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webby
07-07-2009, 17:06
Hi,

I wrote a piece about the music I grew up with on another forum but it's been archived away now. Fortunately I saved it before posting and I've just come across it so I thought I'd post it here.

Songs/albums/movies/books that have influenced my life? I'm not sure if any have necessarily influenced my life. They've certainly been part of the soundtrack. Landmarks along the way I suppose.

Music has played an enormous part in my life. I've always found some sanctity in the fact that I can chuck on a CD and hear the music spill forth from the speakers or headphones, never letting me down, no matter what's going on in my life. Many a time I've been shopping for shoes, jeans, whatever, and I've come home with a CD. £50 for a pair of jeans? £10 for a CD? Only one winner. The jeans will wear and shrink and go out of fashion, but the music is always the same, dependable. It beats me why people think 9 or 10 quid for a CD is overpriced!

When I was 11 or 12 I heard Mad World by Tears For Fears and loved it. I bought the album, The Hurting, and I've been a fan ever since. Everybody Wants To Rule The World from Songs From The Big Chair is one of my favourite songs ever. Later, in '89, came Sowing The Seeds Of Love, a brilliantly realised Beatles pastiche. Genius.

In '85 I heard Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. Loved it. Then came Alive And Kicking and the album Once Upon A Time. I was now a Simple Minds fan, but the real influence was their earlier album New Gold Dream. The bass lines on that album had me hooked. I wanted to play those bass lines! I started to pay more attention to the bass lines on my other CD's and it wasn't long before I decided I wanted to play bass. I ended up buying a bass a few years later. Their '89 album Street Fighting Years stayed in my CD player for ages. The title track is one of my favourite tunes. Fantastic slide guitar work.

I guess around '86 I first heard Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House. What a tune! A classic. I can't believe it's over 20 years old. Again, I became a huge fan of Crowded House. They've made some amazing records over the years, Better Be Home Soon, Mean To Me, Hole In The River, And She Goes On, Fall At Your Feet, Four Seasons In One Day, Nails In My Feet, and Distant Sun to name but a few. The '93 album Together Alone has to be one of my all time faves. Quite possibly my favourite band ever.

Around the same time, Where The Streets Have No Name by U2 came out and I remember buying The Joshua Tree on vinyl but I didn't like it. I think I gave it to a cousin of mine. I liked the singles from it though and ended up buying the album again. I was really into Simple Minds at the time and I think The Joshua Tree was a bit more organic I suppose. Anyway, I clearly wasn't ready for it first time round. Second time, I got it. Great album, goes without saying really. That album, and The Unforgettable Fire (great bass lines again) got me into U2. It was a long wait for the album after Rattle And Hum, but Achtung Baby! showed that U2 were still as relevant, and inventive as ever. An album that almost broke them up turned out to be a triumph. A brilliant return. I particularly remember Love Is Blindness from the gig at Wembley Stadium. The huge screens showed (as I recall it) images of bright stars, slowly turning and zooming in, almost drawing me into the screen, while the music washed over me. It's hard to explain but nothing else existed in that moment. One of the best in-concert moments for me. Still one of my favourite bands.

Hmmm, I've gone off on one haven't I? I'll try and keep the rest brief.

Wonderwall. I don't love the tune, I just liked it at the time. By then I'd moved away from the bass and onto acoustic guitar because I wanted to be able to play a song and sing along (you couldn't really do that with a bass) and Wonderwall was the first tune that I nailed the guitar and singing too. I found it so difficult before but with this song, it just clicked and after that, I was able to do it on most tunes.

You Get What You Give by The New Radicals came along at a time when I hadn't really heard anything very good for ages. This was just such an energetic, feelgood song that had more than a touch of World Party to it. In fact, I thought it was them at first. I just thought it was a great, great song. The album, Maybe You've Been Brainwashed is pretty special too. The guy (Gregg Alexander) made one brilliant album and decided that being a frontman wasn't for him and took the producer/songwriter route instead. He's written hits for Texas and Ronan Keating among others. Yes, that's right, Life Is A Rollercoaster.

A Design For Life by Manic Street Preachers blew me away when I heard it. The album Everything Must Go is awesome and I devoured everything they released after and before that, but nothing has bettered it in my opinion.

Guns 'n Roses' Sweet Child 'O Mine has been my ringtone ever since I've had a mobile. Great song, great guitar solos. Perfect.

Saybia. Danish band. Day After Tomorrow. Great song. Reminds me of Copenhagen.

There are loads of great tracks from the 80's that I could mention. Being in my formative years they all made an impression on me: The Sun Always Shines On TV, Two Tribes, Wild Boys, Wherever I Lay My Hat, Money's Too Tight (To Mention), Life's What You Make It, Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl), Don't You Want Me, Too Shy, Wishing I Was Lucky, People Are People, Nothing Ever Happens.

All this and I haven't even mentioned The Beatles, Lennon, McCartney, Radiohead, Coldplay, Pulp, REM, The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly. The latter two being favourites of my Dad. They are indeed, legends.

Thanks for reading :)


Over to you....

John
07-07-2009, 18:30
Thanks for sharing this and while we have mostly different taste in music I can totally get your passion and love for music For me I often describe music as a friend that I come home too!!

Spectral Morn
07-07-2009, 19:03
Webby

I am moved reading your piece...

I too feel that The New Radicals album is a mile stone in pop music...the thing that I loved about it was that it captured much of what I liked about the pop music of Todd Rundgren and it came at a time when I was first out of work and only just married. I too regret that no more came from this group...who in the main was Gregg Alexander. Recently the Feeling I think have taken up the mantel. Like the New Radicals I was instantly drawn to their music, its infectious and uplifting like the New Radicals one and only album. I played it to death, if it had been vinyl, only the hole might have been left.

Much of what you love I like too but like John I come more from a Rock perspective, but great music is great music and IMHO the pop of the 80's vastly surpasses the pop of to day.

Thank you for sharing.


Regards D S D L


PS what is your first name and where do you live (country) ?

Mike
07-07-2009, 20:09
Great post!

So many memories there... some of them are even good ones! :lol:

webby
07-07-2009, 21:52
I must say that the music mentioned in my post is just a small part of my collection and is not necessarily what I listen to now. I wrote it for another (non-music related) forum and I've been a bit lazy here and just lifted it from there.

I like a wide range of music, but have yet to get into classical. I have very few female artists in my collection for some reason, Kate Bush and Tori Amos pretty much covers it.

Anyone have The Storys first album? Very good stuff.
Jim Noir's first album is very good. Something a bit different.
I don't think I mentioned the Super Furry Animals did I?
I like Pink Floyd too, they seem to be pretty popular on this forum.

Loads more. Too many to mention, but I'm certainly not just an 80's dude :)

Oh, and Neil, my first name is Lee, and I live in Southampton, uk. Why?

brainz2000
07-07-2009, 21:54
Only one album has ever been entirely seminal for me, and I am firmly of the belief that all music lovers have one album that turned you from a listener to an addict .... but we'll get to that in a moment ...

I remember an early Walkman and a hard earned selection of tapes bought after much saving from the record shop ...

Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls
Police - Regatta de Blanc
10cc - Greatest Hits (taped off the record - the one with the Boxing Glove - 1979)
Peter Gabriel - PG3 - Melt

All of these were formative in my teenage years away at boarding school ... with all the feelings and experiences that involved ...

But the best was to be heard on a borrowed tape and the impact goes on nearly thirty year later ...

I am just a young boy, stranger in this town, where are all the good times, who's gonna show this young boy around ?

Is there anybody out there? Hello, is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me?

When we grew up and went to school there were certain teachers who would hurt the children any way they could ...

Teacher leave them kids alone, Hey teacher leave those kids alone ...

Such powerful music at the time of such teenage angst .... and the realisation that music can be so much more than something to tap your feet to and hum along to, but a release, and emotional statement .....

From that time to this, I began to listen, really listen to the messages, the motivation, the soul, the emotion ....

It has driven a love of music as diverse as you can possibly imagine, from Jazz to Rap, from Rock to Soul, a love of live and one take recordings, an understanding of the power multi layered recordings ...

I have at least 3 recordings of the album (the original, the live show from Earls Court and the one to celebrate the unification of Germany) as well as the memory of seeing them in concert in Birmingham, and of course the film ...

Oh and by the way I have listened to and loved almost everything in webby's list (and the omissions I am now going to seek out for fear I've missed something special ...)

Anyway that is my 2p worth ..... if I didn't name it that is surely because you all know it (and have a Marmite feeling about it :-) )

Google any of the lines if you really don't know

tim

:rock:

Spectral Morn
07-07-2009, 22:49
I must say that the music mentioned in my post is just a small part of my collection and is not necessarily what I listen to now. I wrote it for another (non-music related) forum and I've been a bit lazy here and just lifted it from there.

I like a wide range of music, but have yet to get into classical. I have very few female artists in my collection for some reason, Kate Bush and Tori Amos pretty much covers it.

Anyone have The Storys first album? Very good stuff.
Jim Noir's first album is very good. Something a bit different.
I don't think I mentioned the Super Furry Animals did I?
I like Pink Floyd too, they seem to be pretty popular on this forum.

Loads more. Too many to mention, but I'm certainly not just an 80's dude :)

Oh, and Neil, my first name is Lee, and I live in Southampton, uk. Why?


Hi Lee

Well because it is in the nature/ethos of Art of Sound that we like members to be real people. Thus using a first name in ones signature and location makes us real, and makes AOS a more friendly less cold place than other forums where people sit faceless behind their keyboards and are a mystery at best and at worst use this as a way of waging unaccountable war/mischief.


Regards D S D L

webby
08-07-2009, 08:08
Hi Lee

Well because it is in the nature/ethos of Art of Sound that we like members to be real people. Thus using a first name in ones signature and location makes us real, and makes AOS a more friendly less cold place than other forums where people sit faceless behind their keyboards and are a mystery at best and at worst use this as a way of waging unaccountable war/mischief.


Regards D S D L

Gotchya. I'll update my sig.

Spectral Morn
08-07-2009, 11:43
Gotchya. I'll update my sig.


Thank you Lee, much appreciated :)


Regards D S D L

Stratmangler
08-07-2009, 13:34
Good post Lee !

I grew up in a musical family. My father was a pianist/organist, and also played euphonium on the odd occasion in marching bands for whatever RAF station we were posted to (he was not in the RAF as a musician - those guys are full time musicians).

My sister and I both grew up learning to master various instruments, brass, woodwind stuff.

At 16 years of age I eventually settled on guitar - hence the monika.

I think that the turning point for me was in November 1973. I was 11 years of age, at boarding school, and I heard the album "Who Do We Think We Are ?" by Deep Purple. (my absolute no.1 fave album of all time). It was the time when there were many truly great heavy and progressive rock bands around, most at the peak of their considerable and innovative musical powers.

The list of bands and artists I was exposed to at the time was immense - Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Yes, Budgie, Frank Zappa John Martyn - I could probably carry on for a good while longer just listing these giants of the (rock) musical world.

Many is the time I've gone out shopping for clothing and come back with records/CD's instead - I totally undertand you doing the same.

My ears are always open to new music - the variety of musical styles in my collection continues to grow.

Stuff I didn't get on with or understand at first hearing generally never got discarded, but got filed away for a second go at some later time.

As I'm typing this I have the Ensemble Moderne playing their renditions of some of Frank Zappa's works (thanks Spotify).

I do count myself very fortunate to have been around to make the musical encounters in my life that I have.

Although the musical mainstream by and large holds little to interest me, occasionally an artist comes through whose material grabs me and says something. Long may this continue.

For me music is not merely entertainment - it is an essential part of my make up and well being.

Chris:)

HighFidelityGuy
08-07-2009, 14:21
I always find it interesting reading about what music different people grew up listening to and how their tastes have changed over years as they've changed as people.

The music that I have listened to over the years has been influenced by a lot of different things. When I was a kid I didn't really have any particular tastes in music as such but I mainly listened to Michael Jackson on other pop music. When I was about 8 I started playing Violin at school and continued to play until I was about 19. As my skill increased over the years my appreciation of classical music and related genres increased to. During my teens, like most people, I started looking for new things to listen to. I found Rock/Metal to be to my liking and over most of my teens and into my early 20's I gradually listened to increasingly heavier and heavier music. I also began to like some electronic music around the same time, mainly heavy stuff like Prodigy. A also started playing drums in my later teens as a way to further enjoy Rock/Metal.

Once I was old enough to drink under-age :cool:I started started to go clubbing with my mates and found that I had a soft spot for Trance music, but after a couple of years of going to dance clubs I grew tired of this and found Rock clubs more to my liking. I have many fond memories of nights in the old Corporation in Sheffield.

Now I'm approaching 30 I'm finding that I quickly grow tired of listening to really heavy stuff, although I still do occasionally when I'm in the right mood. I now mainly listen to more ambient guitar based music.

All of these different influences have left me with a very wide taste in music and a low tolerance for mediocrity. I only like listening to music that I find complex and technical and with as little repetition as possible. So most of the stuff that's in the charts etc I find extremely dull and pointless. I can listen to chart nonsense on the radio in the car (on short journeys) but I very rarely find anything new I like this way.

I also find that I prefer music in minor keys and particularly depressing or very emotive music. I'm not an emotional person and I find music is one of the few things that stirs my soul and makes me feel alive. I also like music to have plenty of dynamics. This is another thing most chart music lacks.

One other slightly odd and quite specific thing I like is really low bass. :mental:
I don't know where this came from but I've always liked low bass I tend to have a soft spot for music that includes this, even if the music is crap overall. Yes I own the first Flo Rida album, it makes me chuckle. :ner:

I also love films and this combined with my Violin playing has made me really appreciate film scores. I often find film scores more enjoyable to listen to that some regular classical music.

Here's some example of music that's had a strong influence on me or that holds a special place in my heart:

Guns N' Roses, all of their old stuff. They were the first band I really got into and were the reason I got into rock.

Nirvana and Metallica, all their old stuff. They were my next mains loves, especially Metallica.

Pantera and Machine Head were next as I looked for heavier music.

Sepultura - Roots. This album featured lots of tribal influences and really interested me.

Rage Against The Machine - All their albums but especially the first. Simply amazing, it blew my mind and still brings me great joy.

Fear Factory - Edge Crusher. I forget which album this is from but it's probably my favourite Metal track of all time. I used to request this in the Corporation every week.

System of a Down - Their first two albums. I love the varying styles and amazing vocals, such good fun to listen to.

Prodigy - The Fat of the Land. I love this album and it was to blame for me starting to like Electronic music. I still play this album often.

Jamiroquai - Synkronized. I just love the funky electronic joy that fills this album and others by Jamiroquai but this is the album that sticks in my head.

Barbers Adigio for Strings, to use it's common name. I first heard this when watching the film Platoon. I was blown away by the emotion in the piece and immediately went out and bought it on CD. This track got me listening to classical music at home.

Sigur Ros - Most of their stuff. I love their ambient melodies and harmonies. Perfect to chill out to. They were the band that go me into ambient music.

Coheed and Cambria. Particularly the albums "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth" and "Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV". This was the first band I found that captured my love for technical mastery and beautifully woven and varied tracks. I can listen to these over and over again.

Explosions in the Sky. Particularly "The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place" and "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone". I don't know what I'd do without this band. They are my perfect band. Beautiful, technical melodies and harmonies with no vocals to distract from the music. They also satisfy my love of massive dynamics with everything from delicate ambient guitar through to explosively heavy sections with beautifully woven sections between. I can't wait to see them live for the second time later this year.

Frank Sinatra. Most of his stuff really. I don't know why, I just love the vibe and it always makes me smile and gets me singing along.

There are many more artists I've enjoyed listening to over the years but they are some of the ones that stick in my mind the most.

webby
08-07-2009, 14:49
Anyway that is my 2p worth ..... if I didn't name it that is surely because you all know it (and have a Marmite feeling about it :-) )

Google any of the lines if you really don't know

tim

:rock:

Hmmm, I'm not sure Tim. Can't think. I've hit a Wall. :)