Piątek 13 Sty 2006, 14:45

I keep seeing this on other peoples' journals, and I know it's a stinky meme, but at least it requires thought and has personal significance. So, I blog.

Youth
My parents listened to a lot of Billy Joel and Huey Lewis and the News when I was very small. I suprise myself by still knowing all the lyrics to songs I haven't heard in about 20 years when I hear this stuff on the radio. They either listened to it THAT much, or I have a great auditory memory - probably some of the both.

When I was old enough to ride a bike, I sang Madonna's "Material Girls" to myself. It worried her. And I blame Madonna for my love of personal makeovers.

My dad's a guitarist - he used to have "jam sessions" with his friends, and still has a tape of me singing James Brown's "I Feel Good" with his makeshift band. I've heard it a few times. It's adoreable. I wonder why it took ~8 more years for me to be interested in being a vocalist?

'Tween
I wanted to be a Fly Girl on in Living Color when I was small. I loved Salt n' Peppa, En Vogue, Paula Abdul, Debbie Gibson, etc. etc. I also listened to a fair bit of Amy Grant. My parents listened to a crapstack of Eric Clapton's "Unplugged," and again, I don't listen to it myself but can remember every song, every lyric. Fortunate that it's a good album, even if it's not my taste!

The Formative Years
One day when the hormones were a'ragin, I was trying to dial into the hip-hop station and stumbled upon KROQ instead. They were playing Primus' "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver." I thought it was awesome - I thrashed around my room in true geek teen style. And I never looked back.

Of course, I never wound up caring about Primus all that much, but I grew to adore Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Hole.

I spent a summer in a cottage that had cable TV, where I was first exposed to MTV. From that came Blind Melon, Bjork, Tori Amos, and others. I had a friend who was into the same music, and she swore No Doubt would be the next best thing - it wasn't until 5 years later that she was right - I was shocked. She also introduced me to Soundgarden, Veruca Salt, Alice in Chains, and others that still grace my playlists. Veruca Salt in particular seems to have made a comeback with those of you who wanted to check out her new solo career, hasn't it? I'm seeing it everywhere now.

I had a crush on a boy at school who loved Led Zeppelin, and wouldn't you know it, my interest in the band lasted longer than my interest in him. From that came exploration of The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, etc.

I spent the last part of that summer sucking face with my first boyfriend - Candlebox was our band, and Counting Crows also bring back big nostalgia for that time. He was a HUGE Guns n Roses freak, but I never really followed him there.

Everything After
Somewhere around highschool, I became really interested in the internet. I found some neat radio website that gave recommendations on music for Bjork lovers, and found Portishead, Massive Attack, and other trip-hop/downbeat music this way.

Ska was big, and I had friends in a band, so I listened to a lot of that. Once in a blue moon you'll find an odd track in my playlist - Steady Earnest is timeless. Swing was a logical direction, and I was taking lessons from the Arthur Murray and listening to Squirrel Nut Zippers long before the Big Bad VooDoo Daddy started that flash in the pan. I felt pretty important to be on the trend before it happened.

I also expanded my classical collection - a friend of the family died, gave his son all his CDs, and he passed to me all his duplicates, which grew on me slowly and now I adore them. Especially the Romantic stuff.

When I moved out on my own at 18, I started frequenting coffee bars by day and alcohol bars by night. My tastes have grown and grown, with much more electronica getting added to my collection within the past 5 years. The influx of new alternative that's quirky and unserious enough for me to love is sadly small.

And current favorites…well you can just read my profile for that :)