Soundtrack To Your Life
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Freddie Hubbard. Straight Life and Red Clay. Formative stuff for me…. Great history man.
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Man, I love this thread. I need to devote a couple of hours to organizing my thoughts, it's just so hard to make sense of it all with Ritchie Valens, Garth Brooks, the Fat Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Wu Tang, Tom Petty, Bob Marley, The Dead Kennedy's, The Reverend Horton Heat, Danzig, A Robote Ate Me, Cursive, The Notorious BIG, Willie Nelson, Sepultura, LCD Soundsystem, Outkast, Dick Dale, Miles Davis, Howlin' Woolf, and She Wants Revenge all rolling around in my head. I'm so conflicted and confused. This whole process is drumming up all sorts of weird feelings that I'm not sure I'm ready to confront. Like, why do I like what I like? How much of it is the music versus the nostalgia for an ephemeral time and place. What is everyone going to think about my fucked up musical past? Am I cool? Why do I fucking care? Was the music, in that long since past moment, genuinely important, or simply an attempt to find acceptance? How is that different from now? Was it the same as my shorn scalp or under shaved butt-cut? Baggy jeans sagged with a braided belt hanging down to my knee? A tie-top beanie and an OPP jacket? Wranglers, Justin's, and a Mo-betta shirt? Was my musical choices simply a cultural signifier that I belonged to a certain group? How much was it Trent Reznor's haunting mania that I was connecting with versus how much was it wanting to ride skateboards with Jody and Will? To do whip-it's in the elementary school playground and say cuss words? To get into skuffs with other fuck off kids? To smoke stolen Benson and Hedges while drinking a boosted bottle of peppermint Schnaps? Or was it about driving to high school with the windows down on my pickup, blaring Hank Jr and spittin' plug chew in my sonic cup? Was it about that cold drizzly night in a college town walkin' to that house with all the vintage furniture and old record player. "We don't give a fuck" hip chicks in thrift store dresses drinking yellowtail talking the merits of some fuckwits latest attempt at creativity. Like we were fucking superior? "Connor Orbst is so incredible." These words, sliding out of my mouth like a big runny dump. The sheer audacity is somewhat embarrassing. The sheer manufactured inauthentic veneer of it all is quite depressing. Except that I still love it. That just this morning, I was shouting King of Rock with the Reverend Run as I was pulling into work. How many fucking lives can one kid try and live? Fuck, this is getting weird and way too deep. I'm going all stream of conscious like fucking James Joyce, whose books I still hate. I better get the fuck out, I'm starting to sound like Monday. Peace. To be continued.
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So good, I had to read it out aloud…..
What an amazing piece of soul-searching prose! @D666, do you realise what you've started?
Shall look forward very much to JSJ's continuation…
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JSJ's post was the reasoning for the this entire thread. A chance for the writer to stroll down memory lane, laugh, cry, kick them self in the ass and get back up. A chance for us to get to know a little bit about the "REAL" you. Thank you for opening up and being vulnerable, thank you for being "YOU"!!!!
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JSJ i read the post in an accent & it made it even better, my only beef is the following:
I better get the fuck out, I'm starting to sound like Monday. Peace. To be continued.
WTF, son
hahahahahahaha, nah dope post
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Love this guy. Great post man and it really resonates. It's going to be in some ways hard to write this which is why I haven't done it yet.
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Thanks y'all. It was a bit of a dump. Definitely went super roots today at work to clear my head. It was all Smithsonian Folksways Recordings, all day. Our rep from Toyota Financial was like, what is that, Mariachi? Nope, just some early 20th century Irish jig. Felt wholesome, like some beans and cornbread, good for the spirit, cleansing, if you will. May be riding the roots train again tomorrow, see if I'm over my post yet.
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Stevie wonder, "I don't know" 100% pure awesomeness sourced strait from the master.
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After today I'm off for the rest of the year. I'll finally have time to do this, should be cathartic for me.
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For those that requested it, I finally achieved the proper frame of mind to give this a go. As with everyone else I am sure I will forget something, but this should serve as a rough outline. A artist might make the list based solely on strength of one song, but that song hangs heavy if so.
In no particular order, Merle Haggard, Boston, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Prince, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, REM, Black Sabbath/Ozzy, Commodores/ Lionel Richie, George Strait, Stevie Wonder, Motley Crue, Aerosmith, Doobie Brothers, Allman Brothers, Lynrd Skynrd, Molly Hatchet, Jim Croce, James Taylor, Van Morrison, Andrew Gold, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, Brad Paisley, Jerry Reed, Eric Clapton, BB King, Leadbelly, Hank Williams(all three), Temptations, ZZ Top, Little River Band, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Eddy Arnold, Bel Biv Devoe, Pearl Jam, Vince Gill, Eagles, James Brown, Steve Winwood, Dire Straits, The Cars, The Clash, Motorhead, Chris LeDoux, Stone Temple Pilots, Gene Watson, Nirvana, Bon Jovi, Patsy Cline, Bee Gees, Christopher Cross, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Desert Rose Band, Ray Price, Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin, Glen Campbell, Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmie Rodgers, Earth Wind & Fire, Barry White, White Zombie, Fleetwood Mac, Charlie Pride, Conway Twitty, Hall & Oates, Genesis/Phil Collins, Metallica, Guns & Roses, Beach Boys, Tool, Johnny Paycheck, Animals, Johnny Horton, Hollies, CCR, Randy Travis, Charlie Daniels, Steve Earle, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Alabama, Ronnie Milsap, Roger Miller, Steve Miller Band, George Jones, Tom Petty, Bad English/John Waite, Soundgarden, Wall Flowers, Oak Ridge Boys, Earnest Tubb, John Anderson, Georgia Satellites, Marshall Tucker Band, Johnny Lee, Eddie Rabbit, Incubus, Bob Seger, Gordon Lightfoot, Don Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Brent Mason, Chuck Berry, Led Zepplin, Merle Travis, Living Colour, AC/DC, Miles Davis, Elton John, Billy Joel, Ray Charles, Seals & Croft, Dan Seals, Pantera, David Allan Coe, Jamey Johnson, Beck, Foghat, Aretha Franklin, Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Redd Volkaert, Albert Lee, Everly Brothers, Ricky Skaggs, James Burton, Mark O'Connor, U2, Simply Red, Too Short, Cypress Hill, Greatful Dead, Etta James, Reba McEntire, Joan Jett, America, Moody Blues, Crosby Stills & Nash, The Who, Roy Acuff, Loretta Lynn, Journey, Janis Joplin, Blackfoot, Jimmy Buffet, Bob Marley, David Bowie, Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, Jefferson Airplane, Keith Whitley, Earl Thomas Conley, John Conlee, Ian Tyson, Hellecasters, Junior Brown, Los Straitjackets, Ronnie Earle & the Broadcasters, Chicago, The Band, Peter Frampton, Four Tops, Supremes, Gladys Knight, Lit, Hootie & the blowfish, Roy Orbison, Son House, Woody Guthrie, Grascals, Del McCoury, Del Shannon, Frankie Avalon, George Clinton, Parliament, Rick James, Gap Band, Supertramp, Deep Purle, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dwight Yoakum, Manfred Mann, Chili Peppers and the occasional classical number typically tuned in when the mood strikes. Of course I know I'm forgetting something.
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Lets rejuvenate this thread, it was one of my favorites.
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I listened to a lot of classical growing up (Mom made me play the piano)… classical and Queen. I've always loved Freddie Mercury, except for that bullshit Radio Ga Ga song. Had one of their greatest hits CDs when I was 4 or 5... would always skip that song.
Mom passed away when I was seven, so Dad's musical tastes dominated the airwaves. Heard a lot of that damn Alabama NSYNC crossover on the country radio stations. Some of it wasn't so bad- the twangier stuff. Didn't mind Garth Brooks.
My first CD that I got to pick out all on my own was No Doubt. Still have a crush on you Gwen.
Napster came along when I was young. I spent all day downloading stuff. I thought I was really dark and brooding so I would download a bunch of industrial techno stuff. Nothing good. Velvet Acid Christ. Then, I found MetallicA (stylized like this of course). I didn't get much into them at this point in my life, but I sure loved 'One'. Still do. Then I started getting into Tool, pretty heavily. Got Reign in Blood for Christmas as well. But Static-X was my fav band, so of course I dressed like Wayne Static with the big ass pants. Silly me.
I liked Tool a lot, but I REALLY loved A Perfect Circle. I must have wore out Mer De Noms. Still remember the first time Judith came on in the car with my dad...
Dad made me turn off the Sabbath on the way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame cause it was too loud. Went to Ozzfest that year, saw Sabbath original lineup in 01. Didn't truly appreciate it (same deal that I went through with Metallica) but certainly loved War Pigs.
Then punk was popular and all my friends listened to it. I didn't get the Ska nonsense, but I bought ...And Out Come the Wolves and Minor Threat's Complete Discography on the same day (didn't even notice it was the same album cover). The Misfits Collection II would be one of my most played albums. Then we started hanging with some trad skins so I started to appreciate the old ska - The Specials. and some oi!- mainly Oxymoron. I couldn't ever stick to one genre, so Oxymoron made so much sense to me- were they skins or punks? who knew. Both. Saw Blood for Blood. Loved Hatebreed. Went to both Ozzfest and Warped Tour when it came around.
At this point, I started to get really into the hardcore scene- Hatebreed's Satisfaction is the Death of Desire, Killswitch Engage's cd with My Last Serenade. Poison the Well, that Atreyu CD Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses.
And for some reason, I was in a car with people I barely knew and we were driving down an icy road packed into a car, coming home from Hot Water Music/Thrice/Vendetta Red and out of the middle of nowhere, this dude starts clapping in the middle of a folk punk song... turns out it was Against Me!'s Those Anarcho Punks are Mysterious. That band changed my life. That was fucking real man. Before they got big, man. Shit, those guys (guy and one girl?) were so nice. I bought their Acoustic EP at a show one time, go up to Laura and tell him (her? at this point he was a him) that I loved their shit. He asked me if I had their new EP (As The Eternal Cowboy)... I said I didn't have enough money because I already bought their Acoustic EP. "No worries"- signed my punk vest, gave me the EP.
At this point, dad couldn't stand anything I listened to, except for I told him I got down with some Johnny Cash. The only CD we listened to from then on was Live at Folsom Prison.
Then, I got lucky. The cool thing in music was d-beat. I now didn't have to choose between the punk shows and the metal shows. I just listened to a bunch of Motorhead, and then came the metal. A LOT of metal in college. Evergrey was one of my favorites because they actually sang and I could understand the words. Slayer still played a bunch. Dark Tranquillity. Maiden, often and loud.
I spent some time drinking with one of my cousins who bought me one of my first punk rock albums - Social Distortion's White Light White Heat White Trash. We started talking about what he'd been listening to. "Alt-country". Put on some Old 97's and got really into it. Fell in love with Lucero. Re-fell in love with Social D's eponymous album.
Then came gradschool and the indie shit came. Typhoon's Hunger and Thirst became one of my most played albums of all time, pretty quickly. Old Crow Medicine Show was pretty much on the radio when Typhoon wasn't. And then someone told me I should put on this band Godspeed You! Black Emperor...
Since I spent all my time listening to music and reading economics, I got really bored of everything... so I put on a Blackstar album. Turns out I love Mos Def... and Talib.
The most awesome thing I found while in gradschool though... was Mariachi El Bronx. I'll sing to 48 Roses any time it comes on.
Then I graduated, got a job, but first I had to sit at home in Cleveland installing floors (while waiting for my career to take off), so I got real angry and started listening to metal again. Thrashy shit- Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, etc. Put on Metallica again and REALLY gave it a listen. Loved it, but the constant thrash started to give me anxiety, so I started slowing it down. South of Heaven made some more rounds on my playlist. Then Candlemass. Then Red Fang. Then Baroness. Then the inevitable Black Sabbath go around that hasn't stopped.
That being said, its really hard to program to metal all the time... so put on that Godspeed record again and fell in love with Explosions in the Sky, These Arms are Trees, (insert any 4 word post-rock band name here). Pined for something heavier, went to Russian Circles.
And here I am today. I've accepted that I'll never be able to listen to one genre for more than 2 months at a time because I get sick of it. I've also accepted that I love it all. I listen to whatever the fuck I want. I wear whatever the fuck I want. It makes me want to get a motorcycle and ride off into the sunset- hence the outlaw country I've been listening to lately... or the motorhead... or the stoner metal...
about that motorcycle..
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Great thread boot, let's hear from more people on this. I love reading through peoples musical journeys.
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@bubbapest insane post, this is a perfect example of what I was looking for when I created this thread. I wasn't asking for a list of bands. I wanted to here personal stories. Thanks for sharing.
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