MUSIC THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE


I bought a couple of remastered CD's this week that brought a flood of memories back to me and well I knew I wouldn't be alone in having pieces of music that shaped or echoed various era's of my life.
It's also the reason I got into this hobby....
At 13 I got seriously into music,me amd my friends who sit around for hours picking tracks and blasting out music,this was my intial golden era.
However some 8 years later in '85 I'd moved on a bit,I was semi-grown up,been made redundant from my first job,worked in retail for a while and was back studying at college.
My interest in music had diminished a little,the 80's seemed a little facile,a lot of the music raved about somehow didn't do it for me.
I was pretty broke too,staying at home and well a little down and self obsessed as a 21 year tends to be.
One day I came across a new record just released,I liked the cover,the titles of the songs and I'd seen the band on TV a few times.
It was This Is The Sea by The Waterboys.
I was blown away,a big rock sound,epic but not overblown,a great lyricist and songwriter in Mike Scott and the music became my beacon in a gloomy time.
I followed up the previous releases by them,the live tapes,all the stuff you do.
Now I wouldn't claim this record was the greatest ever made but I wore that vinyl out,even today I could probably write you down the lyric of every song on that record,I doubt I've ever listened to any record more than that one.
It might be saying too much that it saved my life but Mike Scott's music reflected the bleakness of Britain at that time but it also uplifted me.
That winter was tough but that record kept my spirits up.
It started too a search for those who had influenced him and opened up my mind to Dylan,Van Morrison and made me realise the importance of early Blues,Country and Gospel music.
Simply put it restarted my love affair for music.
So when I listened to the first two Waterboys albums this week I was transported back to that time and despite some of the music having dated the essence of Scott's positve message still seemed as powerful some 17 years later.
The subsequent releases by The Waterboys were never as strong to me but that record had such an important impact on my life that I'll never forget it nor the times it got me through.
That's part of my story,now tell me yours.............
ben_campbell
My older sisters were constantly listening to music when I was a kid in the early 60's - I didn't pay much attention until I Get Around by the Beach Boys dropped from the 45 spindle (stacked of course with many others) - It sent me searching and my first two Lp 's were Meet the Beatles and Dino, Desi and Billy 's I'm A Fool . It had a lot of great covers by the Stones and Dylan. I haven't stopped since - played in many bands and always still searching for the sounds and now through the years the means to reproduce them. It is still exciting to me and those two LP's that started it all still get played for they keep me focused on when it was fun and I didn't care about the record needle - just the songs coming from it and the 4 inch full range cone attached to the phonograph. Fmpnd - I think I was in a similar band as you were .
John Wesley Harding...Bob Dylan's traditional folk release is an album that I play over and over...it only gets better each time.

The line "...and if you see your neighbour carrying something, HELP HIM WITH HIS LOAD..." taught me to do just that whenever I could.

'Changed my life, Dylan did, as he did the lives of many of us.
Roxy Music "For your Pleasure". First heard it as a 15 y/o and it hit me like a Tyson left hook. Shortly thereafter Peter Gabriel's first solo album and Born to Run came out and defined my early college years. I was fortunate enough see all three live on more than one occasion, Gabriel coming out of the balcony singing the opening number, sitting 6 seats down from me, Ferry in his boots and German regalia and Bruce finishing up a 3+ hour show standing on the piano jamming. Heady stuff for a 17-18 Y/O. More than a decade later, the Waterboys "Fisherman's Blues" carried me through a rather dark period and still evokes memories of a pivotal time of my life.
Some others to add, Van Morrison "Moondance", Beatles "Abbey Road",Carroll King "Tapestry", Joni Mitchell "Court and Spark", James Taylor "Sweet Baby James" , Little Feat "Last record album", Linda Ronstadt "Heart like a wheel", Steely Dan "can't buy a thrill", David Gilmore "David Gilmore", and Billy Joel "The Stranger", Elton John "Madman across the water" and "Tumbleweed Connection", New Riders of the Purple Sage "Adventures in Panama Red" There's plenty others as I think of them i'll post.
My kid came home with the last Britney Spears album and let me tell ya...it changed my life. I don't have to say which way.

I remain,