Music: family rivalry & rebelry

One weird sub-tangent to this type of thing is that my father is now into (umbrella-term) classical music in a huge way, in that I think he only very, very rarely listens to any rock or pop music of any sort now.  I've liked some of what he plays when he visits and I happen to be in his car, but my bizarre attitude is that I'm too young to listen to that sort of thing, that I'll be like him and gravitate to it when I'm older - even though I really enjoy some of it right now.  Quite odd.

I'm an only child, and my parents didn't really listen to a lot of music (except on Radio 2!), which is weird really because the previous generation (on both sides) was very musical.  I don't (obviously) have anyone to rebel against, but I do notice that normally it's the music I discover myself that is the most important to me (rather than the stuff that gets handed to me by well-meaning folks trying to educate my taste!).  That element of personal discovery is very important to me.  That might be one reason why recommendations from friends sometimes fall a little flat, despite our ability to appreciate the quality of their suggestions!

I really wish my Dad was still around - I'd love to share some of my current favourites with him.  He was a pretty open minded listener - various types of jazz were his favourites but he would listen to almost anything, from classical to reggae!  My mum is a 'compulsive CD buyer' now and will buy the most random stuff, from annoying 'classical boy bands' to Stevie Wonder's greatest hits.  (I keep meaning to steal that one...)

I go through phases of listening to *no music whatsoever*.  Sometimes that's because I'm more interested in working on my own stuff, or because I'm in a 'reading' phase...  Curiously, I'm currently in an 'everything' phase: listening to all kinds of new (to me) music, reading, writing and composing. :-)

James wrote: At the same time, I am also a completionist.  If I buy an album by a band or artist I like who have a large discography, I then try and buy all of their discography, even the not so good stuff.  I must stop doing this!  That is why I have yet to officially buy any Magma, because it could take me some time to finish buying it all.

Donna,

Well I'm over halfway now with my Peter Hammill CD collection, which is excellent.  I'm not sure exactly how many of his solo albums I still have to get though.

As for Magma, well I need to get them on CD but I've got so much other excellent music to get, some will be replacements for MP3s, which is actually more important to me in many respects as I always prefer the real deal, rather than digital files and others will be new music to me.  Unfortunately, most of what I desire CD-wise I get from the U.S. via mailorder, so I do a bulk order every couple of months.  I also have a vast amount of unheard of CDs which I need to get through.

As for the '80s, well, most artists of repute suffered it seems, even Peter Hammill and Robert Wyatt but they suffered a lot less than the likes of Collins, Wonder and others.

Bluesaga wrote: And does anybody else get mad when their family disrupts music?  It's usually annoying, sometimes awkward if what I'm listening to is weird - and most people think it's weird that I like jazz.

Hahaha, this is often happening to me!  I live with a 'serial interrupter' who also has rather different taste in music to mine.  But as I usually do the cooking, I can play whatever I want in the kitchen.  He knows that interruption of cooking may result in interruption of food (oh no!), so I get left in peace!

I'm an only child and my parents music tastes had no bearing whatsoever on mine. As a child I dont remember my dad listening to music at all. I din't have a 'record player' until I was about 8. It was a mono Dansette (type) player which my father brought from a junk yard for 78p.

BTW, James I'm 12 years older than you..

He knew I was showing a interest in music, and he acquired from jumble sales, and charity shops a load of old LP's for me; everything from Mud to Neil Sedaka. He encouraged my interest in music, although by the time I was 13 and listening to heavy metal, he was getting pretty fed up with the sound of Lemmy and Bruce Dickenson screaming the house down. My mother listened to Foster & Allen, Barbara Streisand, and Daniel O'Donnell. For my parents, who were nearing 40 when I was born in 1969, the 60's were just a non event.

So there may have been an element of rebellion on my part. My musical inspiration came from one of our neighbours kids, who was about three years older than me. I remember leafing through his record collection in 1980. He was 13 and had albums by Zep, Sabbath and Genesis among others. I remember looking at 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' four years before I bought it, and being intrigued by the sleeve artwork. It was he who suggested I listen to a late night rock show on Radio 1 every Friday night. Thats when I really took to metal and first heard progressive rock. The rest is history as they say, but my influences were nothing to do with my parents thats for sure.

No point whatsoever to this story. Just a jaunt down memory lane, I guess..

Bluesaga wrote: Are any of Hammill's 80s albums post-punk esque?  For some reason, I think that would be an interesting and yummy combo.  I have Moving Targets and one song gives me a post-punk vibe (Breakthrough I think?), and the rest is okay, even if My Experience is pretty cheesy. :P And does anybody else get mad when their family disrupts music?  It's usually annoying, sometimes awkward if what I'm listening to is weird - and most people think it's weird that I like jazz.

The phone. I hate the phone. If the phone goes off at a bad moment when I'm listening to something developed, I have been known to get angry.

I don't rebel against my family when it comes to music, unless I don't like what it is they're playing. For the most part my father was a huge influence in my music taste. Ever since I was a little boy he would throw on a Yes or Genesis album whenever there was nothing else to do. For the most part I didn't start listening to music (of my own will) until about 3 years ago, and when I did I remember going over to my parents album rack and grabbing a bunch of Phil Collins Genesis albums (I didn't know Peter Gabriel was in Genesis at the time and grabbed only ones with songs I knew), my dad then walked up and pulled out every album from Trespass to The lamb and handed them to me and walk off. Needless to say I listen to everything from Pink Floyd to Magma now.

My Brother had decent taste Tool, Megadeath, Metallica, Dream Theater. But after my dad converted me to the prog side i got at my brother, and now he has many King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Yes(I think that was my dad again though), ELP, Camel and others. My sisters music taste consists of pop and emo crap. NUFF SAID! My mom likes some of my dads stuff, my sisters stuff, and the stuff she listened to when she was young like Duran Duran and Def Lepard. So there is a (mostly)nice mix of Music in my house.

James wrote: My parents always come home from work at the most inopportune moments whenever I have an album on.  The thing is, we have a stereo in the lounge with decent speakers and well, all I have is my PC, so I naturally want to play music on a proper stereo occasionally. I put a CD on and it's usually halfway through, or near the end and one of my parents comes in or something and just ruins the moment. And yes, the 'phone does seem to ring when I've got music on too and you have to remember, I rarely get 'phone calls.

It doesn't cost much at all to buy above average audio equipment, and for decent stuff it's even less.

James wrote: M., you make some good points there, re: discovering music yourself.  I think that is indeed similar to what I am experiencing. The thing is though, sometimes I "discover" a band and then tell a lot of people on P.A. and sometimes I keep them to myself; it depends on the mood I am in and also what type of band it is.  Zeuhl bands for instance most people know already, because it's one of those genres that people keep tabs on a lot.  However, lesser known bands, like Nuit Caline a la Villa Mon Reve and Kandahar I tend to not wax lyrical about quite as much (although most people know I like them). I guess I not only like to be as unique and individualistic with my tastes as possible but I also tend to want to discover as much as possible by myself.  However, I am normally impressed by P.A. friends' recommendations, because I know their taste is similar to mine. At the same time, I am also a completionist.  If I buy an album by a band or artist I like who have a large discography, I then try and buy all of their discography, even the not so good stuff.  I must stop doing this!  That is why I have yet to officially buy any Magma, because it could take me some time to finish buying it all. Addendum: the funky keyboard riff in Superstitious is great, it's a shame Stevie went a bit weird in the 1980s onwards