Monday, March 15, 2010

Growing Up on Classics

Image and video hosting by TinyPicI didn't know it at the time, but I was extremely fortunate to have a Daddy who introduced me to a variety of music when I was a child. In the car, we listened to every genre of music from Christian to Country to Celtic to Classic Rock. At home, you could always hear artists like Elvis coming from the record player, and bands like KC & the Sunshine Band blaring from the stereo (not at the same time of course). Music was a major part of my family, my childhood, and now my adulthood.

When I began dating Paul, I was shocked to find out that he didn't know much about the older (classic), rock bands. He was pretty savvy with more current bands, and singers, but when it came to artist like Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers(my favorite band ever)...he didn't have a clue. Paul's dad tortured him & his siblings with talk radio and whiney country music, while they were growing up. At 19 years old, Hubby knew nothing of the classics. I mean, I kind of felt sorry for him. He had no idea what all he was missing out on!

Now that I have a child of my own, I haven't hesitated to share with her all of the different types of music. We keep her current with the music of today (she prefers Lady Gaga & Taylor Swift), but I also play some Boston, or Joe Walsh for her too. She particularly enjoys the song "Roll Another Joint" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the harmonica, and not the actual lyrics of the song. At least, I hope so.

I really enjoy all genres of music, but perhaps the two I listen to the most are Indie/Folk & the Classic Rock artists. If I were to show you the playlist on my iPod...you would find no patterns. Just a bunch of random music, by a bunch of random artists.

Nevertheless, I have always been pretty proud of how knowledgeable I am of music that was created a couple of decades before I was even born. Most of my favorite artists don't include the ones who are popular today, and some of them are even dead! Every time I hear one of those amazing classic rock songs, I smile and drift backwards into a wonderful memory of my childhood. I hope that by showing Bree these songs now, they will have the same affect on her when she gets my age.

What type of music did you grow up on, and what is your favorite genre(s) now as an adult?

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19 comments:

Unknown said...

Having a mom who owned a restaurant for a while I grew up on a jukebox. I can tell you where I was when they announced Elvis had died, standing and singing Delta Dawn by Tanya Tucker. But I always LOVED and still do Patsy Cline ..

Ian said...

Two things - roll over to the Girl Next Door Grows Up and quick.

Up until I was 8 I listened to top 40 and stuff like that. My dad took me to the record store (yes you heard that right) and bought me a tape of Black Sabbath's Paranoid, their second album. I was hooked.

From then, I got into Zeppelin, the Stones, the Beatles, Hendrix at that young age.

I still listen to all of that plus all rock, metal, progressive, classic rock you name it. My favorite band, Dream Theater I have been following them since '92 when they put out their second release.

Katherine said...

My mother had me when she was sixteen, so she was into a lot of different music....

Mainly, she listened to a lot of rock...Steve Miller, Lynard Skynard, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac. And, of course, hair bands....Poison, Damn Yankees, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, etc.

Quite a variety. In college, I got into Zepplin, Grateful Dead, WSP, Phish....Beatles...a lot of "hippy" stuff. And bluegrass...a lot of bluegrass.

Ethan gets a good variety of music.

Unknown said...

haaha my girls love roll another joint too. but I tell them that he's singing "lets rollll some more coinnnns!" haha.

Anonymous said...

we used to listen to a lot of motown growing up and i loved it. my daughter knows so pop music of today, but i also play a lot of underground and indie stuff for her in addition to the older stuff. she doesn't mind at all--just loves to dance!

Anonymous said...

There is a song called "Baker Street" that reminds me of being in the backseat of my parent's green Oldsmobile 77' and driving through the streets of Memphis. I am taken back to that place in my life whenever I hear it. I also can remember loving the song "Midnight Train to Georgia" as a little girl. My mom was a super Beatles fan so I also listened to a lot of them as a small child. I still love them today.

Kimi said...

My kids are well versed in Patsy Cline (which they HATE), Pearl Jam, Everclear, Train, Fall Out Boy, George Strait (again with the hating), The Doors...

Joe Cap said...

It is so excellently cool to hear about all you young folk getting into the stuff that was new when I was very young. The classics are great!

Salt said...

BIG *high five* for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!! They are one of my all time faves too! I tend to always love older music more than the cookie cutterish stuff that everyone seems to be coming out with nowadays. I can't tell most new bands apart.

It seems like back in the day, everyone really had their own sound!

My parents were a lot like yours. I grew up on lots of different kinds of music and learned to have an appreciation for a wide variety of it.

Confessions From A Work-At-Home Mom said...

GREAT question! Like you, I grew up listening to a wide range of music. Three Dog Night was a favorite as a child, and honestly, I don't think I ever listened to Top 40 radio until I hit middle school and wanted to be like "Everybody else".

It's funny to think, now that we are parents, that our kids are going to think of the music you and I grew up listening to as "the oldies"!

~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom

California Keys said...

My dad's staple was Kenny Rogers and my mom loved Julio Iglesias.... Other than that, I wasn't exposed to much music. I started learning about music when I got my first car.... Then I got to go back and experience Air Supply and Chicago and The Doors and all of my other favorite artists....

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MrsM said...

I grew up listening to pretty much everything and I still do. I can't bring myself to like any newer music because everything I've listened to is, in my opinion, crap but if it's over say five years old it's probably on my playlist.

Garth Brooks, Dr. Dre, Nat King Cole, System of a Down, The Cranberries, Bree Sharp, Killing Heidi, Tool, Josh Turner, Nirvana, Jefferson Airplane...I think it's good to have eclectic musical taste =)

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Anonymous said...

My dad loved Rock and Roll and Blues and Jazz so I grew up with a ton of music. (Plus Alternative.)

Sarah loves Taylor Swift and she asks to play the Marry Me Juliet song!

Sam said...

I love classic rock! My dad was always very into it, and so it would play all the time in the car. My favorite style today is pretty much anything (except rap.. I'm really not big on that). I don't follow specific bands, more I just hear particular songs I like. But I always love me some Boston, Tom Petty, or Kansas any day. :)

Ally said...

I blogged about music through my entire life and it ended up being TWO separate entries because I realized I'm much older than I thought. Ha ha! As a little kid I loved the top 40 80s songs and then in the '90s I loved grunge and britpop - I still love a lot of that today :)

terri said...

Oooo! Fun topic! I was an '80s child and grew up on Bon Jovi, White Snake, Poison, Meatloaf....and Madonna. We watched MTV a TON until the 90s when it got a little more risque....then I was banned from MTV infinitely....and then it stopped playing music anyway so who cares?

Pandorah's Box said...

I grew up on great music too! My parents have a killer record collection, which they have now passed on to me because they know I love and appreciate it.

I grew up listening to the Stones, the Doors, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Abba, Jimi Hendrix, the list goes on.

I still listen to all these bands. My favourite (of my time) is and always will be grunge/ alternative. That's what was going on in my heyday :)

Awesome post! Keep on playing that awesome music for Bree!