Whilst I like to pride myself on enjoying an eclectic and wide taste in music, probably absurdly wide in the opinion of some, it has not always been that way.
Like a lot of AoS members, I expect, my record collecting initially started with the Beatles, Stones, Kinks and The Who. During my student days, and at one time I seemed to be an eternal student, my tastes expanded rapidly into: folk (both British and American); traditional black American blues and r ‘n’ b; jazz and classical music, as well as what was then called ‘progressive pop’ (thanks to John Peel’s radio programmes of the time).
What I detested at that time was ska, and rock steady, for example Desmond Dekker and The Israelites. I even disliked soul music and anything on the Atlantic, Motown and Stax labels! Then, about twelve years ago I had a sudden change of heart and suddenly realised what I had been missing. Since then, like the newly converted, I have tried to make up for lost time by acquiring much of what I had previously dismissed. Now it seems unbelievable that the likes of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Otis Reading used to have no effect on me. Some of this might be down to nostalgia, stuff that was around when I was in the sixth form, but whatever the trigger I have re-discovered some great artists.
Another artist that I actively disliked for a long time was Neil Young. I couldn’t get past his weak, whiney and feeble voice. About five years ago, again I had conversion, for some reason I started listening to him again and went a bit mad collecting much of his, admittedly variable, output.
Have any other members had similar experiences they would like to relate?
Apologies to those who have read this post, expecting the revelations of a ‘born again’ valve enthusiast. Sorry, for the moment I am an unrepentant ‘sandman’.
