Your Musical Journey...

[chilango]

The 1987 thread has got me thinking, it was a pivotal year for me.

• 1980/81: First song I ever remember liking. Ant Invasion by Adam and the Ants.
• 1984: First year I really paid attention to music. Sadly it was mostly Madness, Queen, Michael Jackson etc. on the radio.
• 1986: Bought my first LPs. On tape. From a French supermarket. Born in the USA and Falco's Einzelhaft.
• 1987: The Wedding Present's George Best and to a lesser extent Substance by New Order blow my mind. Then came Birthday by The Sugarcubes and, wow, no going back.
• 1988: Sonic Youth, Spacemen 3 reading the NME etc. Frantic listening to tapes passed on by mates' older sisters etc.
• 1989: Started buying vinyl. First 7" - Regina by The Sugarcubes. First 12" Here Comes your Man by the Pixies. Remember waiting for The Stone Roses to be released, bought it on the first day it was out.
• 1990: First gig - Northside. First good gig. The Pale Saints. Bought Sliver, this changes everything again.
• 1991: Really start chucking all my spare cash at records. Babes in Toyland, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, Pond, Superchunk etc. See The Levellers live. Leads to an awkward, if brief, digression towards New Model Army .
• 1992: @neprimerye lends me a copy of maximumrocknroll. Stop buying the NME. Strictly hardcore and punk for a while.
• 1994: Learn to blag my way into gigs for free. Repetitive beats and raves. Free lift and tickets for Glastonbury. Snub the offer.
• 1995: Blur vs. Oasis burns any lingering bridges to "indie" music for me. see The Wurzels for the first time. The next time I see them many years later I will propose to my (now) wife .
• 1996: I feature on the cover of a live LP by The Oppressed. I don't even like Oi!
• 1997: DIY punk and US h/c all the way. Buying vinyl from distros etc. Reading fanzines.
• 1999: Emo detour. My CD collection is stolen.
• 2000: Give away my lovingly assembled vinyl collection.
• 2001: Move abroad. Clandestino by Manu Chao pretty much the last contemporary artist that I (briefly) get excited about. Get turned onto reggae by German squatters. Lee Scratch Perry live.
• 2003: More reggae/dub. French this time.
• 2004: Mexico allows me to complete my CD collection for pennies.
• 2004-8: Bassist in punk band. Have to re-listen to a lot of dreadful old punk stuff.
• 2008: Replace all my lost vinyl with mp3s. Stop buying music.
• 2011: Final good gig before my daughter born. Dinosaur Jr. in Milan.
• 2015: Indie Cindy by the Pixies. Return to buying music. On vinyl.
• 2017: Return to gig going with The Wedding Present for starters.

A fairly depressing slide into middle-aged unenthusiasm there.

 

[butchersapron]

The 1987 thread has got me thinking, it was a pivotal year for me.

• 1992: @neprimerye lends me a copy of maximumrocknroll. Stop buying the NME. Strictly hardcore and punk for a while

Lucky it wasn't The Peking Review.

 

[chilango]

Lucky it wasn't The Peking Review.

It was during a May Day rally. No wonder I found it entertaining.

 

[butchersapron]

The 1987 thread has got me thinking, it was a pivotal year for me.

• 2001: Move abroad. Clandestino by Manu Chao pretty much the last contemporary artist that I (briefly) get excited about. Get turned onto reggae by German squatters.

Every single european left of the NF was playing that non-stop 24 hours a day that year.

 

[chilango]

Every single european left of the NF was playing that non-stop 24 hours a day that year.

Weren't they just?

 

[sihhi]

Weren't they just?

Summit 'happening' protests were very popular at this time: biggish Davos protests every time, biggish May Days time, Prague, Nice, Naples, Gothenborg then it all stopped after Genoa and 9-11.

 

[sihhi]

1994: Learn to blag my way into gigs for free. Repetitive beats and raves. Free lift and tickets for Glastonbury. Snub the offer.

How did you do this?

Did you dress up as a roadie?

I've still never paid for a concert or musical event.

I think the internet and looking after your parents have basically stopped music for me.
I still listen to foreign music sometimes.

 

[chilango]

How did you do this?

Did you dress up as a roadie?

Heh, No. I did work as a roadie once, but mostly it was doing info stalls at gigs or knowing people who worked for The Levellers.

 

[krtek a houby]

How did you do this?

Did you dress up as a roadie?

I've still never paid for a concert or musical event.

I think the internet and looking after your parents have basically stopped music for me.
I still listen to foreign music sometimes.

How did you avoid paying for gigs? Me, I was once working in an industry that allowed me to see gigs free. But that was a brief few years. Otherwise, apart from random strangers giving me tickets (it happens), I always shell out.

What do you mean by "foreign music"? Just curious; not having a pop.

 

[sihhi]

How did you avoid paying for gigs? Me, I was once working in an industry that allowed me to see gigs free. But that was a brief few years. Otherwise, apart from random strangers giving me tickets (it happens), I always shell out.

What do you mean by "foreign music"? Just curious; not having a pop.

I've never attended a concert that levied a fee. I've heard music played live at cafe-halls and events and I did volunteer at one-day non-overnight festivals as part of the Workers Beer Company, although there was no time to actually listen to any music.

Foreign language music.

 

[krtek a houby]

I've never attended a concert that levied a fee. I've heard music played live at cafe-halls and events and I did volunteer at one-day non-overnight festivals as part of the Workers Beer Company, although there was no time to actually listen to any music.

Foreign language music.

You've never attended a paying gig? Kinda don't blame you with some of the exorbitant prices these days but still... all those bands and artists you love.... never getting to see them?

When you say foreign language music; do you mean music that's not sung in English?

Or music that's not sung in your language? Whatever that might be... am listening to French/Celtique hiphop from the 90s at mo...

 

[ska invita]

Ill have a go:

First musical memory was running around to Crocodile Rock by Elton John

Miming to Just an Illusion by Imagination at school

Doing interpretive dance to Holst's The Planets in a different school.

Often spending summer with my uncle who fetishised his hi-fi and records (queen, elo, Michael jackson) - eq set permanently at bass -8, treble +2. No one was allowed to touch it but him.

First single I got as a present was Chas n Dave Stars Over 45 bw/ Harem

Ate 10 packets of Jaffa Cakes and sent off for McVities Rocks Classics Vol1, played on my first walkman. Stereo effects on Canned Heat On The Road Again blow me away. Whisky In The Jar-O

Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Prince ruled at home.

Fake scratching by rubbing finger on Nike windbreaker.

Watching Blues Brothers.
Watching TOTP religiously. TOTP Highlights: Love Cant Turn Around + other Jack/House tunes charting and their videos. Doug E Fresh doing The Show. Salt n Peppa Push It

1988. Punky older man who came into my life turned me on to acts like Chuck Crown, Parliament, Living Color, 24/7 Spyz, Public Enemy, LL Cool J and some jazz too (i was resilient).

Paul C who I sat next to in maths lends me Greatest Hits of House double tape pack - played on a loop // fall in love with Chicago house

1989. Any little money goes on hiphop tapes.

1990. First gig on my own Deee-Lite w MC Kinky (academy) warm up followed by De La Soul with Third Bass warm up (town and country). Buy 1st Tribe Called Quest album on day it comes out after waiting what felt like forever at HMV in Bromley.

1991. Make friends with guy who is getting into UK breakbeat/house/techno etc. Get stoned. Tape shows from Kiss FM. Analogue Bubblebath. Psychotropic. Belgium. 4Hero. US imports. Girlfriend likes pixies and violent femmes and gets me into them. start visiting record shops in West End but dont have money to buy anything - still fun though.

1992. Somehow end up with a copy of Coltrane Blue Train. Discover Velvet underground / Hendrix loads of other psychedelic stuff,
First rave - first E. First LSD. Best friend joins Kool FM and buys records. Accidentally go to a Gabba rave in Amsterdam.

1993. Jungle mess. Loads of pirate radio taping. Exodus? Might have been 94.

1994. More jungle messiness plus first dub experience. Get taken to Shaka session in Southall but am a stoned wreck. Buy Tubby meets Lee Perry at grassroots. Possibly first carnival that year too...Demotion Man's Fire plays everywhere...love it

1995-6. Go to Speed w Fabio and Bukem a lot. Share flat with someone who has decks and records.
ReclaimTheStreets Shepherds Bush

1997. Manasseh on the radio. plenty DnB. Try and set up a soundsystem thing...doesnt go well. Fuck up a couple of peoples wedding mainly
1998. RTS Brixton
The rest is more complicated!

 

[ViolentPanda]

Foreign language music.

Magma