NADA|96: AN ANALOG LIFE.
- phoenix taylor
- Apr 1
- 5 min read
Nothing after 1996 hits the same.
Not the music, not the movies, not the way people acted, not the way people got their spank material, not the way people hung out. Everything had texture to it. You could walk into a room and feel what was going on, because people were good at going out—staying in sucked.
You didn’t check your phone… most of us didn’t have them. You checked who was outside. The hangout spots. You knew where you could sneak a smoke, where you could make out, and where you could be seen.
For me, it was the pool, the basketball court, the girl’s house down the road with the mom who was never home.
There were almost no phones, so no evidence. And you were too scared to get evidence anyway, because the person developing your film at Wal-Mart could literally turn you into the cops if they didn’t like your photos.
Life in the 90s was loud as hell.
Life in the 90s was loud as hell!
Posters stacked on walls — Tupac, Pamela Anderson, random bikini ads ripped out of magazines, band flyers… whatever looked cool got taped up. Rooms looked like highly sexualized personalities had exploded all over them.
CD towers stacked to the ceiling. Scratched discs that didn’t play anymore. Someone always had the one track everyone wanted and wouldn’t shut up about. You played it on your boombox until you crashed out to it.
You didn’t “share” music.
You forced it on people.
Music was Everything.
Nirvana was the anthem to our rebellious lives. Marilyn Manson was a way of screaming “fuck you mom and dad!!”. Eminem was making the world’s heads explode. Snoop, Tupac, Bone Thugs — real-life gangsters doing gangster shit, then rapping about the illegal wild shit they were doing.
Even pop music was... Poppin! Like... it was.
TLC, Coolio, Ginuwine — “You’re horny… let’s do it… ride it… my pony!” Still sticks in your head. Still bops.
Now I turn on music and fuck… it’s boring. More commercials than songs. Everyone feels produced. Nobody feels like they’re actually living the life they’re rapping or singing about. Not like then.
MTV was insane. No reality shows. Just music videos. You could sing along and watch your rockstars. You got hyped when your song came on because it was random. You couldn’t go find it. You had to wait.
That made mean more.
That made it special.
Movies Had Tits, Violence, and Zero Apologies
People complain about nudity now. I see it all the time — “Does every show need nudity?”
Funny thing is, it doesn’t even hit the same.
Back then it felt like Hollywood was competing to outdo each other in gratuitous nudity. Who could find the hottest woman and the dumbest reason to get her naked. Erika Eleniak jumping out of a cake in Under Siege? Legendary.
Even Disney cartoons were full of busty background characters in Beauty and the Beast as well as Aladdin. Which I still like more because it's kind of like they pretend now that women don't like being sexy. No women. Ever. A great example of this is DISNEY's ownership of MARVEL COMICS. An IP that is highly sexualized characters but their movies don't even show cleavage. You can literally see more skin on these actors by watching their outfits for the red carpet premiers and award shows. Which kind of proves the fact that women do enjoy feeling sexy, so it was nice to lean into that in our movies the way we did. Also, porn wasn't available in our pockets on tiny devices like it is now. So you got your licks when you could.
Real Life Was Outside
Grass, dirt, bugs, heat. Way more insects than whatever the hell is left now. Grasshoppers everywhere. Sounds stupid until you remember it.
You had to stop at gas stations and scrub bugs off your windshield. You couldn’t step into tall grass without a dozen grasshoppers jumping in every direction.
Random water spots you and your friends claimed like they were yours. Woods that felt bigger than they probably were.
Camping trips that got out of hand. Fires, beer, hookups, fights, someone disappearing for a while and coming back like nothing happened.
You didn’t schedule fun.
You ran into it.
You Could Actually Live
One income handled a household.
Let that sit for a second... because this is what the boomers stole from Gen X, the Millennials, and Gen Z.
People had time. Time to be around each other, time to get bored, time to do dumb shit that turned into stories. Life wasn’t optimized, it wasn’t abundant, it wasn’t constantly pushing you to monetize your existence.
It was just living.
Sex Was Everywhere And Nobody Was Weird About It
Cartoons had attitude. Disney characters weren’t scared to be sexy. Movies had nudity just because and Porn wasn’t infinite tabs.
It was magazines hidden in a spot only you and maybe one trusted friend knew about. You found it, you kept it, you passed it like it was gold.
It meant something because it wasn’t everywhere.
You Learned People In Real Time
Make out sessions in cars, behind buildings, wherever you could get a minute. No phones out. No audience. No second take.
You figured people out by being around them.
Not by watching them perform...
And you had to be around people. If you didn't like someone, you had to handle that shit cause they would be at all the spots you were going to be at. Only one theater, only one roller rink or bowling alley.
Which forced you to work out your shit. Instead of running back to your safe space.
This Is What It Was
Loud.
Messy.
A little dangerous.
A lot of fun.
And nobody was trying to capture, everyone was just trying to experience... and as I said, there was always a soundtrack!
FINAL WORD
We didn’t know everything.
We didn’t need to.
Well, you did need to know how to read a map. Literally... you had to have that skill.
Also you had to know phone numbers. Lots of them.
But everything you did didn't need an answer. It was like we were all experiencing everything for the first time as a culture, as a group. Not following anyone else's path.
It was nice, and even though there is plenty we do well now, and there is still good music being made... it will never really be the same. The good music gets no radio play, no money, no rockstar status. We all live in a world that we have made sure all corners have been softened, all warnings are posted, and every fuck up comes with a public humiliation ritual.
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More NADA|96 coming. Stay out of the algorithm.
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