My Musical Taste
Published April 2nd, 2007 in L.A. Toddler, Tuneage, It's Really Just All About Me..., L.A. Embryo.As some of you know, I’m a huge fan of music. Music is my religion. It’s been that way since I was wee boy. My brother, twenty years older than I am, left me a kickass collection of 45’s to play on my little record player that included singles from The Beatles, Three Dog Night, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, and more. It was a great way to kickstart my love of music.
I’m looking forward to sharing music, old concert stories (well, the PG parts), and maybe even a live show or two with my daughter and L.A. Embryo. And seeing as how I’m going deaf, at least the kids will understand why they have to shout so loud at dear old dad when they want to borrow the car. Of course, I’ll be pretending that I can’t hear - just to annoy them. At least I hope I’m pretending.I became quite the connoisseur, too. Okay, that’s not true. I became a music snob. I always said they could never make a movie out of my life… and then I saw High Fidelity. They managed to make a movie that was exactly how my life played out. Only… not so boring. If you’ve seen the movie, picture Jack Black and John Cusack berating people for their lack of musical knowledge. That was me and my buddies back in the day, when I owned a record store.
Ah, but it wasn’t always so! Oh, no. Despite all my cool 45’s, I was a musical retard for a long period of time. I will say, in my defense, that I did grow up in the 70’s when most of the music was bad… but that’s no excuse.
Would you like to know the first two record purchases of this supposed music snob? 
Oh, it hurts to type this:
Billy Don’t Be a Hero by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods and The Night Chicago Died by Paper Lace (who, oddly enough, wrote and had the original version of Billy Don’t Be a Hero. But I didn’t know that at the time - I was a musical retard, remember?)
Yes, I actually spent money for those steaming piles of vinyl desecration.
And, I’m pretty sure that I bought Harry Chapin’s Cat’s in the Cradle but that can’t be verified at this time. I also recall the time I phoned up the local rock n’ roll station and asked them to play Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. They laughed at me and slammed down the phone.
I remember listening to a lot of music “in basements” when I was growing up. There were family rec rooms and there were some basements that looked like a head shop. But the basement was the place where we listened to the radio, to the stereo hi-fi. I even had an 8-track tape player with my stereo system.
I’ll never forget when my musical retardation was violently thrust from my head when heard Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon all the way through when I was in Mike Regula’s basement on Eastbrook Drive, back in the mid-70’s. I could paint you a picture of Chris Cocanauer’s basement where I heard Hotter Than Hell, Master of Reality and that one Friday night when I discovered Led Zeppelin. I can vaguely recall skating to disco but… we won’t go there.
So, I’m fully prepared for the wave of teeny-bopper pop music that will flood my home when L.A. Toddler and L.A. Embryo are older. It’s going to hurt and that music snob in me will want to leap out and crush their favorite boy bands… but I can’t. I’ve got a skeleton or two in my own closet to put me in my place.
But I draw the line at actually going in to their concerts with them. I’ll drive them to the show, but I won’t go in. I won’t.
What was your most embarrassing music purchase? Come on - it was Barry Manilow, wasn’t it?
Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there
She would merengue and do the cha-cha
And while she tried to be a star, Tony always tended bar
Across a crowded floor, they worked from 8 till 4
They were young and they had each other
Who could ask for more?
Bastard. Now I have that song stuck in my head.
I am NOT a music snob. If I like it, it’s good.
That being said, I do believe I bought a John Denver record back in the day. Oh and I also had a Helen Reddy album but I think my mom bought that one.
She was a big Manilow fan.
Oh Mandy well,
you came and you gave without taking,
but I sent you away.
Oh, Mandy well,
you kissed me and stopped me from shaking,
and I need you today. Oh, Mandy!
Oh wow, one of my very first album purchases as a young teenager was the soundtrack to the Chevy Chase/Goldie Hawn movie, Foul Play, which featured a soundtrack by…. Barry Manilow. It had Copacabana on it, but I remember it more for “Ready To Take A Chance Again”… I haven’t been able to get that song out of my head for nearly 30 YEARS!!! I can still see Goldie Hawn driving down the coast highway while that song played over the titles.
Other early teen purchases that I’m reluctant to admit:
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - the MOVIE soundtrack, with Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees. I only bought it for Steve Martin’s cover of “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” Yeah, sure.
“Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky)”… this was actually the first single I ever bought with my own money.
The Bee Gees - Spirits Having Flown… I’m sure I bought this because some girl I liked was a Bee Gees fan.
Pat Benatar - Crimes of Passion… I distinctly remember walking through my favorite Licorice Pizza record store in 1980 and seeing this album on display. I didn’t know anything about Benatar except that she looked hot on that cover. I bought it only because of how she looked. Never liked the music all that much.
So… which one were you, Jack Black or John Cusak?
LOVE the movie, I m a huge Cusak fan and little by little I am trying to collect a library of his movies.
My son just went to Taste of Chaos with a friend 2 girls and the other boys mom. Seriously…you won’t go to a concert with them? My son (15) was telling me that at the end he was most surprised by all of the wasted people. I was glad that the mom was there. I know people get wasted at a concert…I just wasn’t thinking about all that could happen until he said that to me.
I asked him one favor…just please don’t crowd surf….someone could take your wallet and you would lose everything. He did it 22 times. He told me it is the only way he could get up to the front to find his friends. “WHAT…you got separated?”
Oh, boy - where to start…
Like others, I bought Manilow, John Denver, and, yes, even the Sgt. Pepper’s movie soundtrack… but then, I’ve also purchased (when a kid, mind you), Shaun Cassidy, Bay City Rollers, David Cassidy (my father even took me to a david Cassidy concert when I was about 5 or 6), “Convoy”, “Pac Man Fever”.
And I can remember sitting in front of my father’s giant stereo speakers and listening to Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald over and over again.
Oh, man, I gotta stop…
Man, you dudes are old.
Snicker.
Try Milli Vanilli for embarrassing.
Or purchasing everybody’s favorite rap song, Ice, Ice Baby from America’s most talented rap artist Vanilla Ice.
Thankfully, I grew up. And acquired ears. And taste.
I’ve got a new blog addy. Come check me out.
(Wait…I meant, come see my new blog…sheesh…)
Wink, wink.
Looks like we found the crowd that kept John Denver in business. Yup, me too.
Embarrassing music purchases? I have too many to count.
But let’s just say I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can…
You get the idea.
Oh man.
Yes. Tales of Topographic Oceans. And I listened to it!
“The Rip-Offs Play A Golden Age Of Rock’n'Roll” (Well, I was nine.)
Genesis - “Duke”. Oops. Though at least it means the hero of American Psycho and I have something in common. Other than power drills.
I could go on. But really, you don’t want to know.
And yes, I’m an utter musical fascist.
The first album I ever bought was the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop II.
Now i have Axle F running through my head. Bugger.
How’s this for a pathetic list, Marie Osmond-Paper Roses, The Brady Bunch Album, oh and um Captain and Tennille. It was a rockin good time at our house. Thankfully I had older brothers who listened to Cream, Steppenwolf and Aretha Franklin.
I will say it, because you ALL know someone has to…
New Kids On The Block. Concert and album.
Who’s more lame than me?
“I gave my heart and soul to you, girl
(Now didn’t I do it, baby, didn’t I do it, baby?)
Gave you the love you never knew, girl, oh
(Didn’t I do it baby, didn’t I do it baby?)
I’ve cried so many times and that’s no lie
It seems to make you laugh each time I cry”
OMG, it’s even worse than I remember.
Oh this is good stuff. I was the proud owner of the K-Tel Music Express album which featured “Chevy Van” by Sammy Johns (I think), Run Joey Run (daddy please don’t it wasn’t his fault he means so much to me…daddy please don’t we’re gonna get maaarried….ooooh oh), Muskrat Love, Philadelphia Freedom, Rocky (Rocky I’ve never had to die before, don’t know if I can do it, but if you let me lean on you take my hand, I might get through it) cheery stuff.
Also LOVED Shawn Cassidy - Hey Deenie, Da doo ron ron etc. And Leif Garrett. Wow, I’ve got a pretty full closet of shame.
I’ve got you beat for a most embarrassing purchase. I’ll save it to the end.
I come from a similar situation: 3 brothers, ranging from 15-21 years my senior. I inherited some good stuff: Sly and the Family Stone, the Beatles’ Abbey Road album, the Strawbs (never quite got into that), Yes, the Beach Boys. There were also a ton of 45s from the early 60s. Classic stuff.
But I was a ‘tard, too. My first purchase was the Kiss Alive album, and I remember being surprised that it was a live album. Duh.
OK, most embarrassing: Muskrat Love by the Captain and Tennille.
I love the memories of dancing in the basement rec room. Those were good times!
I could be a music snob but I know the value of mindless pop music and I don’t just mean dollar signs. Sometimes the cheese factor is the only thing that can make me smile.
I’m looking forward to my girls falling for some boy bands so that I can guilt free listen to this genre openly.
Was it Tiffany? Was it Air Supply’s Greatest Hits? Was it the Escape Club? Or was it Nelson? How do you pick?
The Vengaboys.
I just threw up a little in my mouth.
Ok, Escape Club made me laugh. Not at anyone here, just laugh. Their song “Wild, Wild West” was on the radio somewhere my daughter and I were. Of course, I knew the words. I turned to her and said, “I had this album.” I’m surprised she didn’t pass out. Her eyes rolled up and she said, “Why?” I kinda had to agree, but even now I have to say it had something.
Anyway, I’m not really embarrassed by any music I buy. Even stuff as a kid. It makes us who we are. I was so into New Kids. NOT my current style but oh well.
First record single I ever bought: “The One That I Love” by Air Supply
First vinyl album: WAR by U2
First cd: Nothing’s Shocking by Jane’s Addiction
I’ve never really understood the whole being-embarrassed-by-music thing. But then I like everything.
I wondered if my kids would rebel against their parents’ musical tastes by listening to…gangster rap? I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to rebel when your parents are into doom metal and take you to see Iron Maiden when you’re 12. My daughter does like a lot of the crappy stuff they play on VH1 in the mornings…But she also likes Gillian Welch and Patty Griffin.
You know who’s really great for toddlers? The Who.
My dad made me buy the single “Cow patty” to sing for a fundraiser when I was a teenager. Not only did I have to BUY the record, but i had to SING it because the patron donor of the fundraiser (I think it was a St.Jude’s hospital fundraising dinner) happened to mention to my dad how AMUSING she thought it was. So to up the ante on the donations I had to sing the damn thing in front of all the who’s who in TOWN!!!!
(talk about your obscure songs from the late 70’s early 80’s - extra credit to anyone who remember’s it along with the ever popular There’s a dead skunk in the middle of the road…