Think long and hard, back to your childhood and tell us how you got into music!

[Angela Harlem]

My parents had no interest in music at all, had no record player, no records, nuthin. I got into music all by myself, through the radio then buying my own record player and records. In fact, it still puzzles my mother why music is all that interesting....

First song I truly remember hearing on the radio as a young un was "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle of the Road - google that suckers!

you're such a freak.



my firsts were random. god, a whole bunch of jazz and blues from my dad. mum's was all stuff from the day. Anyone remember that song 'Single Bed'? I don;t know how old I was the first time I heard that, but I thought it was just grand that someone had sung a song about their bed. ... Harry Belafonte.. Zoots, that concert has the best live version of Jump Down, Spin Around by Harry. J Geils Band, The Beatles, the Stones, the Who, Small Faces, Musical Youth ...

 

[patske]

My first memory of music was with Avro's Toppop which was a hit parade show on Dutch television with the legendary Ad Visser (Dutch and Flemish people of my age will know what i am talking about)I must have been 5 years old or so and The first band I was fan off was Adam and the Ants (Still love them) The first single I (well my mother) bought for me was The Who's You better you bet.. not bad for a 5-6 year old.. Although the second one was Phil Collins You can't hurry love..

 

[beegee]

I grew up in a very fanatical Christian environment so "secular music" (as it was called by my parents) was not allowed in the house. I remember not even knowing what the word meant, I just knew it must be bad. This did not stop me, however, from being very curious. In fact, it only helped make me more so. I remember being (miraculously) allowed to attend a birthday party for one of my classmates that was held at a skating rink and hearing 867-5309 by Tommy Tutone. Music became my drug and like most addicts, I had to hide my obsession.

My parents subscribed to Sports Illustrated and received a free AM/FM radio with their order. It went straight into the trash. I dug it out late at night and hid it in my room. I would listen to it while I took my baths, with the sound turned down very low. I would leave the plug out of the drain so I could leave the water running for an hour to cover the sound and not have the tub overflow. I heard crackly versions of Men at Work songs, Human League, The Go-Go's, Joan Jett, John Cougar, J Geils. I would listen to anything and everything, it didn't matter. The girl next door got MTV and I started spending every afternoon at her house "doing homework." She gave me a Walkman and opened up a whole new world of cassette tapes. I could borrow music and listen to songs of my choice. That summer I was sent on a church camping trip where I bragged to a fellow camper about having brought my illicit Walkman with me. By the end of evening bible study it was gone, along with the Rio cassette that was inside it, confiscated by the camp counselors who knew what was good for me. I learned not to trust people at Christian Camp.

Then, in 1984, something magical happened. I convinced my parents that U2 were a Christian band. I went to the library and showed them the articles. My parents were easy to confuse. For Christmas that year, they gave me a cassette copy of The Unforgettable Fire and a tape player to play it on. Over the next year or so, my parents began to question their church and it's methods. It was finally falling apart. For me, it was the green light to start listening to anything I wanted to. I had just started high school. It was the mid-eighties and it was fantastic.

 

[Mr. V]

I bookmarked this thread earlier because I wanted to answer it properly, and now, it's 1am, and I'm half drunk and reading old MSN conversations with ex-(girl)friends, and I feel there's no better time.

My musical life began... hmm, well, I'd say with the Wiggles and that sort of thing I guess, old kiddie shit. That don't count though. Mum and Dad listened to music, not that much though, but when they did it was Elvis, Springsteen, Bryan Adams and artists of that ilk. No idea what bearing that had on me, probably none because I didnt like that kind of music until my balls dropped.

I can remember some of the first albums I bought, but I can't remember which was first. I bought Eiffel 65's album Europop around the time Blue (Da Ba Dee) came out, and some of the songs were actually quality, but it was pretty much one album-length advertisement for the Sony Playstation. I liked it though.

I also remember Savage Garden's Affirmation, which I bought and as a kid enjoyed, some of the songs were really catchy and played on radio I guess, a lot. I don't listen to radio a lot, but as a kid, in the car it was always on. Sometimes when I hear songs that I knew, but didn't know who they were by or what they were call, I can relate to those nights driving home from my Nonna's house, listening to the radio.

What else... hmm. Back in the day when I was listening to the music my friends were listening to to fit in, I listened to a lot of Korn, Umlaut, Motorhead... and I liked it at the time, but to be honest that's not me. A fair bit of Hip-Hop, as well, too, I really got into Eminem, and by extension, Dr. Dre, N.W.A, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, The Game, Ice Cube... Haha, I remember being in Melbourne in 2004, when my team played in the AFL Grand Final, and I bought Straight Outta Compton and Niggaz4Life from the Bourke Street HMV, and listening to them both on my walkman on the drive home.

The first album I actually really fucking loved was Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. This was the album that introduced me to music, really. I was in year 12, my senior year at high school (a little late to be getting into the whole music culture tbh, but I was 16)... i remember it vividly. i had a free couple of lessons so i walked into the city, to find a book to write about for my major project for English Studies. I was at Borders. But, instead I bought this album. I had been listening to I bet you look good on the dancefloor and When the sun goes down, on repeat for about two weeks. Really, the first album I properly digested, and still one of my favourites.

Arctic Monkeys got me into the whole music scene thanks to the internet, and I started listening to similar bands... Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party... that whole scene. Some great stuff there. Trying to remember how I got into U2 thought... it was HTDAAB that reeled me in. I guess caught up in the Vertigo fever I downloaded the album, but never listened it it for ages... until one day at school, I put it on and wow... this was amazing stuff. I rarely listen to it now but i have to credit that album for getting me into this fantastic band.

Then it was the U2 back catalogue, and wow, I'm thinking about those days that I had in the school holidays around 2005, 2006, early 2007 when I would ride my bike to Glenelg, and choose a new U2 album... for me, Pop still sounds like riding along Tapleys Hill Road on a sunny day, getting swooped by magpies, and Joshua Tree is the ride home, parking my bike around the pack while In God's Country blares, sweaty as all hell, tired but feeling incredible.

As good as U2 was I certainly do have to credit Arctic Monkeys for getting me into music. Fuck... i'm getting tired, backtracking into this document, I feel like I should be editing some of this shit, tidying it up, but fuck it. See how it reads in the morning.

As I grow up, songs mean more to me, but i've noticed whatever songs I listen to at a time attach themselves to that time. Viva La Vida, however new, reminds me of moving into my new house off-campus. Arctic Monkeys' second album reminds me of the time after high school, but before college. Franz Ferdinand's second album is what Schoolies Week sounded like. Actually, no it's not. I jsut googled it and it came out in 05, and my Schoolies was 06. Oh fuck, half of this shit is wrong chronologically, but it still means the same to me. I miss those times.

And I know one day I'll feel nostalgic about times like this, in college, post-party, and I know it was only like 2 years ago, but right now, there's nothing I'd want more than to be on a tram from school to my parents' cafe, listening to Despair in the Departure Lounge by Arctic Monkeys, wearing my prefect's blazer, waiting on a text message from Christina, the only girl I've ever really liked, and thinking about the future.

 

[gvox]

My first musical exposure at the hands of my parents were mostly on 8-track cassettes in our Pontiac. Here are the artists I can remember getting constant play: Abba, Jim Croce, CCR, The Band, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Beach Boys, The Beatles (esp Sgt Peppers and Rubber Soul), Marvin Gaye, Chi-Lites, Smokey, Stevie Wonder, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Boney M, Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, Everley Brothers, Buddy Holly ...I could go on an on we were constantly listening to music. Motown and folk rock, especially

The first album I ever bought was U2 - Boy, on record

After that, early purchases I remember in each genre...thats not to say I didn't have other artists or even earlier work by the same artists, but those were usually dubbed tapes off someone, that was huge when I was a kid The following were some of the first albums that I bought as they came out with my own money so to speak..

Rock: Bruce Springsteen - Born In the USA, John Mellencamp - American Fool, David Bowie - Let's Dance EDIT: just went into my 'old' record crates, and forgot how gaga I was over The Police - the first three albums especially!! I liked Ghost and Syncronicity too of course but they didn't hit me like the first 3 did..

Alternative: New Order - Power Corruption and Lies, The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward, Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4 (is Housemartins alternative? well it was definitely off the beaten track when I was 15 lol!!)

RnB: Michael Jackson - Thriller, Lionel Richie - Can't Slow Down, Janet Jackson - Control

Reggae: Bob Marley- Uprising and Exodus, Peter Tosh - Equal Rights, Half Pint - Greetings

Hip Hop: Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions, Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full, EPMD - Strictly Business, Sugarhill Gang Rapper's Delight 12" (altho at this phase in my life I was buying up hip hop like mad so I probably don't have the timings right lol)

House: (mostly 12") Frankie Knuckles - Your Love, Marshall Jefferson - Mystery of Love, Steve Silk Hurley - Jack Your Body



and, of course, every U2 release


OMG I just saw someone reference roller skating music ...altho I never owned these at the time, Freeze Frame, 857-5309, Bounce Skate Rock, White Lines, holy fuck I could go on and on and on....I LIVED for rollerskating in my early teens! There was a place called The Great Skate Place and it just made you feel like you were on another planet with the lights and the disco...just awesome!!!

I really loved 80s music, I never understand why people trash it so much. There hasn't been anything since, for me. 90s 'rock', grunge, what shit 'alternative' has become now, hip hop (save a few artists), technocrap, all of it, the best of all these genres came out in the 70s and 80s, in my opinion. Nothing compares to those days.

 

[Zoots]

music box by mariah carey.

Haha I still like a few songs from that one. I'm not ashamed to admit that. "Hero" being one of them.. could be her best song. But there's a lot of dull adult contemporary on that album.

Meaning you have an appreciation for Top 40 music that most people on this site - and in general - don't. It's not often you find someone that appreciates classic, niche and Top 40 the way you do. Most people write off the Top 40 as being cheap, cheesy and kitschy - which is really unfair, because much of it really is good - but you seem to keep it on an equal plain as the other types of music. Seeing that your "roots" go back to that CD explains that.

cassette... yeah. I do keep it on an equal plain! I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoy the music of Phil Collins and George Michael along with say, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

Harry Belafonte.. Zoots, that concert has the best live version of Jump Down, Spin Around by Harry.

Oh really? Haha I don't remember too much from that cassette. Although, now that I think about it, I remember one more song "sad to say I'm on my way... won't be long for many a day. my heart is down my head is turning around, I had to leave a little girl in Kingston town." The name of the song escapes me right now, lol.

beegee, your story was amazing! Rock n Roll survives in a Christian household.

Mr. V, your post was very interesting too! Hope you got to relive some great memories.


Keep the stories coming!

 

[Zoots]

Zoots - not sure if this counts, but I also had a record that came in National Geographic. It was this real flimsy material - it literally came in the magazine and you could bend it and shit. Then you'd throw it on the record players and listen to whale song. True story. Whale song fucking sucks, but if that's what I had to sit through to get to play with a bendable record in 1978, then I'll listen to it. We didn't have much money back then. I'm pretty sure to this day I can pick out a humpback whale's song from a beluga's.

Btw, that is absolutely fucking hilarious! Dunno how I missed commenting on that the first time around.

 

[If you shout...]

When I was however old I was in the second grade, my mother sat me down, had me listen to a song called "Road to Nowhere" and then a song called "Psycho Killer." She told me, "The name of this band is Talking Heads," and that was pretty much that. No joke. Simple as that. My first favorite band of all time. Within a few months, I was learning how to fake sick, so that I could stay home from school and listen to (at that point, mostly Talking Heads and also a few Smithereens or INXS) records, all day long. Pink Floyd got involved, pretty shortly after that, along with dozens and dozens of other bands. Some of those bands, I still enjoy; some of them, I now hate. At any rate, my freakish obsession goes back quite a way.

 

[Screwtape2]

My parents went to Bruce Springsteen and Mahavishnu Orchestra concerts when I was still in the womb! So I've basically been listening to music since conception!

I am so jealous.

 

[Carek1230]

My folks had quite a record collection and music was always playing in the house. We danced around with mom while doing housework. I remember Elvis and Beach Boys. My sister and I played the flute and were in school chorus. In 4th-5th grade I remember listening to AM transistor radio to Top 40 music with girlfriends. I spent all my allowance on 45s and vinyl-started my own collection I still have to this day. My love of music started early and hasn't waned. When my son was born in 1986 he was introduced to music immediately and has grown up loving all kinds of music. He has an excellent voice and plays guitar, self taught. Now we'll bring his son up loving music!

Music makes the world go round!

 

[Screwtape2]

I grew up on prog rock, jazz and classical music with a few other bands scattered around. The first album I remember hearing was Ra by Utopia and specifically the 18 minute long Singring & The Glass Guitar.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I was obsessed with the Beatles when I was 3, and joined the Columbia House Record Club when I was 5 (we lived in the country, there was no other way to get records), and was reading my older sister's Rolling Stone by 6, and collected 700-800 records before I sold the collection and started buying CDs. My whole family was musical in one way or another - my father was a classically trained pianist, my mother was a music teacher, I played piano and later guitar, and my sisters and I were just the biggest music fans ever. There was music in the house all the time. I remember in 3rd grade I got in trouble because instead of doing the class assignment, I made a list from memory of the top 40 countdown from the night before, and when I finished that, I started writing out the lyrics to various songs from that list. All of my earliest memories involve music, mostly the Beatles, or sitting in my mom's lap at the piano.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

My mom was a Beatles fanatic...she was a teen right when they hit it big and saw them in concert a bunch of times. So she'd always have Beatles tapes playing in the car on road trips, long drives, etc. The Beatles were the first band I fell in love with. The first band whose songs I memorized, worshipped, embraced.

And I have to say, I don't think there could have been a better place to start.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

My mom was a Beatles fanatic...she was a teen right when they hit it big and saw them in concert a bunch of times. So she'd always have Beatles tapes playing in the car on road trips, long drives, etc. The Beatles were the first band I fell in love with. The first band whose songs I memorized, worshipped, embraced.

And I have to say, I don't think there could have been a better place to start.

ha, same with my mom. well, she was a little younger, but still. she told me the story of her saving allowance to buy the 45 of please please me. the lullaby she'd sing to me was all my loving, but to be honest i don't know if a lot of their music was played around my house. i remember seeing the cover of sgt. pepper's but that's about it.

 

[corianderstem]

The girl next door got MTV and I started spending every afternoon at her house "doing homework."

Ha! That sounds familiar. Even though we didn't have cable, my parents made it very clear to me that I was not allowed to watch MTV.

So I watched it at my best friend Penny's house - we'd sit in her den surrounded by library books, snacks, and watching MTV. Man, good times.

My grandma was also complicit in my MTV sneakiness, and she'd let me watch all the MTV I wanted.

I also remember getting a "talking to" from my mom over my 45 of "Like a Virgin." She said, "I don't think I like you listening to songs like that," she said.

I just rolled my eyes and said "I don't like it for the lyrics, mom."

Surprisingly, she took my word for it and never questioned the music I listened to again.

 

[LemonMelon]

I also remember getting a "talking to" from my mom over my 45 of "Like a Virgin." She said, "I don't think I like you listening to songs like that," she said.

I just rolled my eyes and said "I don't like it for the lyrics, mom."

Surprisingly, she took my word for it and never questioned the music I listened to again.

The idea that someone would genuinely listen to Madonna for her lyrics is probably the funniest thing I've heard all day.

But hey, maybe your mom had a point. Think of all the bank accounts that Material Girl must have ruined.

 

[beegee]

I also remember getting a "talking to" from my mom over my 45 of "Like a Virgin." She said, "I don't think I like you listening to songs like that," she said.

One time, for my birthday, a girl gave me a 45 of the Rolling Stones cover of "Going to a Go-Go" and my mom, instead of just being cool and taking it away, actually made me walk to the girl's house, give it back to her and tell her I don't listen to songs like that.

Yeah.

I'm pretty much the best parent in the world compared to my parents.

 

[corianderstem]

Thank goodness my parents let me have my Michael Jackson / Prince / Duran Duran obsessions and let me listen to rock and roll.

 

[LemonMelon]

My parents stopped caring about what music I listened to when I turned 13. I was buying and downloading so many new albums per week by then that they just couldn't be bothered anymore. Now, believe it or not, my mother likes a lot of the same artists I do. My father hates pretty much anything made after 1985.

 

[beegee]

Thank goodness my parents let me have my Michael Jackson / Prince / Duran Duran obsessions and let me listen to rock and roll.

I really should clarify that my parents are totally different today.

I took my mom to see Fiona on her last tour. She loved it. She listens to lots of different music now - although it would be REALLY nice to hear something other than the Mamma Mia soundtrack when we're in her car these days.

 

[corianderstem]

When I go home these days, I'm subjected to a lot of Josh Groban.

*sigh* Oh, mom.

 

[Cin]

We always had the radio on when I was a kid. My friends thought it was weird that my Mum would sing to all of the songs. On long car drives my Dad owned the radio. I have him to thank for my irresistable pull towards soft rock like Air Supply and novelty songs
Even now my Mum sings around the house and Dad downloads songs or buys them from "the ebay"

My extended family all play an instrument or sing rauciously and often out of tune. Musics in my blood man

 

[rushu2]

When I was 8 my mother said "you're old enough now" this was 1977 and she pulled out her albums- one of which was the Beatles debut album (don't know what it was called but it had all 4 of them in black in white) and then told me who each member was and then quizzed me on it. She then pulled out an album by the silkie and it had "you've got to hide your love away" by then unknown Lennon and Mccartney.

I really credit my mother with introducing me to music (she and my dad got together b/c of Bob Dylan- my mother had seen him with 80 people in the audience and was so taken aback- she played his album on their first date and he said "good god he is awful, he'll never make it") - nevertheless, he went out and bought a 12 string guitar the next day to impress her.

 

[joyfulgirl]

When I go home these days, I'm subjected to a lot of Josh Groban.

*sigh* Oh, mom.

My mom lost her favorite Josh Groban CD so I just bought her another one.

*sigh*

My parents didn't introduce me and my sisters to any of the music we listened to as kids but they loved music so they let us love whatever we wanted. For really strict conservative parents, I always thought that was cool.

 

[sue4u2]

Wolfman Jack.
May he rest in peace.
He played everything.
Through him I discoverd rock.
The rest is history.
Long time ago, but what the hell. I'm from a long time ago

 

[cobl04]

Great thread

For me, music first came into my life with The Wiggles. Then, one day in about grade four, I went to a mate's sleepover. We woke up in the morning and put Rage on. The top songs at the time were Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus and Who Let the Dogs Out by the Baha Men. Teenage Dirtbag became my favourite song for a long time, and I still love it, though because of the film clip (it was associated with the movie Loser) I thought Jason Biggs was the lead singer. The next song I fell in love with was I Try by Macy Gray, mostly because of the chorus. I used to watch Rage every Saturday morning from #50 to #1. Great times, and a shame I can't do that anymore. (I always hated watching Video Hits, because they only showed two songs, then had an ad break, intespersed with requests, flashbacks, etc, wouldn't show any songs that had many bad words or a unsuitable video.)I also grew up with two tapes that were constantly played in Dad's car: Bob Seger The Collection and Bryan Adams' Wakin' Up The Neighbours.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

For me, music first came into my life with The Wiggles.

 

[Cin]

Great thread

For me, music first came into my life with The Wiggles. Then, one day in about grade four, I went to a mate's sleepover. We woke up in the morning and put Rage on. The top songs at the time were Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus and Who Let the Dogs Out by the Baha Men. Teenage Dirtbag became my favourite song for a long time, and I still love it, though because of the film clip (it was associated with the movie Loser) I thought Jason Biggs was the lead singer. The next song I fell in love with was I Try by Macy Gray, mostly because of the chorus. I used to watch Rage every Saturday morning from #50 to #1. Great times, and a shame I can't do that anymore. (I always hated watching Video Hits, because they only showed two songs, then had an ad break, intespersed with requests, flashbacks, etc, wouldn't show any songs that had many bad words or a unsuitable video.)I also grew up with two tapes that were constantly played in Dad's car: Bob Seger The Collection and Bryan Adams' Wakin' Up The Neighbours.

Good God I feel old.
I used to get up at 5.30 on the weekends to watch Rage. If there was a really good special on I'd go to sleep early, set the clock for midnight and tape the songs I liked.

 

[Angela Harlem]

You people who started on the Wiggles make me feel really REALLY old. I think I saw them underage as the Cockroaches back when they played the boozers around town and had an entirely different playlist

Zoots, that song is Jamaica Farewell. Lovely song.

 

[Laura M]

My Dad is really into his music. In the baby book my parents kept for me he mentions a lot of music I supposedly enjoyed. The first album he played to me was Phil Coulter's "Sea of Tranquility" when I was a week old.

He loves Elvis so we heard him a lot. I do remember him playing Johnny Cash quite a bit too. The first songs I remember asking to listen to - I was about three of four at the time - are "Super Trouper" by Abba, "Locomotion" by Kylie and "Long haired lover from Liverpool" by Jimmy Osmond. My favourite song was "Downtown" by Petula Clark but I was also fond of "Ernie the fastest milkman in the west" by Benny Hill. My musical preferences around this time reflect the vinyl my parents had in the house.

The first record someone bought for me was "The shoop shoop song" by Cher. The first tape I got was Whigfields Saturday night single. I think the first cd I owned was Tubthumping by Chumbawumba. I got Macy Grey's "I try" and "I love you, always forever" by Donna Lewis with my first cd player.