what points in your life changed what you listen to or how you listen to it?

For me there was my introduction to the Doors, via the movie; and then there was a tape of An American Prayer that i picked up when a neighbor was moving, that is a really interesting record, i listened to it exclusively for a number of months a number of times a week. There was also watching a piece on Bravo with Yo Yo Ma with him playing bach in a public park under construction. The piece if anyone is interested, is called 'yo yo ma, inspired by bach'.

In undergrad, I had such a bad attitude - punk was my mainstay at that time ('79 - '83).

Earlier, I saw a Soundstage (anybody remember that show on PBS from Chicage WTTW?) performance of AL Green. WOW!! I thought that man was amazing!! So, I was listineng to many Soul single performers at that time (in high school).

There have been many live shows, that I have seen, that made me rethink listeing to an artist - Joe Cocker was one recently. I saw him when he was on the American Woman Tour with the Guess Who and could he belt a song!! None of his recorded material does him justice.

I guess one of the best, though, was Los Lobos. I did like there music, but when I saw them live - it really made me appreciate the musicianship of the group. They really are amazing!!!

Dave

My ex turned me on to the alternative scene back in the mid eighties, I have to thank her for that. More recently it was finding forums like this and head-fi that made me listen to music and gear critically; I find I enjoy my listening more than ever.
Whether it's Velocity Girl or Vangellis, I enjoy music at a different level now.:)
Oh, and getting back into vinyl!:D

That's easy. 1969...

Hmmm,

great thread! I would have to say my older half sister and an ex boyfriend of hers had a lot to do with my tastes in music. Up until 10-15 years ago, my tastes were fairly mainstream. Mostly rock, blues and the like. I lstened to A LOT of Rush, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Black Sabbath etc. One day though, I just kinda got "burnt" out on all of it. I mean, if you turned on the radio, all they did was play the EXACT SAME play list over and over. My sister and her ex, were very much into punk/alternative. They kind of "pointed" me in that direction. He was from Boston originally, and was really into bands like Bad Religion, Fugazi, Slapshot etc. She liked the Damned, Sex Pistols and the Clash to name a few. I also got into Rockabilly, and the Lo-Fi sound too. Funny, I NEVER, and I mean NEVER listen to radio anymore. Although, I will listen to the local college station from time to time. They play an interesting mix of punk, rockabilly, surf etc. If I ever hear Hotel California again... I will pull out all of my hair!

I'm with you Kipp. NO RADIO!!!

Just the local college station that runs a nice mix of classical, jazz, blues, celtic & ambient stuff. And I only listen to that when I'm working in my office at times.

I couldn't tell you who's hot on the charts right now & could give a good rat's ass as well!

Moon

Kip somewhat tells of my story. But I think what opened me up and got me listening to damn near anything (other than main stream rock) and really liking it was the audio hobby. Having an elevevated sense of my system and putting more money into it from an educated point of view, thus allowed it to reproduce the music much better making everthing fun to listen to. Even old music that I might have been "burned out" on 5 years ago is now being listened to and it seems like I am hearing it for the first time.

I heard, among other music, some really good Jazz. I found myself with that intropsective music while still enjoying a dose of 'Zepplin. After H.S. I went to Art school and was introduced to alot of alternative / punk. And now I'm waiting for someone to turn me onto something new.

MikE

Mid 80's:

My Uncle had an influence on the Music I listen too. Got into the Heavy Metal and Hard Rock. AC/DC, Iron Maiden e.t.c.

Late 80's:

One of my Ex GF's at High School got me onto The Cure.

The 90's and beyond:

I hear music in various places which influced me:

Watching Beavis and Butthead made me buy a few CD's after hearing some tunes on their when those two Iddiots were watching music video's.

Listening to the Music at work which they play over the P.A. has an influence on what I tend to buy as well.

Now I have CD's from Abba to ZZTop. :D

Music became a lot more important to me when I started partying :D

1966, Zappa & The Mothers of Invention. That was like getting hit in the chest with a 2 X 4.

Prior to that I was pretty mainstream, listening to Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, The Rascal's, Stones, and of course, The Kinks. Motown too.

Another biggie was 1969, when a guy played me Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man", and Gustav Holst's "Planets". Great intro's to classical.

Almond, Toasted/MSgt, USAF

Interesting MikE!
I too was way more into jazz during high school. George Benson's Breezin was a major influence on me. I then started getting into guys like Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Bob James and Grover Washington Jr. etc....but for some reason, the passion fizzled:( Maybe it was cause my friends couldn't understand what the hell I was listening too!
but I am back looking deeper into jazz music.

Back in H.S. I had a buddie who was into basically everything I was; music & stereos, chess, tennis and art. He was very passionate about his interests and around '73 introduced me to Jazz. Mostly guitar [he played] stuff; Benson, Pat Martino, John Abercromie, Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Larry Corryel, Santana, Stanley Clark. We also listened to Miles Davis, which lead to Coltrane...

I can't say the passion ever faded, I just explored other music types / artists. The three albums back then that enfluenced me were "Timeless", "Bright Size Life" and "In a Silent Way". Whenever I stop looking in other directions and come back home, Jazz always sounds right to me.

MikE

Way back when, I strummed and picked a little on the six string, hence my affinity towards those artists!
I agree though, Jazz always sounds good.:)

I was spending the night with a friend during high school and he handed me his walkman. Pink Floyd-The Final Cut. Holy smokes, I had never heard anything like it. I was into whatever was on the top 40 stations at the time, early 80's. However, I still listened to mostly top 40 radio until I went off to the Army and was stationed in Germany in 86. Needless to say, there was much variety of music blasting through the barracks hallways. I heard Black Sabbath for the first time, and I realized who Fleetwood Mac was and which songs they played. I even heard my first modern country music, George Strait and Randy Travis. Then there was all the electronica dance music, Off, 16- Bit, The Cure, Erasure, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, the clubs were filled with great music.
Back in the Barracks we would go to sleep with the Scorps or Cream or even occassionally Corrosion of Conformity. However, besides the total mind blowing of my first dabble with Pink Floyd, the greatest mind opening was when I heard Ride the Lightning for the first time, it was at that time I realized that I was a Rock fan. These guys could do things with guitars that had never been done. Since then I listen to about anything, however I always go back to rock. It just gets me moving and always puts a smile on my face. :)
P.S. Yep, I know I was a pitfully late bloomer when it came to music. However, it doesn't matter when you get there as long as you arrive :cool:

Hey,
MUSIC that irreversibly changed my tastes, Run DMC (in about '86 or so), and then the Beastie Boys around the same time.
RADIO that changed my tastes, gotta be Brave New Waves: it's on CBC radio, in Canada, but they have such powerful transmitters that they cover good portions of the States as well. 12:05 am local time, weeknights. There's some real crap on there (sound like the radio to you guys?), but then there's also tons of cool, weird, exotic, amazing new stuff to be discovered as well, and NONE OF IT is top 40! (shameless plug: check out their website and links at Brave New Waves on the Net (http://www.bravenewwaves.com) )
Other things that changed my musical preferences forever: six letters, LSD and THC! :tongue: :smoke: