“Amy Winehouse? Who?” - What’s your “surely everyone knows who/what” moment?

[hotpotina]

I was with some fairly new Canadian friends recently and "Valarie" by Amy Winehouse came on. I immediately started humming/singing along and one of them asked “what's this song?” I said (probably with a confused expression) “ It's... Valerie... by Amy Winehouse...” and they both said they'd never heard of her.

Now, I KNOW. I KNOW there are massive cultural, generational and geographical differences in what people know. Obviously I do. But for some reason Amy Winehouse is just so completely embedded in my personal schema that for a second I genuinely couldn't compute someone not knowing who she was. She feels (to me) like one of those people who are simply there in people's consciousness; whether you actually like them or they were ever particularly relevant to your life seems almost beside the point.

It made me realise how funny these little cultural blind spots are. There must be many things that are ubiquitous to one person, that another person has somehow just never encountered.

Have you ever had this happen, where someone didn't know something/person that you genuinely presumed consciously or subconsciously was universal known? And do you have a “surely EVERYONE knows who/what they are” person (or thing etc) that you'd be surprised if someone had no knowledge of that thing?

Found out the other day DS (12) had never heard of Eastenders or Coronation Street. To be fair, we never watch terrestrial TV so soap operas have completely bypassed him, but in my head both shows are like a national institution and even people who’ve never watched a single episode could name one character

That's actually a good example for me of something that's less directly 'known' to me, but still part of my knowledge. I didn't know it by name so looked it up and then was like, oh yeah I did know about this. I remember having a similar moment about Hillsborough.

I often think that, when somebody is cautioning against doing something unreasonable that another person is demanding/expecting (usually on MN). and they make the (obvious but still makes me giggle) suggestion to "Be like Zammo: just say No!", there must be many, many people under about 35 who wouldn't have the remotest idea who Zammo was!

I referred to something very simple and effective as a 'Ronseal' solution the other week, and just got a totally blank look back!

Yorkshire! I’m also in my 50’s. Not a huge music lover but only knew about her when she was all over the news.

Had a PT introduced as Samantha Fox . I said Oh yeah ? Like the page 3 girl? No idea who she was and never heard of page 3 .

I saw that but why?! What’s happened to make all the clips now?

I’d class it as a classic, up there with the Simpsons and Family Guy and would assume lots of people would have seen at least one episode at some point!

It just made me feel old, it was such a part of Dh and I growing up, in our early relationship cuddled up watching Futurama, everyone in our friendship group knows of it.

The topic of Alcatraz came up and my nephew said “omg like Azkaban that must be where they got the idea from!” And we all burst out laughing. He is 8 so it’s not too bad but it was pretty funny.

Time and tide wait for no man, even the very talented Amy Winehouse.

In a similar vein, I was taken aback a while ago when I mentioned Stephen Lawrence in a conversation and was met by a blank look.

I was also watching a recent documentary about 9/11 and it said that we assume everybody knows what happened but actually a huge proportion of the adult population were either not born or not old enough to remember watching in horror.

Even if people are taught about what I suppose I must call modern history it is never the same as living through them.

These sort of events shape attitudes so it is no wonder we all come at things so differently when the common ground is not so common as we might think.

I’m 42 and I have no idea who Zammo is.

Not to mention the movies.

I was in a thrift shop and this girl was looking for a Halloween costume. She told her boyfriend, “ I’m going to be Dolly Parton. This looks like something she’d wear.” Her boyfriend said, “Who’s Dolly Parton.

Wow, that one is crazy!
There is a memoir "Educated", the author was a Mormon girl who was 'homeschooled' ...ie in her case, not educated. When she was older she went to college for the first time. She got in trouble for putting her hand up and asking " What is the holocaust?' ...but she genuinely didn't know!

DH is American and had never heard of the following artists before he met me, even though these artists all had big US tours this year, including in the city in which we live:

• Lily Allen
• Florence & the Machine
• Harry Styles

Criminal.

My nephew is 8, and him and all his friends (all aged 7 or 8) have absolutely no memory of Covid, which seems bonkers to me. But also, I envy them for missing such an awful time in recent history. They were babies/toddlers and blissfully unaware, the lucky sods.

Interesting!

I do think Amy in particular is probably one whose legend status has been solidified and amplified by, and since her death, so maybe I'd have been less surprised about you not knowing her then than I was my friends not knowing her now

I’m really surprised that someone in his 60s doesn’t know who JA is!

I was in New York and a colleague didn’t know who George Michael was!!! She was early 20s but that’s no excuse

The shocker for me was the second or third series of Big Brother and half of them didn't who Neil Armstrong was.

I'd have thought the first human being on the Moon was pretty significant.

I once employed someone who claimed to no know who Elvis was. And I don't mean Costello. I wouldn't mind, but she was only born one year after me.

Elvis is one of the examples, like many of the ones people have mentioned, I'd have assumed everyone of every age would have at least some awareness of!

Kind of like how I'd be quite shocked to hear that someone had never heard of Cleopatra, some things to me have such a legend it doesnt matter if you were 'around' for them

I’m 72 and find that extraordinary

Mind you in the 80s I worked with someone who claimed not to know who was the prime minister (Thatcher)

Joni Mitchell
Jabba the Hutt
Frank Sinatra!
Unbelievable

I don't know, I think it is plausible that she would not be known to you if you were not young at the time. People who are older may find the songs familiar but don't know who the singer is. Young people in their teens is different as it is cool to listen to her and know of her.