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
I remember being on vacation with my parents one summer...
We were passing through some god-forsaken town in Missouri
where I happened into a record store and heard the double live album playing of Steppenwolf. "Born to be wild" rang through my head and my parents’ house all that summer and into the fall...I was never the same. Of course from there it was much the same as Albertporter...a heady melange of beautiful and unforgettable music from our turbulent times
done by the true artists and poets of our era. I wish I still had that Steppenwolf record.
Well Clueless, it sounds like a win win situation. The kid gets to listen to the charms of Britany's "distinctive" style while you get the opportunity to check out the distinctive charms that produce that style.

I am a firm believer in building bridges between generations and it seems you two are well on your way, congratulations!
Tubegroover, those bridges you suggest building........are those to cross mountains or valley's?
clueless;

Turn the table on the kids. Drag out David Bowies' Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes or Ziggy Stardust when they are around. The youngsters staring at the old man and wondering what else I haven't told them. The Fish Cheer and Fix'n to Die Rag by Country Joe Macdonald works well also. It is great fun!

Dave