Old-school social influencers
(WorldNews Music)

Here`s how social influencers worked when I was in seventh grade. There was always one kid in class who was ahead of the curve — the kid who had the clothes, albums, magazines, knowledge or daring before the rest of us. Perhaps there was an older sibling to thank for the advanced knowledge; perhaps it was more permissive parents; perhaps it was benign neglect and a free-range childhood. In my case, it had to do with free-range and rock and roll music. We are talking of the era before 500 TV channels, MTV, before Rolling Stone magazine, and long before digital platforms that spawned today`s “social influencers.” The culture of my middle school years was different from the culture of my...