Been thinking about this since reading the comments by Lee on the John Peel thread.
I listen to quite a broad spectrum of music and always have done. As one of the youngest of a large family growing up in the 50/60's our house was a mixture of all kinds. Been through all the different eras but I still like to listen to mostly sixties and early seventies maybe trying to hold on to my youth 8) Living in Texas of course we have Country music thrown at us from all sides and I do finally admit to liking some of it (although I still think it is a bit depressing/suicidal sometimes).
My parents introduced us all to classical and opera from a young age and I still love to listen to this as well. Last week we saw Madame Butterfly performed by the Houston Operatic Society and it was magnificant and I suspect a lot of the emotional feeling I felt were brought on by childhood memories.
I dont listen to so much of the current music and new bands as I did 5 0r 6 years ago when my kids were at home but I do try and keep up with some of them.
So I guess that other than now admiting to listening to some Country music I really haven't changed too much.
So who likes what and have you changed?
(Sorry seem to be rambling a bit today roll )
I listem to a lot of alternative rock because thats what my kids prefer and I find i like a lot of it too.
Lately though I have noticed a resurgence of 70's rock, Led Zep, AC/DC, Van Halen, Aerosmith, and the like so it's like reliving my youth and being current at the same time.
I listen to a lot of world music. I hate that term but I can't really decribe it any other way. A lot of the stuff I listen to is tres internationale, perhaps?
Oh and I hear a lot of mariachi music too. Whahey. roll
In my youth most of the music I enjoyed was connected with dancing ( Ballroom). Iwas never interested in any music sufficiently to buy any large amounts of recorded music. I prefere live music as long as it's has melody with or without vocals.
Don't like too many of the recent musical offerings and particularly dislike the female vocalists that tend to wail instead of sing. Rap to me is not music allthough I'm sure some of the lyrics could be interesting if I could understand the artists.
If you work in an office where people think Ashlee Simpson and Kelly Clarkson are talented artists, keep quiet. You'd think I'd said "I like to eat babies." roll The best question though was "Who are the Velvet Underground?" Go figure on that one.
Not much has changed in my muscial tastes over the years, I'm still young enough to appreciate what's in the Charts (in the UK) and like most of it.
As a late teen/early twenty something I did get more into commerical dance (which most Americans thing is hardcore dance) and still like some of the commercial stuff which hits the charts today.
Other than that, it's top 40 time, excluding the boy bands, talentless people etc.........
I went through a bit of prog-rock and west coast rock in the 1970s (some of which I still like, Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell). Through to punk, new wave, ska etc. in the late 70s to my actually becoming a music journalist in the eighties. The music I covered was vaguely British alterno, Echo And The Bunnymen. Smiths, Waterboys etc. But the music I also liked branched out into hip-hop (esp. early days of Grandmaster Flash, Spearhead, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy etc) to some African music, heavily influenced by visits to Paris.
By 1992 my ten year career hit an exhausted end and I kind of tuned out of music (to persue all my other interests). It had just become too much like work.
But in the last few years, helped by a great local independent record store and Internet radio (love BBC 6 Music and great shows on BBC Radio London, Sean Rowley and Gary Crowley and - snif - until recently Peelie) I'm back on the saddle again. Some things I buy are clearly from what I grew up with. I love Paul Weller's new album of cover versions. But I'm also into bands like The Delgados from Scotland (sweet almost west coast sound with clever slightly subversive lyrics) and Franz Ferdinand. There's some great local music here too, a rap artist in Toronto called K-OS who completely rejects all the bitch and ho rap and gets back to its roots. The last gig I saw were a young band from Vancouver called The Organ who play quite merry, well-crafted indy-pop. My current favourite of all is an English exile in New York called Momus, whose the sort of Oscar Wilde of independent music.
I hate twatty predictable pop, which rules out just about everything in the British or come to that U.S charts, and have a low tolerance for most forms of jazz, especially squeaky long sax solos. And I'm sure it's due to a poor education, but I hate opera. In fact I'd even rather listen to Ashlee Simpson and Kelly Clarkson wink than have to go to an opera.
I listen to all sorts of stuff. Classical, jazz, 60's 70's stuff, "world music", more or less anything as long as there are no manufactured boy bands or tweenie girlies.
The only difference these days is it's all on CD played in a Bose and the volume is a lot louder than it used to be. oops lol
Music is my biggest passion. I'm ashamed to think how much money I've spent on CD's and records.
Anyhoo, in the late 80s I got into alternative stuff like Sonic Youth, Pavement, Faith No More, that kind of thing. 1991/92 I got into complain-rock stuff like Tad, Melvins, and other stuff like Truly, Soundgarden, Tool. Of course I had my extreme heavy metal phase - Earthtone 9, Will Haven, and other unsavoury slabs of noise. Then I developed a very unusual fixation for really off-the-wall stuff. That'd be the fault of one Mike Patton, who along with John Zorn still has me listening to odd grunting and white noise one second, polka trance the next, and then thrash metal to finish. Very odd. The last Patton record I bought is a 75 minute instrumental of a person who goes through surgery but is awake through the whole thing. Pretty evil stuff. Late 90s I moved into instrumental stuff like Mogwai, Sigur Ros, Dirty Three - love that stuff. Also fell into the hard techno and breakbeat fad during my year and a half lone semi-conscious faze.
Now I'm old. So I listen to Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, Primus, and some other eccentric stuff. I like it weird. Over the last year I've been really getting into jazz stuff - mainly trumpet and horn like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Red Rodney and all that naff wanky stuff. I still have a healthy obsession with all things Patton.
Oh, and one christmas my mother bought me Rick Astley's album and Iron Maiden's "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son." Now there's a combination.
I am basically stuck in the 80's and 90's with music, plus the odd gems from the Ibiza dance scene (even that is older - late 90's stuff).
We just play 90's channel on the DMX/Music choice on cable at home and I generally play the same CDs over and over in the car so I've stagnated but think it is not necessarily a bad thing.
British Sea Power, Hope of the States, Coral, Music, the Libertines, the Others, and of course the Streets, basically stuff that isn't American, as all American music is crap and has always been crap.
My musical tastes havnt changed much over the years ,and as i read it most folks get stuck some time or other in a* musical era*ive added country which was not a big genra in my youth in UK .
Bought up on SWING (ballroom ted heath,Joe loss , glenn milller ) in fact im a silver medalist in ballroom dancing *not done it for many a year * classical music has always been with me and i still enjoy a night at the opera , ballet .
JAZZ the monty sunshines chris barber , humphrey littleton type also a strong passion for jazz singers sarah vaughan , ella fitzgerald . and the home grown Cloe Lane to name but a few as well as the world renowned louie armstrong took up a lot of space in my record cabinet .
Later came the british pop scene with such idols as dusty springfield , tom jones ,cilla black , and the pre beatles groups the hermits , the animals and the* rock and roll* bill haley ,buddy holly , chuck berry , little richard , fats domino . as well as the supremes , platters , ELVIS ,
The beatles changed the american dominated music scene and i got into the STONES zeppelin , the who ,pink floyd , moody blues , black sabbath,cream , and the many good heavy metal groups .not to forget , joe cocker , rod stewart , elton john david bowie,and the police ,
AMERICA bought to my ears the likes of beach boys , chicago,gratefull dead ,santana , sonny and surl , momas and poppers , bob dylan and some classic country like patsy cline , hank williams , roy obison , WILLY NELSON .
Ive added a few but mostly my colection stays in the late 5os to the 80s era ... sorry i dont like very much hip hop and rap old fart that i am ) )
when I was young I loved the energy of The Jam, but also loved the melodies of Barry Manilow (go figure, I don't know) as I have grown older my tastes have widened to listen topretty much everything. I love the Beatles, Crowded House, Moby, R.E.M, Sheryl Crow but also enjoy some hip-hop. I am not sure about complete operas, I am not really interested in the "message" per se, but I do love arias.
I just cannot stand RAP, I can take just about anything else....
AMERICA bought to my ears the likes of beach boys , chicago,gratefull dead ,santana , sonny and surl , momas and poppers , bob dylan and some classic country like patsy cline , hank williams , roy obison , WILLY NELSON .
:) :)
The Momas and The Poppers being an oblique drug reference surely :D
I think you have a great list there John. You have taken lots of great stuff from each generation. You must have a great collection.
Today I have listened to
Elvis Costello - Best of (Disc 1)
Eminem - The Slim Shady Album
B52's - B52's
Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
Mescaleros - Streetcore
Bjork - Medulla
Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street
Sex Pistols - Never Mind...
Burning Spear - Freeman
and a whole bunch of stuff on my MP3 player (which at 5 megs is still 92% full)