My first favorite band ever was E.L.O. Of course, right? I’m not sure how old I was when I decided they were my favorites, but I was probably around 7 years old. My cousin who I looked up to asked me what my favorite band was and the only band I knew was Kiss, so that’s what I said. I don’t think I knew what they actually sounded like, I just knew what they looked like, and she told me they were terrible and I should listen to E.L.O. She was right. My mom bought me one of their records, I think it was A New World Record because I remember loving the song, Telephone Line. A couple years later they released “Time” which then became my favorite record of all time. It came out in 1981 in the heart of the Star Wars era and it sounds like a science fiction concept album with time travel and spaceships that was just the coolest thing. I still love it. Jeff Lynne sprinkled magic pixie dust on every track he ever laid down. This sweet little song has been blowing me away for almost 40 years (yikes).
What was your first favorite band/musician/song?
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A lot of the songs I recall from my childhood were the ephemera of my parents — Three Dog Night, “Joy To The World”; Beach Boys, “Sloop John B”; The Beatles, “Paperback Writer” — but this might have been the first pop song that I heard on the radio that captivated me in real time:
I had a very strange older brother that was my musical influence so my first love as a very small child was Frank Zappa – Cletus Awreetus- Awrightus
and since it is 2fer Tuesday, on the other theme, Old 97’s – Give it Time
I was a precocious and obnoxious 5 year old in 1964 when the Beatles A Hard Day’s Night album and film came out. I remember being squished in the back seat of a VW along with a slightly older girl and her teenage sister, going to the movie theater on Main Street to see the film. Her parents dropped us off, the older sister met her boyfriend and disappeared into the balcony, and we basically clueless little girls screamed along with the rest of the tweens and teens at the appropriate points in the movie. The older sister also cued us up to call the local AM radio station to request Beatles songs. Yup, still live DJs and AM radio. The first record I owned was the Beatle’s Rubber Soul. And all the girls loved Paul, the cute one. I liked George and John.
I bet you were the coolest kid in your kindergarten.
That’s a perfect going to see A Hard Day’s Night story.
old school,
Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-Changin’
new school,
Harry Styles – Sign of the Times
Most of my first musical memories are from my older brothers. They were into Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, Styx and Rush. The first time I really “felt” music was when a friend of mine gave me a mixed tape from his older brother. It had Black Flag, Dead Kennedys and The Sex Pistols on it. My musical fate was sealed that day.
When I was a kid, my much older brother kept a stack of albums in the stereo console in the basement. This is where all his friends hung out like a scene from that 70s Show. When they weren’t around, I’d spin his records. I always started with this song. With each play, there was more layers of orchestration to appreciate. I didn’t become an Elton John fan but this song was my earliest memory of getting sucked in. It still is a great tune.
Elton John – Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
I loved all things Motown when I was a kid, I was crazy about The Temptations. I can remember listening to Psychedelic Shack over and over again on my little record player with my friends.
I still love old Motown but developed a pretty wide range of musical interests. So for the theme something a little different
Clock DVA – 4 Hours
This is another good one, thanks Jonee. When I was really little, I don’t think I had a favourite but if I did it would have been based on one song – until I was 4 years old and my eldest brother came home with an album I swiftly became obsessed with. By the time I was in kindergarten I knew every word of the thing. The best song, imo, was Raising Hell by the kings of rock; RUN DMC:
Excellent choice. I remember the kids singing that song on the bus to school.
My parents were classical fans so my intro to pop music happened a little later than most.
I guess it would have been the Beatles. My dad bought a Beatles compilation album and I would play their early hits on his stereo system. I didn’t like/appreciate their later stuff till much later.
That’s funny because my first favorite band actually was Kiss, and I thought ELO was terrible.
My older brother was my first musical influence. The very first cassette tape I ever got was Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard of Ozz:
That was followed in short order by Black Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell (Ronnie James Dio), Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast, and Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother. So I was essentially a rocker/hair metal head as a young kid.
Then, when I was in high school I made a new friend who played this:
…which set me on the path to the Blues. Today, after a bewildering variety of exposures to different musical styles, I have a pretty wide ranging taste.
Time, it flexes like a whore
I had to restrain myself not to bring the Bowie… but he wasn’t my first influence so I had to stay on assignment. Such a wide, creative influence he had.
I’m late to the party, but I had two teen girl cousins who introduced me to music. So it was K-tel records with Boogie Nights by Heatwave and Donny Osmond.
K-Tel was the shit. This was the first thing that popped into my head.
K-Tel WAS THE SHIT is right.
..and just about anything that you ordered that had a PO box at Grand Central Station for that matter.
I had some of those K -Tel albums, we might have to do a whole night of those!
OK, no. Put me in the “K-Tel can go fuck itself” category.
Reason: A buddy and I exchanged gifts in 7th grade. I gifted him Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits (original version). Look at that track-listing. Still holds up.
My “buddy” gifted me with a K-Tel album. THIS MONSTROSITY.
Do you want to tell me that I didn’t fare that badly? I will cut you.
And you can bleed out to this.
Sorry, I have strong feelings about this.
Wow, that is a truly awful album. You are very brave for sharing that trade! I’m now with you, Fuck K Tel!
Those K-TELs would be on the end-cap at Woolworth’s and I’d love them. I could get my hands on some singles mixed in those that I wouldn’t otherwise get to less buying the whole album of each. It wasn’t about the mix, it was a cost effective way to get to the music.
The first ever TikTok video…clearly ahead of their time.
I must’ve been about 4 or 5 when a pop song really caught my attention for the first time, and it’s one that you all know quite well:
Damn, @jonee, ELO was my first concert where I paid to buy my ticket (fifth grade). July 2, 1978, Out of the Blue/The Big Night tour. Kemper Arena, KCMO.
At the time, they were awesome. In retrospect, I think maybe Jeff Lynne is a bit of wanker. But I’m open to opposing arguments on that.
I grew up in a small rural area, and the radio stations were basically bad country (There were like, five of these), bad pop (maybe 3?), and classic rock (just one). So, I sorta grew up listening to mostly classic rock. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Rush, The Who, Neil Young, CCR, etc
Went off to college, and met/hung out with people who introduced me to stuff that I still like to this day. Alternative, Grunge, post-punk, riot grrrl, etc.
College best friend introduced me to PJ Harvey:
College roommate introduced me to Tori Amos:
And I spent a lot of time watching MTV (back when they had music…) with my college SO, and this Garbage video was a frequent favorite:
hmmm.. time… reminds me of the somewhere back in time tour
me dad was sposed to come with for that gig…but he died a couple months before it happened
anyhoo…i doubt ill ever see a lunar eclipse during a gig again…that was a once in a lifetimer
ended up going to the gig with an irish dude i knew from a vidja game and his missus
wonder how they are doing..we’ve dropped out of touch since…but that was our second maiden gig… i went over to theirs to see them in dublin for the first one
also also..i should probably read more than the headline before replying one of these days
my very first favouritest song ever was desmond dekker – israelites
it never stopped being a favourite
My favorite songs when I was tiny were slow sad/melancholy ones, and a bit of a dirge, because Big Fitz sunk just over 3 months before I was born–and as a Minnesotan, the song about her was everywhere during my early childhood, these were my faves, when I was 2-3ish;
But those were songs I loved because they were *around* me a lot as a child, and other folks exposed me to them.
If you know me, and the band I post most, it ought to be pretty easy to figure out which band I fell hard for, when I was finally old enough to discover my own music, and to have a favorite band–long about the time I was a 5th grader😉
The first three tapes I bought, back when I bought my first boombox (really, a small tape player!) were Slippery When Wet, Through the Past Darkly, and Steppenwolf’s Greatest Hits album…
Slippery has one of THE BEST album intros, ever, in Let It Rock. The song itself isn’t the best, but the intro y’all…
That intro, with the way you can almost see–and if you have it playing on a good sound system–the way you can feel the music slide back & forth from speaker to speaker through the system…
It’s still something I adore the feel of, to thos day, and even though it *wasn’t* the Memorex commercial’s song, it’s what I think of,when I see the pictures of “the guy in the chair” Memorex commercials😉
As for the ‘Jovi songs…
If I was gonna choose a song about “time,” off my childhood favorite albums, it’d have to be this one;
And just because I haven’t seen them posted yet, but because they were *also* a part of my formative music years, these time-themed songs that I loved & still do love😉
And of course, the lady by herself, in the video that was SO controversial and (gasp!) *scandalous* back then😉;
Ugh, I so old. I think my first album was The Dave Clark Five or the Monkees or these guys.