A row of dancing bears on a car used to mean something.

Now the car stickers are as generic as the "You've Got A Friend In Jesus" license plates.

From the free-flowing improv of local bands, the booming sales of Lithuanian Olympic T-shirts and from MTV's rotation of The Spin Doctors and Phish, Jerry "Father Time" Garcia and the rest of Grateful Dead are responsible for influencing hippies and yuppies alike.

"(Grateful Dead) used to be a well-kept secret," said Tom Salamon (junior-communications), lead singer and guitarist of the local band King Solomon's Marbles. "Then in 1987, it became the trendy thing to listen to."

Gone are the days when bonds were based between skull stickers and love beads, when this "well-kept" secret brought people together.

But now the trend has not only produced a subculture of tie-dyed college students, but also a wave of music inspired in some part by the Dead.

Bands such as Blues Traveler and The Spin Doctors have revived the Dead's spontaneous jamming and carefree folk and adapted it to fit the MTV generation.

"It's something people don't have to try hard to like because it's predigested," said Jay Williams, employee at Blue Train Compact Disc, 418 E. College Ave. "They already have a built-in audience."

Although Grateful Dead is one of the store's best sellers, Williams also said The Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler discs always sell.

The newer bands may attract Deadhead listeners, but the music has a definite updated style.

"They're more concise. It's more straight-ahead rocking and under five minutes," Williams said. "There's not as much indulgent jamming."

With an addictive pop sound, songs such as "Two Princes" reflect the changes in music style.

"It's more upbeat and faster and crazier," said Skip Marcotte, manager of Superkind, 110 E. Beaver Ave. "Times have changed. That's the problem with the whole Dead thing for me, it's like, 'Shit, this was what my parents listened to.' "

For a generation that wasn't even alive during the Dead's height, the spirit of the '60s seems almost within reach.

"It's the whole attitude of be yourself, question authority," said Mike Hazen (junior-civil engineering). "There's something in the music that doesn't depend on time."

If that were true, Happy Valley would be stuck in a time warp, with local bands regurgitating "Uncle John's Band" nightly.

"It's the most fun music to play," said Salamon, whose band's material is "95 percent Dead."

"There's a freedom in the music. A lot of bands do the same thing every night, but we never get bored. That's why the Dead has been around so long."

With other bands, the influence of the Dead is less overt. But improvisation still rules the groups sets.

"We take more of their fun attitude about music and blend all different styles," said Matt Zelenz (senior-history), drummer and vocalist for Third Stone From The Sun. "It's great fun to play because it has an infectious groove to it."

But for a town where classic rock and Dead are staples for most bands, this resurgence is unwelcome.

"It's created for State College where people don't want to embrace alternative music," Williams said. "It's for people who don't want to find something of their own."

Garcia and his dancing bears are pretty harmless.

"It's very non-threatening music," said Paul Canis (graduate-philosophy), Blue Train employee. "It's warm and cuddly."