At what age did your musical awakening happen? Some people never appreciate music. That's fine, I'm not worried about them. But for those who truly appreciate music, how old were you when you heard something or started listening to something other than what your parents fed you?

My parents had a decent selection of country from Hank to Willie / Waylon to Kenny Rogers. Although they were in the right generation, they passed on the Beatles, but I heard a lot of Elvis as a youngster.


Fast forward to 15 years old, 1986, I'm sitting in a buddy's sport-side Chevy single cab. He inserts Van Halen 1 and tells me that's David Lee Roth playing guitar on Eruption with one hand and the other hand in the air throwing the horns up from some video he saw. Of course he was dead wrong about that, but that day I realized Van Halen existed beyond "Jump". A year later I bought "Appetite for Destruction" and you can figure out how my music selection has gone since then. Although I'm very much into music that came before my time (Stones, Beatles, Zeppelin), it was around 15 that I stopped going to the existing family collection of LPs and 8 Tracks to support my music habit.

I see kids today approaching that age. Do they see Guns n Roses the same way I saw (and still see) Kenny Rogers? What will be their "Eruption"? Or do they even care as long as the can stream "The Office"?

Great example with Kiss. Personally, I don't hear their music as anything that would change anyone's life, but they were definitely not from our parents generation. And with them, you got a lot more. Heros, monsters, maybe a villain (evil looking Gene shooting fire out of his mouth). They even had the cheesy TV movie and action figures. I think Star Wars and Lord of the Rings both borrowed from Kiss' gimmickry.

Also, agree that Hendrix (along with SRV) were greatest of all time. I'm STILL discovering things from those two.

My story is about the same as yours but add in Elton John and Fleetwood Mac to my parent's collection. I had an older brother ( 4 years older) so we would jam out to Kiss, Van Halen, Iron maiden, Rush, etc.

My kids are 21 and 25 and they like new techno music and rap but also appreciate the classics. My 21 year old son likes the 70s stuff more than me and doesn't care for the hair metal.

You may like a Podcast called Growin' up Rock. Pretty entertaining and also features new good hard rock bands.

Ya, I wouldn't consider Kiss' music as the life changing kind.....but as far as opening the door, for me to go and explore different music than what I was hearing on the radio in mom's car, then Alive II was life changing for me.

Our experiences seem very similar. Listened to 50s - 70s country in my early years on my parent's and my grandparent's record players. Also listened to a lot of WBAP back in the day. My first LP was Ray Steven's "Shriner's Convention" followed closely by a Kenny Rogers "Greatest Hits"

Of course I remember hearing/seeing new music on "Saturday Night Videos" and other shows like that before we had cable or MTV. KISS was forbidden in our house, as ashamed as I am to say it, they creeped me out. I don't remember when I first bought Appetite from G n R, but "Welcome to the Jungle" started it all for me. I think I have bought probably 15 copies of that album over the years, some because my mom threw away my cassette tape or because I wore out a cassette or CD.

I discovered Led Zeppelin about 1989, Led Zeppelin IV. Again, I probably wore out so many of those cassettes and CDs it is unreal. So now, my listening tastes come down to old classic country (really anything through the early 90s) to newer outlaw/Texas/red dirt country, to 80s/90s rock and heavy metal, some 90s grunge, blues from the 50s till now, etc. No rap really and very little contemporary music. I don't listen to much new rock, except Volbeat and old bands that put out new music (I consider Metallica to be in this group) but I do explore it.

My 10 y/o has picked up on this eclectic style. She loves listening to almost anything I like but also likes some newer stuff. She loves KISS, Fleetwood Mac, Journey, and lots of other 79s/80s stuff but also enjoys Taylor Swift.

My oldest daughter (12) listens to Volbeat, Kris Kristofferson, showtunes, etc. Not quite as varied as my youngest but she isn't much for trying new stuff.

I think that some of the stuff we grew up listening to, whether it was contemporary to the age or older from our parents time is timeless. Not all of it. I listen to some of the bands I used to like and it is certainly dated. I have a hard time listening to "Classic Rock" on a normal basis but some of that stuff brings back great memories.

I was an Elvis fan as a little kid, but listening to pop radio as a kid really got me started. I still remember the songs that were popular then: Blondie "Heart of Glass," Paul McCartney "Coming Up," Gary Numan "Cars," Billy Joel "You May Be Right" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"...

KISS, then Rush/Queen/Aerosmith...then a big Cheap Trick/Van Halen run. Then, Led Zep (not sure how I missed them on the way up...wasn't until I was a senior in HS).

Bones08 said:

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Born in 1985 so grew up on and loved alternative rock (shout out to 94.5 The Edge in Dallas).

But nothing spoke to me on such a personal level until Funeral by Arcade Fire came out in the fall of 2004. That was a true game changer in my book.

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Saw them at Trees shortly after that album came out and it was an incredible show.

For me it had to be around age 4 or 5. I remember my parents going to see the Jackson 5 reunion tour at Reunion Arena I believe and I cried because they wouldn't let me go.

I went from Journey and the Eagles, to Our Lady Peace and Days if the New, to Rage Against the Machine and Korn, to Slipknot and Sevendust, then to Iced Earth and Dream Theater. Add in a bunch of alternative, metalcore, folk, prog rock, hardcore, punk, jazz, etc. I've been been around all the blocks. I know people always keep a soft spot for what they listened to in their formative years, and most of you are products of the 70's, 80's, and 90's.. but other than nostalgia purposes, there's so much more out there than the same classic rock bands you guys listen to over and over. I absolutely appreciate all of them. But once I got deeper into exploring genres in depth, the radio rock from the past seems so boring to me save for a couple albums here or there.

But lucky for you, those bands were the first ones doing it, so they will always be relevant and popular, and you will be able to share your love of them with just about anyone who has progressed beyond radio pop. Nowadays, kids are growing up on bands who were influenced by bands who were influenced by your favorite 70's and 80's bands.

My parents were always into music, so I grew up listening to (and enjoying) 60's/70's music like Eagles, Elton John, Beatles, etc.

But it wasn't until I discovered Led Zeppelin (circa age 14 or so) that I really feel like my musical awakening began. Before that, I only ever listened to current music, of my own volition, unless I was listening to my parents mustic. (A lot of 90's europop, then boybands, and then Blink 182 and Limp Bizkit in the late 90's...)

But Led Zeppelin introduced me to the world of classic rock in a way I hadn't known it before. Needless to say, I became obsessed with Zepp, and have been ever since. I always knew them as the "Stairway to Heaven Band". But I remember downloading Led Zeppelin I, and the album hitting me in the face like a ton of bricks. I was down for the count.

I discovered other bands of course, (ie Pink Floyd, Queen, Sabbath, etc), but you never forget your first.

Early college, early to mid 2000s, I Found myself right smack in the middle of the golden age of indie rock. Growing up, I just had exposure to what was popular, Nirvana, Green Day, etc and in HS we thought we were enlightened by listening to early day's Dispatch and OAR (before they exploded) and even Radiohead, but when a friend introduced me to Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Broken social Scene, LCD Soundsytem, Early Arcade Fire, Sleater Kinney, Wilco, Block Party, Tv On the Radio, The National, animal collective, etc and many more I can't think of right now after a handful of Islay scotches. But it made me realize there were bands out there that made entire albums of perfect songs. And it really blew my mind and expanded my entire way of thinking.

And it got me searching into ALL genres of music, I always want to know who are the all time greats and the current greats in each genre. It's a never ending quest for me now. Listening to a new, perfect song can change the entire outlook of the day.

I feel like the only music that goes with islay scotch is Eluveitie.

FtBendTxAg said:

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and OAR (before they exploded)

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lol this made me laugh.

OAR exploded?

I was 13 when I discovered REM.

I heard "Perfect Circle."

Changed the trajectory of how I found and I liked music.

Growing up poor white trash in Houston, most of my music was country, The Beatles, and what I could hear on the radio.

I bought Murmur on tape within days of hearing Perfect Circle at a neighbor's house.

It is one of the defining moments in who I became.
It was okay to like music most people didn't know.

And it moved on from there.

I'm a big jazz and world-music fan. Started out rock-n-roll like everybody else but a friend in high school turned me on to Jean-Luc Ponty (electric jazz fusion violin). That jazz stayed with me. I sort of dabbled in jazz listening at A&M but really became a fan after moving to Houston for grad school. Similar to Tanya, I played the heck out of REM Murmur and saw them at Numbers in Houston.

KTSU (Houston) had a morning dj in the 80's named Steve Crane who was excellent, explained the jazz and played interesting songs. His show really got me hooked. KPFT had a Sunday afternoon show with Garth Jowett who would do a 1hr set on one artist. I went to all the libraries in Houston to check out jazz (and world-music) cd's. This was before internet.

Now I listen to Pandora and my stations include Robert Glasper, Vijay Iyer, Habib Koite, Vieux Farka Toure, Ballake Sissoko, GoGo Penguin, Kahil El'Zabar, Pharoah Sanders, Khruangbin, Brad Mehldau, EST, Hiromi, Weather Report, Miles Davis, Avishai Cohen, Lonnie Liston Smith, Pat Metheny - along with some rock and Texas stuff. For current jazz, check out GoGo Penguin - 3 interesting musicians from England; they're quite good.

It was right around my 10th birthday in 1993. My older brother had just assembled one hell of a stereo system in his bedroom complete with a 5 disc CD changer. My parents were at the store (or somewhere out of the house, who knows). I remember him unwrapping the the Siamese Dream CD and putting it into the changer. It was good that my parents weren't home because I think we had the volume up to 11 20 seconds into Cherub Rock. Still remember that like it was yesterday.

62strat said:

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FtBendTxAg said:

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and OAR (before they exploded)

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lol this made me laugh.

OAR exploded?

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Yeah that was a terrible adjective choice, I was drunk. Before they became A more well known mom band

blindey said:

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It was right around my 10th birthday in 1993. My older brother had just assembled one hell of a stereo system in his bedroom complete with a 5 disc CD changer. My parents were at the store (or somewhere out of the house, who knows). I remember him unwrapping the the Siamese Dream CD and putting it into the changer. It was good that my parents weren't home because I think we had the volume up to 11 20 seconds into Cherub Rock. Still remember that like it was yesterday.

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oh man reminds me of one time I was rocking out on my dads system when parents weren't home. I left my pantera far beyond driven cd in there unknowingly.

A few days later I'm in my room and from downstairs I hear on full blast 'THERES NOTHING!'

Opening lyrics to opening track on that album. Probably made my dad jump back a few feet when he turned that on.

Besides Weird Al above, I'd really say I've had a few "awakenings," or more like finding music that brings me out of the doldrums.

One was a friend introducing me to Guster in 2000. That opened a genre for me, really, which coincided with Napster and its ilk, so people could finally try new music without paying $15 on a gamble of a CD.

Another was a playlist of Indie music that a guy's been putting together since 2006. That's let me sample a lot of artist I would never have found otherwise.

My parents are musicians, so we had a lot of jazz, big band and classical records playing in the house. Earliest memories of music was Chuck Mangione. 40+ years later I can still "air" play and sing every note from every different instrument. My dad passed last year, so all of that vinyl from his collection that started in the 1950's is mine, including the Chuck albums that I loved so much.

My parents did have some different albums that sparked my curiosity, most notably Revolver from some band called The Beatles. That album, and a station called 104 KRBE in Houston, transformed my mostly jazz listening to rock.

Probably the first genre that was completely my own was geekier rock like Rush, ELO, Styx.

Jr. High was all about Prince. For small town kids (we moved), the dirty lyrics were the greatest thing we had ever heard. 1999 and Purple Rain blew us away.

Then in high school, some kids that went away to college came back with some club music (80's club - synth pop, industrial) and that dominated the rest of my high school days and into college.