When I was in middle school, I absolutely loved Nirvana and AFI, but now I never mention it. I have most of their back catalogues. I know the words to most of their songs. By looking through their influences and their contemporaries, I expanded my repetoire. Through Nirvana, I discovered the music of the Pacific Northwest, from the 90's to beyond. Through AFI, I discovered Minor Threat and Fugazi. That said, I never mention this. Mostly because if I say "I like Nirvana", I get "Oh, so you must think Courtney killed him." If I say "I like AFI", I get, "But you're too cool to be emo."

On a different note, how does the Halo soundtrack count as soft classical? Maybe, as a non video game player, I am completely out of it. But that just astounds me.

Sent by Kirie | 10:32 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Mad World and the Halo soundtrack is classical music?
I suddenly feel very sophisticated.

Sent by Dan G | 10:33 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Talking Heads, REM, Neil Young, Screeching Weasel, Replacements...

Sent by E | 10:56 PM ET | 11-06-2007

You are completely right. For me is Hendrix

Now fujiya & miyagi, krautrock, radiohead, drum & bass...

Sent by fernando | 11:33 PM ET | 11-06-2007

For, I don't know, 20 years or so, Bruce Springsteen was my favorite. Still is, to be honest ... he's the one who made the biggest impact on my life. Then in the mid/late-90s came Sleater-Kinney ... feels a bit odd writing this here, but what can I say, it's true. Being one of that larger-than-you'd-think contingent of middle-aged S-K fans, I would often find myself hanging out with friends of my own general age, and if they asked me my fave, I'd say Bruce, because they hadn't heard of S-K and I wasn't sure they'd like them. (Sometimes I was right, sometimes wrong.) If I was standing up in front of a classroom, though, I'd use S-K to make me seem like the professor who was cool for his age. I hardly ever told my young companions about Bruce, although eventually my older friends knew about S-K because I went to see them over and over and over.

Then one night, on Bruce's birthday, I saw you do "Promised Land" ... was it the Fillmore, I forget? Finally my two worlds came together. I quit seeing the two as representative of different parts of my life, and recognized them as a existing on a continuum of taste.

And now I tell anyone who asks that my two favorites are Bruce Springsteen and Sleater-Kinney. Let them figure out what it all means.

Sent by Steven | 11:35 PM ET | 11-06-2007

one of the first bands i saw in concert was hanson. they were better than all the "bands" other girls my age were listening to and they actually had talent. shortly after, my brother got me listening to some of his music. the ones that really got me out of my music "closet" were mc 900 foot jesus, cake, and skunk anansi. they made me look at music as something to explore and not just background noise to my life. i also remember "rocking out" in my brothers car to a cassette of scottish bag-pipe music. and if my cat weren't so lazy and fluffy i'd walk around with her on my shoulders for sure.

Sent by jenn p. | 11:44 PM ET | 11-06-2007

first of all, hahahaha! why do metal fans have to have tarantulas? i wonder if the sales of such animals has gone down since the advent of world of warcraft...?

second, the first "bands" i ever got obsessed with were weezer and veruca salt.

Sent by Lauren | 11:51 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Sometimes I say the Monks, but I always mean the Who.

Sent by knitknit | 12:00 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Very interesting, and I had the same thing happen to me. Back in 7th grade I started listening to the band Alkaline Trio, which is the farthest thing in the world from what I ended up listening to later on (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Deerhunter, Joy Division, Slint, ect, ect). For the longest time, it seemed like music that was in a more simple vein had no real credibility other than just being a "fun" record, nothing to really put your emotion into. That was, until I went back and listened again, and realized how much I still loved Alkaline Trio, despite all these other artists I had found.

I am now a senior in high school, and I don't take anything I like for granted. I think most of us have to go through our "i'm too Indie for that sort of thing" phase, but I'm glad I can just enjoy what I really like nowadays.

Sent by Robert | 12:23 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Chicago! My dad used to play Chicago cassette tapes on our long drives during family vacation, and it would annoy my siblings and I to no end. Eventually I caved and became a huge Chicago fan (can't say the same for The Eagles). Maybe it's the band geek in me, but to this day I think Chicago rules.

Another artist who changed my perception of things and the way I looked at women in music, in particular, was PJ Harvey. I cannot say enough about how influential she's been in my musical tastes.

Sent by Melissa | 12:36 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Two things, if not very deep.

1. Speaking as someone who took a non-traditional route towards these things, I've got to say that I'm not positive about your suggested path. That is, I think that community is far more important on deciding our tastes. Hence my large techno collection dating from high school, which I now don't generally reference (except when calling Orbital one of my favorite bands), & my general lack of penetration into serious hip-hop.

2. Part of the problem is that groups like the Ramones often don't sound like "Sonic Laser Beams" so much as "simple". That is, easy to overlook without proper context for their significance. The Ramones don't get proper valuation precisely because, no matter who plays them, they always have the same interpretation.

Sent by yossarian | 12:40 AM ET | 11-07-2007

This is a great post. My five-year-old and I were just dancing around to the Ramones this afternoon in our pdx basement. She always wants to know about Joey, what he was like, how come he died. She knows I've always been a huge fan. I told her how sad/weird it was that 3 out of 4 Ramones are now gone, one after the other, and how much I missed their shows. She wanted to know how people danced at their concerts. So I jumped straight up and down for 2.5 minutes to Beat on the Brat to demonstrate.

Of course I moved on to more "sophisticated" bands, but the Ramones always occupied a place in my heart as the base from which I started my exploration. They are simple yet authentic, buzzing with agitated energy. It's still hard to believe they're gone.

Sent by Jennie | 12:55 AM ET | 11-07-2007

....it represents the final goal of Buddhism and thy name is Nirvana. How else could a 12 year old be mandated to put aside their Guns N' Roses records and give something actually NEW a chance to take over?
Those guys from Seattle were like a cool older sister to everyone that didn't have one, clueing you in on what else there WAS out there. I mean were they the first number one Billboard band to name check their idols while still number one? Nirvana's interviews read like bathroom stall graffiti, snide comments and true rock band shout outs written huge in black magic marker.
How can you move past something so pure? You can't nor should you.

Sent by Simon Dasher | 12:57 AM ET | 11-07-2007

captain beefheart and pink floyd were probably some of the first music I remember hearing and asking my parents about it (I was 5 or 6). Metallica, Napalm Death and GWAR persuaded me to stop conforming in high school in west texas.

Sent by joe | 1:02 AM ET | 11-07-2007

The Wallflowers - Bringing Down the Horse. I listened to it on the bus in 6th grade on my way to and from school. "One Headlight" was the hit, but a lot of the songs are fantastic.

Sent by Nick | 2:17 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Okay, your blog is totally making my day. Every day, so far.

Unfortunately, I have nothing to add on the animal front. I own no pets, and if I did, I would not carry them around on my back, neck, etc. I'm just glad someone has the good sense to ask, though.

Starter music for me:
1st Tape: Beatles White Album
2nd: Soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop
Eventually found my way into Duran Duran, then early U2, then The Cult, and started going deeper "underground" from there. Don't worry though, there was never so much pretentiousness that I would pretend to not have loved Kiss or Van Halen, either. When you're a kid, there's no real deliniation between lame and cool, until you start trying to impress people.

Sent by Dylan Gaughan | 4:38 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Replace "Ramones" with "Nirvana" in this post, and that's basically me. I often find myself forgetting that they still mean just as much to me as they did when I was 14.

Sent by Karissa | 7:30 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Pearl Jam and Soundgarden really plunged me into the world of music before I started listening to "cool" bands like Deerhoof and Sleater-Kinney. I try my best not to deny the fact that I loved and still love those two bands but it is more fun to bring up a mind blowing band that less people have heard of like Oneida. Hell you might get them to listen to one of these lesser known bands. What I really "forget" to tell people about was that my sisters and I grew up listening to hair-bands and that my first concert was Tesla (I still like their music too).

Sent by Ted | 8:59 AM ET | 11-07-2007

hall & oates, prince, tears for fears.
and though i still listen to their music (a lot), i never name them when asked my favorite bands.

Sent by jdoublep | 9:09 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I get looks of "really? really?!" and then the usual shrug of "you're just acting cool" when people ask me my favorite band. It is, and has been since i was a kid, Captain Beefheart. I was lucky(?) to hear that music when i was young enough to still think that music on the radio was live and that bands lined up at the radio station to play their music. later, i started to get the cultural references, and their music seemed a little childish to me, but i return to it all the time, and find that despite the vaudeville aspect of it, i still like it, and i can't really help it.

there's alot of music that i appreciate, but when i'm home alone, and there's no one there to encourage a certain musical choice socially, that is what i return to.

my life is better for having had this experience of music, and i keep coming full circle.

Sent by kyle | 9:12 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I'm considerably ashamed to say this, but when I was in second grade or so, I fell in love with my older sister's copy (cassette, of course) of Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" and my older brother's copy (this one vinyl) of Def Leppard's "Pyromania."

I guess you could say they started me down a life-long interest in rock music, which quickly and thankfully evolved past the '80's metal thing. From there I moved into the '90's Pacific Northwest scene (I was in high school when Kurt Cobain died), and simultaneously back to 70's rock and punk (arguably said scene's influences). Nowadays my tastes are all over the place and I never play Def Leppard or Bon Jovi, but that doesn't mean I don't find it hard not to tap my feet if "Rock of Ages" or "Living on a Prayer" comes on.

Sent by JM | 9:34 AM ET | 11-07-2007

my dad raised me on a steady diet of steely dan, fleetwood mac, joe walsh, and lesser-known bands from the 60s and 70s like rotary connection, bloodrock, and aliotta haynes jeremiah. these are all still in heavy rotation in my house but i've given up trying to explain them to people who think this type of music just isn't "cool".

Sent by makyo | 9:47 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I think the first music I remember listening to was Gershwin. I grew up with showtunes and frequent trips to see Broadway shows. Once I was old enough to start affording my own music I switched to Op Ivy. They were definitely a band that really shaped my elementary/junior high years. I can't remember the last time I listen to them but everything I listen to today certainly comes from that. PS - I still love broadway music!

Sent by MC | 9:49 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I must've been in the eighth or ninth grade when my older brother made me a copy of a new Homestead compilation titled Human Music. I had, of course, wanted to hear more stuff like the Happy Flowers and know what a band called the Urinals actually sounded like. Sometime, about half way through the first listen, Jad Fair rope-a-dopes through my headphones. Half Japanese was playing a ripping song called "Charmed Life". I felt like Kaspar Hauser seeing a bird take flight for the first time. The bar was set for how intense music could sound on that day. Sadly, I rarely listen to HJ anymore. Now when people ask me who I love and I say the Standells and the Velvets.

Sent by Doug W | 9:49 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Weezer's blue album - those are some irresistibly catchy tunes.

Sent by Tim | 9:51 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I heart this post. When people ask me what my favorite band(s) are, I try to say 'Well, right now I'm listening to...'. I love how can we slip back into the realm of our starter bands and their general circle of music. For example, I listened to a lot of Nirvana, Fugazi, Melvins, Dinosaur Jr. and similar groups way back when. I've since moved on to several other bands like Decemberists, Sigur Ros, Gossip, etc. My boyfriend brought a Mudhoney album home recently and I was thinking 'Why wasn't I listening to Mudhoney back then? I should know all about Mudhoney, yet I somehow overlooked them'. Since then I've bought a couple more of their albums and have been rocking out to the group since. It's like visiting your home town after many years only to discover a cool building you didn't noticed before that has been there since before you were born.

Sent by Johanna Swalley | 9:58 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Elvis

Sent by Amy R. | 10:08 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I don't know if this is common amongst certain sects of "indie snobbery" but my tastes through adolescence into adulthood read EXACTLY the same as yours.. Everything from Ramones to Wilco side projects.. Weird, scary.

Sent by Randy Bishop | 10:15 AM ET | 11-07-2007

liz phair's exile in guyville painted the first layer onto my feminist lens, but i'm too embarassed to mention her because of anything she put out after 1998.

Sent by RZ | 10:37 AM ET | 11-07-2007

New Kids On The Block, no lie. There's something about "Tonight" and "Cover Girl" that makes my stomach flip, whether from nostalgia or revulsion I'm not entirely sure.

Sent by Amy | 10:40 AM ET | 11-07-2007

In high school, it was the Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam, just like everyone else. I think I don't mention them because I feel like it almost goes without saying if you're a rock fan of a certain age.

But they weren't nearly as important to me as Jeff Buckley was. I've realized that, lately, I haven't been mentioning him when listing my favorite bands/musicians. I've been a music listener my entire life, but I really didn't fall in love until I started listening to Buckley in college, two years after he died. I used his music to make connections to everything from Nina Simone to Shudder to Think to my husband's band (he wasn't my husband at the time, of course. I have Jeff to thank for that, too.)

Sent by RainaB | 10:51 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Chicago and the Eagles were my first concerts at the age of 9 and 11. I was so amazed by the reproduction of what I thought of as such a refined sound. Completely blown away by these people on stage commanding the crowd. I remember feeling like no matter how much I loved culture club and cindy lauper as a kid there was not really music that made me feel the way those bands did that were playing at the time.

i was also very much changed by nirvana... but it has not been the same for me since it ended. i cant listen to nirvana now because that music is just too intense to be nostalgic. i dont even like to talk about nirvana.

i think the ramones with new generations is very interesting. My friend bought his goddaughter a yellow ramones t-shirt, and seeing this little black toddler with her dora the explorer doll and her ramones shirt babbling to the music is really something I never thought I would see, but it makes me feel jolly inside.

Sent by tanya | 10:52 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I was just thinking about this very topic the other day. REM is the band that did it for me. Murmur came out when I was in high school. It hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. It was a floodgate that led me to every band that influenced them or had anything to do with Athens, GA. I remember where I was when I read that they left IRS. That is my JFK Assassination moment. I made a pseudo-marriage compact when Fables of the Reconstruction came out, I would be there for better or for worse, until the bitter end. Unfortunately the relationship started to erode around the same time Michael Stipe started to enunciate. I don't know why. Sadly, once Monster was released I went out for a quart of milk and never returned.

Yesterday at my local record store I finally purchased that REM t-shirt with the cover of Murmur silk-screened on a brisk black tee. I bought it out of respect tinged with a sense of remorse. Oh, and if REM is reading this, I offer this excuse: "It's not you, it's me."

Sent by East Coast Terry | 11:03 AM ET | 11-07-2007

isnt' it all about what our parents liked? therefore my first obsession was fleetwood mac. my sister and i put on shows with the fireplace pokers. she stevie nicks, me lindsay buckingham. go figure. but the first band i used to love to the ends of the earth was 10,000 maniacs. i found myself involved with r.e.m. at that time too. it's sad to forget the bands that shape us. that's it, gotta go make a 10,000 maniacs playlist.
thanks for the blog. we've missed you.

Sent by caryn | 11:04 AM ET | 11-07-2007

As a kid in the '90s, I grew up on a lot of oldies radio and Christian rock (yes, dc Talk and whatnot but also great stuff like Adam Again and The Prayer Chain). But I can pinpoint my love affair with music when my dad put on his "Revolver" LP on the turntable at age 8. I hardly ever list The Beatles when rattling off favorite musicians (that tends to be Low, Starflyer 59 and Black Sabbath these days -- or some wild freakout jazz/psych thing), and I think few really do.

There's some sort of embarrassment, I've come to notice, if someone calls The Beatles his/her favorite band because just about anybody loves, likes or at least knows about them, owns everything or at least "Abbey Road." And, if you're like me, you like to have a favorite band you can really call your own (an impossible feat, by the way).

That all said, I can probably call Starflyer 59 my favorite band. Something about "Silver" when I bought it as a 15 year-old wannabe punk really resonated with me -- wallowing distortion and whispered vocals below the mix like Led Zepplin riffs were put through Jesus and the Mary Chain songs. Even though SF59's left the distortion for more pop and post-punk ventures (all worth checking out), you'll notice that not much has changed in how Jason Martin writes his songs, just that they get better and better.

Sent by Lars @ NPR | 11:13 AM ET | 11-07-2007

The first LP i ever owned was the first Pretenders album. I'd say this was around 1980 when i was 9 years old. Since then, I have had a copy of it in all the subsequent formats that have come out since: cassette, CD, Re-issued Deluxe CD, and finally back to brand new, extra thick vinyl. It was the first band i ever truly loved and still to this day, that record just kills me.

Sent by Georgina | 11:18 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Unabashedly so the early years rang of Billy Joel, Bon Jovi and Phil Collins (solo, not Genesis). Later on Dead Milkmen and Living Colour. Then of course comes, as Carrie points out, the classic and prog rock listening. In particular, the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock n Roll was a key guide for me.

Continuing the Ramones thread, bands such as this exist in a different place in our collective culture. As we mature, our connection to this music has been reduced to fleeting moments. Fortunately, Internet, FM and XM radio has made it possible to consume on demand. While the Ramones music have become wallpaper, there is sympathy in accessibility.

Sent by Peter | 11:19 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I'm old...but my starters were Creedence and Chicago (Terry Kath was one of the best guitar players ever.) I have the first 2 Chicago albums on cd and listen to them in my car when I'm by myself. Only my closest friends know. They sold out quickly, but the first 2 records are pretty damned good rock and roll. They made mostly AOR crap after that, unfortunately. Which brings up the sub-topic of starter bands that ultimately disappointed/disillusioned you.

Sent by bud | 11:28 AM ET | 11-07-2007

I grew up in a house where Paul McCartney solo catalog and Billy Joel were constantly being played. Of course, when I was younger I couldn't say those were my favorite bands, and by the time I was in junior high and early high school I had discovered Led Zepplin which somehow led me right to Megadeth, Metallica and Sepultura. I was on a steady diet of these kind of bands till college where I kind of took the reverse path you mentioned and then found the more streamlined punk and indie bands. In high school when a friend lent me a Misfits cd, I thought it was terrible, bad recordings, bad playing, but by the end of college they and Braid were probably my two favorite bands. But recently I've gone back to Billy Joel, driving everyone crazy listening to his old records and live bootlegs. So now a -days if someone asks who my favorite band is I say . . . Atilla, because, you know, Billy Joel's early prog band is way more cult and cool than saying Billy Joel.

Sent by DJ | 11:37 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Skinny Puppy.

Introduced me to a world where music was also theatre which led to David Bowie, Arcade Fire, The Flaming Lips, and others... and strangely enough, a deep love and appreciation for opera. !!!???

Actually came across Skinny Puppy the other day on my iPod and, believe it or not, didn't sound as dated as I would imagine it would.

Sent by Ewilensky | 11:39 AM ET | 11-07-2007

Like some other people here, I started with the Beatles, young, when the LP was a weird and fragile thing for my clumsy kid hands to handle. But that was because of my parents, really, though not embarrassing. I still love Revolver, and listened pretty joyfully to Sgt. Pepper last summer during its anniversary.
For me, as a person independent from her parents' record cabinet, it started with the Sundays, with Harriet Wheeler's clear voice. From there it went to far-off places.

Sent by Fran | 11:40 AM ET | 11-07-2007

It really says something about how betrayed her fans feel that Liz Phair's first two records can now be considered outre. "Exile in Guyville" in particular is one of the very best records of the 90s, if not the last 20 years, and recently when I replaced a long-ago stolen copy of "Whip-Smart" I was reminded how fresh and idiosyncratic it is - a really good, satisfying album. So why did I feel the need to justify my purchase to my friend, and to the record store clerk who probably had authentically bad taste?

If anyone needs to be reminded of how awesome Phair's songwriting is (was?) at its best, the famed "Girlysound" tapes are now available for download at girlysound(dot)com.

Sent by KG | 12:21 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I'm sure I'll forget something, but here are my gateway bands, in order of time of the gate:

**David Bowie - fell in love with him at age 6, and we're still an item
**Cher
**Springsteen
**Def Leppard/Led Zep - the one-two punch that got me into "hard rock" in junior high
**Rush
**Pavement
**Pearl Jam
**Sleater-Kinney
**Andrews Sisters
**Benny Goodman
**Arcade Fire - made me return to Springsteen also

I also never gave up my Tiffany tapes, which I break out probably once a year and sing until I cry or a neighbor quiets me. All time favorite song "Against the Wind" by Bob Seager. Yes, still.

Not ashamed of any of it. And will willingly mention even Tiffany around strangers.

And, scene.

Sent by Elizabeth | 12:23 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Oh, I forgot The Cure. Falls after hard rock. Thank you, Robert Smith. Without you I may never have survived the end of the 80s.

Sent by Elizabeth | 12:25 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I love this blog!

For me, it all goes back to U2, Depeche Mode and Wilco.

U2, because "With or Without You," perfectly expressed my lust for a certain foreign exchange student who wouldn't return my letters.

Depeche Mode, for validating all the crazy teenager thoughts.

Wilco, for seeing a bad grow up and realizing that we all start somewhere.

One of my life highlights was seeing Wilco at Son's of Hermann Hall in Dallas, TX. This was right after the Uncle Tupelo split. The place was so tiny (side note: they only served Bud or Bud Light in cans) that Jeff, John, Jay and Ken had to be lifted over people's shoulders to get to the stage. Also overheard that night, "Wilco is God, Son Volt is the devil!"

Sent by Britt | 12:26 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Led Zeppelin. Being an impresionable younger brother, I was initially forced to hear them in the car when my sister drove me to school. After a while, I was stealing her tapes to listen to them, jumping around my room memorizing every Plant howl, Page riff, and Bonzo's amazing drums. It's weird because I can't say I listen to them nearly as much as I ever did, but they were truly the start to it all.

Sent by P.J. | 12:28 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Letters to Cleo. I don't know what it was, but that band struck a chord with me (sorry) from the first bar. They taught me the first things I knew about rock, riffs, effects and songwriting. As that first pivotal band goes, I'll maybe break out Letters to Cleo once a year. It still holds a very important place in my heart, but I can't really crank it like I used to. Without them, my own music would probably sound a lot like . . . Meatloaf. I'm fairly certain I've just shamed myself.

Sent by Mel K. | 12:50 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Sublime.
Is everyone too cool for Sublime?
Even after hearing PE and Soundgarden and The Rolling Stones and The Beatles and Bel Biv Devoe...it was Sublime that turned on musical radar!

RIP- Brad Nowell - nuff said!

Sent by ras3hilton | 12:52 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Anyone read Chuck Klosterman? (spelling) He has some very interesting things to say about this same subject. I think you can find an essay about "guilty pleasures" refering to music, movies, etc in his latest book "IV". Anyhow, I'm thirty two now and I'm much too old to not admit liking certain songs by certain bands that I loved in my adolescence. I guess I'm past worrying about being hip or how people perceive me. Maybe referencing obscure and complicated band names is us being insecure or trying to outhipster one another. Yes, I love the music of Fugazi, Sleater Kinney, the Bad Brains, and the Minutemen, the Pixies but I'm not ashamed to admit that I loved "Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue or Gun's n Roses Appetite or Use your Illusion. At a certain point it's just too exhausting to not admit what we like no matter how uncool it may seem.

Sent by Michael Heck | 1:09 PM ET | 11-07-2007

The first CD I ever owned was the Kriss Kross debut, 'Totally Crossed Out.' And though I never wore my clothes backwards in public, my cousin and I did dress up at home while my parents were out and strutted around the living room, totally krossed out. Next it was country music, particularly ballads. Then back to top 40. Finally my teenage soul was enraptured with the pre-emo stylings of a rock band called Pearl Jam. I picked up more grunge from there, even going so far as to destroy several plaid shirts in the halls of my middle school, passing out pieces to friends and passers-by. After grunge, I absorbed the then burgeoning techno scene best represented by the soundtrack to the film 'Hackers.' A friend and I would drive around rural Florida smashing mailboxes and drinking ridiculous amounts of Mountain Dew claiming that we were in fact 'The Firestarter.'
Today, I live in New York and play in an experimental rock group, trying to bury my awful past.

Sent by Gorbert | 1:19 PM ET | 11-07-2007

When I was 15 my friend Luigi gave me my first taste of Jawbreaker. It was recorded from record on to a yellow memorax tape. My world would never be the same! I would say that now I get teased when I mention my deep love of over ten years for jawbreaker & the later Jets to Brazil, I do however love when I meet a fan who shares the obsession and I can geek out. I also like to start drunken jawbreaker sing alongs from time to time!

oh, and weezer. i had it bad for weezer but i blame them for my hesitation to mention them. (kidding...sorta)

Sent by esme | 1:29 PM ET | 11-07-2007

since your into Blitzen Trapper theres no doubt you like Pavement and Stephen Malkmus solo right? Oh and doesn't Malkmus live in Portland as well?

Sent by Devin Rodgers | 1:33 PM ET | 11-07-2007

My first album was Who's Next by the Who, purchased for me by my parents from JC Penney's.

A couple years later, my creative writing teacher in High School turned me on to the Talking Heads, who became my favorite band for the following five years. Also noteworthy: REM, Pink Floyd, Yes, and the Clash.

Sent by TJ | 1:37 PM ET | 11-07-2007

for me, it's certain albums or songs that i would play forever until suddenly the new "forever" came along. they generally correlated with what was going on my life so forever songs would change as quickly as days moved into weeks, months, years.

Sent by trish | 1:42 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Crack, crack through the shell! Nice blog CB!

Sent by Julie | 1:43 PM ET | 11-07-2007

R.E.M.- Murmur-1983
Murmur changed my life!
I would play this album all day.
EVERYDAY!
And this was vinyl kids.
I actually had to get up and turn the record over.
Think of the effort and commitment.
R.E.M. not only changed my view on music they also led me to so many other great bands.
I don't play them as much as I used to and I don't know if that is a conscious decision to pass them by and choose something else, or it may be an unconscious decision to let some time pass so when I finally do get around to playing them I get a little of of the excitement I had when I fist heard them 20 years ago.

Sent by Brent Kelly | 1:52 PM ET | 11-07-2007

My first tape was by Pat Benatar... The one with "We Belong". Embarassing, but true.

My obsession with music started later though with a combination of Sting's Dream of Blue Turtles and everything by Pink Floyd. I had been raised on Bruce Springsteen and The Who, but Floyd really set me on my own path. In 10th grade I discovered The Smiths and Morissey started me down the indie path.

From that point I had a weird emo/punk duality going on... Melodic new wave stuff mixed with some typical hardcore punk. My friends and I discovered Suicidal Tendencies, the Dead Kennedies, and Drunk Injuns a bit late, but they were constantly on in the car. Oddly enough this later veered into the Cult and my melodic side flipped to an obsession with Sinead O'Connor.

Right now my main obsessions are with the White Stripes and Neko Case. Maybe an odd combination, but can you imagine a collaborative effort?!?!?

Sent by Finn | 1:58 PM ET | 11-07-2007

My initial favorite bands were Pink Floyd and The Doors and Led Zeppelin. The Van Halen and AC/DC. (and before all of that The Monkees, Beach Boys and The Beatles - my older sister's records). I got into playing guitar and I never could understand punk because I had played clarinet when I was younger and was learning guitar and the idea of not playing well made no sense to me. I think now that held me back for a long time, in terms of what I liked. I used to think of myself as very open minded about music (and I think i was compared to a lot of my friends) but it wasn't until much later that was able to like stuff like the Ramones. Anyway, now I have bands that I like, but only call favorites the ones that consistently blow my mind. I feel like that even though I enjoy the music of a lot bands and artists, it's rare that one comes along that I can really call one of my favorites.

Sent by Gary Drechsel | 2:00 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I still play Black Flag 'Damaged' and Circle Jerks 'Group Sex' and feel like I'm back in junior high skating at the "Gully" (an oversized city drainage ditch), and I don't mind admitting that I like them. I'm reminded of one of the times I saw Rollins doing spoken word and some guy tried heckling him about the Neubeuten and Misfits tattoos he has and he said he had no problems admitting he still liked the music. I admire that.

I will probably never publicly admit that I at one time owned (and wore) Napalm Death shorts....nor would I own up to creating my own music video using GI Joe toys to one of the songs from Slayer's 'South of Heaven'.

Sigh, memories...

Sent by Jason | 2:00 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Run-DMC "Tougher Than Leather" and LL Cool J's "Bigger and Deffer" were two of the first cassettes I owned. I'll take "Tougher Than Leather" to my grave.

Sent by Kevin | 2:05 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Well first off I would have to say those bands that are really my favorites, the core of where I based everything else were Jane's Addiction and Mary's Danish. Depending on how in depth I go when I mention bands I love will I mention Mary's Danish, but rarely will I mention Jane's Addiction. That is mostly because I don't get Perry Farrell anymore, nor do I respect Dave Navarro so I don't mention it, it is so far removed from Jane's Addiction. However I haven't been to excited by any bands much lately. I just try to stay ahead of everyone else, in name only.

Now about the pets response to your casual encounters ad, I would say that sounds about right for the types of animals they proudly show off so yeah, but you gotta find someone with a cat that they parade around specifically!

Sent by Luis | 2:29 PM ET | 11-07-2007

When I was 6, I thought anything that sounded good on the AM radio in my mom's 78 Chevy Nova was the Beatles. If someone asks me about my favorite bands, I still mention them. Though I tend to skip over bon jovi (slippery when wet was the first album I bought with my own money in 6th grade).

It depends who asks of course. I'll size someone up to see if they'd know the references. If I tell my coworkers that Belle & Sebastian changed my life, they'll probably assume I cheated on my wife and had a three-way. For some hipster I've just met I'll probably make up a few band names that they can say they stopped listening to before they went mainstream. Ok, I'd actually try to impress them by mentioning some obscure act I'd listened to twice.

But bands that are enduring influences on my life that I'd probably forget to mention, that list would have to include Living Colour, Fugazi, Superchunk, and The Cure.

Sent by daryl | 2:31 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I love Monitor Mix. Great entry.

Sent by NickDean | 2:33 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I got Automatic For The People in Bozeman, MT, while on a family vacation when I was about twelve, initially because I thought the song Everybody Hurts sounded good. That's typical for a twelve year-old, though. It took a few more years after that for me to listen to the whole album straight through and have it become my favorite R.E.M. album, and have Everybody Hurts become one of my least favorite songs on it. I also got Out of Time on cassette tape shortly before Automatic, based on hearing my older sister play it. R.E.M. were key in my early musical taste development.

The first band that I really became close to obsessed with was Savage Garden when I was in eighth grade (before Darren Hayes cut his hair; that hair was half of the attraction). I forced it upon all of my friends and we wore clothes and accessories based on their presence in Savage Garden's lyrics and song titles; it was pretty severe. That faded, but I've come back to that first album since then, and I still have it now.

Sent by Anjanette | 2:43 PM ET | 11-07-2007

The Ramones may indeed be THE great American bad. Sadly, their cache has taken on a life of its own. I remember being in a Borders and seeing a big cut-out of Shania Twain wearing an obviously professionally shredded Ramones t-shirt.

Play the music for the kids. They'll know what's good.

Sent by Pedro | 2:49 PM ET | 11-07-2007

When I think about the band that started it all, I really have to separate the question into two parts. The first is when did I start listening to music without having the record being placed on spindle without the help of my mom. If I'm being honest here, and I'm going to try to be, I'd have to say it was a Muppets album, or something in that vein. I enjoyed also the New Christy Minstrels, 50's rock and roll, and if memory serves Anne Murray. No one should have to apologize for what they liked in the 4th grade. Hell, I liked the Dallas Cowboys too. Ultimately, you listen because something is catchy.

Which brings me to part two, and that is what band becomes your favorite when you realize that identity is tied up in liking music. For me, it was the Talking Heads. I liked them fine and listened to them a lot, but some part of me always knew that I liked them because they carried a certain cachet. They were sophisticated, they weren't hair metal. That it would take years to understand them was inconsequential. What they weren't, hair metal, was just as important as what they were. Oh, how I loathed the hair metal. It had little to do with the music and more with what it meant outside of that. As we age, I think we get better at putting some of those associations aside. Now, I'll listen to the hair metal unabashedly for it's dopey lyrics, triumphant solos, and willingness to rock out.

Still, we all know that listing a certain band, or book, or movie, as one that you like carries cultural connotations. Chuck Klosterman will say we shouldn't have guilty pleasures that if you like something come out and say I like it. I'd love to do this, but then you end up having to explain at great length why Moonlighting was brilliant tv, which is supportable given a certain set of criteria. The choice you are making when you choose a certain band is how do you want to be seen in this world while not being dishonest to yourself and others about what you enjoy.

Sent by mikeyj | 2:50 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Led Zep, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, and Billy Idol, Cat Stevens, Beach Boys, Def Leppard

All influences from my pop, and I still thank him to this day for providing my gateway into a lifetime love of music.

Sent by Michael Mantineo | 2:51 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Growing up, I was curiously banned from listening to all music except for the local a.m. classical station and my parent's Michael Jackson LP. When the idea of rebellion finally occurred to me as a pre-teen, I went out and purchased the cassette single of Great White's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" with my very own money. My parents were horrified. They had obviously lost all control.

Sent by PDXLady | 3:08 PM ET | 11-07-2007

My stoner uncle turned me on to Black Sabbath, Zeppelin, Boston, Deep Purple at the ripe old age of 6. Boston was my favorite at the time, but Led Zeppelin would end up in constant rotation on my tape player for many years to come.

However, the real love affair started with Jane's Addiction. When i heard Nothing's Shocking for the first time, I knew that everything had changed.

Sent by Ike | 3:10 PM ET | 11-07-2007

ditto on the liz phair, exile in guyville - totally changed my musical landscape when i stumbled on it at 15. i nosedived from sheryl crow's tuesday night music club straight into guyville and never really looked back, and though those two albums still resonate so strongly in my me, i'm always hesitant to admit today that those two albums are the root of my taste in music. most often i defer instead to the pixies, specifically to dolittle, and meet with no adverse reaction.

Sent by row | 3:12 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I think a pretty steady dose of Jackson Browne from my mom really got me into music more than anything. I would never rattle him off as a favorite now. It never even comes to mine, but sometimes I sit around and hum Jamaica Say You Will.

Sent by Patrick | 3:16 PM ET | 11-07-2007

The last part is hilarious.
I had the same revelation with Led Zeppelin recently. I saw that DVD that I can't think of the name of, but it's them in black and white rockin' the best garage music you've ever heard! Since then, I've actually started breaking out my Zep records and naming them as one of my family tree favorites, you know Floyd, VU, Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones, etc.

Sent by Alex R | 3:35 PM ET | 11-07-2007

looks like cat carrying music to me!

Sent by jacob | 3:38 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I used to listen to Veruca Salt, god I loved American Thighs. This was just before the height of grunge and on MTV girls still didn't play guitar. I collected all their music obsessively but eventually stopped listening. I saw a vinyl copy on eBay recently and scooped it up, listening to it for the first time in 10 years. I was shocked to find it still spoke to me, even after all this time.

Sent by beth | 3:53 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Re: Liz Phair. Exile stands up. I'll come to blows over it too. I will. Fisticuffs will ensue. Still, this calls to question how we approach a work of art, what we bring to the work, and what we know about it in the wider world. I work with a young woman at a library, who when she heard that I recommended 'On the Road' to a young patron responded that it was a sexist work. She hadn't read it, though if she did I imagine she would see it through those eyes. I haven't read it closely enough or recently enough to know how well that argument holds up. I do know that wasn't what I took away from the book, and it probably wasn't what most people who like it take from it. We can get so focused on one aspect of a work of art that we miss the art. We forget that it has the power to move and make us think, and engage the world. It allows us to have a dialogue with the world around us. If Exile did that then it functioned in one way that art should. If some of the ideas no longer resonate , which sometimes happens, then we set the work aside. We move on to new books or new sounds because we keep trying to figure out what the hell is going on or simply want to hear different stories, ones we haven't heard before. If only Liz Phair had kept telling stories that I wanted to hear. Her most recent work diminishes how I see her as an artist. The trick is to keep the work she produced separate from the person. It is a challenge for the viewer/reader/listener because art and artist are so intertwined, especially when so frequently performers are themselves the work.

Sent by mikeyj | 3:56 PM ET | 11-07-2007

pavement - slanted & enchanted

Sent by paulb | 3:56 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Two bands for me that have been a favorite since my early teens are Throwing Muses and Bananarama. For real. And I think they pretty tidily represent that vast array of musical tastes I have.

I totally love your comment about bands you love for a week or a month but don't have that foothold in your heart that other less "of the moment" ones might. I am always more excited when someone tells me of an "uncool" band that they completely adore. It assures me they won't be full of pretentious b.s. 24 hours a day.

Sent by Chriso | 3:58 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Yeah, I remember that Oasis was the first band that I quite listened to heavily. Then it was Suede, Mansun and finally Radiohead. I adore Radiohead. Their every new album is a chance to gather some memories and simply think about what's changed, if anything has...

Sent by skrent | 4:00 PM ET | 11-07-2007

sublime was a band that i got into early in life and lead me to many other great bands and styles of music that i would not have otherwise found. sadly, i started to really like them after bradley had already died.

Sent by jon bohy | 4:29 PM ET | 11-07-2007

R.E.M., Pixies, I really got into "BloodSugarSexMagic", although I don't really care for the Chili Peppers. And I guess I should mention all those Beatles LPs my mom used to play when I was about 5 or 6.

Sent by Brian | 4:59 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Violent Femmes really did it for me. They were the first band that took my folky inklings and mixed it with my punk urges.
Today I listen to the Avett Brothers to feel like I did when I first heard the Femmes.

Sent by LBK | 5:02 PM ET | 11-07-2007

The Clash, X-Ray Spex and Blondie.

Sent by J.W.G. | 5:55 PM ET | 11-07-2007

There are a lot of facets to this "started it all" concept.

I have Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow records that I was infatuated with at an early age, but most of this music was parent-friendly, played throughout the house, and nothing that I personally identified with (but I *did* see Neil (with my mom) during the Jazz Singer tour and my very first concert was Barry on the Copacabana tour (again, thanks mom)). My father loved ZZ Top before they started spinning their guitars, and when I later learned to play guitar I loved them in that Hendrix way of just wishing you could play five or six measures of one of those solos. Then I started listening to The Rolling Stones, and finally found some albums that spoke to me alone and not the entire household.

But I can't say that this "started it all". Duran Duran probably take that honor, as they came along at a great time for marketing (MTV), and I listened to them enough that I started making music "based" on their songs. The honeymoon ended pretty quickly, and as I moved into other identifications of music I became increasingly embarrassed to bring up Duran Duran. I eventually became mature enough to not really care how I can impress other people with my musical tastes, and I'm proud to have listened to them back at their apex (along with 500 million other people, I suppose). Their first two albums come out quite a bit, and still make me want to create music of my own.

Then it was Rush (and still is). And XTC.

Sent by Jim | 6:04 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Started...hmm. When did it start?

The Beatles in mom & dad's collection? Nah, that never went away. Finding Rush and R.E.M. at the same time in High School was odd. Probably there, circa 1986. I wanted anything other than the Duran Duran that obsessed my neighbor. I wanted chops. I wanted vague murk. Between them they fit the bill, and seeing both of them at the Oakland Coliseum that year (two very different shows) was pretty much it for me.

Rush was a gateway into more prog stuff. Then it was the usual, popular-at-the time stuff. Lots of King Crimson, if memory serves. R.E.M. took longer to lead me along, but eventually the Replacements, then Husker Du, then Fugazi came through that door.

I can't think of the last time I listened to Rush. R.E.M., though...I am reminded just how good those first four albums were. Are. I'm more likely to listen to Battles, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Mission Of Burma, Fugazi or any number of bands, but on a drive down to Ashland this year I listened to all four, straight through. It was nice. They've aged incredibly well.

Sent by Peter S. | 6:35 PM ET | 11-07-2007

when i was a youg one.. i was a faithful follower of bleach and oasis along with anything my dad played on the radio whitch involved alot of iron butterfly CCR and hendrix... along with a bunch of other stuff
so yeah thats it for me!

Sent by gillian | 7:23 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I was probably in 6th grade when I discovered these on my stepfather's record collection:
Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited," the Stones' "Let it Bleed," Jimi's "Are You Experienced," and Monk's "Jazz Pour Tous."

First record I bought was Led Zeppelin IV -- and I've never looked back!

Sent by Michael | 7:46 PM ET | 11-07-2007

First off I am shocked to see how many people grew up with Captain Beefheart...I've never even heard of them. I'm 30 so and music has always been first and foremost in my life, and to have not heard of him/them?, well I gotta check it out.

As for when it all started, like most of you my dad's Beatles records had a lot of influence over my young life, I have pictures of me at around age 6-7 jamming out in front of the stereo with my dad's oversized headphones on, it was all about Revolution...

Then came my dad's Pink Floyd's The Wall album, I still listen to it from time to time. Everything from then until about 93/94 was complete shite, that is until I heard Pearl Jam and Sound Garden...I followed suite with the whole grunge act but PJ stayed and still does at the top of tops for that "era" of my life, only the first 3 albums tho...everything else is crap. Then came Radiohead...hands down, my favorite band.

From there its constantly evolved, I bounced around techno, mostly drum and bass. Through the dance punk scene with Le Tigre. Bouncing between Radiohead releases have been bands like Deerhoof, GY!BE, Broken Social Scene, Les Savy Fav, Meno Mena, Sufjan, Yann Tiersen, Johnny Cash, Bright Eyes...I love that I know can listen to anything, anytime, anywhere. Keepin' it indie and still having options...sooo many options.

Sent by Dan | 7:50 PM ET | 11-07-2007

today at the library where i work, i noticed one of my favorite patrons, this 7th or 8th grade girl who i think is so awesome and would want to be my best friend if i were still twelve but whom i just answer questions for because i'm not going to be the creepy adult who thinks she's still cool and can be your best friend, was looking up stuff about and printing lots of pictures of the ramones and it made my crappy day like 500% better.

the first band that i ever got super into, some might say obsessed with, was u2, followed very closely by r.e.m. i never listen to u2 now and would never cite them as a favorite or a band that means anything to me or, really, someone i've paid any attention to in the past fifteen years. but i still adore r.e.m. and drink-too-much-and-listen-to-music nights always come around to them. and guided by voices and the replacements.

Sent by jenn | 7:50 PM ET | 11-07-2007

Michael Jackson and Tiffany were like giants to me until I was about 11 and started attending public school, the year 'Nevermind' came out. Once I actually started listening to music on the radio, however, I am almost embarassed to say that Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos were gigantic influences on me. The whole "angry young woman in music" movement of the mid-90s spoke to me so much. Through the articles I read about them, I got into the big ones for me, the ones I go back to over and over again: PJ Harvey, Bjork, Tori, and Ani DiFranco. The idea of women being that powerful was just mindblowing and inspiring, and still is. I was also bowled over by the Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, and (just this album) Nine Inch Nails' 'Downward Spiral'.

I don't listen to these albums that much now. Now I'm listening to a lot of M.I.A., Mark Lanegan, and Tiny Vipers. But when my personal "classics" come up on my iPod, they affect me in an almost visceral fashion.

Sent by Jessica | 7:59 PM ET | 11-07-2007

It's funny, I was just thinking about this tonight as I saw The Beatles musical "Across the Universe." The Beatles started it all for me, not just musically, but for everything - sexuality, politics, etc. Yet I rarely listen to them or mention them in my list of favorites anymore. Not because I'm embarrased - I still think they're possibly the best band ever - but because their music is such a part of me now that it almost goes without saying. It's like a body part, you wouldn't be who you are without it, but it's easy to overlook.

Sent by Nicole | 10:25 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I am now 21 and I came to America at 6. I grew up on A lot of Eno, Byrne, Talking Heads and Roxy Music. The first American band I ever really heard though was Collective Soul in the third grade. I remember liking how bright the guitars were or something to that effect. But I've listened to so much by now I would never think to consider them a favorite. They were just an introduction.

Sent by Tomiwa | 11:32 PM ET | 11-07-2007

The first band I ever really listened to (and my first concert) was Hanson. Aside from delightfully catchy tunes, I think a lot of my obsession over them was culturally/communally (as someone stated above) influenced. That was what determined what I liked when I first started listening to music: what were my friends listening to? What was "cool" to listen to? (And these factors still probably have influence.)
From what I can remember the first CD I listened to that actually made me feel differently, feel that something, was Lauryn Hil''s "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" which I received for one of my early teenage birthdays along with Will Smith's "Big Willie Style" (haha). I got into a lot of hip hop (the bad then the better). A lot of R&B. I was obsessed with Destiny's Child for awhile.
My brother got me listening to emo/pop-punk stuff like Dashboard Confessional, New Found Glory, and Taking Back Sunday (which was probably m favorite band in my mid to late teenage years). Then I for around to the "indie" scene via Interpol, Coldplay, and Radiohead. And then I consider Sleater-Kinney my gateway to punk, post-punk, and just good music in general. "Right now" I'd say my favorite bands are Le Tigre, Mika Miko, Tegan and Sara, Spoon, and Mirah.

Sent by Jaime | 12:18 AM ET | 11-08-2007

i knew the lyrics to "beat it" when i was 4 years old. but i couldn't pronounce "funky" the way michael did: i omitted the "n." my parents gave me a lecture about the word, and later in life i became very interested in guns n roses, who used that word a lot. then nirvana, who rarely used it, but when they did, i could barely make it out anyway. then bikini kill, who used it to sing about their feelings for patriarchy/violence/misogyny/etc... i suppose the path that converges when one begins with bikini kill and michael jackson is the one i am on today.

Sent by scott | 12:59 AM ET | 11-08-2007

I think there were a few phases of my early obsession with music.

Phase 1 = My dads music collection...Dave Brubeck, The Mama's and the Papa's, Neil Diamond and a lot of classical.

Phase 2 = Older sister turns me onto Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and the Grateful Dead. I branch off on my own and buy my first album at age 12, Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare. I then see my first concert Peter Frampton at age 13. I wear a Disco Sucks t-shirt to school and get asked "Well, what do you listen to, acid rock??" "Why, yes!" I reply

Phase 3 = I go to a new school where I am turned onto The Talking Heads, Eno, The Clash, The Ramones, Black Flag, The Misfits, The Minutemen, X, The NY Dolls, Blondie, and shortly thereafter Sonic Youth and the Butthole Surfers.

Its been a life long obsession, this music thing. But if I had to say where it all started I would blame it on Led Zeppelin.

Oh, and heck yes to Blitzen Trapper.

Sent by Setya | 1:05 AM ET | 11-08-2007

It would take the fun out of it for Dan, I fear, but I would love to hear his comments after he finally listens to some Beefheart.

Sent by Steven | 2:11 AM ET | 11-08-2007

Bob Boilen here,
our paths of music go in opposite directions, but wind up in the same place.
since i grew up in the 60's and in Queens I grew along with, am radio pop, psychedelic, super groups and jam bands and progressive rock.

The Ramones were the pallet cleansers of rock and roll. They saved it from its bloat and excess and you and I wouldn't have loved the music we now love if it weren't from those guys from Queens (made me proud to have lived in Queens)

I listen to the Ramones when I've just about had it, Whether it is life frustrations, hearing to many bad CDs in a row...they ground me, and most of all they make me laugh out loud -- still.
How the hell do they do that?
bb

Sent by Bob Boilen | 8:00 AM ET | 11-08-2007

I'll gladly tell people about most of the bands that "started me in a whole new direction". At the very start of my life on earth, it was the Beatles, and the most recent band to really change my life in tangible ways was actually Sleater-Kinney. But I have the hardest time admitting that Guns & Roses (really, Steve Adler) inspired me, at the age of 14. To the point of saving my convenience store job earnings for a drum kit. Which I did buy. And then I proceeded to play "Rocket Queen" every day for months.

Sent by cyndi | 8:06 AM ET | 11-08-2007

Social Distortion, Nirvana, REM, The Cure. Except for the Cure, who I still listen to pretty regularly, I used to couldn't get enough of these bands in my youth, but I haven't listened to one of those other bands in almost 10 years. Today it's all about more "cerebral" music.

But I have to say, I go through phases where bands become those "bands that started it all" in a new way.

Like, the first time I heard "Come on Die Young" by Mogwai, I guess post-rock was still in its beginning stages, I was floored in a way I hadn't been since I first heard "Green" or "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" or "Nevermind" or "Disintegration." Soon Mogwai was the band that started it all for me, but in a different way...I guess there are certain bands or records like that ("Another Desert Another Sea" by 3 mile pilot also jumps to mind) that signal those dramatic shifts in your tastes. They're the ones that open up those new doors that allow you to leave your first loves behind.

Sent by jason | 9:38 AM ET | 11-08-2007

In my high school, the kids wearing Ramones shirts every day seemed like they had something to prove. Most of them wearing Ramones shirts freshmen year were wearing Insane Clown Posse shirts by senior year. Yikes! I once had to do a pretend interview for my journalism class with a girl who wore a Ramones shirt about 3 times a week and carried a Blondie bag with her every where. In her top ten bands were: Chevelle, Evanescense and Korn. Ramones and Blondie were not even on the list.

This, however, says more about the kids who went to my high school than the awesomeness of the Ramones.

Sent by Carla | 10:03 AM ET | 11-08-2007

Progression:
5 years old - John Denver
7 years old - Simon and Garfunkle
10 years old - Rolling Stones
15 years old - Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother era Pink Floyd, everything by the Doors
17 - REM
18 - Nirvana
25-present - LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Wilco, Panda Bear, Jenny Lewis, Camera Obscura, Of Montreal

Someone gifted a subscription to CMJ New Music Monthly to me about 10 years ago. Literally changed my life. I was too busy with career, family, etc. to mine for music I really could connect with. Popping in that first magazine CD was like eating Sushi for the first time. Amazing. Whole new world opening up. OK, I've gone on too long.

Sent by Chad Bly | 12:24 PM ET | 11-08-2007

yah sonic youth and black flag still gets me,it reminds me of alot of crazy times in my life from being young to jail time.

Sent by Jesse | 12:34 PM ET | 11-08-2007

Two parallel threads were formed around 1992. Thread one: Nirvana, which split into indie guitar pop, most notably the Pixies; and punk rock (good stuff, not that 90s pop punk crap). Thread two: Mr. Bungle, which split into just about all "experimental" music I listen to; and jazz. I still get the Bungle out on occasion; Nirvana not so much, though I continue to appreciate their stuff, though I don't think I can ever truly hear them the way I once did. In the slick, overproduced, commercialized world of early 90s butt rock I inhabited at that time (made worse by the fact that I lived in the middle of nowhere), bands like Nirvana and Mr. Bungle seemed VERY unconventional and exciting by comparison.

Sent by Joel | 12:45 PM ET | 11-08-2007

I hate falling into a category.

Moving Pictures was the first piece of vinyl I bought with my own money. It was really all about Neil Peart. I had all their stuff immediately and made mix tapes of all their songs in alphabetical order. They did get me up in morning and got me through much of high school.

I doubt any mind-expanding documentaries about Rush are in the works.

Sent by FBD | 1:14 PM ET | 11-08-2007

I think I tend to answer the "what do you listen to?" question backwards. Instead of rattling off whatever random bands I'm actually listening to at any given moment, I usually list the old standbys like the Ramones, the Clash, Mot??rhead, etc.... bands that I don't actually listen very often these days, but who give a rough idea of what I like.
Might be because I work in a corporate environment and that's a lot easier than trying to explain a McLusky record to accountants

Sent by Mike | 2:13 PM ET | 11-08-2007

I used to be in love with the Foo Fighters. I still think The Colour and The Shape is a great cd, but I don't dig much of their other stuff anymore.

Halo, while being a great game, does not have a soundtrack worthy of the "classical" genre. Oh well. To each their own.

Sent by Zej W | 3:31 PM ET | 11-08-2007

I'll never forget this:
It was sixth grade. I was roller skating (speed skates, those were cooler). The crowd eagerly (absently?) cheered and hustled to the rink for songs by MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice and the like. I was in a state of near panic.

THIS IS NOT MUSIC. I CAN NOT SKATE TO THIS. And I didn't, I refused and moped in the concession stand.

There I began practicing my *um* pose of pretense (nose down, glasses pushed up, of course) whilst beginning the life long search for "real" music. Not long after this episode I bought Mixed Up by The Cure (remember when CDs came in those really big rectangular boxes?? It was in one of those.) Soon after came a complete and utter OBSESSION with the Lemonheads. It's a Shame About Ray, really it is.

This column is genius. And the craigslist reply is pretty much the most hilariously unsurprising thing I've read in a while. :)

Sent by KM | 5:11 PM ET | 11-08-2007

I wrote my college admission essay about how my father would sing me to sleep with selections from the Beatles' "Abbey Road."

10 years after writing that essay, I'd still say that the Beatles were the first band for me though I don't own any of their cds... followed by the Bangles (my first rock concert at age 6) and REM (the Monster tour was the defining event of my late adolescence)

and right now I am really digging on the A-sides, SeaWolf, and Bat for Lashes. go figure.

Sent by Lex Webb | 5:27 PM ET | 11-08-2007

Since no one else has mentioned them, I have to say Hole. Growing up in a small town, pre-internet, I had to buy or borrow anything I was interested in hearing. I'll never forget the first time I listened to Live Through This - my jaw dropped and my first thought was "oh my god, everything should sound like this". Which, of course, led me to find more music that I loved.

It makes me ache to see what Courtney's life's become - kind of a rock cliche punchline - and I'm usually pretty hestitant to mention that I was/am a huge fan (I used a Hole lyric as my high school yearbook quote) because of the inevitable "you know she killed Kurt, right?"

Sent by Jen | 6:27 PM ET | 11-08-2007

Beatles. Beatles, Beatles, Beatles. I had a fave dude (Paul), album (Revolver), no favorite song because that was impossible. I also had this weird logic that went like: the Beatles did drugs, they made music while on drugs, this music ended up trippy, I listened to the music, I was trippy. I was also uh, in 4th/5th grade. I owned one tye-dyed shirt. This was back when my friends were listening to Nirvana.

Now I listen to elitist indie music and read things Venus Zine.

Sent by liz | 7:06 PM ET | 11-08-2007

I'll second (third? forth?) everything the other Liz Phair fans have said. She totally changed my life. I really think the last two albums disappointed and hurt me so much was exactly because everything before that had been so earth shattering. Despite all that, I was listening to some Girlysound today and it reminded me why she's been my #1 for over a decade. Seriously -- Ant in Alaska!! I can't believe something so brilliant could be written by the same person that most of the world knows for that insanely annoying Why Can't I? song.

I'm forgiving, though. I finally saw her live like, two years ago, and I went into the concert feeling sort of angry and jaded. Then she played 6'1" and it all faded away...

Sent by K | 8:19 PM ET | 11-08-2007

Over the past day, I've been thinking more about how the artist and the art they produce are intertwined, especially in music, and how that influences how we feel about them. Our tastes do betray us, and I don't think I'd want it any other way. Here's a scenario: Let's say Conor Oberst, Bright Eyes fame, sits down and pens twelve songs of genius. The political ones hit the mark without being didactic, the love songs are heartfelt and nuanced. If he released it tomorrow, Rolling Stone would give it five stars, Pitchfork a 9.9, and even the most jaded rocker would say, "i don't normally like this dude, but credit where credit is due." Now, let's say, Conor doesn't release it, but hands it over to Geffen records. Why he hands it over, we don't know and it is important. Geffen then decides to give the songs to Sammy Hagar. Sammy records them using exactly the same arrangements and musicians. The only thing that changes is that the Red Rocker is doing the vocals. Do you buy this album? Does it get the same acclaim? I would argue that simply thinking of Mr. Cabo Wabo ruins it. Agree or disagree?

Sent by mikeyj | 8:25 PM ET | 11-08-2007

I grew up on a farm, and the only two local radio stations played all country all the time; when we finally got MTV circa 1998, I was in high school and WAY past capable of finding pleasure in the teen-pop invasion. The first time I heard "Under African Skies" - and Graceland in general - pretty much redirected the course of my life. From there I learned to hunt my own new music via friends and the internet. Favorites now? Patrick Wolf, LCD Soundsystem, Mirah, St. Vincent, the National, Arcade Fire and 85% of the Stephen Merritt catalogue; and I'm happy to say I've seen them all but Mr. Merritt live in the last 6 months. I've got to make up for lost time.

Sent by Jennifer | 10:38 PM ET | 11-08-2007

My dad was in the military, so I spent a lot of my youth in a small town in northern Japan. When we finally moved back to the U.S. I didn't listen to any music whatsoever simply because there wasn't much, but through people I knew I started listening to bands like Tool, Godsmack, and Slipknot. Needless to say, today I'm quite embarrassed about ever owning most of those records. Oh, I also listened to Creed because my girlfriend at the time absolutely adored them. Ouch. It wasn't until I got to college that I started breaking away from things my friends liked and developing my own styles, tastes, and preferences.

Sent by Dorian S. Kinney | 12:07 AM ET | 11-09-2007

well i used to listen to a lot of crap when i was younger, but no one told me not to exactly..or what was good, what wasn't, etc..but that being all opinions mostly anyway...so i figured it all out on my own. but before all that, i remember always listening to my parents' records..oh turntables.
but i do love when you come back to something you haven't listened to in a long while and you realize that you kinda forgot about that band, song, etc..and how much you did like it at some point (if not anymore).

Sent by azin | 2:46 AM ET | 11-09-2007

There's a certain sadness to hearing that people are embarrassed by their tastes when they were younger. It happens. It is natural. We grow. I think the tendency is to think of ourselves as teens as being less critical, and that may be true, yet I don't think it is fair to dismiss the emotional attachment we have to the music. I loved Quadrophenia by the Who when I was 16. I bought the long army jacket, made a t-shirt with felt pens, and roamed the streets looking for rockers to fight. (Only two of those statements are true, and neither are the tough one.) I felt deeply and connected to the songs. They spoke to me. I haven't listened to the album in 10 years, except for a song here or there. I downloaded it a couple of weeks ago, and listened to a few songs. While I don't keep the albums on a pedestal, it has a place in my heart. Am I able to see the flaws? Yes, especially given how the more interviews Pete Townshed gives the less I feel "in tune" with him. Even so, I can't deny that the album, the songs, the feelings and thoughts they conjured while I was reeling through adolescence were important. The songs provide solace, communion, understanding that I didn't get from friends and family. I guess I'm not too embarrassed because I think the album holds up, but I don't know how much of a role I had in deciding that this would be the album that would be such a touchstone for me. I think what teens are exposed to plays a much larger role than their selection. The teens where I work are exposed to nu-metal, and lo' and behold, they find songs and artists that speak to them. Put these same kids in Long Island in '74 and you have Ramones lovers. Are they any less cool because they live in a rental in a meth-ridden city to the North of Portland? I'm gonna say no. These kids are alright.

Sent by mikeyj | 3:15 AM ET | 11-09-2007

In high school, someone dear to me gave me a Death Cab for Cutie album (Something About Airplanes) for my birthday. There was something about the strings at the opening of "Bend To Squares" that made me shiver a little. The emotion in its simplicity made me realize there was so much more out there (I had always claimed to love music but never really put much effort into discovering it) and I started exploring via the internet. My musical tastes pretty much exploded in all directions from there.

Also, I think one's emotional connection to others has a huge influence on how receptive one is to new music recommended by certain people. If this person hadn't been so important to me, I doubt I would have given the recommended bands much of a chance. I suppose that sometimes, in our desperation to be close to someone, we force ourselves to be more open-minded about certain things.

Sent by Celeste | 6:53 AM ET | 11-09-2007

Childhood faves were the Peter, Paul and Mommy album (I still cry when I hear "Puff"--cheesy but true) and Free To Be You and Me (my parents were folkies). I loved Huey Lewis and the News in 4th grade (providing me with a special thrill in my 20s when I lived in San Fran and saw my former crush on Fell Street!). I discovered the Beatles in 6th grade and then it was on to the Dead Milkmen, Violent Femmes, the Ramones, REM, and INXS in Jr. High. All these groups were "foundational" for me. Well...maybe not Huey so much. Looking at this list now and thinking about my present tastes, I'm wondering where my girls were at back then.

Sent by Michelle | 6:38 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I am of an age: all about singles, not performers so much until junior high and the British invasion, where I went gaga for the Searchers and the Kinks. That is, even then I was mildly contrary (elitist?)--the Beatles and the Stones were just...so...common. They've never turned into guilty pleasures, despite the spotty output; both back catalogs have plenty of wonderful stuff. Searchers: "When You Walk in the Room," the second Sire album from the "comeback," "Needles and Pins" for heavens sake. Kinks: damned near everything through "Lola," and after that an occasional gem.

The first band I followed around was the Lemon Pipers--yeah, the "Green Tambourine" people. Now, THAT'S a guilty pleasure. Thing is, before they signed to Buddah and agreed to commit career suicide by bubblegum, the Pipers were the big frog in the small pond of the Cincinnati rock scene. Their live shows were a distillation of Byrds, blues, Dead jams, and standup comedy, a combination of covers and original stuff that they mostly never recorded.

Then I heard Love. The first two albums were a revelation (except for "Revelations"), and what's next? "Forever Changes." Instantly my favorite album ever, and forty years later it still is. Arthur's brief but spectacular revival with "FC" live (for the first time!) was among the most gratifying things I've ever witnessed, and even subsequently getting kicked out of his own band was utterly, if perversely, right. (Dying was also poetic, but way too much so.)

Sent by Steve | 6:45 PM ET | 11-09-2007

I count my musical beginnings as the first tape I ever bought myself - A BEST OF.. Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson. The next purchase was a Johnny Cash tape. Not the coolest things to be into in school in Ireland, when U2 were on the rise, and everyone was into Guns'N'Roses and Def Leopard.
I must however give props to my sister for being such a huge CURE and SMITHS fan since that gave me plenty of exposure to that.

The RAVE days were huge in some parts of Ireland in those days too, and while it wasn't really my scene it did give me more exposure to electronic music. I went from there to explore Hip-hop, Jazz, Trip-Hop and Drum'n'Bass. DJ SHADOW's Album - ENTRODUCING, was a classic that merged many of these tastes, and led me to the wonderful world of NINJA TUNE records.

Grunge was another big influence in the early 90's, taking me into the world of guitars. Pearl Jam, Sonic youth, Tool, Rage Against the Machine and then back to Neil Young. Sonic Youth is a bit of a puzzle to me now, and I didn't really listen to Pearl Jam beyond about 1995. But I can see the influences of those bands in what i like to this day. PAVEMENT, THE PIXIES, THE BREEDERS, THROWING MUSES and BELLY were other bands from that time that I got to love while at University, and still listen to them regularly.

But having grown up listening to country music and live ballad sessions I always had a love for live singer songwriters, and in Ireland in the early 90's there were plenty of acts to see. I was fortunate enough to see DAVID GRAY back in 1993 in Cork, both as a solo artist and with a backing band, and they were truly astonishing performances. I will always be a fan of his music from then, despite how morose it can be. Since his commercial breakthrough with White Ladder, I find it hard to admit I was such a big fan, as I find the last few albums to be really bland.

These days, I don't really care what genre I listen too as long as it's interesting, either in terms of instrumentation, or lyrics. Current Favourites, Jenny Lewis (and Rilo Kiley), Roots Manuva, Calexico (loved the Iron and Wine Collaboration), Rodrigo Y Gabriela (reminds me of latin america, they are insane performers, and really nice people), MOGWAI, and a charity album released in ireland last year called THE CAKE SALE. I still love live music though, and for that reason, the downloads off the NPR website have been great. The SHINS, BELLE & SEBASTIAN and NEKO CASE gigs were fantastic.

Love the blog, and the website in general. I look forward to seeing where you go from here. All the best.

Sent by Gearoid O'Sullivan | 11:07 PM ET | 11-09-2007

Being from Chicago and having a mom who only likes disco and a sister who only likes pretty boy bands, my stepping stone into rock music was the Smashing Pumpkins.

I was minorly obsessed with them, but as luck would have it, they led me to the Pixies. I owe a lot to both SP and Pixies in that respect, and they will both be bands I always go back to.

Still, the bands Pixies led me to take up more space in my life than the Pixies anymore.

Sent by Carla K. | 7:24 AM ET | 11-10-2007

This is a very off topic comment.
Do you enjoy guitar hero?

Well, a Ramones song is on the first one. There I somehow tied in this blog to my random question.

Sent by Breanna D. | 7:56 PM ET | 11-10-2007

I second the Guitar Hero question. I'd love to hear what you think about it's place in the pop culture.

My first start in music is really embarassing to admit. I remember being obsessed with Debbie Gibson. It was part narcissism ... I wanted to be the uber-in-control alpha girl on top of the world. After that I just started to listen to pop music. Despite moving to more "refined" and "respectable" music tastes, I'm still a sucker for a good, cheesy pop song. Sometimes I find myself singing "Oops I Did It Again." That song sums up the messed-up split personality that's expected of teen-age girls today, and the feminist in me says I really should hate it. But it's so catchy.

On the more serious end of the spectrum, I've also buried my fascination with Liz Phair. Exile in Guyville was so full of anger and pain, yet had its moments of celebration, all in a stark, off-kilter style. Liz Phair was the smart girl's hero. In her 20s, she sang about love and life with a combination of monotonous weariness, understated viciousness, and hedonistic joy. I was saddened by her decline into minor pop stardom. I remember when people hung on desperately to the hope that there would be another Liz Phair album, and now it's hard to find anyone who cares anymore.

Sent by April | 2:03 AM ET | 11-11-2007

Nirvana started it all for me, but I rarely listen to them now. Now matter how good a band may be there are only so many hundred times you can listen to a song before it loses it's power.

Sent by Laura | 1:07 PM ET | 11-11-2007

The Who
Black Sabbath
Rush
Blue Oyster Cult
Iron Maiden
The Ramones
The Cure
The Smiths
REM
The Velvet Underground

Sent by Sharon | 2:00 PM ET | 11-11-2007

hole, nirvana, no doubt, soundgarden, pearl jam, nine inch nails, elastica, veruca salt, stone temple pilots, filter.

Sent by Muna | 5:43 PM ET | 11-11-2007

The entire album Pinkerton by weezer is where it all began...

Sent by Andrew | 4:11 PM ET | 11-12-2007

Retlated, but not. I attended Roky Erickson's live Austin City Limits taping last night. It was chilling and inspiring to watch someone you idolized as a child, never imagined you'd see live, and then see them absolutely rock your socks right the hell off. It is good to know that something I grew up with and still listen to on a weekly basis holds up not only generally, but live and after years of thinking that the artist will never get to perform again. Go Roky!

Sent by Spain | 8:56 AM ET | 11-13-2007

I'm of the age where I remember my eldest sister sitting me down and playing Sgt Pepper to me on the day of release in '67.
I then grew up with my other sister thrashing out Hendrix from the other room. Against the sweet sounds of Motown from the other room and the Beatles in the middle.
No wonder I've been confused all my life. :)

Sent by Slight Male Coyote | 7:00 PM ET | 11-13-2007

Van Halen started it all. And it was the Van HAGAR era, at that. That solo on "Right Now" will live forever. But now I jump for joy when "Pussywhipped" shows up on iTunes album shuffle.

Sent by Nick L. | 12:04 AM ET | 11-19-2007

"What is a band that started it all for you, but which you hardly ever name now that your tastes are more varied (refined, complex, cool)?"

Pat Benetar

There, I've said it.

Sent by Bloodyserb | 10:07 PM ET | 11-28-2007

I grew up in the mid 90s and the one band that started it all for me is Pearl Jam. I still listen to them and go to multiple shows when they tour. They've led me to all sorts of great music, (Sleater-Kinney being one obvious band) and endless sorts of frustration as well. Many people can't see why I would be a fan of a band that is a "has-been", and "only made one good album to begin with". Or other horrible questions/accusations like; "Why don't/Do you like Nickelback/Creed?" If I say no, or comdemn those bands (which I normally do) I come off sounding like a snob, and is basically telling this person who is asking me because they most likely enjoy the music of Nickelback or Creed that their taste in music is awful. In short, it is frustrating to make new friends when you come off sounding like a jerk right from the start.

Sent by Jack | 5:42 PM ET | 02-17-2008