Common Knowledge Isn't Always So common

Is there any other "king"?



While the feeling doesn't come around often enough to be aggravating, it does sometimes rear it's ugly head (as it were) to remind me that what passes for common knowledge in my world doesn't exactly cross generational boundaries.Oh, I have a couple of iPods and a laptop and the latest iMac. I read five or six newspapers every day and listen to radio stations I don't particularly like so that I can be at least conversant on a relatively wide range of topics. So, I am generally ahead of the curve with pop culture as well, thanks mainly to our eldest son who takes great pains to keep me informed, despite my credentials as an old doofus.
I had to resist the urge to say something like, " Are you kidding me? How can you not KNOW that...back in the day..." and a host of other expressions that would cement my legacy as a codger...and it happened yesterday...with a reference to Elvis Presley. Yes, I know Elvis is dead (and I'm not feeling too well myself!), but he is legendary still. He was rated as the greatest recording artist from 1955-1999 of all, more than doubling the total points accrued by the Beatles, according to Joel Whitburn, noted author and list-maker. Just for the record (so to speak), I was not a big Elvis fan...he was a few years before my listening genes kicked in, but I know about him, and I figure every sentient being should as well. Therein lies the rub, as it is said.
Four of "my" students are enrolled in a class named Popular Music 1955 to the Present, and into the second week, there was a short written response required. This response dealt with the question of why Elvis was still a significant figure today in the music business...and none of them had a clue.
Oh, they had all HEARD of Elvis Presley, but that was it. They knew absolutely nothing about his legendary career. I know he was gargantuan 50 years ago, but STILL! Common knowledge! Taking them to YouTube to watch footage of the Ed Sullivan Show was ineffective since they didn't know Ed, either, the footage was in black and white, and performers still wore regular clothes.
As I spent 30 minutes explaining to them how tumultuous the music and social world became post-Elvis, I had the sense that I was sitting in "the Home" mumbling to myself with some nurses' aid saying, "That's nice" over and over.
It was only when I compared the impact of Elvis to the impact of Public Enemy did any kind of recognition glimmer.
I can't wait to see how they do on the first test!