Heshers of Gen X

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Metal heads, aka Heshens, aka Heshers 

"Hesher" provides a pretty solid mental image, of long haired, band shirt wearing person but not simply of someone who likes metal but of someone who is a metal diehard, who lives for metal music and no other music will ever be acceptable. I hung out with the metalheads all through High School. My boyfriend was a buff "Hesher" with long blond hair. All we talked about was music and all the bands we wanted to see live.  

Our first concert was Queensryche's OPERATION : MINDCRIME TOUR (1989), in Los Angeles. It was magical and I was hooked on concerts from that moment forward.  I had long curly hair that I would dye black, always wore tight jeans, black tops and biker boots....very similar to how I look right now. My love for music and especially the Heavy Metal variety has not changed. Once a Metalhead always a Metalhead!  

    "As to when ‘Hessian’ became ‘hesher’ and started getting applied to owners of sleeveless Slayer tees and bitching Camaros, well, that’s less well-recorded. But even with the myths of the rapacious Hessian hussars dispelled, the comparison makes sense. Heshers aren’t casual     metalheads, they’re lifers. They don’t fold their arms or bob their heads at shows, they windmill their hair and pump their fists. They live, breathe, fight, and die for metal. And though  superstition may abound that heshers are uncouth psychopaths (and some are, to besure), the truth is that they’re just more dedicated to a brutal way of life than most."                                                                                                                                  - EMPEROR RHOMBUS

                                                        Ostrantula

The Heshers I hung out with were not brutal or violent in any way. Metal music has been misunderstood by society since its inception. I find it calming and energetic at the same time. We hung out with all the other music loving groups and always welcomed the strays that felt like they did not belong.  We were LGBTQIA+ allies before we even knew what that meant. There is no hate when music surrounds your soul! 

There are numerous types of metal now and I enjoy all of them. We only had one known genre back then and it was called heavy metal. Later on there were distinctions between the bands and their subgenres, but non of that mattered to us headbangers! Top 20 bands that we listened to were:

1. Metallica
2. Iron Maiden
3. Judas Priest
4. Motorhead
5. Black Sabbath
6. Megadeth
7. Slayer
8. Anthrax
9. Twisted Sister
10. Quiet Riot
11.  Pantera
12.  Dio
13. . Van Halen
14.  AC/DC
15. . W.A.S.P.
16. Venom
17.  Kiss
18.  Accept
19.  Sepultura
20. Queensryche....ETC.

Death, Thrash, Speed, Hair, Grindcore and many more that we would learn about later....when MTV premiered and we all started watching Headbangers Ball! 

 

The "Devil Horns" became the symbol of heavy metal and we felt that only we knew who threw up the first horns and made it stick! 

Please do not stick your thumbs out and try to emulate the great Dio by destroying his trademarked symbol! Dio learned this gesture from his Italian grandmother who used it to ward off the evil eye...it is now a symbol for the "Devil's Music".....HEAVY METAL!

Generation X ...we did it all!

Gen X Store

MTV changed life forever! Pt3

MTV, short for Music Television, was an American cable channel that revolutionized the music industry by introducing the concept of music videos in the 1980s. The bands that you heard on the radio were finally on TV and you could see what they looked like, dressed like, their hairstyles and their personalities.  It was such an amazing experience for us music lovers. The channel became a cultural phenomenon, influencing fashion, language, and attitudes of young people around the world. The Programs included music videos, concerts, interviews, and themed based shows. It was the only TV station that most of us watched! Everything was played at specific times and there was no pause or replay buttons! You missed it.... you MISSED it! If you were lucky, you could catch a rerun after 2am occasionally. They had cool hosts that were usually well-known musicians or professional DJ's.

As soon as the first episodes aired, and we saw how the artists and Dj's were dressed...we had to have those styles! Until then we only had teeny bopper magazines and JC Penny catalogs to find any type of clothing styles in. Gen X was all about being different and being noticed.  After MTV, I remember being at the malls all the time trying to find any fashion resemblance to what I had seen on MTV.  We would jot down what we saw and try to remember the look. We did not have cell phones at that time. Each family had a bulky camera that was used only on special occasions. 

The vivrant hair and clothing colors were extraorinary after the dull fashion of the 60's and 70's.

The cool kids tables most often included leather jackets! Despite how hot it was out here in Los Angeles. 

Gen X in the early 90's P2

 

Gen x in the 90's

Gen X, came of age in the 90s. We were characterized by our skepticism towards institutions and authority, as well as our independent and entrepreneurial spirit. The 90s saw the rise of alternative music and fashion, with grunge becoming a defining cultural movement. However, not all GenXer’s fell into Grunge music. Some of them, like me, still enjoyed heavy metal, hard rock and 80's music. Gen X also were the first to test technological advancements such as desktop computers with the good old DOS programming. We also had a small taste of the internet. The internet changed everything for us. Our lives went from newspaper, magazines and Zines to a whole new world of learning and sharing information. I started college in 1991 and the internet was still not as prevalent. We still had tape players and boom boxes. I was a DJ at my university, and I remember the bands on the playlists like it was yesterday!

1. Nirvana
2. Alice In Chains
3. Soundgarden
4. Green Day
5.  Oasis
6. Pearl Jam
7. R.E.M.
8. Black Crows
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Oingo Boing
11. Sinead O’Conner
12. Ozzy Osbourne
13. Depeche Mode
14. Social Distortion
15. Judias Priest
16. The Cure

And the list goes on! We had to play certain sponsored songs and the rest we chose off a pre- approved list. Type O Negative was not on that list, but I played them every chance I got! Between 1989-1991 I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oingo Boingo, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Ozzy Osbourne, Morrissey, Queensryche and Van Halen live! They were in small venues and the tickets were around $20. I remember a guy threw up into my long black hair at an Ozzy concert and I wiped it off and kept rocking out. We would stand in line at record shops for hours...sometimes overnight to get these tickets. There was no quick clicking online purchases available. 

Fans wait in New York City to buy Morrissey concert tickets on March 1, 1994. 

Steve Eichner/Getty Images

Generation X style and attitude defined P1

Generation X is a term used to describe the demographic of people born between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s. We were sandwiched between the larger baby boomer generation and the smaller millennial generation. The term "Generation X" was popularized by a 1991 book by Douglas Coupland, which portrayed this group as disaffected and directionless. We grew up during a time of significant social, economic, and technological change, including the rise of personal computers, the internet, and globalization. This has led to a unique worldview and approach to life, which has influenced everything from consumer behavior to politics. Despite our reputation for being cynical and aloof, Generation Xers have had a significant impact on popular culture, business, and society as a whole.

We experienced the end of the Cold War, the rise of technology, and a shift in cultural attitudes toward individualism and diversity. One defining characteristic of Gen X culture is a sense of independence and self-reliance. Unlike the Baby Boomers before us, who were known for their idealism and collective action, we tended to be more skeptical and individualistic. This was reflected in our awesome music, art, and unique but diverse fashion, which often celebrated nonconformity and a DIY approach.  We were the first generation to push the issue of gender conformity and openly support the LGBTQIA community. 

In terms of entertainment, we grew up with iconic movies like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Back to the Future. We also embraced new forms of media like video games and MTV, which became a cultural touchstone for the generation. I remember running home after school to watch Headbangers Ball on MTV. 

Overall, Gen X culture was marked by a sense of uncertainty and change not unlike Gen Z today. Many Gen Xers were raised by divorced parents or grew up in households where both parents worked, which contributed to a sense of self-reliance and adaptability. Despite the challenges we faced, Gen Xers are known for their resilience and ability to navigate a rapidly changing world. We are strong and adaptive. 

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