So, I’m in my car with my family on the way to a soccer game. We’re listening to the classic rock station (perfect pre-soccer game music) and Peter Frampton’s “Show Me the Way” begins. My husband immediately says, “Mom loves this guy.” Which is, or was, true. I did love him when I was a pre-teen. I still have nostalgic feelings when I hear his songs on the radio.

I had to put it in a way that my fifth grader would understand: “Peter Frampton was the Justin Bieber of my time.”

Here’s the rest of the conversation:

Son: “No way, this isn’t even good.”

Me: “I seriously doubt that classic rock stations will play Justin Bieber in 30 years.” (I mean seriously, I never hear another of my pre-teen favorites, Tony DeFranco and the DeFranco Family, on the radio).

Husband: “Don’t be too sure of that.” (He has to stay neutral on this one.)

Me: “Frampton’s a real musician and not a product of marketing.” (I said this knowing full well that he only appealed to girls of my age because of that chest-baring Frampton Comes Alive! album cover).

Son: “Justin Bieber’s a musician too! He’s a really good drummer.” (Not sure why he’s defending Bieber, he claims he doesn’t like him, but I guess he has to represent his generation).

And then the conversation degraded from there, because you can’t argue with a 10-year-old about musical tastes. I guess there are some similarities between the two artists: rabid pre-teen fans and great hair!

Who was your Justin Bieber?

Check out your pre-teen favorites on the web. What’s also great is that you can usually find current pictures of them. Did we all get that old?

Tags: Bieber, Frampton Comes Alive!, Justin Bieber, Peter Frampton, pop music, Tony DeFranco