Music Your Parents Listened To When You Were Young

[Bastille Dave]

i was more influenced by my siblings, friends, and music that was played everywhere and anywhere I went. My parents listened to AM radio and easier listening rock, not the harder rock from the 60's and 70's that I seemed to be drawn to. But these days I love those old AM pop and folk rock hits from the 60's and 70's. Edited November 30, 2011 by Bastille Dave

[Pags]

I'm the youngest of the kids so my parents were a bit older. They grew up in the 40's and 50's. Growing up I was exposed to mostly Big Band, Jazz, and musicals that my Grandmother liked. But she also watched the Mets religiously so she's cool.

 

I love the music my parents listened to and still have a big appreciation for it today. The best of it all being Sinatra and the others from the Rat Pack era. I don't need my father around to turn on a Sinatra song. Great stuff. If you really want to know what my house sounded like when I was a kid, watch the Godfather.

[goose]

Well, I appreciate a wide range of styles because of my parents.

 

There was folk stuff (val doonigan, brothers four), jazz (brubeck, herb alpert), classical, show tunes (Paint Your Wagon, Oliver, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar), & some pop (every mothers son, beach boys). We sang a lot in the car on long roads trips...

 

Like others that have posted, Big Sis got me into the Who, Tull, Beatles...

 

Discovered Boston, VanHalen, Cheap Trick and KISS via grade school.

 

Older friends got me into AC/DC, Sabbath, RUSH, Floyd.

[apetersvt]

Mom listened to Classical music

Dad liked 50's Rock n' Roll

 

Any family car trip, the Classical station was ALWAYS on the radio.

 

Back then, I always thought Classical was so boring.

Although I seldom listen to Classical music, I certainly appreciate it and don't mind listening to it. Certainly better than most of the music put out in the last 30 years.

 

 

 

 

[goose]

Oh...my babsitter constantly played Cream on his guitar. "Sunshine of Your Love", ad infinitum.

 

A refugee gave me his copy of Zeppelin 4, which was my first real rock album.

[ILSnwdog]

Oh hell no! My parents love both kinds of music. Country and Western. As a child I got to listen to a stead diet of the Statler Brothers, Waylin Jennings, Willie Nelson, Don Williams, The Browns, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rodgers, and all of that crap while I was a prisoner in the car. To this day, I can't listen to Country music. It puts me in a horrible mood. It grates on my nerves.

 

My parents will listen to Oldies now because they like it when I come around with the grandkids. I actually like a lot of the early rock n roll from the 50s, and I know I should return the favor when my parents are in my car, but I'm better than that. I put the XM 50's station on.

[goose]

Gotta love grandpa, though. Lots of Johnny Cash!

[Tony R]

My grandad thought any kind of electrified music was barbaric. He liked Scottish pipe bands and other such staid anti-enjoyment music. I used to tell him it was the musical equivalent of a hair shirt...

[laughedatbytime]

My dad never listened to music. Well, unless it was the theme song for the CBS Evening News or Channel 2 News (from Chicago). When we were in the car, it was News Radio WBBM-AM 780.

 

My mom's favorite song was "Lara's Theme" from Dr. Zhivago. I couldn't name another song she liked when I was a kid. Now she's into Christmas music (if it's the season) and light (read: sleep inducing) instrumentals, preferably with a pan flute.

 

On weekends, we'd travel to my maternal grandmother's house, where Hee Haw, the Porter Waggoner show, and, best of all, Lawrence Welk were on every Sunday night.

 

Pickings were slim as a kid, that's for sure.

[1 of the 7]

A little from my mom - she listens to classical, ballet (but NOT opera, which I like almost exclusively in my family), and light country like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. She and my dad both liked the Beatles. She also singlehandedly made me sick of Christmas music for life - we had one of those turntables you could put like six records on and they'd drop one by one, then you turned the whole stack over, and she loaded them up with Christmas records. I loved it then, but I'm burned out.

 

A little more from my dad - going back to the Beatles, he loved John Lennon and was absolutely devastated by his murder. I think that was the first time in my life I really realized what murder was. He kept the newspapers about it in his dresser drawer until his death in 1993, when my mom finally threw them out. I'm proud to have his 45 of John Lennon's Starting Over - a song he played on the jukebox every time we went to Pizza Hut, which in those days, was several towns away.

 

He, my older brother, and my mom's brother (a music teacher and jazz musician) were all heavy into all kinds of jazz. He liked jazzy, R & B-flavored pop going into the 80's. He also listened to a goodly amount of light rock in the 70's - if anyone remembers the infomercial for AM Gold a ways back, that was a perfect summation of it. One of our station wagons in the 70's came with an 8-track and player, and many of those songs were on it. "Angel of the Morning"? "Cherish"? Oh yeah.

 

A LOT from my older sister - she listened to classic, southern, and a little bit of prog rock. She had a huge poster of Bruce Springsteen on the ceiling, and I spent many an hour in her bedroom listening to her LP's, be they Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell, Pink Floyd's The Wall (I remember poring over the pics and hand-written lyrics on the inside and sleeves), Lynyrd Skynyrd, Supertramp's Breakfast In America, etc.

 

By the time MTV came on the air in 1981, I was more on my own musically, and developed a love for New Wave that's still my favorite today. But I still love absolutely all the rest of the above...except Christmas music.

Edited November 30, 2011 by 1 of the 7

[rushgoober]

My mother almost never listened to music, and when she did it was Barbara Streisand or classical music.

 

My father was really into new age and electronic music.

 

My love of electronic music definitely stemmed from my father - especially groups like Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, etc. I guess my love of ambient music stemmed from the new age stuff.

 

So yeah, partially, but most of my main loves: psychedlic, progressive, krautrock, folk, classic rock, avant-garde and free jazz, shoegaze, etc. - those i came to on my own.

[MMCXII]

QUOTE (Tony R @ Nov 29 2011, 10:48 AM)

Hendrix, Zep, Sabs, Purple and then Rush, The Scorps and UFO

 

 

 

 

my parents listed to country. my dad the old stuff, and mom the newer stuff. Mom swore I would too when I got older!!! (I like Cash and some older country now. and I went through a brief Garth Brooks phase when 'Wild Horses' came out )

Edited November 30, 2011 by MMCXII

[invisible airwave]

My cousin, whose wife is a HUGE fan, was probably the most influential on me. When I was 7, I noticed he was listening some 80s modern rock bands like U2,R.E.M.,INXS and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kick and Joshua Tree were two of the 1st few albums I ever owned as a kid.

[Hatchetaxe&saw]

QUOTE (Tony R @ Nov 29 2011, 07:41 PM)

I was lucky in as much as I had friends who had older brothers who bought records that I came to love. Certainly the advent of home-taping on cassettes opened up a world of music exploration that was no longer inhibited by my lack of funds.

Home Taping Is Illegal. And It's Killing Music.

 

 

My Ass.

 

The only reason I have 5,000+ albums is because of home-taping. Record companies are wankers.

[Nate2112]

How else would I ghet into Rush?

 

As for my love of Extreme Metal...that came from me...

[invisible airwave]

QUOTE (Hatchetaxe&saw @ Nov 30 2011, 01:00 PM)

QUOTE (Tony R @ Nov 29 2011, 07:41 PM) I was lucky in as much as I had friends who had older brothers who bought records that I came to love. Certainly the advent of home-taping on cassettes opened up a world of music exploration that was no longer inhibited by my lack of funds. Home Taping Is Illegal. And It's Killing Music.     My Ass.   The only reason I have 5,000+ albums is because of home-taping. Record companies are wankers. Did that a lot when KLOS still had their 7th Day program. Taped STP's Tiny Music,Live's Throwing Copper and AIC's Jar Of Flies back in my middle school and early high school years and many alternative rock songs off KROQ back then.

[Unattractive Truth]

QUOTE (invisible airwave @ Nov 30 2011, 01:10 PM)

QUOTE (Hatchetaxe&saw @ Nov 30 2011, 01:00 PM) QUOTE (Tony R @ Nov 29 2011, 07:41 PM) I was lucky in as much as I had friends who had older brothers who bought records that I came to love. Certainly the advent of home-taping on cassettes opened up a world of music exploration that was no longer inhibited by my lack of funds. Home Taping Is Illegal. And It's Killing Music.     My Ass.   The only reason I have 5,000+ albums is because of home-taping. Record companies are wankers. Did that a lot when KLOS still had their 7th Day program. Taped STP's Tiny Music,Live's Throwing Copper and AIC's Jar Of Flies back in my middle school and early high school years and many alternative rock songs off KROQ back then. KLOS...there's something I hadn't thought about in a long time!   Remember those cool oval rainbow stickers they had with different band names in them?   Good times...

[GotRush]

[apetersvt]

QUOTE (GotRush @ Dec 1 2011, 03:53 PM)

But dad is Proud ! Completly Self-sufficient from 18 on, Successful career. Lead to starting small company in 1995 2 great kids, & 6 grandkids, most recent only 2 weeks old

Outstanding!!!

[circumstantial tree]

My mother liked Roy Orbison and my father liked Bob Seger, Chicago, Boz Scaggs, Gino Vanelli, Bee Gees, and Chuck Mangione and Seals and Crofts.

[sullysue]

My mom listened to a radio station that played "Easy Listening" music, i.e. Muzak.

 

Dad listened to big band and jazz. LOVED jazz. He had a lot of stuff on reel-to-reel, and I loved hearing it growing up.

 

They were both supportive of my music obsession, though. I got a nice stereo system for Christmas when I was 12. The following Christmas, I got a really nice set of headphones.

 

My dad was cool and really dug The Police. He knew all the words to Da Do Do Do, Da Da Da Da and would sing to it every time it came on the radio.

[ozzy85]

Hmmm...

 

My folks listened to a lot of country-ish stuff in the '70's. Johnny Cash, Alabama, Oak Ridge Boys, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson (whom I picked up a liking for...), We'd all watch Hee-Haw back then. Mom did often listen to a pop music station (KFQD, in Anchorage, AK) where I probably picked up a liking for ELO and early Chicago.

 

I think my high school friends had a LOT more influence here. VH, Rush, Scorpions... here is where my true exploration began.

[Jaminbenb]

Wow....my father listened to big band, which I do tend to like, and stuff like Ray Coniff, and Mitch Miller..not great, but it was ALWAYS playing on the weekends....gave me a background of "standards"

 

My father HATED classical, but played those stupid Hooked on Classics which sent me in a different direction...

 

 

Mom? she listened to whatever was on the radio, and liked mostly everything....heck, she came in my room once when I was playing some ELP and said it was good!

 

 

 

[PolarizeMe]

I never really knew what my mother's music tastes were because she basically listened to what was on the radio. I do know that my dad was a huge 80s pop fanatic, even going far as saying that he thinks the 80s were great music wise. Although he did have a Queen album, a John Lennon album, and a Led Zeppelin album that he gave to me when I got older.

 

I can't exactly pull my finger on what bands he listened to extensively cause when I was young these were mostly playlists he made on CD and it's been years since I've seen him play those playlists, but some of the songs I clearly remembered him playing in heavy rotation were Tainted Love by Soft Cell, Too Shy by Kajagoogoo, Don Quichotte by Magazine 60 and 19 by Paul Hardcastle. I'll never forget the last two songs because I would always ask my dad to play "the 19 song" and the "No, No, No, No, No, No, No Senor song" a lot in my early years and ironically when I tried looking up "19" years later, that was the song title all along, so I was right in naming the song after all these years, hahaha.

 

Nope, obviously my dad's music tastes didn't influence me years later, as I went the opposite end of the music spectrum because I listen to all kinds of rock and metal. Although, the only thing from my Dad's music taste that had any relevance to me years later was Kajagoogoo's bassist Nick Beggs because I saw him live as Steven Wilson's bassist on his solo tour. It wasn't until I looked up the guy when I finally realized he was in the band that did Too Shy. When I found out I was like, "Oh...he was in THAT band? I thought the lead singer sounded like a girl. O___o" Still, I thought that Nick's a great bassist and really impressed me at the SW show.

 

One of my close friends from middle school and my sister had bigger influences on my music taste more than my parents, I'll say.

[librarian]

certainly not!