Describe your musical universe.
I’m blogging-friends with a couple of sisters, both of whom comment here—gabby and shazbraz—and they inadvertently got me thinking about people’s musical universes. They’re both into 80s music, having been teens in the 80s, but I think they’re slightly younger than I am, so their 80s music is not quite my 80s music. It’s been weird for me to discover all these bands that they know of from the 80s that I never heard of, or can’t remember. It’s like we lived in parallel music universes back then.
I have really diverse taste in music these days. I really do like basically anything, and I hesitate to ever say I don’t like something, because I know from experience that if I spend enough time on music I don’t initially get or like, I’ll grow to appreciate it. It’s always puzzled me that other people don’t like some music. But we all live in our own musical universes. What shaped yours?
As a child of the 70s, I love super cheesy music. Captain and Tenille, the Carpenters, Air Supply—these were staples of my childhood.
As a teen in the 80s, I loved underground music—punk rock, new wave, industrial, anything wild and crazy, I craved it. I still do. The more abrasive, the better.
The 90s I was busy with small children and lived in a small town. I sort of missed the 90s. But I did get really into singer-songwriter type of stuff, trip hop.
In the 00s I discovered stoner rock and doom metal. Alt country, contemporary R&B, bluegrass. Slowcore, indie. Also Brit pop and some of the 90s stuff I’d missed.
Thanks to the Internet, your musical universe can be as large as you want it to be. What’s yours like?
I don’t remember much from the 70′s, except that I listened to my parents’ music: Heart, Beach Boys, Bread
I grew up in the 80s, and loved all sorts of stuff, mostly pop, new wave, rap. Duran Duran was my favorite, pretty much anything on MTV.
Out of high school, I got into Classic Rock (for the time, at least) Boston, Styx, Led Zeppelin.
When I came out to Utah, in 1993, I liked to go dancing with friends, so then I got into all the dance music.
Nowadays, I listen to lots of stuff. I’m particularly into female vocalists, especially if there’s piano involved. (Evanescence, Sara Bareilles, Fine Frenzy) Oh, and British chicks: Lily Allen, Ting Tings, Kate Nash. I don’t get into country much and I really don’t understand the true doom metal appeal. (No offense to you, Susan) The cool thing of late is that my wife and I play Rock Band, so I’ve been exploring music from that. (Seriously, Visions by Abnormality? What the heck?)
Comment by FHL — April 13, 2009 @ 12:04 pm
Susan, I think we were listening to the same stuff in the 70s. In the 80s I didn’t go very far underground; electronic and some rap, nothing abrasive. I missed the early 90s – I came back from France to find that Achy Breaky Heart was some kind of hit and Nirvana was huge. 93-99 was spent trying to develop again a taste for music and largely finding there wasn’t much in the 90s to like (besides some trip-hop as you mention), so much of the 90s was spent re-enjoying great 60s and 70s bands. Now I am all about the indie.
Comment by Supergenius — April 13, 2009 @ 12:13 pm
I love 80s music. I also love classical, show tunes, new age, Simon and Garfunkel and 90s music.
Comment by Alpha Echo — April 13, 2009 @ 12:19 pm
I think you are actually in the middle of us, age wise. I think shaz is older than you by a year and I’m a couple of years younger than you.
I was raised on country. And I hate it. Violently hate it. While I was in high school, we had some transplants move into our town and illuminate us in all things 80s alternative. shaz would send me tapes she taped off the radio at college and I would hungrily devour them, our town being so devoid of anything cool.
In the 90s, it was more of the same – bands I didn’t know, etc. Now, I like my old stuff, but I do listen to newer stuff. I like what I like, but I certainly don’t like everything. I know myself well enough to know that no amount of time is EVER going to make me like…say…Tom Jones. Just not going to happen.
We do always comment, Susan, how we think it’s funny some of the bands you never heard that are some of our favorites. It is funny, this different plane of musical lives.
Comment by gabby — April 13, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
When I was little, my mom listened to a lot of 60s and 70s stuff like Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver and the Carpenters, so I got to know that stuff really well and liked it. I still do. It reminds me of my mom, who died of cancer a few years ago.
I was very into pop music and AM radio in jr. high in the late 70s, so I heard all that Chicago, BGs, KC & the Sunshine Band, Donna Summer, Supertramp, Billy Joel, you name it. Billy Joel was the first concert I went to (it was in 8th grade and I absolutely loved it–52nd Street Tour, I think).
I also listened to a lot of Styx, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon and Journey, during that time, just like everyone else. I still like Supertramp a lot. It reminds me of my first girlfriend.
In high school I wrote for the school paper and reviewed music, so I started doing a lot of reading and listening to music I hadn’t heard before. I got into the Stones, the Beatles, the Who and the Kinks.
I started really liking Fleetwood Mac, Boston, Pink Floyd, Kansas and Rush, then I got caught up in the 80s british stuff and punk. I was very into the Kinks and the Clash, and the Police and Genesis. I had a very strong Springsteen, Mellencamp, Tom Petty and Bob Seger period. I also really liked the Boomtown Rats.
Then I went on a mission and missed most of the mid 80s. I remember hearing Spandau Ballet, The Romantics and Men Without Hats (I was in Orange County CA, after all) but not much else. I missed Frankie GTH completely.
When I got back, everyone was listening to Howard Jones and Flock of Seagulls etc. I didn’t get it. It took me a long time to like pop music again, and I have to say that it was Billy Idol and the Talking Heads that did it. I still have a soft spot for them. I got really into REM in college as well.
Then everything changed. In 1986 I first heard of a band that seemed to me to be just starting out. I heard part of their third and fourth albums and was intrigued. I went to China to teach English for a summer and bought their brand new album from a bootlegger in Tien Mou, Taipei. It was the Joshua Tree and I listened to nothing else for weeks.
I loved every song, memorized every word. I bought their previous albums and fell in love with Under a Blood Red Sky and The Unforgettable Fire. Since then I have been to every U2 concert I could get to and have loved every one. My favorite was the Zoo TV tour, which I saw in the Tacoma Dome from the 6th row, but I also loved “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.”
Nothing has ever been quite as cool since then but I still love all kinds of music and especially love finding a new band. My favorites lately have been KOL, Bell X1 and Snow Partrol, but I also really like Blink 182 (they’re getting back together), FOB, All American Rejects, The Academy Is, Mute Math and especially Third Eye Blind (new album coming) and the Damnwells.
Whew… Sorry that’s so long
Comment by MCQ — April 13, 2009 @ 1:23 pm
I think how young my kids are tends to throw people off with my age. I was an old maid by Utah standards when I got married
My husband is like you, Susan; if he listens to stuff long enough then he will often come around to it. It kind of makes me crazy because I feel like he ends up with an appreciation for things that I would rather he didn’t (really. should you have Brittany Spears, Ministry and Black Tape for a Blue Girl on the same mix? I think not…)
Comment by shazbraz — April 13, 2009 @ 1:27 pm
My musical universe changes every 4-5 years. Although now I’ve been so busy I’m a bit on hold – with a few minor additions.
Comment by Clark — April 13, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
MCQ, how old are you? I thought you were younger than me. Must be all those bands you like that I associate with 14 yo girls.
Gabby, Tom Jones is awesome. He’s a big fave of my husband’s. You have to listen with a sense of humor. But man, the guy can sing, and he’s a great performer, too. I know he’s supercheese, but that’s obviously ok in my book.
Shaz, my husband’s mix cds, if he ever made any, would include Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Fergie and Christopher Cross.
Comment by Susan M — April 13, 2009 @ 3:14 pm
I was raised on awesome music. We had every Beatles album on vinyl. Tons of Dylan, The Who, The Kinks, The Cars, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Simon and Garfunkel etc. We ignored the 80′s. All of it. I stuck with that until college where I became a huge Phish fan. Early twenties brought glam rock and punk. The husband brought in Brit Pop and
Comment by Rose Tyler — April 13, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
Sorry ran out of room on the phone. So huby brought brit pop and emo. Now I’m settled. The 3 bands or such I could not live without are 1. The Beatles, 2. The Ramones and 3. Johny Cash. Lately I love Cake, The Fratellis, Blur and The Black Keys. I still can’t love emo. I’ll never be a Jeremy Enick fan. Do have a cool t-shirt though.
Comment by Rose Tyler — April 13, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
when i was growing up in the late 70′s/early 80′s, my mom tried to be really strict about music and wouldn’t let us listen to anything contemporary, but that didn’t last too long. so lots of oldies, especially the carpenters. but i kind of like them in a way. it’s like in tommy boy when they’re out on the road and “superstar” comes on the radio. my dad was into more of the goofy music of the 50′s and 60′s. susan gave me a compilation of that type of music a while back called “are you freak or geek?” that totally reminds me of my dad every time i hear it.
i think my first album was “songs from the big chair” by tears for fears. about when i was in 7th grade my older sister started dating a skater who was way into punk rock and new wave, and it warped me forever. i got into stuff like the ramones, toy dolls, suicidal tendencies, love & rockets, skinny puppy, joy division, bad brains, black flag, husker du, new order, old school metallica, etc., a lot of bands that i still like to listen to.
through junior high and high school i was into largely the same vein of music, although hardly anyone else liked that (being idaho and all), so i had to also get into classic rock. i remember zeppelin, floyd, rush and steve miller being really big among my classmates. then came nirvana and suddenly everyone didn’t think my musical tastes were so weird.
the 90′s for me was mostly the smashing pumpkins and neil young. in the 00′s i went back more to my underground/indie roots and discovered built to spill and modest mouse, which was on heavy rotation for years. i also discovered post-rock, initially through mogwai. and the past few years have been darkened by susan’s influence, with lots of stoner rock and doom.
Comment by mike d. — April 13, 2009 @ 4:21 pm
Mike, that “freak or geek” mix was actually put together by Brian V (who comments here), I just copied it for you.
And yay for doooooooooom!
Comment by Susan M — April 13, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
Radiohead. Love everything they do. The Brits just make better music then us.
Comment by Rose Tyler — April 13, 2009 @ 4:44 pm
“The Brits just make better music then us.”
They don’t do better jazz or musical theater than we do–and they certainly don’t do better rock or R&B than we do.
Pop? Yes–they’ve done some great stuff. The British invasion of the eighties is truly miraculous–wonderful stuff. And who can doubt that the Beatles are probably the greatest pop-rock band of all time?
So yes the Brits are great, but we can still ought do them in those genres that are decidedly American.
Comment by Jack — April 13, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
Listen let’s not call The Beatles pop shall we? Sure they were poular but considering they influenced just about everything that came after them I would say they transcend any genre.
I also think the Brits do better rock then us. The aforementioned Radiohead, a little band called The Rolling Stones, Muse and even freaking Coldplay. I like some very American music but I just think their are places they have us beat. We’ll always have Bob Dylan and for better or worse Elvis.
Comment by Rose Tyler — April 13, 2009 @ 5:17 pm
I’ve been listening to music on Pandora (and sometime Lastfm) a lot lately, and it got me thinking about your question. Why do I keep getting band recommendations for bands that I CAN’T STAND? For example, because I really like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, and Black Sabbath, these music sites seem to think I must be a fan of Rolling Stones as well.
But guess what? I loathe the Stones; listening to them feels just like worms crawling under my skin. Why is that? I can’t explain why I don’t like the Stones, and when I try to step back and listen objectively I can’t put my finger on any culprit—too much electric guitar, not enough bass, etc.
Maybe I know too little about music to do a proper analysis, or maybe the creepy crawly skin feeling is just too overwhelming for me to stick it out long enough to find the answer.
Comment by BrianJ — April 13, 2009 @ 5:50 pm
I would blame it on Mick Jagger. I can completely appreciate them and really like a few songs, namely Give Me Shelter but Mick and Keith freak me. So does Paul McCartney if I’m being completely honest.
Comment by Rose Tyler — April 13, 2009 @ 6:14 pm
I grew up on the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and Chicago, along with a lot of show tunes and classical music. Once I hit high school, I really got into Radiohead, the Smashing Pumpkins, Portishead, NIN, Rage Against the Machine (my angsty phase) then lots of classic rock (Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Doors, etc), Air, Ben Folds Five, Coldplay (but only the Parachutes album). In college I listened to a lot of Bob Marley, Ben Harper, Allman Brothers, Jeff Buckley, Everything But the Girl, BT, Cinematic Orchestra, Morcheeba… Lately I’ve been enjoying Band of Horses, Ryan Adams, Daft Punk, DJ Shadow, Imogen Heap… My favorite band of all time is definitely Radiohead, followed closely by the Beatles. I ended up majoring in music theory and really enjoy any music that is fun to analyze, i.e., not Britney and the majority of the hip hop out there today.
Comment by Laura — April 13, 2009 @ 7:10 pm
Why do I keep getting band recommendations for bands that I CAN’T STAND? For example, because I really like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, and Black Sabbath, these music sites seem to think I must be a fan of Rolling Stones as well.
It is pretty ridiculous to assume that a fan of those bands would also like the Stones.
Comment by Brian V — April 13, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
Brian J: Do you seriously mean that you can’t stand the song, “Gimme Shelter?” Do you like Stones songs when other people do them?
Some people can’t stand Roger Daltrey. Mind-boggling, I know. But maybe it’s just Mick Jagger you can’t stand?
Comment by Susan M — April 13, 2009 @ 8:52 pm
IE, Jane’s Addiction.
Comment by Susan M — April 13, 2009 @ 8:54 pm
The only bands I seriously find no appreciation for are genres that just don’t appeal to me, like rap and most recent dance music ala britney. I can find some appreciation for almost anything else.
I do have serious hatred for some particular songs that I never liked in the first place and then they got overplayed on the radio to where I just wanted to die. “Come On Eileen” by Dexies Midnight Runners springs to mind, for example.
Susan, I graduated from HS in ’82. I think that probably makes me older than you, but I do like a lot of bands my kids are into, like FOB and Rejects, but I think they deserve a lot more credit than they get.
Comment by MCQ — April 13, 2009 @ 9:25 pm
Oh–I don’t have much appreciation for country, either. I don’t violently hate it or anything, I just have no interest.
Comment by MCQ — April 13, 2009 @ 9:26 pm
Beatles = pop/rock/folk. Nothing wrong with that–especially when it’s as good as it gets. They did not influence jazz, R&B or country in any significant way though. Motown, for example, was concurrently a huge success and single handedly defined a whole new genre that had nothing to do with the Beatles–and later would come the likes of Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, and the like. You don’t hear anything like that coming from the mother country.
Re: Rock–You’re right that the Stones were great. But I think most critics would agree that Zeppelin is THE quintessential rock band.
That said, I suppose it all boils down to one’s own subjectivity.
Comment by Jack — April 13, 2009 @ 9:29 pm
MCQ,
Check this out if you want some good country:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPDhtTu9Oj8
Give it minute or two–those guys really get cookin’.
Comment by Jack — April 13, 2009 @ 9:40 pm
If you study a bit you’ll se the effect the British invasion had on country. I’d say ask Mr. Cash himself but well… I don’t like Led Zeppelin very much and blame them and Pink Floyd for ushering in the over bloated music of the 70′s that punk came to squash. Oh and for the record I whole heartingly believe Punk started in New York. England does have Bowie.
Comment by Rose Tyler — April 14, 2009 @ 5:37 am
Another great Stones song, Mama’s Litle Helper.
Comment by Rose Tyler — April 14, 2009 @ 5:39 am
Born in ’79. My 80′s memories consist of cheesy stuff my older brother recorded off the radio: “We Built This City,” “Sarah,” etc. Also some hair metal. My sisters recorded cheesy power ballads by big hair bands like “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.”
Late 80′s/early 90′s my best buddy had Roxette and Paula Abdul tapes that we played over and over. And we listened to a pop radio station (Hot 94.9 in SLC).
My first album was August and Everything After by Counting Crows and I loved that for a while. Then I got obsessively into Pearl Jam in ’94 or so and expanded into all the popular grunge and even some of the relatively lesser known stuff like Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone. The rest of High School I was in to trip hop and electronica (Portishead, Massive Attack, Tricky, Bjork), mainstream/alternative guitar rock (Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins), punk/ska (Ramones, Bad Religion, Rancid, Mighty Mighty Bosstones (no Green Day)), and an older guy I worked with turned me on to some 80′s stuff (Tears for Fears, U2, Camper Van Beethoven, Howard Jones, the Police).
Late 90′s/early 00′s I was out of the country and didn’t really get back into music until 2002 or so. I started with the Radiohead I had missed, then Wilco really got me back into current indie/alternative stuff (Deerhoof, Flaming Lips, New Pornographers, Low, etc.) as well as giving me an appreciation for country for the first time. At the same time, I’ve been getting to know the indie/alternative canon going back to Talking Heads through Pixies, Pavement, and Neutral Milk Hotel as well as the 60′s/70′s rock canon: the Beatles, the Who, Zep, Dylan, and my latest love, the Band.
I used to think the more pop and rock-based stuff that I like was the only stuff worth listening to, but I definitely have become more open to everything else. I’m not in to current mainstream rock/pop/hip hop very much, but I don’t hate it. I’ve never been in to rap, but I could probably learn to like some of the less lyrically disgusting stuff.
Comment by Tom — April 14, 2009 @ 6:19 am
I can’t explain why I don’t like the Stones
I can. I grew up in a time when it was not socially acceptable to like both the Beatles and the Stones. I picked the Beatles. As I have tried to overcome that prejudice, I have learned to appreciate Keith Richards’ guitar playing, but cannot get past Mick Jagger’s voice. I have even committed the great heresy of putting Grand Funk Railroad’s version of Gimme Shelter on my MP3 player to the exclusion of anything by the Stones.
Comment by Last Lemming — April 14, 2009 @ 7:28 am
I hate both the Beatles and the Stones. Problem solved…
Comment by gabby — April 14, 2009 @ 8:01 am
I somehow transitioned from the popular music of my middle school days (MC Hammer, et al.) into heavy metal in early high school. As high school went on (and Nirvana and Pearl Jam got big), I moved into the grungier, and then the alt-rock stuff (like Jane’s Addiction).
At the same time, I had started listening to horrible 80s and 90s fusion jazz. In my defense, though, it was more Michael Brecker and Chick Corea, and it certainly didn’t involve Kenny G. Also, I loved Stevie Ray Vaughn, although I heard him for the first time two or three years after he’d died.
At the end of my junior year, I heard Tower of Power. From there, I started transitioning into amazing 70s funk–Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, the Ohio Players. Prince. The Godfather of Soul. Sly and the Family Stone. I also started transitioning into funky 60s hard bop, like Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver, and Art Blakey.
Sometime in college, O Brother came out, and I also moved into bluegrass and old-timey music.
Today? Depending on my mood, I’ll listen to hard bop, classical, or classic Americana. I download the free Amazon samplers and sometimes find stuff I like there.
Comment by Sam B. — April 14, 2009 @ 8:08 am
I’ll ignore the embarrassment of my teenage years. (Yes there was Hungry Like a Wolf playing far too much – although I had some redeemable Police and the like)
After my “break” before college (is that a good enough euphemism Steve?) I went through a classic rock phase and discovered the 70′s. And somehow missed most of what was going on in the early 90′s beyond what came on MTV in my apartment. (Although I was quite into U2 at the time) After my classic rock phase slowly ebbed I got into a weird Industrial and Trip Hop phase and slowly started rediscovering Grunge. Then I hit a techno phase and big Jazz phase. It’s been eclectic ever since.
Comment by Clark — April 14, 2009 @ 10:26 am
Oh – and Talking Heads. I loved Talking Heads in the 80′s.
Comment by Clark — April 14, 2009 @ 10:28 am
What on earth is Trip Hop and why have I never heard that term before?
Comment by gabby — April 14, 2009 @ 11:28 am
Trip hop is stuff like Portishead, DJ Shadow and Morcheeba. Portishead were really the pinacle of the genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVPcWh85jYs
Don’t know why you haven’t heard of it.
Comment by Susan M — April 14, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
Trip hop is down tempo electronic music with a lot of sampling and scratching and slow hip-hoppy beats. Trippy hip hop. I think Portishead is the most well-known group, but Massive Attack are generally considered the first trip hop band. Tricky was a founding member of Massive Attack, but left and put out some good solo stuff. Morcheeba may have had the biggest hit of the genre with “Trigger Hippy.” Portishead also had some songs on the radio in the mid-90′s.
Everybody should hear Tricky’s Maxinquaye and Portishead’s Dummy.
Comment by Tom — April 14, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
Rose Tyler,
I don’t care for Zeppelin either–they’re the critics’ choice. As for the over-bloated-ness you speak of: It boils down to one’s subjectivity–as I said before. And as for studying–well … I studied music in college if that counts for anything. Also, I was alive when the Beatles where on the air so I have some first-hand experience with how music developed through the sixties and seventies. Not that that makes me an expert–we all tend to live in our own little worlds when it comes to our own little aesthetics. But even so, my tastes range from Bach to the Beatles and beyond. I’ve had a wide range of influence in music and tend to enjoy it all–and with that I’ll just say that (coming full circle) the Brits are great–the Beatles are probably my all-time favorite band, in fact–but rarely have folks outside of North America outdone us in those genres that are grounded in early Afro-American influence. i.e., jazz, R&B, blues, etc.
Comment by Jack — April 14, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
Ah! Thanks. It’s because I’ve tried to ignore its existance!
Comment by gabby — April 14, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
Susan M: it’s hard to say. I think I’d probably like covers of Stones songs, but I’ve heard the originals too many times so that I still hear it when someone does the cover. It lessens the skin worm crawling, but it’s still there. Maybe I should try listening to the Stones cover songs from other bands that I like.
Brian V: I don’t know why you think that’s a ridiculous assumption. Pandora supposedly works through identifying “music genes”, so I can’t speak to that, but Lastfm bases recommendations on what other listeners like. So maybe they have 100 listeners who all like Floyd, Petty, Zep, and 90 of those also like the Stones. Seems pretty safe to assume that the next Floyd-Petty-Zep fan to come along is going to like the Stones too.
Comment by BrianJ — April 14, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
Brian V: I don’t know why you think that’s a ridiculous assumption.
I don’t think it’s a ridiculous assumption at all. My post was supposed to be sarcastic, though I was apparently not very successful.
Comment by Brian V — April 14, 2009 @ 2:15 pm
Jack,
Not all critics rank Led Zep as the best rock band but critics are what they are. Music always starts great discussions because it is so subjective. I may not have been alive when the Beatles reigned, darn it an all, but I do consider myself I bit of a Beatles scholar. One of my earliest memories is of my poor distraught father coming home and telling my mom that John had been killed. Their influence is wide ranging. Heck even egomaniac Kanye West states them as an influence. On the other foot the Beatles were very influenced by the Blues and R&B. Great music begets great music. The Beatles do Rubber Soul/Revolver and Bryan Wilson gives the world Pet Sounds to which the boys answer with Sargent Pepper. The bloated music of the 70′s leads to Bowie and glam rock which leads to Punk. It’s all connected my friend. Don’t call me unpatriotic I just wish I were British! They have Doctor Who too.
Comment by Rose Tyler — April 14, 2009 @ 3:42 pm
Brian V: Got it. You’d think that sharing a name we’d have telepathic powers.
Comment by BrianJ — April 14, 2009 @ 5:38 pm
As a child in the late 60s/early 70s, I listened to the Doors and the Beatles (for those of you old enough to know what a “single” is, the first two singles I bought were the Doors’ “Light My Fire” and John Lennon’s “Instant Karma”), the Jackson 5, Sly Stone, etc.
Then in high school, I started with the Stones, the Who, Cheap Trick, Nugent, Allman Brothers, Skynyrd, Petty, Springsteen, Seeger, Floyd, etc., and finished with punk, Patti Smith, Devo, Ramones, Black Flag, etc. (I also started listening to reggae and blues in high school.) I hated Styxx/Toto/Air supply and bands like that.
Going into the 80s, UK ska (Specials, Madness, the Beat, etc.) and then post punk and new wave, along with REM and U2. (FWIW, I’ve started writing up some of my favorite 80s bands every Monday.) I listened mostly to British bands. I loathed hair metal and Journey.
In the 90s, more grunge/alternative (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.) and techno (Chemical Bros, FB Slim, Crystal Method, etc.) I missed a lot because I was living in Japan.
Now I listen to all of that plus the usual alternative/indie stuff (Radiohead, Low, Arcade Fire, etc.). And I usually listen to classical on Sundays. With 11,000 MP3s, if I want to I can go for a month without listening to the same song twice.
Comment by kuri — April 14, 2009 @ 7:31 pm
Rose, I’m sure you can become british if you like. But when you get over there, don’t be surprised when you find out everyone worships American bands. The grass is always greener I guess.
Comment by MCQ — April 14, 2009 @ 9:06 pm
Ooooo … so much to say.
I think the 70s get dissed. There is a TON of substantial POP from the 70s. More so than the 80s, I’d say.
My first three albums were Pablo Cruise “Place in the Sun”, BTO’s “Four Wheel Drive” and Kansas’ “Point of No Return.” My high school years were lived in a small western Colorado coal mining town, and we mostly listened to Journey,Styx, etc. with some touches of prog rock, Rush and all, and some of the pop music that filtered through to us – I owned Devo’s New Traditionalists, for instance. I did begin to know U2 before I left home.
When I got to California my musical education really began. I was turned on to some ska stuff – especially the English Beat, but also the Untouchables and others. Truly great post-punk bands were around like Echo and the Bunnymen. Later the Smiths. College alternative stuff like early REM. Those are just the big names – but there were hundreds of great bands: from the Rave Ups (speaking on Pretty in Pink) and the Bodeans, to bands like early Simple Minds or the Alarm, to Bauhaus and their descendants, to Gang of Four, to Kate Bush, to Talk Talk, to the Swamp Zombies. There was a lot of good punk stuff, chief of which I loved (and still love ) X. It was a truly great time for music.
I moved to Seattle and loved most of those bands – especially Soundgarden. The Pixies were in there somewhere. After I left the church I really got into clubbing, and listened mostly to Industrial and Goth bands: everything from the Cranes, to KMFDM, to things like the Swans, Skinny Puppy. Although I recall those years as pretty dark and somewhat awful, I still like some of that music – especially lighter stuff like Peter Murphy or Sisters of Mercy.
After the peak of my goth years were past, I got into a wider variety of music again … thankfully. I late discovered Leonard Cohen … “outlaw country” Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Rhapsody has opened up a ton of good recent music to me. I love stuff like Wolf Parade, White Whale goodness, so many … the White Stripes. Just tonight I heard the Bravery for the first time. Arcade Fire is miraculous. I love a lot a alt.country. I can really live in Neko Case and Ryan Adams. (anyone who thinks music’s best years are passed need to listen to Ryan Adams’ cover of Oasis “Wonderwall.) ~
Comment by Thomas Parkin — April 15, 2009 @ 12:52 am
Glad you mentioned Talk Talk, I absolutely adore them. Congrats on discovering the Bravery. I saw them live a year or so ago and thought they were fantastic.
Comment by MCQ — April 15, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
While I like Portishead I always thought Mazzy Star was the pinnacle. Massive Attack did some pretty good trip hop stuff at times as well. (Although they tend towards more techno)
Comment by Clark — April 15, 2009 @ 1:23 pm
First singles I bought were U2′s New Year’s Day (still one of my favs), Men at Work “I Come From the Land Down Under”, and Human League’s Fascination. Yeah, that all dates me.
Comment by Clark — April 15, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
Johnny Cash in the 90′s is the pinnacle of country music. (IMO) Or at least the country music I like. I like some Wayland Jennings and Willie Nelson too though. And Hank Williams (the original) although his grandson did this weird country/punk fusion stuff that was interesting at times.
Comment by Clark — April 15, 2009 @ 1:28 pm
Wait. Now I’m all confused again. I don’t care for the others listed, but Mazzy Star was on my wedding compilation…are they really grouped together?
Comment by gabby — April 15, 2009 @ 2:16 pm
No, they’re not.
Comment by MCQ — April 15, 2009 @ 2:57 pm
Whew! I feel better…
Comment by gabby — April 15, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
MCQ – Aye. Sometimes I’ll forget about Talk Talk for several months. Then when I come back to them I’m always so amazed. Their early stuff is great, but their later stuff is just beyond. I hardly would know how to categorize it. ~
Comment by Thomas Parkin — April 15, 2009 @ 8:14 pm
I like some of the trip hop stuff quite a lot. Portishead, though, was never again as good as their first album. And I confess that a lot of Tricky’s stuff actually frightens me. ~
Comment by Thomas Parkin — April 15, 2009 @ 8:16 pm
I always considered Mazzy Star to be trip hop. Check out Umbilical. Some classify it as “Dream Pop” ala Julee Cruise. (Whose work with David Lynch is amazing and some of the most interesting stuff developed in the 90′s) It definitely has elements of Lynch, Trip Hop, Folk, and the like.
Comment by Clark — April 16, 2009 @ 10:48 am
BTW – if you like Mazzy Star you should really check out The Trinity Sessions by Cowboy Junkies. None of their other stuff was remotely as good but that album is an amazing classic.
The only thing close in contemporary music is Neko Case – although she obviously has more of a country style.
Comment by Clark — April 16, 2009 @ 11:01 am