Pop music keeps time as its fans age

To the more ordinary tools for measuring time (geologic eras, tablespoons, the vibration of atoms) Nashville music fan Paul Cox has added the pop song. In a mid-January entry on his Web log the Rub (rub.pitas.com) -- “100+ readers per day,” he says -- Cox contemplates the calendar.

“Don’t read the following list,” he cautions, “if you’re already feeling old:

“A child born the same year R.E.M. released their ‘Chronic Town’ ep can now legally purchase alcohol.

“A child born the same year Husker Du released ‘Zen Arcade’ can now legally buy cigarettes in most states....

“A child born the same year Public Enemy released ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ is now a teenager.

“A child born the same year Pearl Jam released ‘Ten’ is now in middle school, learning the fundamentals of algebraic mathematics....

“A child born the same year Smashing Pumpkins released ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ is now riding a bicycle and writing book reports in 3rd grade.”