Fun to write it all down though, hope some of this nonsense means something to somebody.
1960's - Pop and stuff as a kid. A bit of Jazz from parents, who took me to see Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. I thank them for that, but not for much else when it came to a musical education! I often claim that my first vinyl purchase was Hendrix, aged 10, but I may have made that up
1970's - Listened to very early Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, thanks to my older sister's influence. That's as close as I've been to dabbling with Metal. Barely a teenager then. Then got into Slade and T. Rex. It was the nearest thing to rebellion I knew. The last years at school were marked by being subjected to the worst of pomp excess - Genesis, ELP, etc. I found some solace in mavericks Nils Lofgren and Todd Rundgren, and Bob Marley was just breaking though, so things would soon improve.
Moved to London in '76 and got into Punk, 2-tone, Reggae and Dub. Made friends with a Black Jamaican guy from Wandsworth and spent loads of time with him and his family. My earliest Dub records date from that time - Super Ape by Lee 'Scratch' Perry (1976) and Hit The Road Jack by Big Youth (1976). I've gone back to Punk and Rock sporadically over the years, but Dub has always been there, in the background. Must be the tempo...
1980's - Very eclectic in the early 80's - Pere Ubu, The Velvets, Captain Beefheart. Joy Division still have an appeal from that period. But then The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel came out, and it all went mental. I still have 2 copies of that seminal 12". Dabbled with Rap and Hip Hop briefly after that, but then came what I call my 'lost period'. Through the mid to late 80's I was mostly listening to soul, Luther Vandross, Alexander O'Neill and stuff. ':('
Missed out Acid House completely, but I don't shed tears over that.
1990's - A move to Nottingham revitalised things. Hung out with Radford's finest and started getting into urban Black Music again - at the Marcus Garvey, the Tally Ho!, The Gregory, Stork Club, Bojangles and blues parties. So mostly into Ragga and Dancehall for 5 years or so. Started listening to Massive Attack in the early 90's too. Had brief flirtations with Cajun/Zydeco which was actually quite a fun night out. Never caught onto drum n bass at this time - and never have done. Not chilled enough for me these days I guess. Then moved into the country and things went downhill for a while. I'm not dissing Norman Cook for what he has achieved, but spent a bit more time listening to him and (eek!) trance than I should have done. ':oops:'
2000's - Took time out out with a bit of live Blues and old soul like Curtis Mayfield. Now my son was growing up so I started a comprehensive program of musical education (!) He'll never thank me for it, but I revisited Punk, Rock, Grunge, Indie and Reggae for a while to give him a grounding. Whilst he learned the guitar I started to get bored with the Rock/Indie sound we were listening to, but then my younger brother came to our rescue and gave us the gift of dubstep in 2004/5. Thanks Bro'. Now my son is starting to produce with some success and Dubstep is pretty much all I listen to. I'm so glad it's there as something we can share. I can still tolerate a bit of Blues or Jazz, or even guitar stuff occasionally, but not with much enthusiasm.
So that's where I've come from - an old head with nothing in common with the dnb dance scene, but a weakness for bass!
Again - sorry to go on - you didn't have to read it!
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