Bands from your childhood
 

What is the first band that you can remember that really took hold of you and shook the shit out of you. A band that you listened to over and over. And how old were you?

for me it was Pink Floyd, specifically The Wall. It was never in my household so hadn't heard of them until smoking cigs one day after school and a friend put it on. He was amazed i had never heard any Floyd! That record amazed me and was the first record that i can remember that totally blew my mind. I was 15.

AC/DC- Live album. I was about 12 years old and was like WHOA I missed out......So awesome.....I know every track by heart on that album......

KISS was the band i first remember listening and having all the records, so long ago i dont even remember what age i was. guessing i would say age 8. i have the sticker on a my night stand that i had when i was a kid.

I wrote way too much...
 

When I was a wee lad I listened to country because that's what my dad listened to (and that's when country was really country and not just lame rock bands with fiddles). One day, we were given this huge console stereo full of records that used to belong my mom's youngest brother. She asked me to pull the "Hey Jude" 45 out so she could listen to it. Since I'm an OCD completist kind of guy, I pulled all the Beatles records out. My dad still refers to that day as the day my musical tastes were ruined.



(You can see me cross this intersection here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3swzMgJUmY4 )

Shortly afterward, they started playing a song on the radio that had this weird vocal part in the middle and then it got really heavy and then quiet again. The dynamics of it caught my ear. I bought the album it was on and, well, ever the completist...



The song was, of course, Bohemian Rhapsody.

I loved the Midnight Special and would stay up every Friday night religiously. One night, this weird dude with orange hair was on and, again, I couldn't take my ears off him.



If I remember correctly, he played Time and Space Oddity on that show.

My brother brought home an album with a naked man ass on the cover. I was already not wanting to hear it. Then I heard the singer and I thought it was a chick. I did not want to hear that band. A year or so later, a friend at school stuck the first Sony Walkman I'd ever seen in my hands and told me to press play. Four minutes of rocking guitar goodness filled my ears before I heard that voice again. I couldn't deny the greatness of Rush's 2112 (despite Geddy Lee's weird voice). I was hooked.



I discovered Alice Cooper on my own. Alice wasn't quite as feared by parents as he once was, after all, he'd been on Hollywood Squares. I instantly gravitated to the look and the humor that, dang it, a lot of people just couldn't see. But beneath it all was a bunch of rock solid catchy songs. Without the great songs, Alice would have been just another pathetic Marilyn Manson wannabe, only decades before wittle Brian would become the derivative wannabe that he so very much is.



These were soon followed by Pink Floyd, Adam Ant, and so many others but the foundation was laid by Alice, David, and the boys from Liverpool and the Great White North. They still are in constant rotation in my ears and are all still active musically (except for the two dead ones).

For me and probably many others, it was Led Zeppelin. I was probably around nine and my brother (8 years older) got me hooked. Zeppelin is still one of my favorite bands.

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Thanks RDC2007, forgot about the first time I heard The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

Got this tape Christmas of 1988. I was 12. Never really cared much for music until then then. After that, got into Motley and other hair bands. Grew into a love for MetallicA. Then, there was no looking back.


On a side note, the other tape I got that Xmas was Rattle and Hum.

I got a paper route when I was a kid(back in the day's when kids and not adults had paper routes) and the first thing I bought with my hard earned money was something I still have today.

Led Zeppelin II
Cream - Disraeli Gears
The Beatles - Abbey Road

....but it was the Zep that made the biggest impression on my young head. They were and still are my favorite of all time!!!

The Mighty Black Sabbath. Then was none like them, and there never will be!!

How old were you when you first heard them?

And did it take a couple of listens or was it like a lightning strike?

My father introduced me to Iron Maiden when I was younger,and
Number of the beast became an album that I would listen to over and over.

I was 12 yrs old,from what I can remember.

And Iron Maiden is still one of my favorite bands to date.

Kiss Alive 2
 

On my 8th birthday I went down to Music Land record store and wandered around for at least an hour trying to find the right birthday record.
I kept coming back to one particular album, because it was only the coolest looking album cover I had ever seen.

I was 80 cents short but the guy let me have it anyway.
I got home opened it and was blown away.

Tatoo's!!
And A book!!!







Also an order form for the coolest stuff I had ever seen, or could want.

I put that record on and I heard that monster truck announcer's voice, You want the best and you've got the best the hottest band in the world KISS!
The the Electric Guitars kick in and Detroit Rock City was my first ultimate favorite song.
I just remember that electric guitar was the most awesome thing I had ever heard, And I wanted to play one. Was quite a few years before I actually got one but that was the start for me.
I wore that record out literally.

I miss all that cool packaging for albums. Some deluxe CDs and Box sets are pretty impressive with what you get, but so many right off the rack albums came with so much cool stuff.

Dark Side Of The Moon came with 2 full sized posters for example.

Vinyl was awesome!

For me it was Led Zep houses of the holy, I used to always grab the mom's records growing up and now there all mine!!!

Those were my first 3 album obsessions.

I was growing up on Billy Joel, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel and all that type of music my folks listened to. But, I was 13 when this album came out, and well, I listened to that record (yes, an actual record) over and over, memorized the Carl Palmer drum parts and played it over and over.

Fuck for me, as a kid, it was all about Nirvana. I remember being maybe 10 or 11 years old and hearing Bleach and i fucking loved it.
I then became obsessed with Nirvana.

I read every article i could find. Any band that Kurt Cobain talked about, i then tried to listen to.
That's how i got into Devo, the Melvins, Bowie etc.

It was all about Nirvana.

My parents were total hicks. So I was raised on country music until I heard these first 2 disks. Spent a lot of time grounded to my room for listening to what my dad called "those god damn long haired fagots". I even had to sneak my Mtv (when it played music).

"I'll kick you outta my home if you don't cut that hair"

For me it was Journey. I couldnt decide if I wanted to be Steve Perry, Neal Schon, or Steve Smith when I grew up. I used to have a Journey baseball cap with all these stupid album pins all over it. I thought I was the shit, lol.

Same here. I used to be obsessed with Nirvana, I would go to these cd shops in the village, nyc and stock up on Nirvana bootlegs. I remeber when I found an unopened "Hormoaning" single with d-7 on it, I almost shit myself haha. Its actually funny because my friend always regretted not buying it. He was at some store and he saw hormoaning and some tribute album with a dolphin on the cover. He bought the tribute album thinking it was something else and we laughed at him every day after that.

Metallica - The black album

To say I had a sheltered childhood would be to put it mildly. It wasn't until I was 12 that I really had free access to a radio or the ability to buy music. I still had to keep it to myself for fear I'd have to meet with the pastor or something. But my foster brothers were all a bunch of long haired party boys that got in trouble on a daily basis. So I was introduced to Van Halen-Women and Children First, Rush-Hemispheres, Foghat, Pink Floyd, Bachman Turner and The Eagles-The Long Run all at about the same time. It was all great and it was all devil music and since I was surely going to hell anyway my favorite song was of course Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel.
None of those got me "addicted" though.
The three bands that absolutely slayed me as a preteen, caused me to become a DJ and spend half my life's earnings on albums, equipment, concerts...:



and



and



Sabbath, especially, Master of Reality just destroyed me as a former bible thumper. I knew for sure Hell was gonna be a lot more fun. Maiden is still one of my all time favorite metal acts; speed, power, cool stories in their songs and the guy can actually sing. And Triumph was the ultimate party band. If you can't have a good time listening to "Tear The Roof off Tonight" you need to check your pulse.

I dug those three records out of my brother's collection the same weekend and I've never been the same since.

good post scampr.......and I can quasi-relate. My parents blocked the evil MTV empire as child....yet they curiously left VH1 and BET available......so I grew up with a fucked up mix of Phil Collins, Dire Straits and Eric B. and Rakim. My parents were also were obsessed with Huey Lewis (and don't forget the News) - not good times. It's probably why I like to listen to Wu Tang Clan whilst driving my minivan today.

I started to spread my wings with a Columbia House subscription.....like 12 cassettes for 1cent or something like that? I used to pour over that catalog each month.....read each little blurb and circle the ones I wanted (and couldn't afford).

My musical virginity was lost to many of the artists you all spoke off (a gangbang, I guess).....Led Zep, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, GNR (I loved the cover art on appetite for destruction), Beastie Boys, etc. I was born in 79 so I was the typical grunge/alternative kid.....Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Alice in Chains.....but I'll highlight two that really resonated with me.


Doors - Strange Days. I was probably 13 or so when I first heard it....and it blew my fucking mind. Deep, dark and creepy.....yet it rocked my face off and simultaneously scared the fuck outta me. I never really heard rock be so poetic or artistic before.

Beck - Mellow Gold. I was 14 or 15 when I bought this (admittedly, just because I wanted the single "Loser" but that whole album is solid. I had just started smoking up and it was a strange marriage. I didn't understand the lyrics but I didn't care.....and when you're stoned and 14, the world is in your crucible. It was new and different and I've been a fanatical follower ever since. I grew to hate "Loser" and the topical fans that clung to that heavily rotated song.....but I'm also a hypocrite. My point being - it's a much better album than people remember.

I'd also equate these feelings to the first time I saw Rocky Horror or Heavy Metal. Good stuff.

Like a couple of others in this thread, it would have to be KISS for me. Like many in this thread, my early musical tastes were shaped by my parents. Growing up with my mother I heard The Beatles, KISS, Bob Seger, David Bowie, The Eagles, hell, even The Archies.

However, the group that got my attention were KISS, and I'm sure the facepaint had a lot to do with it. Not only did the music seem "hard" and different than anything that was playing on top 40 radio when I was 10 years old, but visually they automatically drew my eye.

Instead of having their first 3 albums separately, she had a 3 vinyl album set that came in a tri-folded package with KISS, Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed to Kill.

I'd spend a whole day with my BIG headphones just listening to the albums over and over. I'd say that was my musical awakening. Up until that point I knew music played, but never really listened.

That wouldn't happen again until I was introduced to Ministry in 1988 with The Land of Rape and Honey...

... musically, I've never been the same.

ditto....

although there was that one Hewie Lewis and the News tape

Sports? That one where they are all shooting pool on the cover? Thanks for reminding me. That shit was probably playing in the background as my dad cut my hair in the garage with the flowbee. Creepy.

But it's alright, I mean the power of love...it keeps the the heart of rock and roll beating. Damn, I really need a new drug.:D

I grew up listening to stuff like Loggins and Messina and The Eagles. I was about 13 when for Xmas my older sister bought me two double albums that started me down the wrong path:




Shortly thereafter, she introduced me to pot.

you should tell her about this place. we'd like to meet her.

Does anybody remember - or have - The Godz??

Zin

These guys???? There were a couple of outfits floating around with that name. These guys weren't half bad. The others from NYC I think sucked out loud!

Yes! They are from Columbus, OH area. Anybody have any music??

Zin

Yes, yes and yes again - the Master of Reality album.
Heard it first in the early 70's, saw them in concert in '73 and again last year,
still love that album today..........

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[quote=Satan666;113429]What is the first band that you can remember that really took hold of you and shook the shit out of you. A band that you listened to over and over. And how old were you?

My folks were very country- western and my older sisters were out of the house by the time I came along, so I was pretty much on my own as far as developing musical tastes.

The first "real" album I had was the Doors LA Woman. It was like 1970 and I was maybe 5. I certainly didn't get what Morrison was all about at that age, but I do remember playing it over and over.

In the summer between 4th and 5th grade, I spent vacation with my sister in Seattle. Her boyfriend and his nephew were living there, and the nephew kinda took me under his wing, so to speak. In a non- molesting way. He smoked pot in front of me (and occassionally let me indulge) and would share his beers with me while listening to Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies. Still, at that age, I really didn't "get" it, other than the imagery was scary cool.

In the summer between 6th and 7th grade, I spent vacation with my other sister, who was a minor exec with London Records. She tried desperately to turn me on to the Moody Blues, but she took me to a KISS concert and I was hooked for at least 3 years. The imagery, the loudness, the bass heavy doom of it all took me in. I would say KISS opened up the door for most everything I listened to. If you listened to KISS you pretty much automatically listened to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and David Bowie. And from there it was a natural progression to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pink Floyd and the other seminal 70's bands. Until KISS put out Dynasty. I couldn't accept that.

Red

I remember the Godz. Don't have any of their stuff, tho.

Does anyone remember Angel? They all dressed in white and were out during the heyday of KISS, like 75 to 79ish. Had a hotshot guitar player named Punky Meadows and this genius keyboard player named Gregg Guifrea (I'm spelling it way wrong). They had some great albums. I really have to drag out my turntable.

Red

The First CD I ever bought

First Tape I wore out: Warren G-Regulators
First Cd (and everyone elses it seems like): Green Day: Dookie
First Multi-CD obsession: Beck- Odelay, One Foot in the Grave, Stereopathetic Soul Manure

Then the obligatory Led Zepplin/Doors phase.

the latest band to really grab me by the balls and bring tears to my eyes would definitely be stolen babies.... talk about a fucking BA band...


give them a listen

My First Band
 

I liked sublime a whole lot when I was in the fourth-sixth grade (who didn't?) but the first band/album that I can remember listening to again and again until the album just didn't read anymore was Electriclarryland by the Butthole Surfers in 1996

first CD's i remember buying were...

Smash by The Offspring
Dookie by Green Day
White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean by NoFX

thats right.. i was a rockin child