“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?

IT JOINS UP AT THE BACK 😂

I've always loved maps and globes ever since primary school but have to admit I think it wasn't until around my 20s that I realised that Pearl Harbour wasn't in California!

To a degree a good deal of the apparent 'ignorance', around not necessarily knowing who people are/were or for what they achieved fame or notoriety, is subjective surely?

If I were to ask people who Douglas Bader, Guy Gibson, Watt Tyler or James Earl Ray were, for example, I would not expect everyone to know, unless they had an interest in history, (which I do), in the same way that I would not know many sportspeople, actors or TV stars as they are not subjects which interest me or have any investment in and are, therefore, not really on my 'radar'.

I put a picture of Victor Meldrew up and put a red line through it to signify ‘no moaning’ beside the Christmas rota. Half the team asked who it was. I thought everyone had heard of his character!

My daughter was shouted down at a school quiz when she said that Paris was the capital of France.

She was told, "No, France is the capital of Paris" 🙄

A Dolly Parton cover. "Not many people know that." Which is, of course, a quotation from Michael Caine. Only it was Peter Sellers who said it in an imitation of Michael Caine.

So there we have at least a quadruple of people other people don't know.

The day David Bowie died and someone in their 30s at work didn’t know who he was!

Not the point of the thread but have now gone down a 'covers that are better than the original' rabbit hole thanks to the Amy Winehouse/Zutons reference.

Had no idea that 'All along the watchtower' by Jimi Hendrix and 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin were covers.

Not music, and maybe slightly more obscure, but I was shocked a friend hadn’t heard of Helen Keller!

In a workplace 20 years back it came on the radio that Chas and Dave had split up, I assume it was a slow news day.

A few of us entered into conversation about them and a younger member of the team said ‘who are Chas and Dave?’

Everyone fell about laughing I recall, one guy burst out singing Snooker Loopy.

It just seemed so ridiculous and funny at the time not to know who they were - it became a kind of standing joke in the office.

Most folk on this thread probably never heard of them now.

Don't take anything for granted these days. I recently spoke to a teenager who had never heard of a photocopier and didn't know what they were used for.

That's Digital technology for you. Scanners now rule the roost?

My personal trainer, who I would wager is early 30s doesn't know who Madonna is and has never heard of the Beastie Boys. I almost dropped a bar bell in shock.

To be fair Jimi Hendrix and Aretha Franklin did better than the original versions. Like Hurt by Johnny Cash originally by Trent Reznor NiN who said JC now owned that song.

I mentioned John Cleese whilst running a particular training programme at work but noticed that most of the delegates (ages 20s snd 30s) looked confused. ''You know, Basil Fawlty, Fawlty Towers'. Nearly all blank faces and shaking heads.

When I got home I asked/messaged my kids (similar ages) to ask if they had heard of him, and got 'of course' replies but decided not to use that reference in future courses.

What a shame though to have never seen Fawlty Towers!

I've found it works both ways as I was talking with my M-i-L a while back and mentioned Elkie Brooks "Pearls a singer"
She said something like never heard of her must be well after her time! I pointed out that hit was in 1977 and she's only 6 years younger than her.
I think a lot of people go through life just not really taking things in? Perhaps I just absorb too much? Who knows 😊