Musical Coming of Age

Over at my brother’s blog, he posted a question on behalf of my youngest brother.  I think our ages have a bearing on our perspectives, as I was born 1961, Wayne 1967, and Michael 1971.  The question:

At what age did you come into your own musical tastes?

I sent my brother my answer in e-mail, which was long enough that I am posting it here rather than over in Wayne’s comments.  Perhaps that will elicit more answers, too, as I assume Michael had data collecting reasons to ask.  Here was what I said:

Your question is hard to answer.  I first became really aware of pop music about 5th to 6th grade, but my taste was and has been influenced by a combination of what was current, what mom in particular liked, to some degree what the grandparents liked, and of course what Gary and especially Lynn liked.  Wayne remembers mom listening to country, which on thinking about it so do I, but I remember the more popular country and crossover stuff; Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Glenn Campbell.  But I remember also listening to stuff like Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin with mom, and that would have been not long after it was current.

The Partridge Family was at a formative time for me.  Jackson Five and Osmonds were too.  Carpenters were huge, and still a big favorite.  I can remember when Superstar was the number one song on the charts for a long run and it was my first awareness that there was such a thing as the music charts and number one song in the country at a given time.

I always liked the Beatles, with the first song I clearly remember identifying with them being All My Loving.  I could easily have been aware of that song no older than the age of six, but I don’t remember exactly.

The big breakthrough time for me was about 1973, but really 1972 - 1974, around the time I was in 6th grade, first met Adam, hung out with him most intensively, was exposed to radio heavily, and first started doing things like listening to the New Year’s Eve top 100 countdown shows.

I didn’t like heavy rock to speak of, and went through high school listening to the relatively new at the time oldies shows, which then were much more focused on the way too insipid fifties but weirdly could cover things all the way through just a few years prior to current (it’d be like calling anything through 2002 “Oldies” now, which is why the term “classic rock” was invented by radio marketers), and otherwise mellow radio, combined with current hits radio as long as it wasn’t seriously disco.  I mean, circa high school for me meant the advent of Boston, The Cars, Toto, Meat Loaf, Heart, and others I know I’m forgetting.  It was a fantastic musical period, underneath the (not all bad and now nostalgic not played to death) disco mania.

I did not make my first purchase of a record until well into high school, and tellingly that was two disparate 45’s: Afternoon Delight, and Magic Man.  I think my first LP was a two album set of the greatest hits of the Mamas and the Papas.

My appreciation of harder rock actually grew with age, and continues to grow.  In a way the answer is that it never stops.  In a way the answer is sixth grade through high scool was formative, and if you’re looking at an early end point, 6th, maybe 5th grade.  I still like a lot of mellow and old stuff.  I tend to think of most of what came out after the mid eighties or so as crap, with a renaissance happening more recently and a few gems, often not noticed by me until years later, studded in the timeframe here and there.

Ironically, my appreciation of things like classical has grown too, and in my playlists you’ll find weird stuff like hurdy gurdy music.

Anyway, that’s my verbose answer.

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