. Elmo's Fire."

And look at "Footloose," which started as a movie, and is now a Broadway musical. Despite horrible reviews, it's going strong on Broadway, and on tour (it hit Seattle earlier this year). A musical version of "Saturday Night Fever," just opened to critical comments like this one from the New York Times: " `Saturday Night Fever' . . . achieves the distinction of turning the two dimensions provided by celluloid into one dimension onstage," and yet it has sold $20 million worth of tickets in advance.

"It appears you can't go broke overestimating the American public's appetite for reruns," the Times said.

Compiled from the Wilmington News Journal (reporter Laura Unger); The Chicago Tribune and Reuters. ------------------------------- ARE YOU JONESIN'?

If you know that the first video that aired on MTV was The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," you may be a member of Generation Jones. What else do you remember?

QUESTIONS

1. The classic mall of the jonesers' 1980s culture - first made famous as the epicenter of "Valley Girl," then featured in the movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" - shut down in 1999. What was its name?

2. The Big Three of the mid-1980s music culture were all born in 1958. Name them.

3. One song overwhelmingly ended the most high-school dances across America in the '70s. Name that tune.

4. What did joneser Brooke Shields have between her and her Calvins?

5. Jonesers were the "Sweathogs" of "Welcome Back Kotter." How many do you remember?

6. What false rumor about Mikey (from Life cereal adds) fizzed among jonesers in the 1970s?

7. Jonsers were the first generation of kids with video games. What was the beloved original?

8. A joneser played the title role in the made-for-TV movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble"? Who was he?

9. Three movies with ensemble generational casts were released at the same time in the mid-1980s. "The Big Chill" for boomers, "The Breakfast Club" for Xers. Which one for jonesers?

10. Which actress in what movie inspired the "torn sweatshirt/bare shoulder/leg warmer" look among jonesers in the 1980s?

- Wilmington News Journal

BABY BOOMER OR JONESER? QUIZ ANSWERS TELL THE STORY

Following are answers to the quiz on Page M 1:

1. The Galleria 2. Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince 3. "Stairway to Heaven" 4. "Nothing" 5. Barbarino, Epstein, Boom-Boom, Horshack 6. He supposedly died from drinking soda with Pop Rocks 7. Pong 8. John Travolta 9. "St. Elmo's Fire" 10. Jennifer Beals, "Flashdance"

- Wilmington News Journal