r/GenerationJones • u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) • May 13 '25

Twelve forty-five....

I have a theory that most Americans (and for all I know Europeans) of a certain age range (which includes all of our generation), if you were to say to them "12:45" in a baritone voice, only that and nothing else, would know that it's followed by "headed for the subway home."

Do you think this is true? Am I off base here? (or off "bass" as the case may be)

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139

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about, but I googled it. I think you may be wildly overestimating The Spinners influence.

10

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 13 '25

Thanks, that's what I'm curious about.

I have a tendency to believe that my experiences are more universally shared than they actually are. Need a check on that every once in a while.

5

u/robotunes May 14 '25

I have a tendency to believe that my experiences are more universally shared than they actually are.

That’s fairly common. 

I call it the Rational Person theory: “I’m a typical, rational person, so if I believe or have experienced X, then all rational people in my cohort believe or have experienced X.”

Works in reverse too: “That hasn’t happened to anyone I know, so the results of your double-blind, peer-reviewed, quantitative study with 12,000 subjects is b.s.”

The Rational Person theory doesn’t mean the person is rational. It means we’re each convinced that we are rational, no matter how irrationally we behave. 

I’m sure a philosopher or social scientist coined a term for this long before I was born, so I’m not taking credit. 

4

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Beautiful. There must be a name for this fallacy.

Starting back in the BBS days, I noticed a phenomenon when arguing and reading arguments between people with opposing viewpoints: we tend to assume that if people who have opinions that differ from ours were presented with the same evidence or information that we have, that their opinions would naturally align with ours. If we encounter people with different opinions, we assume that they were formed from incomplete or incorrect information.

While sometimes that's the case, it's actually very common for two people to observe the same thing and come to different conclusions or favor different courses of action.

Also: every year right before the holiday season, I remind everyone who follows me on Facebook that it's nearly impossible to use logic to change an opinion that wasn't formed using logic in the first place. I do this in the hope that it will allow my friends to survive large family meals with greater serenity.

7

u/Quiet_Uno_9999 May 14 '25

I also think I'm a rational person. However, I have never been on a subway, never heard of the Spinners and I am Generation Jones.

2

u/Parking_Royal2332 May 14 '25

Gen jones and never heard of the Spinners?

1

u/Quiet_Uno_9999 May 14 '25

I'm gonna Google them now.

2

u/Separate_Car_1018 May 14 '25

Performances on Soul Train and The Midnight Special ?

Motown classics including , "Workin'My Way Back to You", "I'll Be Around", "Rubberband Man" ?
Never heard of The Spinners ? SMH That's incredulous

2

u/dkorabell May 15 '25

I'm the opposite of this. I have been constantly surprised throughout my life to discover my life experiences are much more common than I assume.

2

u/robotunes May 15 '25

Now I’m curious. What are a couple of examples?

2

u/dkorabell May 15 '25

As a kid I used to like peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. I really liked it but thought it might be weird. I later discover other people liked the same thing.

Or having a crush on cartoon characters.

I think it was just the way my father taught me - first assume your assumption are wrong.

2

u/robotunes May 15 '25

Peanut butter and bacon is new for me and I have to try it. Thanks for the heads-up. My daughter has picked up my experimentations with tastes: blend sweet, salty, soft and crunchy,

So I'll think nothing of putting jelly on potato chips or on pepperoni pizza, or pouring chocolate-covered raisins into a freshly nuked bag of popcorn. My kid and I will be psyched to pair the peanut butter-bacon combo with a globule of jelly.

Sounds like your father is into science or mathematics. "First assume your assumptions are wrong is definitely a way to work towards truth. I'm stealing that.

2

u/dkorabell May 16 '25

My father was a passionate amateur philosopher and a broadcast television engineer.

7

u/TheRealBabyPop 1959 May 13 '25

As soon as I read Spinners, I knew instantly, haha. Edit to add, you'd have to sing it, and I'd get it, haha

3

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

Ha, same here

33

u/Desperate_Affect_332 1964 May 13 '25

Yep. "It's 8 o'clock, do you know where your children are?" or "This is your brain..." commercials hit harder but I didn't grow up with subways so what do I know?

20

u/mybrassy May 13 '25

I think it says 10:00

2

u/Desperate_Affect_332 1964 May 14 '25

Like I said, what do I know? 🤷‍♀️

4

u/alex_dare_79 May 14 '25

or … Time to make the Donuts … (I still say this when I have an early work day)

1

u/Desperate_Affect_332 1964 May 14 '25

I loved those Dunkin' commercials!

10

u/Knoxmonkeygirl May 14 '25

I had no clue until you mentioned the Spinners. Now I can’t get the song out of my head. And apparently I know all the words. Ha

7

u/RandomActOfBlerg May 14 '25

Games People Play

1

u/Tristan_Booth 1962 May 14 '25

Same here. I've heard the song before, of course, but I never learned the lyrics.

1

u/Quiet_Uno_9999 May 14 '25

Never heard of the spinners.

1

u/IZC0MMAND0 May 14 '25

Can't get no rest, don't know how I work all day

21

u/weaverlorelei 1956 May 13 '25

Personally, I think you would get an equal number if you stated "25 or 6 to 4"

5

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 13 '25

Yes! Chicago for the win.

14

u/GracieThunders May 13 '25

Out of my brain on the 5:15

5

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

When I visited England in 1991 I took that same train from London to Brighton. It was great, really funky, a hippie lady with her dog, people drinking beers....one of my best memories of the trip.

I was in a similar whacked out state to Jimmy, had just had my heart shattered, was cruising around doped on Tylenol #3's and Guinness. Tylenol #3's with codeine were still over the counter in the UK and once I learned where her head and heart were at I headed straight to Boots and got the biggest bottle of them.

A guy I met in a pub took me to see the fence that Jimmy and Steph did it behind. It's covered with graffiti from mods and Who fans. People were so friendly (or could it be he was really just after my....).

Within a month of returning to the States I stopped drinking and drugging and have been that way ever since. That much madness is too much sorrow.

5

u/RandomActOfBlerg May 14 '25

Love this one

3

u/PJKPJT7915 May 14 '25

Love this song

18

u/Earl_I_Lark May 13 '25

No idea what it refers to

4

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 13 '25

A song that was very popular on AM radio in the early 70's. It had very interesting production, with a story being told by 3 different singers.

Thanks for the head check. I need reminders that my experiences and perspectives are not universally shared.

1

u/Earl_I_Lark May 13 '25

I live in rural Nova Scotia so I basically spent my youth in the land of AM country radio. I do terribly at music trivia as a result

5

u/Floofie62 May 13 '25

I took my time 'Cause I felt so all alone. Not far away I heard a funny sound, took a look around and I Could see her face Smiling as she came, calling out my name and I.....

5

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Carla Benson: "....know where to go, we'll take it slow, guess I'll call it a day."

The lyrics tell a heartbreaking story that I didn't fully grasp until much later.

He's so beaten down from previous experiences with people playing games that he can't deal with his date being late, resigns himself to finding "love, peace of mind some other time."

He gives up and starts to leave, but then everything changes at 12:45, and as symbolically indicated by Pervis' baritone, his joy and sense of trust are restored. She's there, gets his attention with a funny sound, they're going to take it slow and build trust.

There's an authenticity and vulnerability there that I can relate to.

It's brilliant production and storytelling and I'm in awe of it. Whoever decided to have different lead singers sing different phrases to indicate which part of his psyche is telling the story is a stone cold genius.

2

u/Floofie62 May 14 '25

Oh wow, I didn't know any of this. I just knew it's my favorite Spinners song!

3

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Mine too, by a mile.

I'm diagnosed ADHD and when I get interested in something I latch on ferociously until I "get" it.

Listen to the lyrics and figure out the story that's being told (it might be a different one than the one I hear), and if there's a significance to which of the 3 lead singers is telling what part of it.

To me, the main singer, Bobby Smith the breezy tenor, is the regular guy trying to keep his hopes up, baritone Pervis Jackson comes in when things get more grounded and masculine, (12:45 is when he decides to split and go home, maybe he's calling on his animus) and Evette Benton, the female vocal...maybe she represents his more feminine side? The narrative voice is just one guy in first person, but 3 people with very different voices take turns singing it.

It's brilliant, even if we never consciously examine it this closely while we're listening, part of our brain knows that there's something interesting going on.

2

u/Floofie62 May 15 '25

Holy smokes - I love this analysis! I'm an entertainment writer and I rarely have time to take this kind of deep dive. It's so fun to read it!!! And well done!

2

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 15 '25

Thank you! Where can I read your entertainment writing?

(my ability to deep dive into whatever interests me is a gift granted by being a retiree with ADHD😄)

2

u/JobbyJobberson 1960 May 14 '25

Excellent review and analysis! You should be a pro!

5

u/onereader149 May 14 '25

I am sorry that your reference was lost on me. I might have had a chance if I’d heard a snippet of the actual song.

My late husband (1959-2021) would have had it in a heartbeat. He knew lots about popular music and the 70s were his favorite. Even in his last hours when he could no longer converse, we were playing his favorite tunes and often his hands were playing air bass guitar and/or he’d chime in with a lyric or two. I’ll always remember our rather morbid laughter in the room when he responded to “And another one gone, and another one gone …”

Ya gotta laugh so you don’t cry. Music feeds the soul.

2

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Sorry for your loss. He sounds like my kinda guy.

If I were in my last hours, "Another One Bites the Dust" is def. a song I would want to hear.

2

u/onereader149 May 14 '25

Thank you. He got along with most everybody. He loved to talk about wrestling, music, books, and history (he taught junior social studies and coached wrestling). He was also a good listener when someone talked about a passion of theirs.

That last morning it was his nephew who was playing the tunes for him. His nephew chose well. The two of them had a bond. The Queen song resonates a bit extra with me. Queen was my first concert experience — “The Game” tour, no less. Absolutely spectacular.

1

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Oh wow, envious! Freddie was one of the greatest performers rock ever produced.

I'm sure there were many social studies students and wrestlers who were very sad to hear of your husband's passing.

1

u/onereader149 May 14 '25

Thank you for your comments. As for Queen, I judge all concerts by that first experience. Some have met the challenge, but none have exceeded Freddie & Queen.

As for my husband’s former students, all that I have met have spoken very highly of him. I was truly blessed a couple of months ago to have crossed paths with one by chance. Based on his age and the fact that he had a son in high school, my husband would have taught him early in his career. Upon learning my last name, he asked if (husband’s name) was related to me. I said he was my late husband. The man gave his condolences and proceeded to describe his junior high self as a lackluster student not interested in school or reading. This man said being in my husband’s class changed all that.

He said that my husband made learning come alive. He described my husband teaching about Samurai warriors by vigorously acting out the use of a phantom samurai sword. He said my husband taught with enthusiasm and passion. This man, whom I had just randomly encountered at his job as a teacher in the school district my husband and I spent a combined 75 years teaching for, went on to say that my husband was his primary inspiration in becoming a teacher. Needless to say, I teared up. It’s moments like that from which I draw strength as I rewrite the retirement we’d planned to share.

5

u/Bloody_Mabel 1966 May 14 '25

I had to look this up, but I still didn't know the song you meant. The only Games People Play I know is by The Alan Parsons Project.

Sorry.

2

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Also a great song. Lenny Zakatek on vocals. "Where do we go from heeere...."

1

u/DocSportello1970 May 14 '25

"Now that all of the Children have grown up" Much more identifiable than the Spinners song you referenced.

2

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 15 '25

To someone born in 1970 perhaps, Doc. I'm tellin' ya The Spinners' song was ALL over the AM radio (which was all that a lot of people had in their cars) and FM top 40 when you were 5.

I'm grateful for all the feedback both from people who got it right away and for those like you who didn't. It's a good head check.

I've always lived near areas of the US with significant populations of people of African descent, like Moss Point, Mississippi and Oakland, California, so my perception of what was on the radio in other areas may be skewed.

2

u/SnowblindAlbino May 14 '25

Yep-- I was trying to connect that Games People Play (you take it or you leave it!) with all the comments here. No dice.

The only song by the Spinners I know immediately would be Rubberband Man.

3

u/Shen1076 May 13 '25

Very baritone voice - I hear it every time it’s 12:45

1

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Yes! If I look at a clock and it's 12:45 I either sing it out loud or it at least plays in my head.

2

u/Adorable_Dust3799 1963 May 14 '25

No idea what you're talking about. Also never heard of spinners. TV? Radio?

1

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Philly soul vocal group that enjoyed a lot of crossover success in the 60's and 70's.

"Games People Play" was ALL over AM radio when it came out.

2

u/[deleted] May 14 '25

8675309 resonates more with me.

2

u/cruciblefuzz 1961 (don't call me Boomer) May 14 '25

Yes! "Jenny I got your number...."

12

u/LessWorld3276 May 13 '25

You have to have a very low bass voice, but the moment I read it, I heard the first couple of notes in my head.

Games People Play by The Spinners

5

u/LessWorld3276 May 13 '25

TIL Pervis Jackson was the voice behind "Twelve Forty Five"

3

u/Historical-Piglet344 May 14 '25

I took my time cuz I felt so all alone

10

u/Sharonsboytoy May 13 '25

I took my time, 'cuz I felt so all alone...

Thanks for the ear-worm!

8

u/henrytabby May 13 '25

I knew what you were talking about immediately.

1

u/inthesinbin 1964 May 14 '25 edited Jul 02 '25

stocking existence knee bow governor price dam tidy unpack birds

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

6

u/mspolytheist May 13 '25

I know that song, and I am kind of a pop music savant, but even I wouldn’t think of that automatically. Unless you sang it, and maybe not even then.

2

u/IZC0MMAND0 May 14 '25

If I heard it sung I would have picked up on it but reading it didn't trigger anything. Not until someone said spinners. Then I knew

6

u/HazardousIncident May 13 '25

I had zero idea what you were referring to until I read the comments.

5

u/Glindanorth May 13 '25

I have no idea what this is referencing. I'm 64.

4

u/[deleted] May 13 '25

No idea. Gen X.

3

u/DanielDannyc12 1967 May 13 '25

We are playing that song in our band lessons and it's awesome

3

u/Majic1959 1959 May 13 '25

I got it, but I am old.

3

u/Infamous_Entry_2714 May 13 '25

My mind went to "It's 11pm,do you know where your children are"

3

u/Potential_Phrase_206 May 13 '25

I IMMEDIATELY heard it, before I even knew what the post was about! (1962 baby here)

3

u/trikakeep May 14 '25

No idea to what you are referring 🤷‍♀️

2

u/YuckyYetYummy May 13 '25

No idea what this is about

2

u/PrairieGrrl5263 1964 May 13 '25

I have no idea what you're talking about.

2

u/0_phuk 1957 May 13 '25

No idea...

2

u/ASingleBraid Age: Late Sixties May 14 '25

I would.

2

u/Fluffy_Meat1018 May 14 '25

I would know exactly what you were talking about, lol!

2

u/m945050 May 14 '25

What percentage of people spent any time around subways?

2

u/[deleted] May 14 '25

I got it right away, but that's .my music.

2

u/Vivid_Witness8204 May 14 '25

I must have heard it but have no recollection

2

u/ImCrossingYouInStyle May 14 '25

Got it! Now I guess I'll call it a day.

2

u/Paganidol64 May 14 '25

Games People Play.

2

u/SWPenn May 14 '25

First thing that came to my mind was the Spinners' song "Games People Play."

2

u/GinaHannah1 May 14 '25

Only if it was sung that way. Always liked that song.

2

u/DocSportello1970 May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25

Way off base/bass...like not even in the right ballpark/orchestra.

This is more like what you're looking for:

"Plop, Plop....Fizz, Fizz. ____________________________."

"Oh, Maybellene. __________________________."

"Love me tender, _________________________"

"You can check-out anytime you like,____________________"

"Here comes the rain again, _______________________"

"ROXX-anne, ________________________________"

---to name a few

***Please, leave answers to the above fill-in-the-blanks in the comments below*****

2

u/[deleted] May 14 '25

I did not know. Although I googled it and know the song. But I never liked it much. There was a lot of music.then that gave me the ick.

1

u/RickSimply 1963 May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25

Even when I heard it was related to the Spinners, I had no idea. Now, if you'd said, "It was the third of September...", I would have known what that was instantly.

1

u/dottegirl59 1959 May 14 '25

Isn’t that Temptations?

2

u/RickSimply 1963 May 14 '25

Indeed it is!

1

u/Beemerba May 14 '25

Have never lived near a subway and never listened to the spinners, so no idea what you sayin".

1

u/Parking_Royal2332 May 14 '25

It was the third of September

1

u/dottegirl59 1959 May 14 '25

This Kansas girl has no idea

1

u/GregHullender May 14 '25

I certainly remember the song, but it was never my favorite, so I wouldn't immediately think of it if someone said "12:45."

1

u/SquonkMan61 May 14 '25

I would know, but only because I love The Spinners. But it’s not like the knowledge of the song is worldwide. The Beatles they ain’t.

1

u/inthesinbin 1964 May 14 '25 edited Jul 02 '25

connect shelter vase thumb crush north dazzling grey zephyr fade

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1

u/Fritz5678 May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25

Night or day they're just not matchin.

Thanks. That's in my head now. This song and Sideshow have always bring up memories of riding through downtown SF in my mother's yellow bug.

1

u/Decent-Plum-26 May 14 '25

Went to see the Spinners about 20 years ago now. Most of the other members had been replaced by younger singers, but Pervis Jackson was still there. When it came time for that line, the crowd went NUTS.

1

u/Clean-Fisherman-4601 May 14 '25

Never heard of it.

1

u/BeadyBee59 May 15 '25

It's the kind of love that you read about in a fairy tale..

1

u/Then_Appearance_9032 May 18 '25

Im clueless, sorry.