My older brother influenced what I listened to as a kid - and he ONLY listened to British music (we lived in a wholly British ex-pat community: tea, scones, 'braais' at Xmas ... and blisteringly hot South African sunshine!!)
So I got into Depeche Mode and the like at a very early age. The first single I bought was Yazoo's 'Don't Go'. My brother got 'Get the Balance Right' the same day, so that's where it all started! He liked stuff like Ultravox and Gary Numan, so lil' sis copied suit to try and be cool too!!
People back in the UK used to send over VHS tapes of 'Top of the Pops', etc (we only had American or more rarely, South African, TV programmes - so if I look at you a bit blankly when you Brits talk nostalgically about TV you used to watch as a kid, it means nothing to me!!) so we Brit kids (eventually!!) used to hear all the cool new tunes when we all piled round to a friend's house to spend the afternoons watching our musical heroes from so far away. We could also get imported copies of Smash Hits, No 1, NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, etc from the bigger newsagents too, so I would have seen pics of The Cure waaaay before 'Lovecats' was a hit and released in S.A. Their earlier stuff would have been too 'subversive' for South Africa's then puritanical taste, so it was never officially released at the time as far as I know.)
My pal Hayley was a HUGE Banshees fan (when we were 12 or 13) and she used to play Cure and Banshees records all the time. (We could get imported records from a specialist importer in Johannesburg.) So I started wearing black too (and nearly dying if heatstroke!! Black + 38°c = melted puddle on the floor!!)
Imagine my TOTAL joy when my parents announced that we were returning to the UK!! Finally, I'd be going home (I was born in Dorset) and I asked incessantly if we could live in London (secretly, I was hoping to move to Surrey or Sussex!!), but no... They moved us to Lincolnshire. Bloody Lincolnshire!! Miles from anywhere, flat as a pancake, boring as hell and full of ruddy cabbages!!!!
Can you imagine coming from the breath-taking beauty of S.A. to ... cabbages...? Ye gods... England, my beloved homeland that I had longed to return too, was in reality, grey, flat, boring, depressing, soggy, cold, grumpy - and had NO cool wildlife to track. Nothing.
And the music? Pah!! I was in the middle of ruddy nowhere, surrounded by strangers, rubbish public transport, no good music venues anywhere and worse still, no wildlife or plants that I could a. see or b. name and ... WHAT'S WITH THE WEATHER???
But... the UK had RECORD FAIRS!!! So guess where my pocket money went??
Fast-forward to today and I've worked/am working on projects with some of those bands I adored as a kiddie, some of whom I can call pals, I still like The Cure, I still like Depeche Mode and ... I live in Surrey!!
I also discovered the nearby wildlife hospital, so although I'm not helping zebras or wildebeest; grumpy hedgehogs, batty bats, stinky foxes and adorable baby pidgie widgies are filling the nurturing and exploring animal-shaped gap that I had in my life for FAR too long.
So never question the bug box in my bathroom: my ladybirds hibernate in there in Winter...
The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Post by psychophysio on Mar 24, 2013 9:16:23 GMT 1
I was into things like Duran Duran & ABC back in the day. Then moved on to the Cult and Iron Maiden when I was about 14. Progressed to PWEI, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Roses, Ministry and others in the early 90s, along with Wonder Stuff and Suede and New Order at the same time. My friends started to get into trance and jungle stuff (Eye Q and the like) and jungle sounded like metal to me and I liked the bass. I got into Underworld and Orbital in a big way in the 90s and saw the Cure for the first time in 92 which sealed the deal for me. I still like a lot of heavy guitar stuff as well as dancey things and my indie guitar bands. Best recent new band for me was Interpol - absolutely loved the first album.
my first record was cool and the gang. as a child i listened to all the eighties pop and electro, but i can remember that few alternative music impressed me. with turning 13 and beginning to love sinead o'connor until i could not listen to it any more a few years, coming the cure, dead can dance, joy division, nina hagen. later i listened to nin, skinny puppy and sarah mclachlan and i loved ute lemper with her work on kurt weill and michael nyman. now my taste in music certainly diversified.
My older sister used to listen to a lot of music, so I followed. The first record I bought was the first Stray cats album, when I was 11 or12, then just after, Second edition by PIL. still one of my favorite records. For my 13th birthday, I got Off the bone & Smell of female by The Cramps. I discovered The Cure around that time.,Then Bauhaus, Virgin Prunes, Sisters, The Cult... In the late 80's, I became more into indie pop with Sonic Youth, Spacemen 3,Wedding Present, My Bloody Valentine and others. I came back to the goth thing a bit in 93' 'till 95' when the goth people started to bore me more than possible, and in 97', I found out that Mogwai was better the any goth band on stage ! The bands I always listened to since the beginning are The Cure, The Ramones, Buzzcocks, The Cramps and a few others... I kept all these records (about 3500 vinyls at home !) and still listen to most of them, and The Cure are often on first position !
Post by catsncheese on Dec 19, 2013 19:26:10 GMT 1
My parents were hippy prog rockers, so I grew up with Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, T-Rex, Tangerine Dream, David Bowie, Camel, and so on. I still listen to Floyd, Hawkwind, Sabbath & Bowie. I'm glad my parents were into that type of music as it's definitely influenced my present-day tastes
My parents were hippy prog rockers, so I grew up with Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, T-Rex, Tangerine Dream, David Bowie, Camel, and so on. I still listen to Floyd, Hawkwind, Sabbath & Bowie. I'm glad my parents were into that type of music as it's definitely influenced my present-day tastes