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In your early, formative years, your taste in music is shaped by what your parents let you listen to. As you get older, you have a wider range or influences: your peers, your friends, the radio, the TV, MTV if you are old enough or something else.
So a few questions (and a poll):
When did you start building your own taste in music?
What was the first album you picked out on your own (it could have been one you purchased or one you requested and was purchased for you)?
Who was your first favorite artist or band?
For me, I started picking out my own music around age 5 or 6. I was all about dance pop.
My dad was a music fan, record and CD collector and our bonding time as kids was taking trips to Tower Records with Dad. I LOVED the make your own tape machine, and I am sure I have some random ones floating around with a very weird mix of songs. Anyway, he was always willing to humor me and my sister with albums of our own. (And of course forced us to listen to his favorites.
Apparently my favorite dad contributed songs were Street Life by the Crusaders, Just the Two of Us by Grover Washington Jr and When Somebody Loves You Back by Teddy Pendergrass. I would sing along every time. I always though "Street Life" was about "Street Lights" until I was at least 18.
My sister and I had a 7" single for Madonna's Burning Up (my dad did not listen to Madonna!). My first CD was Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's Spanish Fly (I still have this CD actually). Around the same time I got the Jody Watley debut CD too.
I didn't claim a favorite band until I was a little older, around 11. My dad's friend dropped off a Brand New Heavies tape for my dad to listen too. I don't think he liked it, but I loved "Never Stop" and soon took the tape for myself. He didn't miss it, and the became my fave.
Chime in!
Last edited by jade408; 03-22-2012 at 08:18 PM..
Reason: spacing
I think I was about 11 or 12 when I bought my first album. It was The Score by the Fugees. I got into hiphop/rap/r'n'b because our neighbour was a DJ who'd play music day and night, it never annoyed us, it only made me curious about music and what he was listening to. I'd go over and borrow random records, and just fall in love with what I was listening to.
My mom used to listen to alot of Bob Marley too, and I got into him too.
But my first favorite artists/group was definitely The Fugees. Then through them I became a big fan of Lauryn Hill. My God what a voice she has.
Now my taste is still alot of old skool music. Blues, Jazz, R'n'B, Rap, HipHop are the only genres I've stuck with.
I think I was about 11 or 12 when I bought my first album. It was The Score by the Fugees. I got into hiphop/rap/r'n'b because our neighbour was a DJ who'd play music day and night, it never annoyed us, it only made me curious about music and what he was listening to. I'd go over and borrow random records, and just fall in love with what I was listening to.
My mom used to listen to alot of Bob Marley too, and I got into him too.
But my first favorite artists/group was definitely The Fugees. Then through them I became a big fan of Lauryn Hill. My God what a voice she has.
Now my taste is still alot of old skool music. Blues, Jazz, R'n'B, Rap, HipHop are the only genres I've stuck with.
For some unknown reason, The Score was one of my dad's favorites. He was always trying to play the CD and bought it first. We decided it mus because Lauryn Hill reminded him of my mom when she was younger.
I grew up hearing the classical music my parents played. Then when I was about 11 or 12 my dad gave me his old "hi-fi" radio, which had a very good sound. I started exploring fm stations in search of "rock" and sort of latched onto Santana, the Beatles, and Hendrix. That was the start...
My dad had really good taste in music. My user name was one of his (and is one of my) favorites. Everything from Mohamed Raffi, Bollywood (and Tollywood-Telugu) soundtracks, to Willie Nelson, Sinatra, Hank Sr, etc
My brother is 10 years older than me, started me out on Beatles,Beach Boys,Four Seasons ect..the first 45 I bought on my own was Hermans Hermits when I was around 5 or 6, first album McCartney, his first solo lp
I voted "age 8-12", but then I actually remember watching MTV when I was 5 years old and enjoying songs by C & C Music Factory and Snap and Club MTV (the precursor to the grind; back then, they actually played "dance" music". We didn't have MTV any more after I turned 6 (we moved out into the country), so it was about three years before I re-discovered dance music, this time under the guise of eurodance when I was 9-10.
We had gotten Primestar, and one of the seven digital music services they provided us with then was "Hits"-something. It was essentially a CHR station. Duluth's local "hit" radio station played mostly A/C rock and light pop tunes; this one played some dance music, such as Amber's "This is Your Night", La Bouche's "Sweet Dreams", Real McCoy's new "One More Time". I soon after identified the music I liked as "Dance", even though I was too ashamed to tell my parents (long story) My dad owned a carpet store at the time (actually two), and in his larger store he installed an in-store audio system the same year, and channel 17 was "Dance", which I listened to on his private receiver. We also had just gotten the internet, which greatly improved my access to dance music in a market where, at the time, only one late-night show on a college radio station played dance music (I discovered this in 1998, and instantly became a fan).
As for album, I mostly listened to music over the internet in the late 1990s. This primarily consisted of downloading 30-second MP2 (not MP3) files and streaming full songs in 16 kbps of RealAudio glory on such sites as Rhythm Continuum and Digital Underground (or Digital Music Underground - something like that). That had ALL of the songs. There were also some internet radio stations even then. I actually was deeply ashamed of my music tastes in front of my parents, and I only admitted that I liked dance music when I was 13. I think "Jock Jams Vol. 5" (or was it Vol. 3) was the first CD I owned. Duluth was way behind the times then and finding dance music here was difficult. The used CD store was the best for that.
When did you start building your own taste in music?
Definitely before the age of 8. I don't recall ever liking my parents' music (jazz, country) until I was in my 30s, LOL. I had my own record player and records at a very young age.
What was the first album you picked out on your own (it could have been one you purchased or one you requested and was purchased for you)?
The Beatles VI; my aunt bought it for me for Christmas when I was 7 or 8 because she knew I liked the Beatles.
Who was your first favorite artist or band?
The Beatles, of course. They were everybody's first favorite band.
My first favourite band was Kiss in the mid 70s. I bought their Rock And Roll Over lp in 1977. I also used to like when they played 50s rock and the Beach Boys on the radio.
My interest in heavy metal began in 1981 when the teen music magazine OKEJ started. About half the magazine was about heavy metal in the 80s and they wrote about both big and small bands.
In the beginning bands like Iron Maiden and Mötley Crüe were my favourites just because they looked so damn cool, but then I started hearing all those bands around 1982-1983.
And then it went downhill from there.
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