How did your musical tastes develop?

jcmoorehead · 16 Sep 2010, 20:30

All of us here have one common artist that we like in Meat Loaf but when I look around the forums I see people mentioning a range of artists that they like besides the man himself, everyone from Springsteen to Micheal Jackson to Pink Floyd to Tom Jones. So I just thought it'd be a good idea for us to share how we came to get to like the music we currently like and the journeys along the way.

For me it actually begins with Meat Loaf, I was born December 1987 and I don't really remember anything musical until Bat Out Of Hell 2 was released so I would have been 5 at the time going on 6? My earliest musical memories are the video to I'd Do Anything For Love and hearing the rest of the album. I was a bit too young to really understand anything at that time but I do remember that I liked it. Alongside there two other things were the Musical Version Of War Of The Worlds and the Genesis album 'We Can't Dance.'

From there my tastes never really developed, music wasn't really a big thing for me. I remember going through the typical kid pop phase where I listened to S Club 7 and the like. Not a phase I was proud of but I found myself always returning to Meat Loaf. My pop phase was never really major and while other kids in my class would listen to that sort of music I would a bit but I'd usually opt for Meat Loaf with Bat 2 and Welcome To The Neighbourhood.

So fast forward into Secondary School when I began to understand more what music was. Again I got sucked into a phase where I explored harder rock and nu-metal. Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Korn, Slipknot that sort of thing. Again it didn't really last too long but it also taught me to explore genres beyond what I normally listened to.

It was around the back end of secondary school that I began to explore classic rock a bit more. My dad introduced me to Led Zeppelin, I started listening to Queen, Dire Straits and Pink Floyd.

Out of those it was Pink Floyd that truely captivated me. I had never heard anything like them before, they just sounded so unlike anything out there (The same way I look at Meat Loaf, there is no one out there like him). I would listen to Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall constantly. It was thanks to Pink Floyd that I decided to take up playing the guitar. (Guitar is a story for another topic)

So Pink Floyd introduced me to this genre called Progressive Rock. Of course I didn't delve into that until the past few years, instead I pretty much stuck with Meat Loaf, Floyd, Bon Jovi, Dire Straits, Zeppelin for a bit until one day a friend I played The Matrix Online with sent me a sound clip. It was from a band which I had heard the name of once or twice but didn't know anything about, the band was called Dream Theater.

The song itself was called Octavarium, it's a 24 minute song which deals with the themes of life moving in cycles and how the beginning can be the same as the end. What I heard blew my mind, technically they were fantastic but the emotion in the singing and lyrics were astounding. I immediately rushed out and got the album (Also called Octavarium) and became a huge fan.

So from there, which was quite a number of years ago now I began developing more. Dream Theater introduced me to the term 'Progressive' but it also opened my eyes a bit more to metal. Through reading about their influences and from recomendations I got into bands like Rush, Yes, Spocks Beard, Aryeon and Transatlantic on the progressive side and on the metal side I got into bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Opeth and Between The Buried And Me.

I do think though that from being brought up with Bat Out Of Hell 2 it taught me to respect music that is a bit different and goes against the grains and tries to do something new. All these bands and artists I listen to all have those qualities, they experiment, they do it for the love of music just as Meat himself does.

Sorry if that was a bit long for some people, I hope it is at least interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say.

LucyK! · 16 Sep 2010, 21:16

Well I think it's interesting!

Here goes my little story, I shall try to be brief!

I was born in 1986 and there's two albums/artists I remember vividly - my Mum's home-made copy of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, and Kenny Rogers. My Dad loved Kenny so I was brought up on his vinyls and I still love them to this day. Michael Jackson's Bad album also cropped up somewhere along the line, as at the age of 3 I almost broke my neck having fallen down the stairs parading around in my Auntie's "Michael Jackson boots".

My best friend, Katie, and I were just obsessed with music but neither of us came from particularly wealthy families, so instead of listening to the up-to-date chart music we spent years dancing around to whatever we could find in our parents' collections of vinyls. We were aware of popular music but really our younger years were spent listening to Jackson, Genesis, Lionel Richie (stuff kids shouldn't really know about

)

**EDIT; just remembered another one!** Queen! Mum had Queen's Greatest Hits on vinyl and I practically wore it out. From there I grew to love Freddie and I swear one of my favourite ever songs is Barcelona, gives me goosebumps every time. I don't think there's anyone in the whole of the North East that didn't hear my rendition of that

Then when I was 7 this big guy turned up with long hair and a funny name and the rest there is history

By the time I was 10 my ML obsession was well and truly underway, I'd just seen my first live show too which sent it to whole other levels! By this time I'd discovered a few more artists who would end up with me for life - Bon Jovi, Tina Turner, and having spotted him when Meat presented Top Of The Pops I massively got into Garth Brooks, all of whom I still adore.

There's definitely music that was out "at the time" which in an instant sends me back to exact places and people, probably the stuff from 1995 onwards when I was buying music mags for the ML articles - Oasis, Spice Girls, Take That, Blur, Pulp...never bought any of it but I love the memories.

At school I studied music which lead to a real passion for the musicals, especially the Lloyd Webber stuff. I spent years singing in the choirs and playing in orchestras and music groups and there's really nothing that beats the fabulous-ness of a great big show tune!!!

In terms of "life-changing" music that was about it until Andy took me to my first Springsteen concert in 2007 - was NOT prepared for that! I'm actually annoyed at myself that I never got into Springsteen sooner and we've done a bloody good job and getting me caught up with concerts!

Bruce is definitely on the list of artists who will be with me forever.

And I think that's me done! I'm sure I'll be clicking Edit plenty of time to add names I've forgotten but for now I'll leave you with that lot!

LucyK! · 16 Sep 2010, 21:20

Ohh! How could I forget! Our latest discover - Gaslight Anthem. I know others here have seem them live and I'm sure they'll back me up in saying how brilliant they are! Good, hard-working New Jersey fellas, they are IMMENSE!!!

A Slice Of English · 16 Sep 2010, 21:27

For me it started with Madness. Quite literally. The band were the first one to actually hook me to the point where I bought something they produced. I was brought up on a diet of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Ocean, Eddy Grant, Queen and Status Quo, which were artists regularly played in my fathers car as he drove me and my brothers from place to place as kids. These set the stage for me and I loved rock music, low-level reggae and some light-ska as I grew up throughout the 1980's.

I discovered Meat Loaf in 1993 along with the "Bat 2 Generation" and I discovered the album through a friend of mine who I am still good friends with now. I was starting to get into Dungeons & Dragons at the age of 12 when this album came out and my friend used to play the album over and over again as we played our sad little games of dice and monsters. From there, my mum showed me her LP of Bat and I discovered the wonder that was "Bat Out of Hell" and holy shit, I was hooked for life.

From there, I started to expand upon my music preferences and absorbed the metal culture to some extent. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Dream Theater, Edguy, Avantasia, Dio, Nightwish, Rammstein, Hammerfall, Heaven & Hell, Nickelback, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper followed by some more rock-style bands in AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Dire Straits, The Goo Goo Dolls, Poison, Bryan Adams, Rooster, Kiss, Aerosmith & The Rolling Stones. But I also found some pop artists seemed to get me smiling also and I actually really like Avril Lavigne, Erasure, Go West & Roxette.

I have absorbed many different music styles and seem to find pleasure in bands as diverse as The Calling, Blues Brothers, Blues Traveler, Chas N' Dave, The Beautiful South, Chris Rea, the Darkness, The Offspring, Elton John, Embrace, Evanescence, The Fratelli's, Florence & The Machine, George Formby (!), Hanson (!), The Hives, James Blunt, Jason Mraz, Katie Melua, Kula Shaker, The Levellers, Morcheeba, Mumford & Sons, Muse, Oasis, Razorlight, Robert Palmer, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, T Rex, Tenacious D, Tina Turner, U2, Toto & The Spin Doctors.

As you can see if you managed to read all that, I really enjoy quite a broad spectrum of artists from the brilliant to the ridiculous. I rediscovered Springsteen in 2002 with "The Rising" and have bought every album of his since. The Boss is truly astonishing and one day I would love to see him live. Madness still hold a special place in my heart also and I literally fell in love with their "Liberty of Norton Folgate album".

Music stirs my soul. Without it, I would be incomplete.

AndrewG · 16 Sep 2010, 21:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by A Slice Of English

I rediscovered Springsteen in 2001 with "The Rising" and have bought every album of his since.

2002

*AndyK* · 16 Sep 2010, 21:31

I grew up in the seventies with two elder brothers and an elder sister, all three of them with somewhat different musical tastes. There was almost always some music playing the house.

One brother was into (prog) rock such as Emerson Lake and Palmer, Led Zep and Springsteen, whereas the other was into The Stones, The Faces and The Clash. My sister spent her time listening to David Cassidy, David Essex, Bread and The Partridge Family.

Thankfully I got my musical taste from my brothers!!

It wasn't until I saw my first live shows of Meat and Springsteen that my love for these two artists grew to the levels that they are today.

Over the last 30 years my tastes have probably stayed fairly constant. I listen to newer stuff Blur, Coldplay, Keane, Gaslight Anthem, Marion Raven I even have Robbie WIlliams and Kylie albums in my collection (cue abuse from some corners I'm sure). But it's the artists who are properly time served who get the most airplay around the house or in the car. Other than the list above there's Queen (who I was lucky enough to see live with Freddie way way back), Southside Johnny, Tina Turner.

Lucy repaid my Springsteen favour by taking me to see Kenny Rogers last year, I went as an interested bystander and came out a fan of both Kenny and his support band Savannah Jack!

AndrewG · 16 Sep 2010, 21:43

Before the age of 10: Dutch Top 40 music mostly

-> Early 90s
Phil Collins, Queen, Guns n' Roses

-> 1993
Meat Loaf (heard his music before but this is when obsession kicked in), Janet Jackson

->1995
Jim Steinman & his other children (Pandora's Box / Bonnie Tyler), Michael Jackson

-> Mid to Late 90s
Chicks with guitars (Sheryl Crow / Meredith Brooks / Leah Andreone / Alanis Morissette)

->1998
Brian May / Roger Taylor Solo stuff.

->1999
Bob Dylan/"Weird" Al Yankovic, Roxette

-> 2000
Bruce Springsteen/Billy Joel

-> 2002
De Dijk, Per Gessle (of Roxette) Solo stuff

-> 2004
Nena Kerner

-> 2010
Imogen Heap

I also like film music and some trance.

Julie in the rv mirror · 17 Sep 2010, 02:59

Woah, where do I start?

The earliest records I remember having were some Beatles records that my older cousins had given me when I was about 5 or 6; I have distinct memories of listening to Meet the Beatles and my 45 of Elanor Rigby.

I also liked John Denver a whole lot.

As I got a little older, I usually heard and got to like whatever my older brother was playing, which was a lot of Elton John (whom I still love), Chicago and Jim Croce, but also Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, amongst others. My friends and I also listened to Top 40, and we'd each bring our bunch of 45's to each others' houses and "play records".

When I was about 11 or 12 I discovered Peter Frampton, and he was my favorite artist for several years. I've recently rediscovered him, and I think he's even better now.

Let's see- in high school, the crowd I hung out with was into heavy metal, so that's how I got into Van Halen, which was my favorite band for a while, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, and whatever "hair metal" band was hot at the time. Then, I had a boyfriend who was totally into Rush and Frank Zappa, and that interested me in their stuff. (They guy's long gone, but the music stayed

)

I found Meat along the way, and you can find that story in the "Early Meat Loaf Memories" thread.

And then there's Bruce... that is a long story, which I won't get into here. But let's just say that Bruce is my favorite artist, and the one whose music touches me the most. I need to add, though, that if it wasn't for Bat I, and Roy Bittan's piano, I might not have liked Born to Run as much as I did (I had Bat first).

Recently, my friend has been introducing me to some country artists (Kenny Chesney is her Bruce), and I'm liking it- it does cross over into rock quite a bit. I saw Keith Urban open for the Eagles, and he is an amazing guitar player!

I know I'm leaving out a ton of artists; I'll pretty much listen to anything that strikes my fancy.

MeatGrl1 · 17 Sep 2010, 03:58

My very first musical person whom I actually discovered on my own was when I was 6 or 7 and I was rooting through my parent's vynal collection and stumbled across an album titled A Portrait In Music by Elvis Presley and I just would not shut up til they played this thing and the moment it started I was sat there totally mesmorised, then I began reading the blurb and stared at the poster and I knew from there on in I had to find out more about this guy and he's been there when things looked bleak, especially when I was having a rough time at school I'd put on his music and it would help me cope.

My second I discovered when I was in hospital in London, mum took me to see a play called Aspects Of Love in 1991 and bought the cassette, this was a great comfort to me in the hospital but the guy playing Alex Dillingham particuarly caught my attention, that voice was incredible and I had to find out who it was and I then found out it was Michael Ball. I also loved what I saw and became a fan, then he did the whole Eurovision thing the following year and I remember voting for One Step Out Of Time and the excitement I felt when it was announced as the winning song. I followed his career through the years but it was seventeen-years later in April 2008 I actually plucked up the courage to go to something on my own and I went to see him in Hairspray and met him for the first time and it was incredible, I was shaking like a leaf but he was lovely and I guess you can say the rest is history !

ABBA I've loved for as long as I can remember and I am not ashamed to admit that

!!

Michael Jackson I've respected for years, but only became a fan properly, June last year, make of that what you will but I just really started to listen to his material and collected the magazines and stuff that came out and I discovered more about him and I think the media really need to back off now !

Boyzone were a huge part of my life in my teens.

Ann-Margret I discovered through Elvis when I saw Viva Las Vegas for the first time, I remember thinking she rocked and I loved her voice and was hooked ever since.

Meat Loaf I've been a fan properly since 2003 but was a Rocky fan way before that.

Vanessa Paradis I actually discovered thanks to Johnny Depp, January 1999. I was curious and bought her self titled album and was hooked. Love her voice.

Cher I just love but can't pin point when I actually became a fan.

This is my musical taste in a nutshell, sure I'll think of more after I submit this

!!

carole · 17 Sep 2010, 06:10

My brother is a huge Beatles fan, so I heard them quite a bit growing up, while I liked some of their stuff, never became a big fan. Back in the early 70's, I liked Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5's songs. In the mid 70's I was a massive ABBA fan, even saw them in concert. I wish I could say Meat was my first concert, but ABBA beat him by a couple of years. I also liked Queen, Billy Joel, Alice Cooper and a few Aussie artists, John Paul Young, Little River Band, Sherbert, Skyhooks. Most of my music back then was disco or pop. Then this singer came along with a completely different type of music to what I was used to, but he blew me away with that amazing voice. I saw him for the first time in 1978 when I was 17 and he toured Australia, and have been hooked ever since. During the 80's I got into KISS, , Bonnie Tyler, Belinda Carlisle, Phil Collins/Genesis, and a couple of Aussie artists, John Farnham, Icehouse, who I saw in concert a few times and became a huge fan of another Aussie band called 1927 during the late 80's early 90's. During the 90's I also got into Roxette, Richard Marx and Savage Garden/Darren Hayes. That's all I can recall for the moment, there are some more obscure ones that I can't recall the names of.

Carole

LucyK! · 17 Sep 2010, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyK

Lucy repaid my Springsteen favour by taking me to see Kenny Rogers last year, I went as an interested bystander and came out a fan of both Kenny and his support band Savannah Jack!

Savannah Jack, good call!

Any country fans should have a Google and check them out, they're country but much more modern country if you're not into the traditional suff.

Wario · 17 Sep 2010, 11:15

I strated listening to The george of the Jungle Soundtrack. thats my first music memory. still listen to that sucker.

Then I saw mea Loaf on Storytellers then they aired his Behind the music episode right after. I was hooked once I saw and heard the Took The Words video which aired in between storytellers and BTM.

Then my dad and i went to Best Buy and picked up VBO and LATW. On our way out he rummaged through the " dollar bin" and found, believe it or not, Blind before I Stop. and those were my first meat CDs.

When i first heard BBIS I HATED it, only liked one song at the time; Rock & Roll Hero.

It wanst until years later (freshmen in High School) i listened to the CD again. Then I found a new love for BBIS. Track 8 has been a love ever since.

Heres how I got the following albums, its fairly entertaining. This was before we got a computer:

Dead Ringer and Bad Attitude:
Got them from a yard sale in kentucky. only 2 dollars for both of them. Still play great.

Midnight:
Didn't know it existed until we bought the HOOH DVD and looked at the discography. The following day me and my father went to the record store to order it.

WTTN:
You wont believe this but I found it on the ground by my local bowling alley. Still plays great.

MSO, CHSIB, Bat 3: Pre ordered on Amazon. Nothing too special here.

3 Bats Live: Best buy never put it out on the shelf, so i got it by sneaking into their back room, getting it, and going to the register and paying for it. i felt like 007.

I got a computer in early 2007 and came here.

Thats my story of my musical taste

Danny · 17 Sep 2010, 14:11

I remember me exactly on this day: 16th August 1977 what I saw on this day in the tv became my first memory of music. On every channel I saw this man and I didn´t know who is this and I didn´t unterstand why were all people so sad - I was only six years. But since that day I fell in love with Elvis and his music - the memories on this time are so strong that he will be forever in my heart.
Because I grew up in East Germany it was difficult to buy a album from a american musician - so I sat every sunday in front of my radio ready to press the record button from the tape cause there was a radio show which played every sunday evening one Elvis song - so I collect every week one song! - oh that´s so funny today. Elvis was a long time my favourite singer - I hate this popular music from the 80´s especially the "New german wave" - terrible.
Because I have two brothers who are few years older then me I heard music from CCR and Cream which I liked.
Anytime I saw Meat Loaf in a german music show I think with Modern Girl but I´m not really sure. The real obsession starts with Bat II and it is no ending in sight. Beside Meat there is at the moment only one german musician who make music that I like - his name is Herbert Grönemeyer - for me his best album is "Mensch"
But I spend most of my time to annoy everyone with my Meat CD´s - at home or in the car - when I hear music it is quite sure Meat Loaf

Couch Potato · 17 Sep 2010, 14:42

my Mum's home-made copy of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, [/QUOTE]

God no - I have nightmares about that film. I was alwas forced into watching that as a kid by my mum and older sister-arrgggghh

But for me, music has always been a big part of my life. Muy Mum loves music and has a vast record collection (so I damaged in my youth). I started listning to Music at a very early age - my parents used to keep a radio on at night otherwise I would not sleep in my cot and would cry when they turned it off!!

Music for me started with Queen, then ML came next. In the early 90's I was not really into much chart music like GNR etc. I listend to Bin Jovi, Queen, ML, Bryan Adams and alot of county music. Mum loves soul and motown, so I always liked soul and motown, and still do now. In the late 90's I discovered bands like Zeps, Cream, Hendrix and still love the bands to this day. I heard the opening riff to the doors roadhouse blues, covered by a local band, and was hooked with that riff, and still love it today.
I got into Indie bands such as The Stereophonics, (who I still love now and have never missed a show since 97), Travis, Toploader etc. For me 1999 was the bets music year I can remember, some great music was released.
I sitll listen to the same stuff i did 20 years ago, and it never sounds old to me. I do like some new indie/rock music, but find alot of the music samey.
Music is a big part of my life, I have a tattoo on my back that says 'no music, no life' and its so true for me. I always have the digi radio on, either on tv or the radio and always do things music related.
Ive fortunate enough to have a freind whos mum works at Sheffield arena (my mum used to work their) and I do get tickets to see alot of people, some I would never pay to see or even listen to on the radio, but some have been amazing live - Robbie Williams, Tom Jones. Its good to have varied music style, Yes this site is about ML and ML fans and god I love Meat and the music, but its nice to listen to other stuff.

For me, the biggest type of Music I love is 60's. All genres from the 60s. I would have loved to have lived the 60s man

Drumbum · 17 Sep 2010, 15:43

I had no interest in music until the age of 9 (that would have 199

, when I first heard and saw Westlife. (The shame!). Football had been my one and only interest. My parents aren't music lovers so there was never any real influence in the house. Mam loved Meat Loaf, Status Quo and other bands in her day but she had put the vinyls in the attic and never bothered with them really.

Then Busted came on the scene and I fell in love with them! McFly followed them and that's about the time I started playing the drums and my love for music really kicked on then.

I had always been a fan of The Saw Doctors, having grown up in the same town as them. So when I started using the internet, I joined their message board. I heard a lot about this one fella called, "Bruce Springsteen". Decided I'd check him out!

I also got into the Waterboys after meeting their fiddle player, Steve Wickham. He kindly gave me a ticket to see them in Galway, got to meet the band too. That was about the time I realised that older bands were the better bands!

Then along came Meat Loaf. I had my Zen on shuffle and on came Alive. Hadn't listened to any of his stuff but my Mam was a fan and had put the CD on my computer just for the sake of making my collection look bigger! Didn't look back from there.

Elton John was another I discovered. His music, well I dunno. I just LOVE it! Taupin's lyrics, Elton's piano and voice. It just works so, so well.

I love Status Quo and Jackson Browne too. Other bands I listen to would be Train, Boston, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dr. Hook, Billy Joel, Neil Young, Bob Dylan etc...

I live in the 80's when it comes to music. The only real band of this decade I have taken a proper liking to besides Busted and McFly is The Gaslight Anthem.

**allrevvedup** · 17 Sep 2010, 16:16

I think everybody for some amount of time is influenced what their parents listened to so I'm sure that's why I started listening to the Beatles and Michael Jackson. The latter I do not listen to any of. Of the former I became a massive fan of John Lennon, prefering his solo work to any of the other Beatles.

Following that I got into bands and artists like Def Leppard and Bryan Adams before getting heavier artists such as AC/DC and Aerosmith. Through the affore mentioned bands, I got into a lot of different blues artists such as John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, BB King and much more recently Blues Traveler

My Aunt's then obsession with U2 got me into them around the same time but it would be a while before I started listening to a lot of them.

My Loaf experience began when my Dad bought a copy of Hits out of hell on CD in around late 1992/early 1993 and then Bat 2 came out and that was basically it, I was hooked into any old albums I could buy.

After that I got into Pearl Jam, Metallica, Tom Petty, Bon Jovi's older work, Alice Cooper, The Stones, The Who, Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver, Chris Cornell, The Offspring, Staind, Halestorm, Shinedown.

I've been lucky enough to see AC/DC, Aerosmith and Metallica live and they remain as the best shows I've seen with Sir Loaf's performance on the Born to Rock tour as the next best for me.

The craziest shows I've seen were KISS and a group called Powder, the latter I saw in Los Angeles

I like to try and listen to as many different and new artists as I can because otherwise I get bored. It's more fun discovering new music while still getting the buzz from it.

Julie in the rv mirror · 17 Sep 2010, 21:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarioLoaf

I strated listening to The george of the Jungle Soundtrack. thats my first music memory. still listen to that sucker.

Then I saw mea Loaf on Storytellers then they aired his Behind the music episode right after. I was hooked once I saw and heard the Took The Words video which aired in between storytellers and BTM.

Wario, I'm curious- do you listen to anything besides Meat Loaf (and George of the Jungle) ? There's a world of great music out there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Couch Potato

God no - I have nightmares about that film. I was alwas forced into watching that as a kid by my mum and older sister-arrgggghh

Hey, NOBODY puts Baby in a corner- and don't you forget it!

Steve6 · 17 Sep 2010, 22:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcmoorehead

For me it actually begins with Meat Loaf, I was born December 1987 and I don't really remember anything musical until Bat Out Of Hell 2 was released so I would have been 5 at the time going on 6? My earliest musical memories are the video to I'd Do Anything For Love and hearing the rest of the album. I was a bit too young to really understand anything at that time but I do remember that I liked it.

Me and you were born around the same time, and how you can remember Bat 2 being released and the AFL video is incredible.

The first Meat memory I have was the "I'd lie for you", music video in 1995 at the age of 7.

Shockingly enough I was more into boyband music in my early years, thinking about it now that's quiet embarrassing, but I'm sure I wasn't the only one. There were always Bruce Springsteen albums around the house. I loved "Born in the USA", and "Thunder Road" too.

A Slice Of English · 18 Sep 2010, 00:13

One of my earliest musical memories is "Working On The Highway" from Born In The USA. I still love that tune even though its not considered a hit of his.

Wario · 18 Sep 2010, 00:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julie in the rv mirror

Wario, I'm curious- do you listen to anything besides Meat Loaf (and George of the Jungle) ? There's a world of great music out there!

a TON. Just Meta got me really into music. For about three years he was all i listened to. now this who else:

Paul Williams
Queen
Twisted Sister
Disney Soundtracks
Tons of Stage and theater soundtracks
Ringo Starr
Trace Adkins
Janis Joplin
Little Richard
Big Bopper
Chuck Berry
Elvis
The Blues Brothers
and Bonnie Tyler

AndrewG · 18 Sep 2010, 01:12

Good point, forgot about the Blues Brothers and Janis. Pretty much have all the albums (or at least all the songs as they have been re-released in countless compilations) of both these artists and liked them since the early nineties.

Julie in the rv mirror · 18 Sep 2010, 01:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by A Slice Of English

One of my earliest musical memories is "Working On The Highway" from Born In The USA. I still love that tune even though its not considered a hit of his.

lol That's probably one of my least favorite tunes of his; I almost always skipped it when I listened to the album, which I hardly ever do anymore (I think I played it too much back in the day), except for Downbound Train.

I do like it live, though.

(hard not to

)

While I love the Blues Brothers (Best movie ever, IMO), I don't consider them a band in the traditional sense; I see them more as a "special project" similar to Spinal Tap, although Spinal Tap is in nowhere near the same league musically. While the band was made up of great musicians, the brothers themselves were characters. Their songs were pretty much all covers, albeit classic songs, and performed well. I just wouldn't consider them the same as a band that wrote/ released original music.

AndrewG · 18 Sep 2010, 02:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julie in the rv mirror

lol That's probably one of my least favorite tunes of his; I almost always skipped it when I listened to the album, which I hardly ever do anymore (I think I played it too much back in the day), except for Downbound Train.

I do like it live, though.

(hard not to

)

Yeah Working is probably one of my least favourite Springsteen songs. Absolutely love Downbound Train.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julie in the rv mirror

While I love the Blues Brothers (Best movie ever, IMO), I don't consider them a band in the traditional sense; I see them more as a "special project" similar to Spinal Tap, although Spinal Tap is in nowhere near the same league musically. While the band was made up of great musicians, the brothers themselves were characters. Their songs were pretty much all covers, albeit classic songs, and performed well. I just wouldn't consider them the same as a band that wrote/ released original music.

I believe the Blues Brothers toured quite a bit after they featured on Saturday Night Live a lot and from then on stemmed the movie idea. I think the band would have continued even after the movie if John hadn't died. They loved doing it. Though they never did original material, a lot of their stuff was (re)-arranged in such a fantastic way that I think they would have been amazing to see live. Think they were well beyond the Spinal Tap kinda stuff which by all means was a bit of a piss take really.

Julie in the rv mirror · 18 Sep 2010, 05:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewG

Yeah Working is probably one of my least favourite Springsteen songs. Absolutely love Downbound Train.

Great minds think alike.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewG

I believe the Blues Brothers toured quite a bit after they featured on Saturday Night Live a lot and from then on stemmed the movie idea. I think the band would have continued even after the movie if John hadn't died. They loved doing it. Though they never did original material, a lot of their stuff was (re)-arranged in such a fantastic way that I think they would have been amazing to see live. Think they were well beyond the Spinal Tap kinda stuff which by all means was a bit of a piss take really.

Oh absolutely they were beyond Spinal Tap, which is why I said they weren't in the same league musically. For one thing, the band was made up of experienced professional musicians, as opposed to Spinal Tap. That's not to detract from Spinal Tap for what it was. I agree, it was a bit of a piss take, but to quote the movie, "there's a fine line between stupid and clever", and I think they fell squarely on the clever side. The reason the movie was so funny is because it was also so true. I don't think it would have been as believable (and worked as well) if they all hadn't played their own instruments and wrote the songs as they did.

As for the Blues Brothers, they probably would have been awesome to see live, but I still think they were a bit of a side project, as opposed to Dan and John's main focus, which was acting. They did, however, bring some great music to people's attention; I had never heard of Sam and Dave before the Blues Brothers.

suzieq · 18 Sep 2010, 06:29

I've been reading this thread with interest, because I was trying to remember far back enough where I was starting to be influenced or musical tastes started developing. I can remember some nursery rhymes on my own fold up turntable (blue plaid design) and that had to be age 3-4. And before that, I remember my family was heavily into music on the radio (MTV hadn't happened yet) and vinyl records. Now, not one of my family members persued the talent of an instrument or sang worth a cent. My brother dabbled on the drums (I was so envious) but it didn't evolve into much.

I honestly think my tastes started developing in the womb. My family were always playing music. I am the youngest of 4 growing up in NY, so my exposure was so diverse, that as I grew up I was able to comfortably go between musical phases. And BOY did I go through them.

I tried to make my story short, but no can do. I just deleted the rest of the body of this post, it's just way too long.

16 Sep 2010, 20:30	#1
jcmoorehead Super Loafer Join Date: 09.04.2003 Location: Edinburgh, formerly Teesside Posts: 672	How did your musical tastes develop? All of us here have one common artist that we like in Meat Loaf but when I look around the forums I see people mentioning a range of artists that they like besides the man himself, everyone from Springsteen to Micheal Jackson to Pink Floyd to Tom Jones. So I just thought it'd be a good idea for us to share how we came to get to like the music we currently like and the journeys along the way. For me it actually begins with Meat Loaf, I was born December 1987 and I don't really remember anything musical until Bat Out Of Hell 2 was released so I would have been 5 at the time going on 6? My earliest musical memories are the video to I'd Do Anything For Love and hearing the rest of the album. I was a bit too young to really understand anything at that time but I do remember that I liked it. Alongside there two other things were the Musical Version Of War Of The Worlds and the Genesis album 'We Can't Dance.' From there my tastes never really developed, music wasn't really a big thing for me. I remember going through the typical kid pop phase where I listened to S Club 7 and the like. Not a phase I was proud of but I found myself always returning to Meat Loaf. My pop phase was never really major and while other kids in my class would listen to that sort of music I would a bit but I'd usually opt for Meat Loaf with Bat 2 and Welcome To The Neighbourhood. So fast forward into Secondary School when I began to understand more what music was. Again I got sucked into a phase where I explored harder rock and nu-metal. Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Korn, Slipknot that sort of thing. Again it didn't really last too long but it also taught me to explore genres beyond what I normally listened to. It was around the back end of secondary school that I began to explore classic rock a bit more. My dad introduced me to Led Zeppelin, I started listening to Queen, Dire Straits and Pink Floyd. Out of those it was Pink Floyd that truely captivated me. I had never heard anything like them before, they just sounded so unlike anything out there (The same way I look at Meat Loaf, there is no one out there like him). I would listen to Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall constantly. It was thanks to Pink Floyd that I decided to take up playing the guitar. (Guitar is a story for another topic) So Pink Floyd introduced me to this genre called Progressive Rock. Of course I didn't delve into that until the past few years, instead I pretty much stuck with Meat Loaf, Floyd, Bon Jovi, Dire Straits, Zeppelin for a bit until one day a friend I played The Matrix Online with sent me a sound clip. It was from a band which I had heard the name of once or twice but didn't know anything about, the band was called Dream Theater. The song itself was called Octavarium, it's a 24 minute song which deals with the themes of life moving in cycles and how the beginning can be the same as the end. What I heard blew my mind, technically they were fantastic but the emotion in the singing and lyrics were astounding. I immediately rushed out and got the album (Also called Octavarium) and became a huge fan. So from there, which was quite a number of years ago now I began developing more. Dream Theater introduced me to the term 'Progressive' but it also opened my eyes a bit more to metal. Through reading about their influences and from recomendations I got into bands like Rush, Yes, Spocks Beard, Aryeon and Transatlantic on the progressive side and on the metal side I got into bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Opeth and Between The Buried And Me. I do think though that from being brought up with Bat Out Of Hell 2 it taught me to respect music that is a bit different and goes against the grains and tries to do something new. All these bands and artists I listen to all have those qualities, they experiment, they do it for the love of music just as Meat himself does. Sorry if that was a bit long for some people, I hope it is at least interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say.

16 Sep 2010, 21:16	#2
LucyK! The Monster Is Luce Join Date: 14.04.2002 Location: Posts: 7,547	Well I think it's interesting! Here goes my little story, I shall try to be brief! I was born in 1986 and there's two albums/artists I remember vividly - my Mum's home-made copy of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, and Kenny Rogers. My Dad loved Kenny so I was brought up on his vinyls and I still love them to this day. Michael Jackson's Bad album also cropped up somewhere along the line, as at the age of 3 I almost broke my neck having fallen down the stairs parading around in my Auntie's "Michael Jackson boots". My best friend, Katie, and I were just obsessed with music but neither of us came from particularly wealthy families, so instead of listening to the up-to-date chart music we spent years dancing around to whatever we could find in our parents' collections of vinyls. We were aware of popular music but really our younger years were spent listening to Jackson, Genesis, Lionel Richie (stuff kids shouldn't really know about ) EDIT; just remembered another one! Queen! Mum had Queen's Greatest Hits on vinyl and I practically wore it out. From there I grew to love Freddie and I swear one of my favourite ever songs is Barcelona, gives me goosebumps every time. I don't think there's anyone in the whole of the North East that didn't hear my rendition of that Then when I was 7 this big guy turned up with long hair and a funny name and the rest there is history By the time I was 10 my ML obsession was well and truly underway, I'd just seen my first live show too which sent it to whole other levels! By this time I'd discovered a few more artists who would end up with me for life - Bon Jovi, Tina Turner, and having spotted him when Meat presented Top Of The Pops I massively got into Garth Brooks, all of whom I still adore. There's definitely music that was out "at the time" which in an instant sends me back to exact places and people, probably the stuff from 1995 onwards when I was buying music mags for the ML articles - Oasis, Spice Girls, Take That, Blur, Pulp...never bought any of it but I love the memories. At school I studied music which lead to a real passion for the musicals, especially the Lloyd Webber stuff. I spent years singing in the choirs and playing in orchestras and music groups and there's really nothing that beats the fabulous-ness of a great big show tune!!! In terms of "life-changing" music that was about it until Andy took me to my first Springsteen concert in 2007 - was NOT prepared for that! I'm actually annoyed at myself that I never got into Springsteen sooner and we've done a bloody good job and getting me caught up with concerts! Bruce is definitely on the list of artists who will be with me forever. And I think that's me done! I'm sure I'll be clicking Edit plenty of time to add names I've forgotten but for now I'll leave you with that lot! Last edited by LucyK!; 16 Sep 2010 at 21:26.

16 Sep 2010, 21:27	#4
A Slice Of English Guest Join Date: 10.11.2003 Posts: 1,258	For me it started with Madness. Quite literally. The band were the first one to actually hook me to the point where I bought something they produced. I was brought up on a diet of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Ocean, Eddy Grant, Queen and Status Quo, which were artists regularly played in my fathers car as he drove me and my brothers from place to place as kids. These set the stage for me and I loved rock music, low-level reggae and some light-ska as I grew up throughout the 1980's. I discovered Meat Loaf in 1993 along with the "Bat 2 Generation" and I discovered the album through a friend of mine who I am still good friends with now. I was starting to get into Dungeons & Dragons at the age of 12 when this album came out and my friend used to play the album over and over again as we played our sad little games of dice and monsters. From there, my mum showed me her LP of Bat and I discovered the wonder that was "Bat Out of Hell" and holy shit, I was hooked for life. From there, I started to expand upon my music preferences and absorbed the metal culture to some extent. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Dream Theater, Edguy, Avantasia, Dio, Nightwish, Rammstein, Hammerfall, Heaven & Hell, Nickelback, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper followed by some more rock-style bands in AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Dire Straits, The Goo Goo Dolls, Poison, Bryan Adams, Rooster, Kiss, Aerosmith & The Rolling Stones. But I also found some pop artists seemed to get me smiling also and I actually really like Avril Lavigne, Erasure, Go West & Roxette. I have absorbed many different music styles and seem to find pleasure in bands as diverse as The Calling, Blues Brothers, Blues Traveler, Chas N' Dave, The Beautiful South, Chris Rea, the Darkness, The Offspring, Elton John, Embrace, Evanescence, The Fratelli's, Florence & The Machine, George Formby (!), Hanson (!), The Hives, James Blunt, Jason Mraz, Katie Melua, Kula Shaker, The Levellers, Morcheeba, Mumford & Sons, Muse, Oasis, Razorlight, Robert Palmer, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, T Rex, Tenacious D, Tina Turner, U2, Toto & The Spin Doctors. As you can see if you managed to read all that, I really enjoy quite a broad spectrum of artists from the brilliant to the ridiculous. I rediscovered Springsteen in 2002 with "The Rising" and have bought every album of his since. The Boss is truly astonishing and one day I would love to see him live. Madness still hold a special place in my heart also and I literally fell in love with their "Liberty of Norton Folgate album". Music stirs my soul. Without it, I would be incomplete. Last edited by A Slice Of English; 16 Sep 2010 at 21:47.

16 Sep 2010, 21:43	#7
AndrewG I hope your salmon sucks! Join Date: 18.01.2004 Location: Northamptonshire Posts: 7,081	Before the age of 10: Dutch Top 40 music mostly -> Early 90s Phil Collins, Queen, Guns n' Roses -> 1993 Meat Loaf (heard his music before but this is when obsession kicked in), Janet Jackson ->1995 Jim Steinman & his other children (Pandora's Box / Bonnie Tyler), Michael Jackson -> Mid to Late 90s Chicks with guitars (Sheryl Crow / Meredith Brooks / Leah Andreone / Alanis Morissette) ->1998 Brian May / Roger Taylor Solo stuff. ->1999 Bob Dylan/"Weird" Al Yankovic, Roxette -> 2000 Bruce Springsteen/Billy Joel -> 2002 De Dijk, Per Gessle (of Roxette) Solo stuff -> 2004 Nena Kerner -> 2010 Imogen Heap I also like film music and some trance. Last edited by AndrewG; 16 Sep 2010 at 21:56.

17 Sep 2010, 03:58	#9
MeatGrl1 No Day But Today Join Date: 29.05.2006 Location: Sitting on the steps outside looking so restless and reckless and lost! Posts: 9,089	My very first musical person whom I actually discovered on my own was when I was 6 or 7 and I was rooting through my parent's vynal collection and stumbled across an album titled *A Portrait In Music* by Elvis Presley and I just would not shut up til they played this thing and the moment it started I was sat there totally mesmorised, then I began reading the blurb and stared at the poster and I knew from there on in I had to find out more about this guy and he's been there when things looked bleak, especially when I was having a rough time at school I'd put on his music and it would help me cope. My second I discovered when I was in hospital in London, mum took me to see a play called *Aspects Of Love* in 1991 and bought the cassette, this was a great comfort to me in the hospital but the guy playing Alex Dillingham particuarly caught my attention, that voice was incredible and I had to find out who it was and I then found out it was Michael Ball. I also loved what I saw and became a fan, then he did the whole Eurovision thing the following year and I remember voting for *One Step Out Of Time* and the excitement I felt when it was announced as the winning song. I followed his career through the years but it was seventeen-years later in April 2008 I actually plucked up the courage to go to something on my own and I went to see him in Hairspray and met him for the first time and it was incredible, I was shaking like a leaf but he was lovely and I guess you can say the rest is history ! ABBA I've loved for as long as I can remember and I am not ashamed to admit that !! Michael Jackson I've respected for years, but only became a fan properly, June last year, make of that what you will but I just really started to listen to his material and collected the magazines and stuff that came out and I discovered more about him and I think the media really need to back off now ! Boyzone were a huge part of my life in my teens. Ann-Margret I discovered through Elvis when I saw Viva Las Vegas for the first time, I remember thinking she rocked and I loved her voice and was hooked ever since. Meat Loaf I've been a fan properly since 2003 but was a Rocky fan way before that. Vanessa Paradis I actually discovered thanks to Johnny Depp, January 1999. I was curious and bought her self titled album and was hooked. Love her voice. Cher I just love but can't pin point when I actually became a fan. This is my musical taste in a nutshell, sure I'll think of more after I submit this !! Last edited by MeatGrl1; 17 Sep 2010 at 04:09. Reason: Knew I'd forget important people !

16 Sep 2010, 21:20	#3
LucyK! The Monster Is Luce Join Date: 14.04.2002 Location: Posts: 7,547	Ohh! How could I forget! Our latest discover - Gaslight Anthem. I know others here have seem them live and I'm sure they'll back me up in saying how brilliant they are! Good, hard-working New Jersey fellas, they are IMMENSE!!!

16 Sep 2010, 21:31	#6
AndyK Relentless Join Date: 21.11.2003 Location: Over the top..... seeing what's on the other side Posts: 18,694	I grew up in the seventies with two elder brothers and an elder sister, all three of them with somewhat different musical tastes. There was almost always some music playing the house. One brother was into (prog) rock such as Emerson Lake and Palmer, Led Zep and Springsteen, whereas the other was into The Stones, The Faces and The Clash. My sister spent her time listening to David Cassidy, David Essex, Bread and The Partridge Family. Thankfully I got my musical taste from my brothers!! It wasn't until I saw my first live shows of Meat and Springsteen that my love for these two artists grew to the levels that they are today. Over the last 30 years my tastes have probably stayed fairly constant. I listen to newer stuff Blur, Coldplay, Keane, Gaslight Anthem, Marion Raven I even have Robbie WIlliams and Kylie albums in my collection (cue abuse from some corners I'm sure). But it's the artists who are properly time served who get the most airplay around the house or in the car. Other than the list above there's Queen (who I was lucky enough to see live with Freddie way way back), Southside Johnny, Tina Turner. Lucy repaid my Springsteen favour by taking me to see Kenny Rogers last year, I went as an interested bystander and came out a fan of both Kenny and his support band Savannah Jack!

17 Sep 2010, 02:59	#8
Julie in the rv mirror Spirit in the Night Join Date: 23.07.2008 Location: On the edge of town (in the Darkness...) Posts: 1,559	Woah, where do I start? The earliest records I remember having were some Beatles records that my older cousins had given me when I was about 5 or 6; I have distinct memories of listening to Meet the Beatles and my 45 of Elanor Rigby. I also liked John Denver a whole lot. As I got a little older, I usually heard and got to like whatever my older brother was playing, which was a lot of Elton John (whom I still love), Chicago and Jim Croce, but also Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, amongst others. My friends and I also listened to Top 40, and we'd each bring our bunch of 45's to each others' houses and "play records". When I was about 11 or 12 I discovered Peter Frampton, and he was my favorite artist for several years. I've recently rediscovered him, and I think he's even better now. Let's see- in high school, the crowd I hung out with was into heavy metal, so that's how I got into Van Halen, which was my favorite band for a while, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, and whatever "hair metal" band was hot at the time. Then, I had a boyfriend who was totally into Rush and Frank Zappa, and that interested me in their stuff. (They guy's long gone, but the music stayed ) I found Meat along the way, and you can find that story in the "Early Meat Loaf Memories" thread. And then there's Bruce... that is a long story, which I won't get into here. But let's just say that Bruce is my favorite artist, and the one whose music touches me the most. I need to add, though, that if it wasn't for Bat I, and Roy Bittan's piano, I might not have liked Born to Run as much as I did (I had Bat first). Recently, my friend has been introducing me to some country artists (Kenny Chesney is her Bruce), and I'm liking it- it does cross over into rock quite a bit. I saw Keith Urban open for the Eagles, and he is an amazing guitar player! I know I'm leaving out a ton of artists; I'll pretty much listen to anything that strikes my fancy.

17 Sep 2010, 06:10	#10
carole Mega Loafer Join Date: 20.10.2007 Location: Gold Coast Posts: 2,286	My brother is a huge Beatles fan, so I heard them quite a bit growing up, while I liked some of their stuff, never became a big fan. Back in the early 70's, I liked Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5's songs. In the mid 70's I was a massive ABBA fan, even saw them in concert. I wish I could say Meat was my first concert, but ABBA beat him by a couple of years. I also liked Queen, Billy Joel, Alice Cooper and a few Aussie artists, John Paul Young, Little River Band, Sherbert, Skyhooks. Most of my music back then was disco or pop. Then this singer came along with a completely different type of music to what I was used to, but he blew me away with that amazing voice. I saw him for the first time in 1978 when I was 17 and he toured Australia, and have been hooked ever since. During the 80's I got into KISS, , Bonnie Tyler, Belinda Carlisle, Phil Collins/Genesis, and a couple of Aussie artists, John Farnham, Icehouse, who I saw in concert a few times and became a huge fan of another Aussie band called 1927 during the late 80's early 90's. During the 90's I also got into Roxette, Richard Marx and Savage Garden/Darren Hayes. That's all I can recall for the moment, there are some more obscure ones that I can't recall the names of. Carole

17 Sep 2010, 11:15	#12
Wario Monstro helps me spell things... Join Date: 05.01.2007 Location: Masculine, Pennsylvania Posts: 9,105	I strated listening to The george of the Jungle Soundtrack. thats my first music memory. still listen to that sucker. Then I saw mea Loaf on Storytellers then they aired his Behind the music episode right after. I was hooked once I saw and heard the Took The Words video which aired in between storytellers and BTM. Then my dad and i went to Best Buy and picked up VBO and LATW. On our way out he rummaged through the " dollar bin" and found, believe it or not, Blind before I Stop. and those were my first meat CDs. When i first heard BBIS I HATED it, only liked one song at the time; Rock & Roll Hero. It wanst until years later (freshmen in High School) i listened to the CD again. Then I found a new love for BBIS. Track 8 has been a love ever since. Heres how I got the following albums, its fairly entertaining. This was before we got a computer: Dead Ringer and Bad Attitude: Got them from a yard sale in kentucky. only 2 dollars for both of them. Still play great. Midnight: Didn't know it existed until we bought the HOOH DVD and looked at the discography. The following day me and my father went to the record store to order it. WTTN: You wont believe this but I found it on the ground by my local bowling alley. Still plays great. MSO, CHSIB, Bat 3: Pre ordered on Amazon. Nothing too special here. 3 Bats Live: Best buy never put it out on the shelf, so i got it by sneaking into their back room, getting it, and going to the register and paying for it. i felt like 007. I got a computer in early 2007 and came here. Thats my story of my musical taste

17 Sep 2010, 14:11	#13
Danny Super Loafer Join Date: 07.07.2010 Location: Germany Posts: 292	I remember me exactly on this day: 16th August 1977 what I saw on this day in the tv became my first memory of music. On every channel I saw this man and I didn´t know who is this and I didn´t unterstand why were all people so sad - I was only six years. But since that day I fell in love with Elvis and his music - the memories on this time are so strong that he will be forever in my heart. Because I grew up in East Germany it was difficult to buy a album from a american musician - so I sat every sunday in front of my radio ready to press the record button from the tape cause there was a radio show which played every sunday evening one Elvis song - so I collect every week one song! - oh that´s so funny today. Elvis was a long time my favourite singer - I hate this popular music from the 80´s especially the "New german wave" - terrible. Because I have two brothers who are few years older then me I heard music from CCR and Cream which I liked. Anytime I saw Meat Loaf in a german music show I think with Modern Girl but I´m not really sure. The real obsession starts with Bat II and it is no ending in sight. Beside Meat there is at the moment only one german musician who make music that I like - his name is Herbert Grönemeyer - for me his best album is "Mensch" But I spend most of my time to annoy everyone with my Meat CD´s - at home or in the car - when I hear music it is quite sure Meat Loaf

17 Sep 2010, 14:42	#14
Couch Potato DrumBum Join Date: 27.09.2006 Posts: 342	my Mum's home-made copy of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, [/QUOTE] God no - I have nightmares about that film. I was alwas forced into watching that as a kid by my mum and older sister-arrgggghh But for me, music has always been a big part of my life. Muy Mum loves music and has a vast record collection (so I damaged in my youth). I started listning to Music at a very early age - my parents used to keep a radio on at night otherwise I would not sleep in my cot and would cry when they turned it off!! Music for me started with Queen, then ML came next. In the early 90's I was not really into much chart music like GNR etc. I listend to Bin Jovi, Queen, ML, Bryan Adams and alot of county music. Mum loves soul and motown, so I always liked soul and motown, and still do now. In the late 90's I discovered bands like Zeps, Cream, Hendrix and still love the bands to this day. I heard the opening riff to the doors roadhouse blues, covered by a local band, and was hooked with that riff, and still love it today. I got into Indie bands such as The Stereophonics, (who I still love now and have never missed a show since 97), Travis, Toploader etc. For me 1999 was the bets music year I can remember, some great music was released. I sitll listen to the same stuff i did 20 years ago, and it never sounds old to me. I do like some new indie/rock music, but find alot of the music samey. Music is a big part of my life, I have a tattoo on my back that says 'no music, no life' and its so true for me. I always have the digi radio on, either on tv or the radio and always do things music related. Ive fortunate enough to have a freind whos mum works at Sheffield arena (my mum used to work their) and I do get tickets to see alot of people, some I would never pay to see or even listen to on the radio, but some have been amazing live - Robbie Williams, Tom Jones. Its good to have varied music style, Yes this site is about ML and ML fans and god I love Meat and the music, but its nice to listen to other stuff. For me, the biggest type of Music I love is 60's. All genres from the 60s. I would have loved to have lived the 60s man

17 Sep 2010, 15:43	#15
Drumbum Senior Loafer Join Date: 14.04.2010 Location: Galway Posts: 122	I had no interest in music until the age of 9 (that would have 199, when I first heard and saw Westlife. (The shame!). Football had been my one and only interest. My parents aren't music lovers so there was never any real influence in the house. Mam loved Meat Loaf, Status Quo and other bands in her day but she had put the vinyls in the attic and never bothered with them really. Then Busted came on the scene and I fell in love with them! McFly followed them and that's about the time I started playing the drums and my love for music really kicked on then. I had always been a fan of The Saw Doctors, having grown up in the same town as them. So when I started using the internet, I joined their message board. I heard a lot about this one fella called, "Bruce Springsteen". Decided I'd check him out! I also got into the Waterboys after meeting their fiddle player, Steve Wickham. He kindly gave me a ticket to see them in Galway, got to meet the band too. That was about the time I realised that older bands were the better bands! Then along came Meat Loaf. I had my Zen on shuffle and on came Alive. Hadn't listened to any of his stuff but my Mam was a fan and had put the CD on my computer just for the sake of making my collection look bigger! Didn't look back from there. Elton John was another I discovered. His music, well I dunno. I just LOVE it! Taupin's lyrics, Elton's piano and voice. It just works so, so well. I love Status Quo and Jackson Browne too. Other bands I listen to would be Train, Boston, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dr. Hook, Billy Joel, Neil Young, Bob Dylan etc... I live in the 80's when it comes to music. The only real band of this decade I have taken a proper liking to besides Busted and McFly is The Gaslight Anthem.

17 Sep 2010, 16:16	#16
allrevvedup "Most things that i worry about, never happen anyway" Join Date: 29.11.2003 Location: Liverpool Posts: 5,356	I think everybody for some amount of time is influenced what their parents listened to so I'm sure that's why I started listening to the Beatles and Michael Jackson. The latter I do not listen to any of. Of the former I became a massive fan of John Lennon, prefering his solo work to any of the other Beatles. Following that I got into bands and artists like Def Leppard and Bryan Adams before getting heavier artists such as AC/DC and Aerosmith. Through the affore mentioned bands, I got into a lot of different blues artists such as John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, BB King and much more recently Blues Traveler My Aunt's then obsession with U2 got me into them around the same time but it would be a while before I started listening to a lot of them. My Loaf experience began when my Dad bought a copy of Hits out of hell on CD in around late 1992/early 1993 and then Bat 2 came out and that was basically it, I was hooked into any old albums I could buy. After that I got into Pearl Jam, Metallica, Tom Petty, Bon Jovi's older work, Alice Cooper, The Stones, The Who, Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver, Chris Cornell, The Offspring, Staind, Halestorm, Shinedown. I've been lucky enough to see AC/DC, Aerosmith and Metallica live and they remain as the best shows I've seen with Sir Loaf's performance on the Born to Rock tour as the next best for me. The craziest shows I've seen were KISS and a group called Powder, the latter I saw in Los Angeles I like to try and listen to as many different and new artists as I can because otherwise I get bored. It's more fun discovering new music while still getting the buzz from it.

18 Sep 2010, 00:13	#19
A Slice Of English Guest Join Date: 10.11.2003 Posts: 1,258	One of my earliest musical memories is "Working On The Highway" from Born In The USA. I still love that tune even though its not considered a hit of his.

18 Sep 2010, 01:12	#21
AndrewG I hope your salmon sucks! Join Date: 18.01.2004 Location: Northamptonshire Posts: 7,081	Good point, forgot about the Blues Brothers and Janis. Pretty much have all the albums (or at least all the songs as they have been re-released in countless compilations) of both these artists and liked them since the early nineties.

18 Sep 2010, 06:29	#25
suzieq Mega Loafer Join Date: 26.10.2008 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida Posts: 2,319	I've been reading this thread with interest, because I was trying to remember far back enough where I was starting to be influenced or musical tastes started developing. I can remember some nursery rhymes on my own fold up turntable (blue plaid design) and that had to be age 3-4. And before that, I remember my family was heavily into music on the radio (MTV hadn't happened yet) and vinyl records. Now, not one of my family members persued the talent of an instrument or sang worth a cent. My brother dabbled on the drums (I was so envious) but it didn't evolve into much. I honestly think my tastes started developing in the womb. My family were always playing music. I am the youngest of 4 growing up in NY, so my exposure was so diverse, that as I grew up I was able to comfortably go between musical phases. And BOY did I go through them. I tried to make my story short, but no can do. I just deleted the rest of the body of this post, it's just way too long.