A question I’ve been asked several times before. So it got me thinking how I actually got to listening to the type of music I listen to these days. As people who know me know I listen to a lot of Metal, but thats not all I listen to and not what I’ve always listened to. So let me take you on a journey through music…
My earliest memories of music? Well my mum had lots of 7″ singles (showing my age now?!) and music was always on the radio when I was growing up. She always takes great delight in telling me I tried to sing a long to Making Up Again by Goldie (Not the Drum and Bass artist!), or more specifically the part of the song that goes “You, You, You”. Not bad bearing in mind this song charted when I was less than 2 years old (showing my age again!). Also I can recall songs like L’il Red Riding Hood by 999 (not a charting single), One way Ticket by Eruption (charted before I was 3) and Magic Fly by Space (not to be confused with the scouse indie band, but the catchy disco number). I remember too my babysitter back then playing my mum’s singles and teaching me dance moves! Certainly those previous songs mentioned, and I can also remember Hugo Montenegro’s version of The Good The Bad And The Ugly being involved.
I pretty much listened to music on the radio for much of the early years of my life. I remember being given a tape of the chart run down from 1982 at somepoint, and I might still have it somewhere. My first ever 7″ single was A Love Worth Waiting for by Shakin’ Stevens(!) and other singles I can remeber getting at an early age were We All Stand Together by Paul McCartney and The Frog Chorus, and Star Trekkin’ by The Firm! I think from listening to a lot of radio when I was younger meant that the songs stuck in my head, because I can hear something from back in the late 70’s these days and for some reason it reminds me of my childhood.
I got my first walkmen in about 1985 or 86. I remember getting it in Newport (Gwent) possibly from Argos. When I got it we went to WH Smith where I bought a tape to go with it. I think it was the hits of 1962 as Right Siad Fred by Bernard Cribbens was on it but thats all I remember. Also around that time, my dad started taking me to the horticultural shows he did every year and I remember Jim Reeves tapes he had on in the car. To this day I could probably sing you any Jim Reeves song you wish to mention such was how much I listened to it!
Not long after I started Secondary school (‘87) I thought to myself “I’m a young boy, I shouldn’t be listening to all this old stuff” so for Christmas I asked for an Iron Maiden album. Why Iron Maiden? To this day I don’t know. I’d never heard their music, I’d just heard of the name. For Christmas I got an Iron Maiden album ‘Killers’. And that was the start of it. Now don’t get me wrong, I still listened to chart music, in the summer of ‘88 I got Now Thats What I Call Music 12 (We’re now at 65!) but I was starting to listen to more metal. I got a few more Iron Maiden albums that year ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘Piece Of Mind’ and also that year I got into Guns N’ Roses, who were just exploding with ‘Appetite for Destruction’ and a certain band called Anthrax whith their ‘I’m The Man’ E.P. You can blame my friend Euan for Anthrax. He had got the E.P. and copied it onto tape for me with G N’ R on the other side. Through ‘89 then I was listening to the mentioned bands and also Bon Jovi(!) as they were popular then. Euan tried to get me into Aerosmith but I wasn’t having it. I also got Miracle by Queen which today is still a great album. My friend Euan also got me the Anthrax ‘State of Euphoria album’ for Christmas in ‘89.
I moved to Glasgow in 1990 and things soon started to change musically for me. Still listening to chart music, but I was getting a few more Maiden albums and if I remember right Anthrax ‘Attack of the Killer B’s’. then in February 1992 I got my first issue of Kerrang magazineand it just snowballed from there metal wise. W.A.S.P., Gwar, Alice In Chains, Rage Against The Machine, Metallica etc. to start with then I just progressed to the heavier side of metal (Sludge, Death, Hardcore etc.).
It was in ‘93 that I started to go to concerts on a more regular basis. Prior to that year I had seen MC Hammer (‘91), Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Ugly Kid Joe (all ‘92). The in ‘93 I saw all sorts of metal bands from a variety of genres. Rage Against The Machine (Barra’s anyone?) with Tool supporting (a band that can now sell out the SECC!), Freak Of Nature, Biohazard (Cathouse with Clutch supporting. I have the drum stick!), Helmet, Suicidal Tendencies, Pantera, Anthrax, Green Jelly, Lawnmower Deth, Sepultura, Bodycount, Carcass to name but a few! In ‘94 and ‘95 I averaged 3 concerts a month including Slayer, Machine Head, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Entombed, Brutal Truth, Pungent Stench, Beastie Boys, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Anthrax (again!) to again name but a few.
The concerts started to get less then once I started working. After that I still went to a few concerts (Soulfly at the QMU with Limp Bizkit as support act!) but I started to go to a few festivals (T In The Park 1998, 2000, 2001 and Gig On The Green in 2001). It was over these last couple of years of the last century that I was listening to a balance of Metal, chart and Indie. Gig On The Green was especially good because I saw Queens Of The Stone Age, Marilyn Manson and Eminem all on the same bill.
I should also mention that during the 90’s I listened to quite a bit of Hip-Hop. Bands that I listened to a lot included Run DMC, Cypress Hill, House Of Pain, Ice-T, Dr Dre, Jay-Z, NWA etc.
This century I have just gradually progressed, with Metal and certainly in the last few months I’ve been listening to the really heavy stuff again. But I’ve also been getting stuff that I listened to back in the 90’s on CD format because a lot of metal back then still sounds fresh today.
When people ask me what music I like, I’ve got to decide what the person I’m talking to might listen to because I listen to a very broad variety of music, lots of people have said that. I could name lots of 60’s and 70’s music thanks to my mum and also chart music from the 80’s. Plus of course Metal. I can look through my CD collection and I have CD’s by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Tavares, Disco compilations, Stevie Wonder, Black Sabbath, Cradle of Filth, Eyehategod, Anthrax, NWA, Oasis etc. So yes I have a wide ranging tast in music.
So I hope that has given some insight into my musical taste and how it came about. If you want to know what other bands I’ve seen or listen to, please feel free to leave a comment or ask
