PeeperStorm on 14/7/2006 at 04:33
In the beginning I was a 1970's top-40 kind of kid. I'd turn on my radio to listen to Captain & Tenille or Paul McCartney, and I thought that was where it was at. Then along came...
Alice Cooper- In 1978 as part of my birthday celebration, my folks turned me loose in a record store. I picked out a copy of Billion Dollar Babies just because the cover looked interesting. That record alone deserves the credit for turning me away from that crap I used to listen to, and toward rock. Not long after that I went to my first rock concert (Ronnie Montrose & Gamma, Humble Pie, and Ted Nugent), and then there was no stopping it.
Devo- Shortly thereafter I was a freshman in high school, and saw a classmate walking around in a plastic jumpsuit with a red flowerpot hat. Naturally I had to ask her "WTF?", and shortly thereafter had every album that Devo had put out. They get credit for giving me the need to seek out & try strange things, and led me right into new wave and punk.
Frank Zappa- Then I was a freshmman in college, and stumbled across the student union's listening rooms where you could have the staffers put on a record from their small library, and you'd listen to it in a sound-proofed booth (as loud as you want). They just happened to have a copy of Apostrophe on hand, and it completely made my day. Silliness and social commentary combined with serious skill and complex musical constructs? Sign me up! That was when I started listening to how music was put together.
Foetus- Still a freshman. One day I was dialing around the radio to see what I could find, and heard this song that was so minimalist and powerful, and yet so malignant, that I could barely breathe. It turned out to be (in this incarnation) The Foetus All Nude Revue. Within a few weeks I had joined the staff of my college's radio station where they played stuff like this day and night. Bliss!
Alien Sex Fiend- If not for this band, I'd never have gotten interested in goth or industrial music. End of story.
Para?noid on 14/7/2006 at 10:52
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
sUPERMARIO999
Para?noid
BroacLanders
Nova Ice
buglunch
oh god lllooollll i just got that
which is ridiculously stupid of me considering what my location means
hopper on 14/7/2006 at 13:06
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
sUPERMARIO999
Para?noid
BroacLanders
Nova Ice
buglunch
I'm kind of surprised not to see The Builder Himself on that list. Builder was a real piece of work. He may not have changed your life, but he sure was, um, engaging...
Risquit on 14/7/2006 at 19:45
Iron Maiden when I was in junior high for turning me into a little metalhead.
The Smiths in high school for turning me into a naval gazer (yecch!...the music did and still does rule though).
Sonic Youth for turning me into an artsy-type in college.
Opeth for returning me to my metal roots in grad school.
Lucinda Williams for reminding me, post-grad, of life's bittersweetness.
Gray on 21/7/2006 at 19:40
Quote Posted by Shevers
Oh my god. The pun, she burns.
Technically, I can't blame him for being literate. But I sure would like to.
Jason Moyer on 21/7/2006 at 21:56
Biggest impact:
1. The Beatles
2. The Beach Boys
- While I grew up in an era that had some great music (Numan, Blondie, Cheap Trick, Devo, The Cars, etc) these 2 bands really inspired my earliest attempts to write my own music. Almost 30 years later and I don't think Abbey Road or Pet Sounds will ever grow tiresome.
3. Skinny Puppy
- These guys were my obsession from ages 12-19, coinciding with being a hip/rebellious teenager and my increasing interest in electronic and experimental music. I still think viviSECTvi and Last Rites are incredible records.
4. Dead Voices On Air
- Mark was the first "real" musician I ever talked to on a personal level and, probably unknowingly, shaped a lot of my attitudes towards post-modern art. A nice guy and beautiful music.
5. Mouse On Mars
- Just when I was starting to get utterly bored with new music and was mostly finding my inspirations in nostalgia (krautrock, psychrock, serialism, etc) I found these guys and realized there are still places to go that no one wants to go to.
Most likely to turn me into a drooling fanboy:
1. The Who
2. Mothers of Invention
3. The Free Design
4. Low
5. Joy Division
Gray on 21/7/2006 at 22:40
Quote Posted by Phydeaux
They Might be Giants
I said
five bands. TMBG would clearly be my sixth, had I listed them. They're so full of various genres I've discovered some new and exciting music just by trying to figure out what genre they were emulating in any given track. Not to mention the surrealness that clearly appeals to my geeky side.
Quote Posted by Phydeaux
Blues Brothers. Laugh/scoff if you want, but these guys, the albums, and especially the movie were the gateway to a whole slew of music I might not have otherwised bothered looking into.
That's exactly how it was for me as well. I would probably have overlooked Ray Charles and James Brown had it not been for the brothers Blues. It's a gateway drug.
june gloom on 21/7/2006 at 22:51
green day got me listening to just plain music. i lived a fairly sheltered life up until then where i was stuck listening to video game music that i had recorded myself, and in later years electronic music.
at some point i started listening to a lot of rap, though the song that probably got that started was XZIBIT's what u see is what u get. from there i found myself listening to ICP and the rest of psychopathic records' stuff.
sometime before i started listening to rap, a friend got me into metal by feeding me some iron maiden and megadeth. rap and ICP was a phase i grew out of (though i'll still listen to rap now and then) but i've never stopped listening to metal.
up until i heard opeth i was NOT a fan of growling vocals. then i got blackwater park for christmas, played it nonstop for a while, and thus my career as a death metal fan was begun.
at some point i decided i wanted to get into doom metal, and by that point i had heard most of black sabbath's early years and loved it- so, i did some research, and discovered a band called electric wizard. that pretty much turned me on to doom metal as a whole- it's officially my favourite style of music.
Mortal Monkey on 22/7/2006 at 00:04
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
sUPERMARIO999
Para?noid
BroacLanders
Nova Ice
buglunch
Awesome. sUPERMARIO999 changed my life too, see below. Quote of the decade.
