So often, music forums descend into the classic trap of "my taste is more osbcure/cool/witty than yours". Personally I think thats death. I much prefer the challenge of actually finding common ground - one thats sometimes suprising. I'm personally motivated to find a common ground thats a little different than the one shaped by the mediaspace owned by the marketeers.
And so, I offer a blog post about potentially mock worthy things...
What are the albums and bands that you listened to when you were finding your way into music? Those great ones you got truly lost in, and more importantly the ones that may explain your tastes now.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Technorati
Comments
Now lets cast my mind way
Now lets cast my mind way back when ... I know mum was an Elvis fan so he's the main one I remember being on the record player the most, I had a little portable record player I had a record by .. google search .. Susan Raye it was a small 45 of LA international airport which got abit of playing owing really to it being one of the very few records I owned along side a couple of story ones .. "Little toot" I seem to remember was another record I owned though it was a story about a tug boat, they used to have stories on a Saturday or Sunday morning on the radio and that was one of the one's they'd play, okay drifting here. We always had the radio on and so many songs just pass through my head now as I'm typing that I can't really focus on just one, I liked Gordon lightfoot his main hit at the time was "the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald" which I haven't heard in an age, must by his best of CD. " Master jack" was another song by Four jacks and a jill, "the laughing gnome" David bowie. Waterloo sunset the kinks, Abraham, Martin and John by Dion Demucii. So many Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Mango Jerry, ACDC, shadows, beach boys, the byrds, just heaps pink floyd, fleetwood mac, the Beatles, ABBA, Joni mitchell, Mumas and papas, music was a constant in the background and the radio always seemed to be on, though that was in the 70's and I guess in the first 5 years of my life in the 60's, loads of old obscure stuff ... so many songs my poor little mind has just blown a fuse !!
I wish you would use the
I wish you would use the enter key, el nui. Looking at your posts give me a headache ;P
I wasn't sure what you were
I wasn't sure what you were on about,
But having looked at the other posts,
I think I understand what you mean,
Sorry for the headaches :-).
Where's your list DUST. Lets
Where's your list DUST.
Lets see now... In order of favourites Ages 0-13
Music Of My Own When Growing Up:
Ultravox, David Bowie, Duran Duran, TACO, Tiffany, Sam Fox, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi
Parental Music:
Neil Diamond, Herb Alpert, Elton John
Brothers Music:
Jeff Waynes WOTW, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, WASP, Faster Pussycat
It was a very limited music
It was a very limited music collection in my childhood, and some would say limited in terms of taste. Not me tho.
Cassettes I owned: Michael Jackson 'Thriller', Icehouse 'Man of Colours', Bryan Adams 'Waking up the Neighbours' (of which listening sessions would consist of 'Everything I Do (I Do It For You)' ad nauseum).
Parents' road trip music: Simply Red, Tracy Chapman, The Eurythmics/Annie Lennox, Hootie and the Blowfish.
Sister's music I 'borrowed': Supergroove 'Traction', Now That's What I Call Music 4, 30 Songs About Sex.
the most important albums
the most important albums (in terms of shaping my taste), would've been "black album" by metallica, "middle of nowhere" by hanson, and probably fleetwood mac "greatest hits".
tapes i owned as a youngin: michael jackson "bad", and "dangerous", kickin 5, tripping daisy single of "i got a girl" (which had the BEST song on it - "cause tomb shop"), and that fucking song by joshua kadison, "jesse", which i'll probably never live down.
stuff i borrowed off my sister when she wasn't looking: silverchair "frogstomp", some hole cds, a compilation that had NIN on it, and her new kids on the block cd. funny how she grew out of most of that music and i didn't.
my parents listened to: fleetwood mac, the beatles, dire straits (my dads favourite band), elvis, kenny rogers, some classical music, travelling wilburys, dan fogelberg (i still get sentimental listening to "high country snows"), and the righteous brothers.
and i always loved 80's pop.
Jesse! paint a picture about
Jesse! paint a picture about how it's gonna be, I guess I shoulda known better your dreams are never free.
The first tape I owned was
The first tape I owned was The Immaculate Collection by Madonna, but before that I listened to what my sisters were into, so there was a lot of Appetite for Destrution, Floodlands by the Sisters of Mercy, and some Cure, as well as mixtapes that were a mix of what was big in Germany in 1985 and Beatles-era oldies and the Chess soundtrack that we listened to endlessly and sang along to on long car trips in our Mitsubishi station-wagon.
My Old Man worked for HMV
My Old Man worked for HMV and EMI and had his own record shop so I was very lucky to have a lot of varied and interesting music and people around.
Like Kate Bush.
namedropping attention seeker
I got my own record player when I was 4 , I clearly remember Elvis "Hawaii Live" Jimi Hendrix "Hey Joe" and Earth Wind and Fire "September". John Hanlon, Quincey Conserve, Santana and Muddy Waters were apparently favs too, but I cant say for sure.
I think the first record I bought was 12" "Transmission" by Joy Division, this was a re-release ,maybe '82. Other early buys, were Talk Talk, Bob Marley,Sade, The The, Sisters of Mercy and the first real drugs record was def Grace Jones"Slave to the Rhythm".
'87 was the changing of the guard though....Prince bought out Sign of the Times, I had money, a Bass and weed and that record with only the possible exception of Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" has had more damage on me than anything else.
Honorable mention to the Blue Nile, my old man got the CD it was like a new dawn technology wise and I remember the Music effected me different too. I'm going to say '84 but I'll be gladly put in my place over dating this.
from here I have tried to listen to and for Beauty.
My parents & siblings
My parents & siblings weren't really into music like I was. I think I did the thing that lena o said would happen - went through a bunch of phases and then ended up pretty much back where I started.
Childhood & Teenhood: Abba, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Prince, most stuff in the top 20.
Late teens: Discovered Radio Rhema. Started getting interested in some heavier stuff, but still liked a mighty lot of pop and folk. Phil Collins. Stryper. Shakespeares Sister.
University, Year 1: "alternative" music started going mainstream. I liked Jesus Jones, EMF, Supergroove and the Chilis (they were still cool back then). Campus radio and my friends introduced me to Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry.
University, Year 2: my most excellent friend was a guitarist; got right into Extreme, Mr Big, Guns & Roses & pretty much anyone with a poodle cut, including the christians.
Rest of university was a brainfart of wholesome christian music, including the mandatory elimination of my entire "secular" music collection.
Wellington: started getting "hip". Portishead, Beck, Massive Attack, Strawpeople, Moby, Morcheeba, Elastica, Blur. Greatest influences were my husband and my workplace partner-in-crime, who introduced me to Gomez, Morphine & Regurgitator.
Most people protest when I tell them I like pop & then start listing all my favourites, but nearly all the stuff I instantly like has a definite foot-tapping, almost cutesy element. There were bands that I liked that diverged from that trend, but I had to make quite an effort to like them. Now I think about it, I don't think I've really gone full-circle so much as my primary musical motivation never really changed.
from the start i only
from the start i only listened to music which followed the rule my mama gave me
Cool topic - I've actually
Cool topic - I've actually been going back through my back catalouge...
Parental Influence - Fleetwood Mac, Beetles, Dire Straits, Classical...
My folks wern't huge music types (my mum is more than my dad) but I always credited them with okay tastes...
Early Years (kiddy) : Duran Duran (actually the first band I *liked*), Michael Jackson (Thriller), breakdancing music (ick!)...
Early Teens : Crowded House, Split Enz, various pop stuff... basically I started to appreciate melody and harmony plus the energy which could come out of music.
Mid Teens - This is where everything changed for me - I found stuff which blew me away and no-one else at school seemed to like (let alone understand) excpet for a couple of folks...
THE PIXIES - Surfer Rosa broke my mind... quite literally...
Sonic Youth - Goo, Daydream Nation
Blur, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cure, Bauhaus etc etc...
Late Teens - NZ Takes Over!! I suddenly realised (after my first JPS gig) that music was ment to be heard live, and seeing as not many overseas acts came over here I should work out what NZ acts were good... well that left me broke, hungover and smiling ear to ear for a couple of years :-)
JPS Experience, Straightjacket Fits, Bailter Space, The 3D's, Loves Ugly Children, The Able Tasmans, The Bats... a lot of flying nun stuff... But then there were a whole bundle of great welly bands that came out in my....
Early 20's - Had to work now, and pick my gigs a bit more, but hugly influenced by some locals acts - much more so than anything I was hearing recorded.
Bilge Festival, Short [I still miss these two bands very greatly], Shihad, HLAH, Convential Toasters (PN?), The Spirals (actually they were much earlier).
Mid - Late 20's - bailed out of the music scene a bit and got more stuck into writing and computers.. still listening though and finding stuff which everyone else was raving about years ago...
30's - Well I'm back playing now and those I play with tend to influence me more than what I hear anywhere else so my tastes have started to reflect those I play with more and more...
Refused, Godspeed! You Black, Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, Calexico, Modest Mouse...
Though as a closing note I would have to say that the one album which has had the greatest influence on my musical tastes and stylings would still have to be...
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS :-)
...
...
I grew up in a Radio Hauraki
I grew up in a Radio Hauraki sort of household. As a kid there were certain songs I loved... stuff by the Animals and Bowie in particular. Looking back I actually had pretty good taste for a little kid, never liked any of that Van Halen shit, it was 'house of the rising sun' and 'changes' that really rang my bell. Also some spooky old American folk/blues songs that we'd sing (it wasn't until I was in my teens that I realised most families don't have regular sing-alongs).
I was in form 2 when OK Computer came out, I had no idea what it sounded like, I lived in the country, but I kept reading these reviews that made it sound amazing so I got my mum to buy it for me. Whooey. It was so dense and scary. Took me a few months to get my head round it, but by the start of high school I was in the grip of a Radiohead obsession that lasted several years. And of course that sent me off in other directions... a lot of missteps too, listened to some pretty crap Britpop records for a while.
Next big thing was when I gave Bailterspace a try, maybe 5th form. For the next few years I spent a lot of time on the Bailterspace-->HDU-->Mogwai-->Sigur Ros sort of axis. Also started listening to jazz a little, only a little, there was an Art Blakey I loved, still seems to be the 50s/60s stuff that does it for me, seems like a small step from John Coltrane to HDU a lot of the time. Also I had a Jeff Buckley-inspired dalliance with sensitive singer-songwriters but soon realised they were mostly a bunch of arse. (Wish I'd discovered the Fall sooner-would have been a good antidote.)
Full circle? Yeah, I've noticed that too. Probably my favourite music at the moment is (I know it sounds really, really wanky) Cambodian psych/surf/pop from the 60s and 70s. Basically it's the sort of stuff I grew up with, but through a prism. It's hyper-melodic, based on Brit/American 60s pop but a bit off-kilter, slightly different scales, different language, more intense a lot of the time. Try the Cambodia Rocks compilation, or Cambodian Cassette Archives on the Sublime Frequencies label. Also I love Neutral Milk Hotel. So yeah, I still love hissy trebly 60's-sounding records, stuff that sounds like 'house of the rising sun'.
name me 1 song better than
name me 1 song better than hot for teacher
Panama
Panama
And... - Runnin With The
And...
- Runnin With The Devil
As overplayed as it is (and what a pop song!) - Jump
But yeah, Hot For Teacher is sex, titties, cocaine, speed, nicotine, petrol, v8 bleat and fake cream always and forever. One of the BEST videos of all time to boot.
cough I'll be in the
cough
I'll be in the bathroom if you need me
Are you Smokin' in the Boys'
Are you Smokin' in the Boys' Room? q
Chirpy Chirpy Cheep
Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
still better is "the ass in the manger".
i guess those do fit in
i guess those do fit in nicely with hdu & mogwai- except the joke wears thin faster on the latter 2
OK so you all sucked me back
OK so you all sucked me back into my own blog. Haven't done the thinking yet, but aiming to....
Just wanted to put down one album/moment for now, mainly as I get to see it (just that one album) played live in 7 hours time! Grouse.
Melvins - Houdini
This album spanned so much for me. Sabbath, Soundgarden's Louder Than Love, my at-the-time obsession with all things Cobain (he was still not on the TV3 news items at that stage), snowboarding videos with Jamie Lynn (who was at BDO when Soundgarden headlined). Mostly it was hard buzz buzz buzz in everyway. I never realised at the time that all rock bands were gonna be shit compared to this for about, oh, the next 14 years.