Squonk
Trini Lopez was big stuff in my house. I remember a folk album he made with Puff the Magic Dragon.
I have huge memories of Elvis, my mother was a bit of a fan. When she had a drink too much "In the Ghetto" used to blare out. Still makes me miserable when I hear it today.
vic
Squonk wrote:
Trini Lopez was big stuff in my house. I remember a folk album he made with Puff the Magic Dragon.
I have huge memories of Elvis, my mother was a bit of a fan. When she had a drink too much "In the Ghetto" used to blare out. Still makes me miserable when I hear it today.
Yip...Trini was very popular. I remember 1000's flocked to see him in CTown when he toured SA...he did some nice sing-a-longs... LOL .
Sebber
I was born in 1975 (in Denmark, but my parents moved to the UK when I was a few months old), and my earliest musical memories are listening to The Beatles, The Moody Blues, and Wings... I was heavily into Wings, and The Beatles, when I was very young, because it was something I'd love to sing along to. I also had a half sister and half brother, 10 and 5 years older than me respectively, so I was introduced to Pink Floyd at around about the time The Wall came out, I remember watching the movie, my sister had it on Betamax (I think it was), when I was probably 6... my older half siblings also had thousands of audio tapes that I'd "borrow" (i.e. steal), and I got exposed to all sorts of stuff pretty young. A lot of the tapes I nicked off them were recordings from BBC Radio 1's Top 40 countdown that they put on Sunday nights... my half sister used to record it religiously. She also loved the TV series Fame! back in the '80s... man the show sucked but I remember enjoying a lot of the music when I was a brat.
I took piano lessons from age 7, and got seconded into the school choir aged 8, and I learned an early appreciation for classical music, which I still love to this day.
Then I saw Back To The Future in '84 or '85 and I got obsessed with guitar (and skateboarding, which I fortunately gave up), I got my first guitar that Christmas because I wouldn't shut up about it... at about the same time I found out about Chuck Berry and Little Richard. I took lessons for about 6 months then got into some other pointless kid's fad. I got into Huey Lewis and The News as well at about the same time... man, I loved that stuff!
I was 12 when my older half brother introduced me to Led Zep. He also put me onto AC/DC, Aerosmith and a few others, but it was Led Zep that did it for me. My 12-year-old ears only needed to hear Stairway to Heaven once and I was reaching for the guitar that had been untouched for a year or so. It's been my passion ever since.
In Summary:
Got me into music: The Beatles, and specifically Paul McCartney's voice always had some kind of hold over me, especially when I was younger but still to a certain extent to this day.
Got me into guitar: Marty McFly in the first Back to The Future (and Huey Lewis and The News).
Got me HOOKED on guitar: Led Zep IV. When I heard that my brain melted and I've never been the same since.
Squonk
Really digging into the archives of my brain -
My Dad's record collection that I shied away from -
Dean Martin - Numerous Albums
Al Jolson - This was scary stuff
Brenda Lee - Just as scary
Ivan Rebroff - aargh
Records I played from the collection -
The Hollies - Stay
Mungo Jerry - I cant recall which album
Trini Lopez - At PJ's, The Folk Album
The Beatles - Please Please me, Hard Days Night, Beatles for Sale
The Congregation - Softly Whispering I love You
Dodgy Singles I bought in the early 70's
Hot Chocolate - Emma
The Arrows - Touch To Much
Alan Garrity - Someone to lean on
Cozy Powell - Na Na Na
Mud - Dynamite
Nilsson - Without You
Johnny Kongos - He's gonna step on you again
Clint-Green
I didn't have much to choose from music-wise as a kid, my folks were into Cliff Richard, Abba, Smokey, etc. and I never much liked any of it BUT my dad did have a couple of Elvis tapes and LPs lying around and of course, those being the"heaviest"-sounding of the lot, I naturally gravitated toward them and really got into Elvis' music. That was what peaked my curiosity for music from the age of about 7 or 8. Of course I'd liked songs I'd heard on the radio and all that but this was the first musician I actually IDENTIFIED as a favourite and also made me wany to play guitar.
Later I heard Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" on TV and heard Guns n Roses' "Welcome To The Jungle" on an old movie with Morgan Freeman as a school teacher (can't for the life of me remember what the movie was called). From what I read in a few magazines, this sound was called Heavy Metal. I really liked it!!!
Now as far back as I can remember I've always been attracted to halloween/horror/scary monsters and stuff and that was what really got me to pay attention to Metal for the first time. I didn't have any older brothers or cousins or friends who were into the stuff and I was never exposed to it as a kid (South Africa in the 80's wanted no part of that!) but I do remember when I was 11 or 12 years old, going into a CNA with R20, scratching around in the bargain bin, pulling out a Metallica's "Creeping Death/Jump In The Fire" cassette EP, looking at the cover artwork and thinking "WHAT IS THIS?!?!?!?!". I ran to the counter, paid for it and rushed home without even listening to it first. Got home, popped it into my walkman, put on the headphones, turned up the volume and pressed play. That moment changed my life forever. I was mesmerised. This was IT. This was ME. The guitar playing was simply inhuman!!!! I had a second-hand TV game console that I'd just gotten, saved up for months and months to buy (I'd had it for about a week and absolutely loved it) and after hearing Metallica and Kirk Hammet's searing guitar solos I quickly sold it to a neighbor so that I could buy my first electric guitar (a kiddie-sized Starfire strat copy with just a bridge single-coil for 200 bucks).
After that I started seeking out material by other bands which I'd read about in hard rock mags (which wasn't easy here in East London as I still knew NO-ONE who listened t the stuff) like Megadeth, Pantera, Sepultura, etc... I was completely hooked and still am now, 18 years later!
flatfourfan
I was started on rock from an early age, growing up in the UK in the 70's meant that I was exposed to a lot of stuff that wouldn't of been playing in SA.
However I do remember the first time that I ever saw an Iron Maiden (Powerslave) LP and thought whooooooa. Been into metal and rock since I was about 14ish.
BassBarry
Uriah Heep, John Denver on thick old 8-Track cassettes. ☹
Squonk
BassBarry wrote:
Uriah Heep, John Denver on thick old 8-Track cassettes. ☹
I remember those ?
In 1974 my dad got himself a Ford Granada Ghia and it was kitted out with a 8-Track.
He had that first John Denver Greatest Hits and some Springbok Hits, it was all very scary!
Sean
Chad Adam Browne wrote:
Backstreet Boys
It's obvious
Averatu
My parents have a substantial classical vinyl collection, and that B&O turntable worked overtime. I dont know the names of compositions or the person responsible, but I find myself knowing the melodies and structures of the most obscure classical stuff.
Lethe
I think the first thing that ever cought my attention was Mozarts Fur Elise. Also a lot of Tchaikovsky. My mother loves classical music and so I picked up the classical guitar. She also got me a lot into the Beatles and Queen. My brother then got me into Megadeth and Amorphis which inspired me to pick up the electric guitar.
Jayhell
As a young kid, I didn't much care for music until my parents bought an album called Kings of Rock 'n Roll with artists like Fats Domino, Little Richard, Bill Hayley, Chubby Chekkers and more. It was the only album I liked for most of my childhood. Then when I was about 13 I discovered NIRVANA and Violent Femmes, my first 2 tapes were, UNplugged in NEw York and Add it up. But the band that got me to pick up a guitar was Rage Against The Machine. I wanted to be Tom Morello!
Squonk
At Primary school 1969-1975, there weren't many people to share my love of music. Most people thought I was a bit strange. Apart from the odd girl who was fixated with David Cassidy (The Bieber of the 70's) there was a scattering of people who knew something about music.
Most kids were familiar with 'Springbok Hits' which were cover versions of the latest songs. All we had in those days were a couple of programs on Springbok Radio, almost all presented by David Gresham who would showcase the latest pop hits albeit about 6 months behind the rest of the world. LM Radio was there but they were possibly only a little more up to date than Gresham.
I can remember listening to Deep Purple "Made in Japan" and Uriah Heep "The Wizard" with some girls who were a bit older than me, this seemed to be the case at my primary school, the girls seemed a bit more switched on than the boys!
High School was a different story. I found at least a handful of like minded people and we used to read the NME and swop records like crazy, I can still remember swopping my Queen collection (Queen, QueenII, Sheer Heart Attack, A day at the Races, A night at the opera) for a whole bunch of Uriah Heep albums, I did regret it ☹
But it was all good stuff, discovering music, and with no internet, you had to go on hearsay or whatever you read in magazines and books, many records were bought that were swopped back out again ?
The Road Goes Ever On
Jack-Flash-Jr
I think I told this story on here somewhere before but I listened to a lot of Elvis era rock age 10 on - had to seek it out (parents not musically inclined), then heard Satisfaction on TV at 12, stole my first Stones tape shortly after that... ?
strataxe
Born in 75 - music was in the family, listning to it, I was exposed to a large variety, from my grandparent;s music, 50s-60s, to my parents stuff, late 60s 70s, from Elvis , to Bee gees , Beatles, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Comodores, Lional ritchy, Abba, QUEEN, Carpenters, classical, piano hits, disco...
deefstes
strataxe wrote:
Born in 75 - music was in the family, listning to it, I was exposed to a large variety, from my grandparent;s music, 50s-60s, to my parents stuff, late 60s 70s, from Elvis , to Bee gees , Beatles, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Comodores, Lional ritchy, Abba, QUEEN, Carpenters, classical, piano hits, disco...
Nice one strataxe, I can relate to many of those, maybe because I'm also a '75 model.
Jack-Flash-Jr
The '74s have higher collectors value though ?
Squonk
Jack Flash Jr wrote:
The '74s have higher collectors value though ?
The 63's are just one year away from 50 ?
Feel about 21 but reality is in the mirror
Bob-Dubery
Jack Flash Jr wrote:
The '74s have higher collectors value though ?
Bah! You need to be pre-CBS.
