OK, I'll bite:
Age 2-4: Played Dr.Seuss records on an old record player that still works.
Also had original 7" of Rolf Harris's "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport".
Age 4: My grandfather spotted my early musical interest, and sat me
down in front of his stereo, saying I'd best learn where a lot
of what I'd be hearing through my life came from. He then
gave me a guided tour of classical music, including the baroque
period. He *hated* baroque, and to my knowledge, these sessions
were the only time he ever allowed it to be played in his house.
He died in 1975, and I still miss him a lot. I wonder what he
would think of what I spin now. :)
Age 5-6: My parents' records were mostly Herb Alpert and other early A&M,
more classical, and some Dixieland Jazz, before my father com-
pleted his descent into the 101 Strings sort of treacle he still
listens to. I don't think his father ever forgave him for that.
(Seriously.) Even though he grew up in the fifties, my father
never got into rock & roll.
Age 7: My mother rebelled. In one month, she broke her musical silence
with Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" and the "Hair" cast album,
thence to other soul artists, as well as some old Mahalia Jackson
and other gospel my father refused to play.
Age 8-11: Beatles, Doors, etc., just about everything you hear on "Classic
Rock" stations today, except, curiously, for the Eric Clapton /
Steve Winwood projects.
Age 12: Frank Zappa's "Apostrophe", Eric Clapton's "Slowhand" (I didn't
know anything about his earlier work), Kraftwerk's "Autobahn".
The rest of my teens were spent in typical suburban white-bread AOR.
After that, I went through the same punk/ska/synth/industrial/alternative
progression everyone else seems to have been through, so there's no need
to go into more detail here.
Besides, it's time to go to class. :)
-Ed SLiP
"into something more comfortable"