See, Gerry knows the score. Everytime a new topic goes in here, with reference to a band, odds on I have their stuff and/or have seen them live. He rules.

But it got me thinking, I like abstraction, and general answers to things. So, with all the inefficency of starting sub-topics for every band, even though that is great, as we get to discuss that band, which, is, erm, the point of this category, I thought I would muse a bit further, and take you through my journey from then to here, without any mention of Journey. Don't. Stop. Believing. Dudes.

I am ramble a bit, so make sure you are sitting down. And me being the oldest here (*sigh*) I go back a long way. In fact, it goes back to the early 70s. Metal Guru was number one when I was born, which may explain my name. Does anyone know my name? I never use it, nor do I sign my name in email, though I do sign mails.

So, my mother was a hippy, then Glam, and I grew up with choonery. the Beatles, the Stones, Cream, the aforementioend T-Rex, Bowie, Beach Boys. All played while I was a wee bairn. Pink Floyd, 10CC, Talking Heads, Blondie, Scott Walker, Led Zepplin. The legacy given to me from my mother. There was always music in the house, and even today, I don't watch television, nor do my family, we play games and interact properly, with a constant soundtrack in the background.

I bought my first record when I was seven, 'Another Brick in the Wall Part Two' seven inch. I still have it. From there, I bought, and have continually done so. (To this very day. Or last weekend, when I bought the new British Sea Power one.)

During primary school, I was about the only musically aware child there. Secondry school was different, then I started reading the NME, finding more music (this was pre InterWeb days, it was the radio or the NME to find out what was going on, or, better, friends' elder siblings on their hols from Uni across the water.)

81, I bought 'The Art of Falling Apart' by Soft Cell, and so my alternative listening began. (And this is still a storming record, pop pickers.) Soft Cell were the hearlds of a new age, although the journey some took it was wrong. A very misunderstood band, they were. Certainly not kid friendly, and I am sure I must have missed a lot of the inferrences.

A trip to York a few years later found me returning with a shed load of vinyl, stuff like the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Public Enemy. Then I was old enough to make it to the big smoke (Belfast) myself, so at thirteen or so I found the grimy, underground ercords shops who got English indie, Merkan noise and so on.

(I could also tell the story of how a girl broke up with me once as I wouldn't take her to the cinema as there was a new record out on the Monday, and I would have preferred to spend my money of that. Women were plentiful in those days. :) Or that I skipped school to buy (and listen) to Disintegration, the day it came out. Ah, me and Michelle in my bedroom. Anyhow, moving on from underage fumbling stories...

So where were we? Experimental electronica, punk noise, radical hiphop. (I was misunderstood in school. Go figure.)

Then I moved to Engerland, and actually started to _see_ the bands I was listening to. Wonderstuff, PWEI, the early 90s indie scene. Ride, Manics, Sisters of Mercy, and Tangerine Dream (true. Another legacy from my mother. Phaedra, a darkened room, proto-Sigur Ros, fact fans.)

NiN, Wedding Present, Ned's, Slowdive, Nirvana.

I was always one step ahead, thanks mostly to a good network of friends around the world giving scoops, the NME and JANET.

So I did the goth music, too. The Cure, the Sisters, The Nephilim, but was never a goth. I did the grunge, but was never just that. I did grebbo, and all others. But I liked them all.

EmmyLou Harris, White Stripes (from the off) Marillion, Pixies.

Of course, I also did the very, very, elitist and obscure bands, but I reckon Gerry and I would be the only ones know them.

Just a quick, off-the-top-of-the-head list, no doubt I have left out my favourite band at some stage in my life. Perhaps we should have a list of albums that we should all own (by other bands), fight over the list, and try to distill it down. I shall ponder on a few that youse should all have. And if you want it on the list, you better be prepared to defend it against a tirade. As I can do tirade. :)

Here, that reads rather normal and coherent. Ish. Meh bad. Will try harder in future.

Yup Gerry rules OK :rofl: he knows every band in the universe :banana: :D

LOL I like Soft Cell :rolleyes:

Oh wow. First I must thankee kindly for the honour.

I'll have to do my own odyssey, but first I'll comment on yours!

All of your childhood music was on my menu too, barring Floyd and Zeppelin. I had to find them for myself years later. Oh, and Talking Heads. I found them and never let go at about age 13.
Soft Cell were a definite staple of my New Romantic / 80s synth pop listening, about a decade too late :P Along with early Mode, Yazoo etc.
And at the same time, I was checking out The Rollins Band, and Black Flag as a result (he became the singer by accident, I heard. He was selling ice cream outside when they fired their singer, or something?). The Dead Kennedys I discovered through an insane album by Jello Biafra and Al Jourgensen (Lard). "Can god drill teeth?" asked Lard. The nutters.
Public Enemy, well, I didn't really take much notice of them until "Bring The Noize", but after that the obligatory back catalogue searching, and soon "Don't believe the hype" and suchlike were staples of my listening. Chuck D should be president some day.

Now then, home territory for me. The Stuffies, in all their glory. Saw em. Loved em. In fact, I heard them before I heard many of the above mentioned bands. Oh, I have my own bootlegged recording of them live in 1991. Glorious, wonder stuff. These might have been the best days of my life.
And the Poppies also. Dos Dedos, mes amigos! It briefly looked like they were going to rule the world, but instead Clint just got pissed and staggered home to Stourbridge.
Ride? I met Andy Bell before. And his wife, Idha. And worked for his cousin, but this is all by the by. I was a little annoyed when they broke up, though they did recently reform to perform some unrehearsed feedback-laden music for a Channel 4 thing.

And I did the anti-nazi march in London in 1993 that culminated in The Manics, Credit and possibly Chumbawumba in a park. There was also cider that day.

I suppose I have to try and encompass the goth stuff briefly. Yes, The Cure, Sisters, The Mission et al - have plenty of that still but I've never been a goth either. Unless you count when my hair was dyed black, I wore a silver chain and a Violator shirt, but that was purely coincidental.

NIN, of course. And I am trying to wrest a spare ticket off a friend as of this moment. I think the first time I heard David Gedge sing clearly was on a Velvet Underground cover. I liked the later Weddoes stuff, the earlier stuff passed me by a bit. But then, I was a Smiths fan :P

Ned's Atomic Dustbin: Not Sleeping Around: Work of genius.
Slowdive: Pretty singer. Shoegazing? NME writers got bored and invented a label that stunted so many good bands.
Then grunge happened, and Everett True brought us tales of on the road with Nirvana, Tad and Mudhoney. And Nirvana exploded. Bleach had been good enough for me till then.

EmmyLou Harris, well, I just don't find her interesting. Except when she sang Evangeline with The Band in "The Last Waltz".
White Stripes? Oh yes. And more Oh yes. I haven't been able to fault them yet.

Marillion? Fish or Hogarth? Kayleigh or Sympathy? He knows, you know.

The Pixies need a full paragraph of their own. Or a topic.

I should probably throw some other things in here, like Rage Against The Machine, Velvet Underground, The Smiths, The Biccies, Napalm Death, The KLF, Saint Ettienne, Teenage Fanclub, Spear of Destiny, Wu Tang Clan, Yes (early 70s only), Genesis (mid 70s only), the whole 4AD scene, Cypress Hill, Nick Drake.....

I know all this and more........

wow such stories
mine is or will prob come out more chaotic
the 1st music i had was as a kid mostly stuff like marmaduke sings and stuff like that
my ma had a old record player and a 8 track
i remeber many days of listening to the annie sound track :)
now as i look back over her stuff there was a lotta good stuff there and im sure i listened to a lot of it
the 1st cassette i ever remeber realling having was a beach boys comp thing
around middle school i started paying attention to the radio some
then i started buying stuff
1st tapes include
madonna like a pray
the b 52s about them all then cosmic thing
marttika
prince sound track to batman
beastie boys
now i start rambling :)
i was into a lot of diff music deffintly
i remeber learning to drive to motley crue and megadeath
or better yet trying to help my gradma figure out the difference of mettlica and megadeath
bought some slayer and comp albums
found a pretty kewl used tape store and started experimenting
also fell in love with primus around then
then i met a few people in my life
jeff temske and derek grant
jeff was older and much more musical in touch
derek was a drummer with a hugh devil lock who joined a little band back then called jack kervorkian and the sucide machine at the time was in a 3 peice called dead end :)
o also in 9th grade there was thom deller and his bro paul they are my tmbg connection along with the depece mode
so anyway with derek and jeff along came this band called the ighty mighty bostones and my life has never been the same
then i saw derek and jack kervorkian play in a apartment
of course derek was in like 5 of the 6 bands playing

hmmm small time break here somewhere in this i made my 1st concert jesus jones and neds atomic dustbin at a college hall concert
met the band (got spoiled forever ,thinking thats how it always goes)

jeff took me to what i camm my 1st real concert
rollins band at the phonix amptheater (place on top of a parking garage all cement) how i didnt die or get injured in or fallin from on top of the pit ill never know
anyway um high school was lots of music
nirvana
more beasties
lots of ska and metal
finaly got a cd player
public enemy
alice cooper

went to a lot of church teen dances and was thje crazy kid floping around on the floor dancing


o yea faith no more!!
most of high school from sophmore on was lots of local shows
college
hmmm that was a long time peroid :)
still lots of ska
saw some big concerts think the summer i grad i went to the state fair and they had a free ska show with all the local guys ( most were or became my freinds ) with headliners bim skla bim

o yes think senior year i finally saw the bostones
now that was a distarter great night
it was at a place called harpos ( almost a strip club but i was 18 so i got in)
few local bands played
the stage was like 10 feet tall so if you were in the pit you couldnt see the band
then they had a wet t shirt contest
then the bostones attmepted to play
( this place had a no stage diving rule)
the pa went oput so it was instrmental basically
i didnt care it was the bostones
then kids started jumping on people shoulders and getting on stage
so harpos turned off all the sound and said get off
they did
pa still broke more kids get on stage harpos shuts it down no riot but lots of chaos but during the last instrumental/ i was on stage with the b tones :)

hmmm where was i
ahh rambling hmm college music rules
now music rules dont listen to as much and im tired of thinking so more later

Now this is a topic that requires some real thought before posting a response. I love it :wub: But I'll have to go away and think about it.

In the mean time I have to say you all remind me very much of a NOFX tune which I think is on their "War on Errorism" album. (to any of you who like anyone - Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Pennywise etc - you simply *must* love NOFX)

Anyway, it's a track about seeing a band who you love and hitting your head against a post. As far as I recall. The guy has to be carried out and taken to hospital, profusely bleeding, but says his shirt looks amazing once it's been through the wash. ;)

So… my musical odyssey… I feel like I’ve been set a homework task. But something I actually like, for a change. :D I think I’m a teensy bit younger than Stray Toaster and GerryW, so this may play a bit younger than their offerings. But a bit older than Detroit Skaboy, from what I can tell.

Well, I guess I started where a lot of us start (us girls anyway)… in the boy bands. I really like New Kids on the Block when I was about 8 and “graduated”, should you choose to call it that, to East 17 and Take That. But, well, I always thought there must be more to life. And when my friends went through their oh-so-rebellious stage (Bon Jovi – scary stuff) I kinda went my own way. I had a penfriend who was really into Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains, and I can’t thank her enough for introducing us. I still think Pearl Jam are the best band on the planet. About this time (age 12ish) I also first heard of the Giants and “fell for them”. But the grunge era music remains my fave – Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Jane’s Addiction, the incredible Pixies…

I then got through my GCSE’s (exams you take at age 16) listening to Britpop. I loved Blur, Oasis and Pulp, plus all the more obscure bands such as Menswear and Elastica. My first boyfriend was absolutely crazy for Oasis and played them all day, every day. Consequently I can only now cope with staying in the same room as an Oasis track – sick to the back teeth of them! I also discovered the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who I absolutely fell in love with.

I went to college and met the coolest girl in the world. We hung around so much together. And we discovered that the cutest guys in the world were into a new band called Korn. So I gave them a listen and they rocked (they did back then – honest!) This then opened the floodgates, and I got into Green Day, the Offspring, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Rage, Machine Head, Silverchair, Faith No More, Deftones, I’m sure you know what I’m saying. I went to uni and became the Chair of the newly formed Rock Music Society, I had mates in a band. I could never be arsed to be a goth but I knew all the goths. I wore stripy tights (and still would, if I still had that figure… )

I realised that it’s true – metal fans are depressed all the time. This is only a bit of a generalisation – I had many friends who would self harm and were on anti depressants. So I broadened my horizons. I stared seeing someone who loved Tori Amos, The Goo Goo Dolls, Better Than Ezra, Aimee Mann, and The Divine Comedy. These quickly became new faves alongside the metal – if Tori can love Nine Inch Nails, then the contradiction isn’t as big as I thought it was. I also got into Massive Attack and Portishead.

Now… well, the latest chapter is a bit too trendy for my liking, but there we are. My partner loves The Strokes, and I really wanted to hate their simplistic and clean cut approach. But I’ve given in now and I like them. I also like the Kings of Leon and Franz Ferdinand. And I adore the Mars Volta and Ben Folds, and Adem. I’m also getting into some of the post-grunge stuff – Queens of the Stone Age, Mark Lanegan Band, Audioslave. And I retain a love for much of the music I passed through – I still adore grunge, Pulp, and recently Nine Inch Nails. Can’t wait for “With Teeth”. I also adore Jimi and Bowie.

But hey – I’d better stop before I just type in my entire CD collection!